Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are the limits of the educational version?
A. The educational product has a number of limitations not found in the commercial version, including, but not limited to the following list. These limitations are designed to allow full functionality of the software in an educational environment, while disabling key features that are nearly essential in a commercial setting. IES is happy to provide free and low-cost educational software as long as it does not cause us to go out of business! There are specifically NO limitations on model sizes or engineering features present in the software.
- VisualAnalysis version 5.5 Standard (version 6.0 is not available to schools, yet)
- 'Standard' level features only, no 'Advanced' features. See comparison.
- Performance Settings are Fixed.
- No Spreadsheet Functionality in Reports.
- Automatic Updates are Disabled.
- Cannot Save Reports As a File.
- Copy & Paste in Reports is Disabled.
- Cannot Customize Report Styles.
- No Customization of Toolbars or Keyboard.
- No POL File Support (import/export text file format).
- Student License: No Direct IES Technical Support.
Q. What is the latest educational version?
A. VisualAnalysis 5.50.0022 was published in June 2007. You can check your version by going to Help | About VisualAnalysis. If you have a previous build of 5.5 (e.g. 5.50.0018), you may install the latest version from your original download location. If you have a previous version (e.g. 4.0), you will need to obtain the new version through the educational order form.
Q. What are the basic terms of the free school license?
A. IES VisualAnalysis Educational may be installed free of charge on school-owned machines, located on school property. The software must be 'registered' with IES through our web site by a faculty member in the school. Anyone may use the software on campus. The free license is limited to North American colleges and universities. Students should have free access to the software through student labs. The software may be used for educational purposes only, a commercial license must be purchased for any consulting work. This license is good for one school year, and will expire in August. A new version of the software and licensing will be made available in the Spring or Summer of the year to qualified schools, so that you do not really need to worry about the tools expiring. The software license key may not be distributed to other people or organizations. Read the details here.
Q. Why does IES sell a student license?
A. Not all schools are able or willing to install VisualAnalysis in student labs. Some students may wish to have the convenience of installing the software on a personal machine. Some schools require students to purchase software packages and/or machines so the student license accommodates these needs. You may purchase a student license here.
Q. What are the terms of the student license?
A. The software is licensed to an individual person who may use the software on as many machines as desired. The software is to be used for educational purposes only. The software license key may not be distributed to or used by other people or organizations. This license is good for one or two school years, and will expire in August. The student version is not upgrade-able, but qualified students may purchase another license in a subsequent year. We do offer a discount to upgrade to the professional version after graduation. Read the details here. You may purchase a student license here.
Q. What are the software and hardware requirements for running VisualAnalysis?
A. VisualAnalysis will run best on Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, or newer systems. The software may function, but is not supported on Windows 98se and Windows ME. Just about any piece of modern hardware, running Windows, will work, though the faster the machine and the more memory you have, the better the system will perform as model sizes increase.
Q. Are Foreign Schools Eligible for the Free Educational Software?
A. Our free educational version is limited to the North America. If your school is outside of this area, then you will not be able to get the free educational license. We do make our single-user student license available anywhere in the world. This has an "educational use only" license policy and purchases are for an individual person or machine.
Q. What if an error is found in the software?
A. You may update your installation to the latest release of VisualAnalysis by downloading and re-installing from the same location you originally downloaded the software. To report errors in the software you may email to support@iesweb.com through the software, however students will probably not receive a direct reply.
Q. How do I obtain updates or bug fixes?
A. IES may periodically release updated versions of the software to correct technical or other issues. You may simply re-download the software from your original download location and install it 'over the top' of your existing product. If prompted with 'Modify, Repair, or Remove', choose the 'Repair' option. If you have serious difficulties with the software you may wish to uninstall, then re-install. If this still does not solve problems, then you may need to perform a 'clean' uninstall as described in the IES FAQ system.
Q. The software is complaining that my license has expired, what should I do?
A. There are a couple of possibilities that could cause this. First, re-install the latest update of the software from your original download location to make sure you have the current product.
Network Administrator FAQ
Detailed Installation Instructions for Student Lab
When installing VisualAnalysis in a student lab network environment, where user privileges are reduced, you may need to make changes in your student login accounts to accommodate the software. You should be able to install and license the software as an administrator, then run on the student login without any issues.
If your student login is preventing the software from running, you may need to relax the security on the logins. VisualAnalysis needs to be able to write data files in the "IESCommonFiles" folder, and also read and write registry keys under: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IES, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IES.
One specific change that you may have to make is this:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer
Set the NoRecentDocsHistory value to 0