Considering the investment you make into your longarm quilting machine (or any high-end electronic device), it is strongly recommended that you plug it into an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS).  This device has a battery to keep the device/machine running FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

Surge Protectors will have electronics to protect electronics against minor fluctuations, but will do nothing to help if the power drops or shuts off.  Your quilting machine will CRASH even though your Pro-Stitcher tablet has an internal battery.  A UPS will switch over to the battery and keep things running FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.  If a power outage lasts more than 30 seconds, you should be immediately shutting down your machine.

While you are running on battery, your UPS will likely beep.  You may even need to reset (cycle the power) the UPS to get it to return to normal power depending on if a surge was involved.  Keep the UPS accessible.

If you experience a long term power outage, it is recommended that you unplug​ your machine and wait until power is restored and stable.  This will avoid potential damage from surges that occur when power first comes back on.

Without getting into the technical details of Volts, Amps, Watts, and Joules...
Purchase a UPS that has a "600VA" or higher rating.  The higher the number, the longer the machine and/or devices connected to it will stay running.  Buy larger systems if you plan on supporting more than one machine.  Some of the larger units may have more than one battery.  The manufacturer is not important in most cases.  The APC brand is generally considered the standard.  If you have free shipping through Amazon, you can buy online.  However the cost and regulations with shipping batteries can add cost, so it is likely an item you want to buy from a local store.

Test your UPS by simply unplugging the UPS from the wall while your equipment is running.  If you want to get fancy, many UPS devices come with a UPS cable that can be attached to a PC for testing and monitoring.  (I find this more hassle than it is worth.)

Expect to need to replace the batteries every two to three years.  Eventually the UPS will give a warning that the battery is bad.  Find a local battery store and swap out the internal battery instead of buying a whole new unit.  If you don't have a store nearby, it will likely be cheaper to buy a full new unit than pay shipping on the battery by itself.

17.09.0433 Update Display Fix
I thought I would make a separate post about the recent fix for those who upgraded to update *433 and ran into a problem where the red cross-hairs and any design you tried to load would not display. (You would get an initial flash of the cross-hairs.)
As we currently understand it, the Monitor Size setting is being set to zero/zed/0 for the Width and Height. After updating to *433, you should go to the config/settings (gear tab) and when 'Display' is selected, you will see the Window and Monitor size settings. (See picture.)
The Window size is in pixels (dots) and should change automatically as you resize your PSP window. The Monitor Size can be set manually by measuring - in inches - your screen size.
Editing these values is a bit odd...
1. Highlight and delete what is there.
2. Using the number keys at the top of the keyboard, enter then number of inches for Width and Height. (on my keyboard, the numberpad does not work and I can not use a decimal value in the Width value.)
3. Hit 'Enter' to commit the change to each field.
4. Clicking on the default word/button should set it to the proper screen size, but for some computers it is not working.
I can not reproduce the problem because it will not accept a zero value on my system.

When you are trying to get the license key for Simulator on your laptop, many people will go to the Pro-Stitcher Premium on their tablet and the Create Simulation License does not show up.  You need to shutdown Premium and run Standard before the button appears.

I will post my full personal version of installation instructions on another blog entry.  But to find and run the Standard version on your tablet - if there is not an icon - follow these steps.

1. Exit to desktop - close Pro-Stitcher Premium
2. Find the yellow folder shaped icon and click/tap on it to open the File Manager.
3. Open the C: drive - (This may vary depending on tablet version.)
4. Open the "Program Files" folder
5. Open the "Pro-Stitcher" folder
6. Open the "bin" folder
7. Run the "PsLauncher.exe" program.  This will start Pro-Stitcher Premium.

Notes on using a touch screen:
You may need to double-tap a file/folder name to do a "left click".  If you hold your finger on the item for too long, a menu will appear as if you did a "right click".

Use only one USB key in your tablet when trying to transfer a simulation key.  Otherwise Pro-Stitcher may not find the file that your laptop version wrote.  To be safe, insert the USB key into the tablet port before starting Pro-Stitcher Standard.

This post is not to defame this add as being a bad deal.  You are probably getting an ok deal, but I wanted to point out some key red flags that a novice might miss.  You can refer to my previous blog post on selecting a laptop as well.  Click the 'read more' below to find out my concerns.

I made a post to the Pro-Stitcher Sim group about how removing Norton Anti-virus improved the stability of PSP.  There are plenty of people that do not have issues with Norton and I am not going to criticize anyone for using it.  Just make sure that you are getting the updates that come out weekly.  Most companies charge you a subscription charge to keep this up to date.  If you do not update, all you are doing is disabling the native anti-virus program, Defender.  Anti-virus protection goes stale without regular updates.

What has changed over the past year or two is that many established industry nerds are now saying, "You only need to use the native Defender anti-virus in Windows 10."  I have been running my main PC at home without a third party anti-virus program for several years.

So my arguments for avoiding third party anti-virus programs are...

1. Cost.
2. The programs normally effect overall performance.
3. The anti-virus programs can cause issues with other programs.

If you want a free anti-virus, google Avast or AVG.  But even these will nag you to purchase a pay version.  If you have pre-teens and teens using the computer, you should probably pay for additional protection that also include parental monitoring.  

Leave comments below.  "From my keyboard to yours... happy computing."

I had noticed that a small window would momentarily open and close on my screen every hour or so.  It was almost a flash it went away so fast.  What was it?!?  I ran Malwarebytes and it did not find anything.  I looked for odd programs in my startup list.  Did I have a virus?

After 5 minutes searching Google for a current article on a similar problem, I found the answer...
​

The issue affects MS Office users.  I basically pay $99/yr for up to 5 computers that can run the Microsoft Office Suite of applications.  My two essentials are Outlook for email and Word for a word processor.  You also get 1TB of OneDrive space for each of 5 users.  Not a bad deal for a family or a small group of friends.

The good news is that the next update to the MS Office product will fix the problem:

• This issue is fixed starting with build 16.0.8201.2025 which is now available as the latest update for those participating in the Office Insiders Slow program. It will be included in a future update for those not participating in Insiders.

Don't forget to become a member of the MK Quilts IT Support Services if you don't want to have to worry about maintaining your own system.

Quick Tip -
Go to your power options settings and make sure your timeout for when the computer goes to sleep - powers down - is set to NEVER for when you are plugged in.  Or at the very least set to 5 hours.  You can always manually shut the PC off.
WHY?
There are important security and software updates that need to be installed on your PC weekly.  The recommended default is to leave this set to automatic.  Unfortunately, if you have a limited network speed, the computer will not download the updates while you are using the system because it can interfere with what you are doing.  If your PC shuts down soon after you stop using it, many of the larger updates may never install.

I came across this while supporting a client who is part of the IT support service.  Please consider this service if you do not have regular assistance on maintaining your PC.

Please do NOT utilize your internet provider for your personal email address.
Many people have a post office box and the UNITED STATES POST OFFICE to receive their mail instead of delivering to their house.  They know the likelihood of our government closing that location is less likely than the local Pack-n-Ship store down on Main Street.  Email is not delivered to your house and not even to your computer.  Your computer is going out to a provider to retrieve the email, just like you would go to a PO box to collect your physical mail.

Most people get there internet service through the cable TV provider.  If you move, change your account, or decide to go with another provider... they will immediately close your email account that is associated with it.  Guess what else is normally stored with your email?  Your contacts... all the email addresses of your friends!  Do you know how to save that information?

Open a FREE email account on Outlook.com or Gmail.com.  You can easily forward your current email to the new account as your friends learn your new address.  There are other services like AOL.com and others, but I really like the Microsoft Outlook.com features.  

If you want to learn more and/or want someone to walk you through this process, look into the IT Membership Service offered through MK Quilts.  You don't have to depend on the friends and relatives plan.

Habits are hard to break.  Even the great "MK" found out the hard way that you should stop appending "www." to every website she tries to go to.  Click the 'Read More' if you want to get into the details, but here is an example of why it can cause problems...

When a customer is trying to go directly to the Yondo video site for MK Quilts, they may try to type...
​    "www.mkquilts.yondo.com" instead of "mkquilts.yondo.com"
Which results in the following screen to appear...

Shortcuts are basically small files that point back to another file... sometimes called a link.  When you put a shortcut to a program on you desktop, taskbar, or start menu, you are not copying the larger program file.  All program files should reside in C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86).  You should not make any changes to these files if you need to read this post.