Occasionally, you may encounter a program error while using TimeTo™. If an error message is displayed, go to the Error Messages help page.
If the problem does not have an error messages, look for the condition below, or in the Frequently Asked Questions section.
If you cannot resolve the problem on your own, consider contacting TimeTo™ Technical Support.
What do to immediately if you think there is something wrong with your TimeTo™ information, before doing anything else:
First, immediately stop using TimeTo: the reason for this is that TimeTo™ automatically makes backups of your schedule every few minutes, and if you leave it running with the wrong data, then those valuable backups of your true data may get automatically overwritten by the new empty data file.
Second, use Windows Explorer to make a backup of your entire TimeTo™ folder (including all subfolders), just in case something goes wrong while trying to fix things. If your schedule files reside in a folder other than the TimeTo folder, then make a backup of that entire folder too (including all subfolders). This way you will also have a backup of all the backups that TimeTo makes automatically.
Now choose amongst the situations described below.
My TimeTo™ schedule file(timedata.pak) may be corrupt.
We'll start off with the assumption that your schedule file has somehow become corrupt.
Before we do anything, shut down TimeTo™, so the situation can't get any worse, and so automatic backups aren't at risk of being overwritten by newer unhealthy backups.
Here
is some background information that will help you understand what we are
going to try:
Your main data file is called timedata.pak, which
resides in your TimeTo folder (unless you have a redirect.txt file in your TimeTo folder, in which case the timedata.pak file loaded when you launch TimeTo™ and the backups of that file instead reside in the folder named in the redirect.txt file).
TimeTo™ tries to make a backup of the schedule file every
minute and puts that backup in a file of the same file structure called timedata.bak, and also makes many other backups of this file (every time you successfully
launch, as well as at random intervals during the day depending on how much you use
TimeTo™, and also once a day for the previous seven days). All these files have the same file structure as timedata.pak and are all stored in the same folder as the timedata.pak they are backing up.
Therefore, try this:
If that doesn't solve the problem, try steps 3, 4 and 5 again, but in Windows Explorer examine the datestamps of TimeTo's eleven other backups of timedata.pak, and use the most recent instead of timedata.bak:
Tip: If you happen to notice that one of the backup files is substantially larger than the others, then avoid choosing it if other candidates are available.
If none of the twelve TimeTo backups solves the problem, restore timedata.pak from any timedata.pak, timedata.bak, or timedata.Backup from any older backup of your computer that you have made on your own.
If restoring the oldest timedata file that is known
to have been healthy does not solve the problem,
then we were wrong to assume that a corrupt timedata.pak
file is the problem, and so you can recopy timedata.pakrenamed to timedata.pak
and then try other remedies instead.
Every time I try to print anything at all, TimeTo crashes without a TimeTo error message.
OR
When I print a Note, I don't get the font I expected.
Please try printing to another printer (or use Adobe Acrobat to print to a PDF file) to see if the problem goes away. If the problem is specific to this printer, try downloading a different printer driver from the manufacturer and see if the problem goes away. We have had known issues with a bug in certain Hewlett-Packard printer drivers causing TimeTo to crash when printing (including HP model C6180). In another instance, a user who was having trouble with Notes printing in the correct font using an HP LaserJet 4000T, solved the problem by changing from the 4000T's PCL6 driver to the older PCL driver only: the PCL6 driver was a newer driver and was not working as well with the older printer.
TimeTo™ presents an hourglass while I am using it that never goes away, and the word Balance on the menus appears depressed.
Your timedata.pak file has become corrupted in such a way that the automatic balancing feature set in Other Preferences > Balance Future Days or Other Preferences > Balance Day cannot complete its work which results in TimeTo™ hanging while its tries. Here is what to do:
Close the TimeTo™ application by right-clicking on TimeTo™ in the Windows taskbar and clicking Close.
Launch Windows Explorer, and copy your entire TimeTo™ folder, as described above, just in case.
In Windows Explorer, delete the file timedata.pak in your TimeTo™ folder, and rename the file timedata.bak as timedata.pak . (Timedata.bak is the automatic backup file made every 60 seconds)
Launch TimeTo™. Enter a password if necessary. Then, if you can before the Balance feature kicks in, immediately choose Other Preferences (by pressing Ctrl+Z). Then, uncheck Balance Day and uncheck Balance Future Days. At this point, you should be able to use TimeTo™, however your information file may be corrupt: you can test this by choosing Balance > Balance All Days and then Balance > Balance Day and see if either feature completes without TimeTo™ hanging.
If it does hang, then repeat the above procedure renaming one of the ten other automatic backups as timedata.pak (please see the previous help topic above for a description of the filenames of the ten other backup files that TimeTo™ automatically makes).
If the problem has still not gone away, then you should restore from an earlier backup you have made of timedata.pak .
Once you have found a copy of the timedata file that works properly, you must re-enter any activities that have taken place since that time.
When all is well, restore the two checkboxes in Other Preferences to the state you want them.
Note: if you don't have a sufficiently recent healthy backup anywhere, you do have the option of continuing to use your timedata.pak with the automatic Balance All Days and/or Balance Day features turned off, however you are in danger that you are moving forward with corrupt data, which could get worse over time.
I just installed a TimeTo™ update, and now my schedule is blank.
This can happen if you install the TimeTo™ update to a folder other than the folder your TimeTo™ was already located in. The result is that the installer changes the shortcuts for launching the program to the new blank installation, and so it appears that you have lost all your data but in fact you are just running the wrong installation of TimeTo™. If so, you can fix the situation by running the installer again, this time naming the correct destination folder: this will fix all the shortcuts too. If that solves the problem, you should still go back and delete the second installation to keep your system tidy and avoid later confusion: to do so, locate the new folder in Windows Explorer and delete that folder. If you are unsure where the new folder is, you can search your hard drive for the file timedata.pak (the main schedule file for TimeTo) and so each installation folder should contain a copy of it. Be very careful when deleting the folder to delete the correct one: to double-check, an empty timedata.pak file will have far fewer bytes than the one containing all of your data.
I have installed TimeTo™ on a non-English version of Microsoft Windows, and item titles on views are unreadable.
Go to the Screen Fonts submenu of the Fonts Settings submenu (from the Settings menu), and change each of the four fonts settings to one of these fonts: Courier, MS Serif or MS Sans Serif (not Microsoft Serif or Microsoft Sans Serif).
"Unable to open default timedata.pak file from e:\TimeTo, as folder not accessible"
If you see this error message when launching TimeTo on a USB drive on more than one computer, this is likely due to the two computers assigning different drive letters to the USB drive. For instance, in the error message example above, TimeTo is looking for the timedata.pak file on drive E, suggesting that the USB drive was known to the previous computer as drive E but is known to the computer presenting the error message by a different letter. To remedy the problem, assign the same drive letter to the USB drive on each computer. If you don't know how to do this, or this is not a feasible solution for you, please contact timetosupport@davidberman.com for further instructions.
I want to revert to an earlier version of TimeTo™, but when I try to run the earlier installer I am told that a newer version of TimeTo already exists.
In order to revert to an earlier version of TimeTo™, you typically only need to replace the current TimeTo.exe file (and the TimeToOutlook.exe file if you synchronize TimeTo™ with Microsoft Outlook) with the earlier version of the file of the same name. If you don't happen to have a backup of the file from the version you want to revert to, here is how to extract files from any TimeTo™ installer:
Use the Run command from the Windows Start menu, putting a sentence like "c:\incoming\timetosetup.exe /a" in the Run command (substitute the drive letter and directory and installer file name, depending upon where you have saved the installer you downloaded).
This will cause the installer to run in a different way than normal: instead of installing TimeTo™ it will instead ask you for the name of a Network Folder. You can then specify whatever folder you would like for the files that the installer would normally install to be placed. When this "installation" is complete, you will find the TimeTo.exe file (and TimeToOutlook.exe) you need in a folder called Program Files within the temporary folder you named.
I am upgrading TimeTo™, but I don't want to install to the same folder as last time, and yet the installer doesn't let me designate the destination folder since I am upgrading.
Using the Run command from the Windows Start menu, put a sentence like "c:\incoming\timetosetup.exe /a" in the Run command (substitute the drive letter and directory and installer file name, depending upon where you have saved the installer you downloaded).
This will cause the installer to run in a different way than normal: instead of installing TimeTo™ it will instead ask you for the name of a Network Folder, which is the a temporary folder into which it will put all of the files that the installer would normally install. When this "installation" is complete, you will find the files you need in a folder called Program Files within the temporary folder you named.
The only files that are typically updated/needed are: TimeTo.exe, TimeToOutlook.exe, and TimeTo.chm .
I accidentally launched an old copy of TimeTo and wrongly was putting my new information in the old schedule. Now I want to merge the old schedule with my current schedule. How can I do that?
Unfortunately, there is no automated way to merge the two divergent TimeTo schedule files, since there is no way for us to know in what order you have added or changed your data... and so we are sorry for the frustration that will cause.
However, you can do something to make sure you don't lose track of any new items you've added since the divergence:
- open the older TimeTo that wrongly got new items added to it
- choose File | Export | Export Alphabetical View (or Export Day View: Range of Days) to create a .txt file of all undone items (or those from the range of days since the divergence)
- choose File | Export | View Export File to view the resulting list, and then examine it visually and delete the records you are confident have not been lost
- create new records in the current TimeTo schedule from that list, by either:
You can also examine the TimeToTimeWise.txt file for a chronological log of what items were marked Done during the divergent period.
I'm using Windows Vista and my timedata.pak file doesn't seem to be in my c:\program files\TimeTo folder. What is happening here?
Please refer to the TimeTo for Windows Vista users help topic, for the explanation.
When I try to exit TimeTo in Windows Vista, TimeTo won't close or my latest data is not getting saved.
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder that holds your Timeto schedule (if unsure where that is, choose the About TimeTo command from TimeTo's Help menu, and see what it says next to "Current schedule file"). Then right-click, choose Properties, select the Security tab, and check the checkbox that grants full permissions.
TimeTo™ is very reliable, including features that self-heal many problems that can go wrong with TimeTo's information files. However, because you may grow to rely on your TimeTo™ data, and may be prefer to never lose even a few hours of work, you may agree how valuable it would be to make frequent backup copies of timedata.pak (as well as all the backups such as timedata.bak and immediate) files.
Although TimeTo™ automatically makes twelve copies of your schedule file spanning the past week (see the Save help topic for more details) We recommend you make copies every day and possibly several times a day, both to another location on your computer, as well as often to somewhere other than your computer (such as to another computer on your network, or to an FTP site, or a floppy disk or some other removable media).
One simple way of making multiple backups automatically is by using the Windows Scheduled Tasks feature to set up hourly and daily copy commands of this nature: "COPY C:\TIMETO\TIMEDATA.* C:\BACKUPHOURLY". TimeTo is designed to let you copy all TimeTo™ files while TimeTo™ is running. The command will vary depending upon where your TimeTo™ files are stored and where you have created a folder to receive the backups.
If you use the Notes feature in TimeTo™, you may also wish to backup the Notes folder (a subfolder of your TimeTo folder), as it contains all the notes attached to your items, with one file in the Notes folder for each note, and this folder is NOT backup up regularly by TimeTo™.
Should you choose to set up several such routines (for instance, one hourly and one daily) we recommend that you create separate destination folders for each scheduled task, so that they don't overwrite each other (for instance, you could backup once an hour to C:\BACKUPHOURLY and then daily backup to C:\BACKUPDAILY).
In the rare case where you are making a backup at the same time TimeTo™ is making a backup you may see a dialog box from TimeTo™ saying that it could not make its backup that time; if so, TimeTo™ will simply try again later.
Related Topics
Error Messages
Frequently Asked Questions
TimeTo™ Technical Support