PowerChute Personal does not run on Win 7

[Anonymous user]

I have an older BN1250 UPS.  The PowerChute software ran just fine on XP, but has never run correctly on Win 7. I tried installing the sw again about 2-1/2 years ago but it never installed right and would not run.  So a few days ago my batteries finally bit the dust and the alarm started going off every 4 hours.  To my chagrin there's no way to turn the alarm off except through the PowerChute software, so I downloaded what I assumed was a new version, but low and behold its the same version as 2-1/2 years ago.  And it wouldn't install because it wanted to remove the bad leftover installation from before.  Well that didn't work, but luckily I was finally able to get it removed a day later and only with a lot of work.  I was able to install PowerChute and silence the alarms.

What I have found is that I can only run PowerChute one time after installation.  After that each successive attempt to run it creates another powerchute process.  I had 4 of them by the time I figured that out.  Killing them only leaves them suspended and does not get rid of the process.  The system application log files show registry leakage for powerchute registry items.  The ONLY way to make it work again is to uninstall, reinstall and get the 1 run. 

Does anyone know of a fix or another UPS Monitoring program that would support this APC protocol.  I am assuming that it is apcsmart (UPS-Link).  Tech support said that there are known problems with some Win 7 installations and they are working on it.  Of course, that's a joke.  There's been no work on this sw in 2-1/2 years, probably much more than that.  I noticed on a newer NS1350 at Sams that Win 7 is not even listed as a supported OS.  Has APC replaced  powerchute to support modbus. I believe the NS1350 I looked at supplied powerchute on cd. 

Anyway, would appreciate some help here.  I don't really want to buy another UPS and if I do, it certainly won't be an APC.  I would prefer to replace the batteries and monitor with some stable sw.

[BillP]

Hi Dave,

I apologize for the issue you are having, I believe that the old installation may be causing issues with your current install.  Have you reviewed our article on performing a full manual removal of your old PCPE versions?  Please see the link below:

http://www.schneider-electric.us/support/index?page=content&country=US〈=en&locale=en_US&id=FA159949  

I believe this may be a good place to start to ensure the old versions of PCPE are fully removed.  Once this is done, I would recommend consulting the below link to reinstall PCPE:

http://www.schneider-electric.us/support/index?page=content&country=US〈=en&locale=en_US&id=FA235203

Please update us on any progress or issues.

Regards,

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the response Jordan.  After verifying that PowerChute was completely removed from the system (all registry entries were indeed already gone), I downloaded the 3.0.2 files from the faq link you provided above and proceeded to install.  However, the install locked up during installation and was unable to complete the installation.  I had to kill the install process.  The directories were created, and the services started and I was able to run PowerChute one time, as before. But this one time it locked up, requiring me to kill the application.

Then each successive time I tried to run it, it just created another powerchute.exe process which cannot be killed.  Because of the failed/incompleted install, I had to reboot the machine in order to remove it and the machine froze up on shutdown.  Finally got it restarted and completely removed (uninstalled) powerchute. 

This is one nasty piece of software.  Don't think I'll be trying to install it anytime soon. 

Could you tell me what the protocol for this BN1250? Is it apcsmart (UPS-Link). 

[BillP]

David,

Sorry to hear that you are having an issue with PowerChute. I have not heard of anyone else with your issue but it sounds like a conflict with another app or service that is running. The system you are installing PowerChute on was it upgraded to Win 7 or was the OS a clean install? Also, what malware and antivirus apps do you have running? 

Other optional softwares are APCUPSD or windows native power options. Info about native power options can be found in you knowledge base. There is a link at the top of the forum page. 

As for the protocol, the Back-UPS using standard USB to HID power device. The information is available at this link http://www.usb.org/developers/hidpage/pdcv10.pdf

Side note, the new BN1350G at Sams Club works with PowerChute Personal Edition 3.0.2 

[Anonymous user]

Thanks Bill.  The system I'm  installing pcpe on was originally a brand new machine with a clean Win 7 install.  In fact when I moved my apc unit to this machine about 2-1/2 years ago, I had the same problems installing the pcpe sw then on a clean system.  I uninstalled it then because of it's instability and inability to install correctly.  It was only when my batteries started to go bad and caused the alarms to go off every 4 hours that I realized that the only way to reset or change them was through sw that I'm now in this mess again.

IMPORTANT:  Could you tell me what will happen when the batteries go completely bad (only about 5 mins available now)??  Will the unit still act as surge protector on the battery side or will it quit altogether.

I did install APCUPSD, but I uninstalled it.  However, the apcupsd driver that I installed keeps showing up for the APC unit on pc boot up if the apc is connected via usb when I boot up.  However, if I disconnect the usb cable and reattach the correct hid drivers are installed. 

Before I installed the pcpe software i did the following: 

1.  Insured that all traces of previous apc installations were removed. (per faq article and by searching registry)

2.  Disconnected the usb cable to the apc unit

3.  Rebooted the machine, attached the usb cable and insured the correct hid drivers for the apc unit

4.  Installed the pcpe sw from the link above. (not one downloaded from main site) using Revo Uninstalled Pro.

5.  Install process froze/locked up.

6.  Killed the Install process

7.  Rebooted the machine,  which froze/locked up on shutting down.  Had to physically turn the machine off.

8.  Turned the machine on and booted into windows.  Verified that program files were there, data services were started, system tray icon was there without connection to apc unit (no usb cable plugged in yet).  There is no powerchute.exe process at this time.  Plugged in usb cable and sys tray icon immediately has connection to apc unit.  Right click icon and now get "Start Application" option, which runs the PowerChute application.  Attempt to set Notifications off, but powerchute locks up/freezes trying to apply changes and have to kill the application. 

9.  I have uninstalled and reinstalled both pcpe's (still are 3.0.2 but different sizes) and behaviour is consistently intermittent as follows: 

• Installation always locks up/freezes the install process
• Directory files, services, sys tray icon is always there. 
• There may or may not be  right click options (right clicking on sys tray icon)
• If no right click options there is no way to run powerchute.  Double clicking on the icon or on powerchute.exe only creates another powerchute.exe process.  There is no way to kill the powerchute.exe process.  Killing it only suspends it. 
• If there is a right click option, powerchute may or may not run and if it runs it may or may not allow to save changes.  If the powerchute process freezes then the machine always freezes on shutdown.

Do you have any suggestions on how to get rid of the apcupsd leftovers that are causing the apc unit to have their drivers (only on boot up, if the cable is connected).

Buying batteries or even another  apc unit like the 1350 won't help because I'm still left with the same software - powerchute 3.0.2 which I know doesn't run on my system.

[BillP]

David,

To uninstall the APCUPSD driver go to control panel - device manager - batteries and right click on American Power Conversion USB UPS (Apcupsd), select update driver, select browse my computer for driver software, select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer, select American Power Conversion USB UPS. The APC UPS driver loaded and used.

Was there an issue with APCUPSD?

As for the UPS, most older Back-UPS once they power down due to low battery will not power back up. I will ask one of our Back-UPS specialist how your unit will react and I will reply with that info later.

[BillP]

David,

if the battery dies you can disconnect the battery and power the unit up. With the battery disconnected the battery and surge outlets will pass power however it will beep continuously to warn you the battery is disconnected. Also, even with the software you cannot mute the disconnected battery alarm. If the unit is off the surge only outlets will pass power and the unit will not beep but the battery outlets will be dead.

Hope this info helps.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks Bill.  Any thoughts on the software problem running on Windows. Have you seen this problem before with windows?  It was a problem for me with a fresh windows install.

I can buy batteries but I have no way of monitoring the unit or setting any triggers.  Buying a new unit is not better since it is still the same software. By the way, the 1350 at Sams does NOT  list Win 7 as a supported os. 

Which leaves me with either buying batteries and running apcupsd or buying another brand apc with more mature software.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

David,

I looked through my notes and did find one other case similar to yours. The solution end up being the customer rebuilt the OS. They did this not because of PCPE but because of another issue and then reported back that PCPE was running as designed after the rebuild. Since your system was new when first installed I cannot be 100% sure this would resolve the issue.

As for the 1350 it will work with PCPE 3.0.2 and APCUPSD.