No More Underlining
The Software Solution for the Aviation Enthusiast
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I transfer NMU to a new/replacement computer?
- Following a system upgrade a lot of my seen dates have changed from being in the years 2000 plus to showing as 1900, etc. How do I rectify this?
- How can I run two copies of NMU on the same computer and ensure they use different database files?
- When trying to examine the NMU files I got a message inviting me to convert the database from an older version. I took that option and now I cannot get NMU to work correctly. How do I put things right?
- How do I restore my seen records from a backup I made using the NMU backup utility?
- I have performed an update but cannot find a newly re-registered aircraft in the database, why?
- If I add records of my own will one of your updates overwrite them?
- If I alter records will one of your updates overwrite them?
- I spot registrations and not airframes, can I use NMU?
- When I search for a group of data I get an error message that says there is an error in a date. But I am not searching by or using a date, what is the problem?
- When I try to start NMU I get an error message saying that "The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and 16-bit Microsoft Windows applications?
- I use Outlook Express and have received the update emails but I am unable to extract the attachments as I get the following message within the email "OE removed access to the following unsafe attachments in your mail"
There are two ways to achieve this;2. Following a system upgrade a lot of my seen dates have changed from being in the years 2000 plus to showing as 1900, etc. How do I rectify this?
a) Backup the files NMU.MDB and NMUDATA4.MDB on the old computer to a suitable large storage media, e.g. a CD or zip disk. Install NMU onto the new computer from the original installation disk you received. Always use the same path on the new system as you used on the old one. Copy the two files back from the CD/zip disk to the installation folder on the new PC. Remove any read-only setting by right-clicking on each newly copied file and choosing properties - then remove the tick from the read-only setting if showing.
b) If you do not have access to a CD writer or zip drive on the old system then; use the NMU backup utility to save your seen records to a floppy disk. Do not choose 'all records' as these will not fit on a single disk. You can tell the utility to span disks if you have over 20,000 seen records. Request a fresh installation CD from BM Computing and install that on the new PC once it is received. Restore your seen records onto the newly installed copy of NMU. Check you have the correct number of seen records. return to top
This is caused by a mis-match between the date settings pre and post upgrade. To correct the situation you should first of all visit the 'Regional Settings' section of your Windows Control Panel and check the date formats in use. The short date format must be represented as dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy depending on your country setting. In NMU search for all seen records, place the cursor in the 'When Seen' field of the summary grid and hold down the CTRL key and press the letter H on the keyboard. This brings up the replace dialog. In the 'replace what' field type /1900 and in the replace with field type /2000, ensure it is NOT going to match whole field by removing the check from that field. Click replace all. Do the same for /1901, /1902 and /1903, /1904 replacing them with 2001, /2002, /2003 and /2004 respectively. return to top3. How can I run two copies of NMU on the same computer and ensure they use different database files?
Here are the details of how to have two copies installed when one is already installed using the default location of c:\nmu.4. When trying to examine the NMU files I got a message inviting me to convert the database from an older version. I took that option and now I cannot get NMU to work correctly. How do I put things right?
3.1. I am assuming that you have got NMU installed in the default locations? To check, use explorer to navigate to your windows folder on the c: drive. Inspect the contents of the file, nmu.ini, it should have two lines near the top as follows: - SystemDB=C:\NMU\system.mda UtilityDB=C:\NMU\utility.mda The bit between the \ marks denote the folder each is installed in. You can also check this fact by looking at the contents of the c: drive in explorer and seeing that you have the folder nmu and no others of a similar ilk. Now if you have installed your copy into anything OTHER than that shown above, say for example mynmu, then you are safe to install your copy into something other than the default. Might I suggest a folder called notmynmu? However if you have used the defaults carry on as follows.
3.2. Rename the folder NMU to be called NMUONE, you do this by right-clicking on the folder and choosing rename. Then type the new name.
3.3. Edit the nmu.ini file in the windows folder. You can do this by double-clicking the file which should open it in notepad. Alter the two lines shown above to read NMUONE between the \ marks instead of NMU.
3.4. Edit the shortcut that you use to launch your copy, at this junction it is very much down to you. This is because I do not know where you created a shortcut? If it is from the Start->Programs menu then you will have to click Start->Settings->Taskbar and start menu->Start menu programs (tab)->advanced. Then open the programs folder followed by the nmu standard folder. In there should be a shortcut to NMU Standard with an icon of a yellow Dakota. Right click it and choose properties. However if you run NMU from an icon on the desktop then you can right click the icon and choose properties. If you use both methods then you will need to alter both locations! In either case you should see a properties dialog box with a line called target, in that field will be the following command:-C:\NMU\MSARN200.EXE C:\NMU\nmu.mdb /Excl /ini C:\WINDOWS\nmu.ini Wherever you see c:\nmu\ you will need to alter it to c:\nmuone\, which in the above example is twice. You will also need to alter the start in field to read c:\nmuone OK the changes and test that NMU works by selecting the shortcut and opening the program.
3.5. You can now install your second copy of NMU Standard, however remember two important things: -
a) DO NOT INSTALL TO C:\NMU which is the default. Choose a different folder name, I recommend C:\NMUTWO
b) DO NOT ACCEPT THE default program group name of NMU Standard, alter it to read NMU Standard Two for example.
3.6. Open your new copy by choosing the new shortcut from the Start menu (under NMU Standard Two) and check everything works ok.
3.7. Re-edit the nmu.ini file in the windows folder, this will now read \nmutwo\ in those two lines mentioned earlier. Edit them back to \nmuone\ and save the file. return to top
You have tried to open the program file using Access 97 or 2000 which has asked you to convert it, you should have said NO at that point and sought help. By attempting to convert it, it has rendered that file unusable. However, in theory your data file should be intact. This file is called nmudata4.mdb. To try and rectify things I suggest the following steps:-5. How do I restore my seen records from a backup I made using the NMU backup utility?
4.1. Copy the nmudata4.mdb file to a safe folder on your system - do not try and open the file under any circumstances.
4.2. Remove any installed version of NMU from your system, including the file NMU.INI from the Windows folder.
4.3. Re-install NMU to your system from original media, if this is not an option then download the trial version and install that one.
4.4. Open this new installation using the start menu program item and check it works. DO NOT try and open by double-clicking the file nmu.mdb, you will be back where you started.
4.5. Copy the saved file nmudata4.mdb to the newly installed folder, so if you installed to D:\NMU or c:\NMUXX then that is where you copy the file into.
4.6. Re-do step 4.
For the record the NMU command line in any shortcut should read: - C:\NMU\MSARN200.EXE C:\NMU\nmu.mdb /Excl /ini C:\WINDOWS\nmu.ini Where it reads C:\NMU\ you would replace it with your own installed folder name if it were different. return to top
5.1. Access the NMU backup and restore utility from the main NMU screen.6. I have performed an update but cannot find a newly re-registered aircraft in the database, why?
5.2. Ensure you know the path name for the place where your backup file is held. If you have backed up to a floppy diskette then the chances are the path name is a:.
5.3. Enter the path name in the backup path name field and click on the browse button.
5.4. You should see an open file dialog box appear, if not then you have made a mistake with the path name and need to go back to step 2. Otherwise choose one of the .bnf files listed in the dialog box by double-clicking it. If none are shown then it means you have quoted a correct backup path but there are no backups resident there. (The NMU backup files are text files that are saved with an extension of .bnf, which stands for backup NMU file).
5.5. Set the restore what option to either seen or all records and click on the restore now button. Depending on the speed of your system the restore may take some time. You know it is completed when you can click the close button. return to top
The default setting for an NMU update is to not change any seen records, if you left this setting as it was and performed the update - any records you already had marked as seen (perhaps in another guise) would not have altered but a note to this affect would have been lodged in a file called nmuleave.rtf which gets created in your c:\ folder. A .rtf file can be opened using a word processor.return to top7. If I add records of my own will one of your updates overwrite them?
No this is not possible. return to top8. If I alter records will one of your updates overwrite them?
Depending on how you tell the update to treat seen records, yes it is possible for updates to change data you may have recorded against an airframe. return to top9. I spot registrations and not airframes, can I use NMU?
Yes. NMU was targeted at the airframe spotter. However when the Standard edition was released we included functions for the registration spotter as well. The recommended method is to always create a clone record before marking it as seen, you can create a clone by searching for a record - with it selected in the summary area you hold down the Shift key and press the F6 key. You can then mark the clone record as seen and alter any of its details safe in the knowledge that an update will not alter it. This way you can always leave the master records as current data and you do not need to worry about the update settings. return to top10. When I search for a group of data I get an error message that says there is an error in a date. But I am not searching by or using a date, what is the problem?
There is a bug which will be ironed out with an upgrade that stop the use of the right-justified US style registration sort option for records with registrations over six characters long. To remove the error condition go to the options screen and de-select the right-justified US search setting. return to top11. When I try to start NMU I get an error message saying that "The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and 16-bit Microsoft Windows applications?
This happens when one of three important files have been removed from the System32 folder on Windows XP or higher systems. The files are config.nt, autoexec.nt or command.com. One incident was rectified by the client finding a copy of the file in a folder called repair located below the main Windows folder and moving it back into the System32 folder. Microsoft advise that you re-install the two files from the original Windows System Media. The page of the knowledgebase article containing details of the recommended action can be found here. return to top12. I use Outlook Express and have received the update emails but I am unable to extract the attachments as I get the following message within the email "OE removed access to the following unsafe attachments in your mail"
Go into Tools/Options and click on the Security tab. The 4th item down regarding attachments must not be checked. If it is, it could stop attachments. However always exercise caution with attachments, as a rule never try and run .EXE file attachments and only process others that you have requested and are from a known source. Unsolicited files, even from a known source, may be as the result of virus activity. Invest in a good anti-virus checker and stay up to date. return to top
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