Technical Support

Frequently Asked Questions about SPSS 10.0




Q. I received my copy of SPSS 10.0 for Windows and installed the client on my local PC. However, each and every time I launch, I receive the following SPSS for Windows alert:

Your license renewal date has passed. SPSS for Windows will stop working if a new license is not installed soon. If you don't want to see this message again, run expoff.bat in the SPSS directory.

When I click , SPSS seems to function properly. Subsequently, when I run "Show License" from a command syntax window, the expiration date field displays an esoteric value (1, 0). I purchased a perpetual license and the software shouldn't expire anytime soon. Is my license going to expire?


A. Contrary to the alert, your license will not expire anytime soon. Please run EXPOFF.BAT as stated in the alert to prevent this message from appearing every time the program is launched. If you have installed SPSS 10 for Windows on a file server, please run EXPOFF.BAT from the server and each client. Network administrators may find it more convenient to obtain a new license code from their local SPSS office and update it only at the file server level. For North America, please contact Customer Service at (800) 521-1337.

Q. I have just received a copy of SPSS 10 for Windows. I don't see any installation instructions in my package. Where can I find these?
A. Installation instructions are in .PDF files in the folder Installation Documents on your SPSS 10.0 CD-ROM. .PDF files are Adobe Acrobat Reader files; Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for installation from your SPSS 10.0 CD-ROM. Both the installation instructions and the Adobe Acrobat Reader are also available from the autoplay menu that will appear when you insert your SPSS 10.0 CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.

Q. I am attempting to install SPSS 10.0 for Windows and I encounter the following alert when I click the Next command button on the "Welcome" screen of the Setup program:

This application requires SVGA display resolution or higher.

When I click OK, I receive another alert: Error- your system does not meet the minimal requirements to install SPSS... Setup aborting.

Clicking OK aborts the Setup program. What do I need to do in order to install SPSS?

A. These alerts mean you are running a display resolution of 640x480 pixels. SPSS requires you run at least 800x600 pixels. To change this setting, please click on Start->Settings->Control Panel, double-click on Display, and click on the Settings tab. Please locate the slider bar under Desktop Area and move it at least one notch to the right and click OK. You will receive a Display Properties alert reporting it will adjust your display settings. Please click OK. Your original settings will be restored in 15 seconds if Windows does not display properly. You are now ready to install SPSS.

If you attempt to move the slider bar under Desktop Area to the right and a dialog box pops up asking you select a Monitor type, cancel out of the dialog boxes. Before preceding with the change confirm that your monitor type supports resolution settings greater than 640x480. If it does not please use the steps below to install SPSS.

If you do not wish to change your display settings, there is a way to prevent the Setup program from aborting. Please note that if you choose not to run at least SVGA display resolution or higher, you will encounter display problems viewing certain Interactive Graphics dialog boxes. These problems are not supported under a display resolution of 640x480 pixels.

To prevent the Setup program from aborting, please click on Start->Run and browse or type the full path to the Setup executable located in the SPSS directory, i.e.

D:\spss\setup.exe (where D: is the CD-ROM drive)

Please add one space after setup.exe along with the following switch, -NOENVFAIL. This switch is case sensitive, so please use capital letters. The finished command line should look like this:

D:\spss\setup.exe -NOENVFAIL

This command line will invoke the Setup program and will not display the Autoplay screen. You will still encounter the first alert listed above, but the installation will be allowed to continue.

Q. I have just installed SPSS 10.0 onto my PC and I do not see it on the Start Programs Menu. I see SPSS 9.0 for Windows and expected to see SPSS 10.0 next to it. What went wrong?
A. Although previous versions of SPSS for Windows were placed on the main menu of Start->Programs, SPSS 10.0 for Windows is added as a program group called SPSS for Windows. You may be used to seeing both SPSS 9.0 for Windows and SPSS 9.0 Production Facility (or previous versions) on the Start->Programs menu and not notice that SPSS for Windows has been added to the section of the menu which lists program groups, which are indicated by an arrow to the right of the program group name on the menu. Move your cursor to SPSS for Windows on the Start Program menu and you will see a submenu appear which includes SPSS 10.0 for Windows, SPSS 10.0 Production Facility and, if you've installed the Maps module, SPSS Maps Geodictionary Manager and SPSS Maps Geoset Manager.

Q. I have installed SPSS 10.0.x on our file server and configured all client installations. I can successfully launch SPSS from Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 workstations, but not from clients running Windows 95 or Windows 98. Upon launch, I encounter the SPSS splash screen and the status bar reports "Starting SPSS Processor", but the program hangs. If I check the Close Program list, "SPSSWIN" is not responding. What seems to be the problem?
A. It appears we have a conflict with McAfee Virus Scan 4.0.x., specifically the "System Scan" option. Please right-click on the McAfee icon in the system tray (bottom right-hand corner of the screen) and select PROPERTIES->SYSTEM SCAN from the context menu. Next, choose the EXCLUSIONS tab and click . Browse or type the full path to the SPSS directory on the Server. Click twice to accept the change and exit.

Q. I have installed SPSS 10.0.x for Windows on our file server and have configured all clients. I can launch SPSS successfully from the Windows NT 4.0 clients, but not the Windows 95/98 clients. I encounter the following alerts:
Error:
DACManagerPkg Package Synchronous Communication Error
Code=?

When I click , I receive...

CSApplication::InitConnection():
Fatal Exception

...followed by an SPSS Server Login screen which lists "Local Computer" as the Server Name. If I click , I encounter the first alert again. What seems to be the problem?


A. These alerts are caused by mapping a drive directly to the SPSS directory on the server prior to installing the client. Please map a drive to a share at least one level above the SPSS directory or use UNC path specifications prior to installing the client.

Q. On the SPSS Service Login Screen, I put a check in the checkbox for the distributed mode service I wish to launch. But when I launch, another service is chosen. What is wrong?

A. The highlighted option (not the checked option) is the option that is launched from this screen. Highlight the service option you wish to run for distributed mode.

Q. When I try to log into distributed mode through the SPSS Server Login Screen upon launch, I receive the error message: "The specified remote server was not found". I can launch locally without any problems. Why can't I connect to the server? What could be wrong? How do I fix it?

A. This is most likely caused by one of the following:

  1. The specified server does not exist on the network, or it has been misspelled.
  2. The SPSS Server was not installed on the machine you added in the login screen. The solution is to install it.
  3. The Windows NT Service, SPSSSRVR.EXE, is not running on the server. Reboot the server, or explicitly launch the service via START->SETTINGS->CONTROL PANEL, double-clicking on SERVICES, selecting SPSSService, and clicking START.
  4. An inappropriate license code was used to install SPSS Server. Please contact Technical Support to confirm your license code is appropriate.
  5. The server and client are different version. Please make sure the server and client are exactly the same version. That is, if the client is SPSS 10.0.5, the server must be the same version, 10.0.5.

Q. I want to use SPSS 10.0 in distributed mode, but I want a thin client (few to no files installed on my client machine). How do I do this?

A. You will need the appropriate license codes from Customer Service or Sales. First, install SPSS to a file server, using a site license or network license code. Second, from your client, run \spss\setup\setup.exe off this file server (UNC is preferable to driver mapping, but either naming convention is acceptable). Third, install SPSS Service to another server (or perhaps to the original file server, under a different directory). By linking to the SPSS Service server, you will be able to run in distributed mode. The \SPSS directory will be on the first file server. The \SPSSServer directory will be on the second file server. Neither directory will be on the client.

Q. I'm running distributed mode in SPSS 10 for Windows and I've accessed the File->Open->Data dialog box. The dialog shows all the drives and directories of the server, not the client I'm working on. Subsequently, if I access the File->Save/Save As dialog box I seem to have write permission anywhere on the server disregarding any share permissions that have been established. How does security work while logged in distributed mode?

A. Data files are processed by the SPSS server. SPSS 10.0 for Windows offers no built-in security mechanisms other than what's provided by the operating system on the client and server machines. The application that's accessing the file system is the Server application and it has access to all locations on the computer where it is running. Permissions do work if applied to an NTFS volume. If one wants to create a read-only directory for data files on the SPSS Server computer, it can be accomplished so long as that directory is on an NTFS volume. Permissions also work if applied to a Share name that is not on the server. If one wants to create a read-only directory for data files on another computer on the network, this can be accomplished by setting permissions for the Share name and SPSS Server will honor them.

Q. I am running multiple SPSS sessions at one machine. Whenever I make changes to one session (through the Edit -> Options menu, or customized toolbars and menus), these changes seem to bleed through into my other sessions, sometimes with catastrophic results. What is happening?

A. Though you can run multiple SPSS sessions on one machine/workstation, they will all share the same SPSS for Windows 10.0 keys in the Windows Registry. The changes mentioned in the question above all alter the Windows Registry, and so change your settings for _all_ currently open SPSS sessions. There is little you can do here, except 1) avoid making changes to the Windows Registry, or, 2) make changes that will be compatible across all sessions.

Q. Are there any standards for choosing local mode or distributed mode when running SPSS 10?

A. Every SPSS user has the ability to run SPSS in local mode. Those sites purchasing SPSS servers can also choose to run in distributed mode. Here are some guidelines for selecting between the two modes:

You must run SPSS in local mode when:
-- Your data is stored on a local drive that cannot be shared across the network.
-- You are not connected to the network, such as on a notebook computer.
-- No SPSS servers are available on the network or the available servers do not have the SPSS
options you require.

You should consider running in local mode when:
-- Your data is small, say 0-2 MB in size, and is visible from your Windows PC in My Computer or Network Neighborhood, and
-- When your computation runs acceptably fast on your desktop Windows PC.

You must run SPSS in distributed mode when:
-- Your desktop PC has insufficient memory, virtual memory, or temporary disk space to run your analysis, or
-- Your Windows PC does not have the required database access software to communicate with the database.
-- Your network administrator does not permit you to download large data tables to your Windows PC.

You should consider running in distributed mode when:
-- Your data is large and stored in a commercial database supported by the Merant technology. Your computation runs too slow on your Windows PC and the machine running your SPSS server machine is significantly more powerful.

Q. After installing the SPSS Data Connectivity Pack, I noticed there was no Access listed with set of drivers that Merant installs. Is it included with the Data Connectivity Pack?

A. There is no Access driver installed with the drivers we get from Merant. However, on the CD-ROM there is a directory called ms_odbc and it contains the Microsoft Data Access Pack. The name of the file that needs to be run is called DATAACC.EXE. This needs to be installed on the machine that is processing the data.

Q. I have installed SPSS 10.0 and would like to use the Merant SequeLink Technologies that are provided on the SPSS 10.0 CD ROM. I understand there are two parts to the software, the SequeLink Client and the SequeLink Server. However, I am not sure where each component should be installed. How do I set up the SequeLink client and server so that I can it on my local machine?

A. The answer to this question is dependent on your installation of SPSS 10.0. There are three components of SPSS 10.0. They are the client ( where the files necessary to run SPSS 10.0 are installed), the Analytical Server (where the SPSS 10.0 Server side is installed) and the Data Server (were the database is installed and data is stored). There are two possible ways to run SPSS 10.0, Local Mode and Distributed Mode. When in Local Mode, all files necessary for running SPSS 10.0 are located on your hard drive and you will be connecting to the Data Server over the network without the use of the Analytical Server. When in Distributed Mode, SPSS 10.0 is also installed on your local computer, but processes are run from the Analytical Server. In this case, you will be connecting to the Data Sever using the Analytical Server. You have the option of Local Mode or Distributed Mode when launching a session of SPSS 10.0.

If you are using SPSS 10.0 in Local Mode, the SequeLink Client should be installed to your client and the SequeLink Server should be installed to the Data Sever. If you are using SPSS 10.0 in Distributed Mode, SequeLink client must be installed to the Analytical Server and the SequeLink Server must be installed to the Data Server. Note, that if you are switching between the Local and Distributed Mode from the same client machine, then install the SequeLink Client on both the client and the Analytical Server. The SequeLink Server will remain on the Data Server.

Q. I have created a map and would like to save it as a Geoset. SPSS creates many temporary files, but which files are necessary when saving the constructed IMAP as a Geoset?

A. There are five essential files that SPSS will need when saving the created MAP as a Geoset. The following is a list of the five files, by extension, and their function:

*.tab - Describes the structure of a table. The .tab file is a text file, which the user can view or edit in any text editor.

*.map -This file describes the graphic objects

*.dat- (or .dbf, .mdb) - This file contains the tabular data. The extension will differ based on the origin of the file

*.ind - The index file allows the .tab file to have map objects, such as address, city or state

*.id - This is a cross reference file that links the data with the objects text editor.

*.map -This file describes the graphic objects

*.dat- (or .dbf, .mdb) - This file contains the tabular data. The extension will differ based on the origin of the file

*.ind - The index file allows the .tab file to have map objects, such as address, city or state

*.id - This is a cross reference file that links the data with the objects