Only ONE entry field is available in the Search for a Campground dialog! 

What users are referring to is the 10-most-recent entries list that is part of most dialogs in windows applications.  That list is not managed by the user.  Each time the user enters a search string, it is added to the top of the list for convenient access at a later time.  When the list is full, then when the user types in a new entry, the oldest entry in the list is deleted to make room for the new one that is added to the top of the list.  The user cannot add/delete entries to that list directly, and those entries have *no* bearing in any of the calculations, unless one is "clicked on", in which case it is transferred to the dialog's main entry field.

I changed the daily Star/Stop driving times, but it did not make any difference in the calculated trip directions, i.e., the daily start and stop driving times in the directions did not change.

Changing the Daily Start/Stop drive times in the Customize tab of the Trip Planner dialog, only affects stop points added to the trip, subsequently to the drive time changes you make.  Otherwise, if you had spent all sorts of time customizing the drive times for each individual leg of the trip, setting the times in the Customize tab, would reset them all to a single Start/Stop drive time set. 

The drive Start/Stop times for any Stop points that have been added to the trip prior to changing the Customize Start/Stop times, can be modified individually by clicking on the small stopwatch icon that appears to the right of each Stop point, in the main Trip Planner dialog.

Solution:  Somehow, your TLDCN-2008 configuration file must have gotten corrupted, and the paths are not pointing to the appropriate data folders.  Click on File, Program Options and select the map data folders. You can type in the correct data folders, or click on the ellipsis button (to the right of each field) and navigate to the appropriate folder.  If you used the default disk drive and destination path, during installation, then the paths should be as follows:

States0: c:\program files\TLDCN2008\States

States1: c:\program files\TLDCN2008\States

   Data1: c:\program files\TLDCN2008\Data1

   Data2: c:\program files\TLDCN2008\Data2

   Data3: c:\program files\TLDCN2008\Data3

Answer:  There is no way to specify a highway name or number that should be used by the program.  However, you can force it to follow a certain route/road by adding Via points to your trip, along the road you are interested in using, by the "Shift-Click" method. You can add as may such points as desired, to make the router follow a certain path, since it has to go through all specified Via points.

Answer:  One way would be to force the router to follow a certain route/road, around the area you want, by adding Via points to your trip, along the route you are interested in following.  The other way is to use the menu sequence, Plan a Trip, Set Routing exclusions, and highlight the areas that you do NOT want the router to go through.

Possible Solution (1):

If you are attempting to use the software with a USB GPS receiver, you will need to get a USB to COM Port software driver from the GPS manufacturer.  This driver will capture the information coming in to the USB port and internally divert it to a COM port.  Most GPS unit manufacturers use *proprietary* COM emulations in their USB devices, anyway, and they have recently made software device drivers available for free (on their web sites) to allow *other* mapping applications to work with their hardware.  Find the manufacturer of your GPS, go to their web site and look for a USB serial emulator driver.

For example, here is the description from the Delorme web site (and the link to download the appropriate device driver) http://www.delorme.com/support/supporttemplate.aspx?id=217  (this location is valid as of 4/5/2006 - Note that the location on their web site may change, in that case go to www.delorme.com and look for the appropriate device driver).

Possible Solution (2):

You need to make sure that the settings on your GPS receiver, and/or any USB/COM emulator drivers, are the same as the settings in the TLDCN-2008 software (e.g. the COM port #, the Baud rate, etc.)

See list of GPS receivers reported by users as working well with the program...

See list of GPS receivers reported by users as working well with the program...

Answer:  Yes, you can use the Earthmate USB devices with the program.  You need to download and install the appropriate device driver from the Delorme web site, that allows their devices to communicate with third party NMEA compliant programs (like Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008).  The link to download the appropriate device driver is

http://www.delorme.com/support/supporttemplate.aspx?id=217  (this location is valid as of 4/5/2006 - Note that the location on their web site may change, in that case go to www.delorme.com and look for the appropriate device driver).

After you install the device driver (following the Delorme instructions) make a note of the virtual COM port that the device is assigned to.  Then, run the Trailer Life program, select the GPS tab (on the right), Select GPS settings and set the Port number in the dialog that appears to the same number as the virtual port the Delorme device was assigned to.

Note that if you have problems, it could be that some other driver is trying to use the same port.  Access the Delorme device driver settings again, and set the virtual COM port to a different number (you may want to try a number 5 and above).  Then, run the Trailer life program again and set the COM port, in the GPS settings dialog, to the same number, as well.

See list of GPS receivers reported by users as working well with the program...

Answer:  As far as we know, the GPS receiver shipped with MS Streets and Trips, is manufactured by Pharos.  Based on Pharos' web site, indeed, you should be able to use their device with ANY NMEA compliant software.  Here are some brief instructions (from their site,  http://www.pharosgps.com/support/faq-faq2.htm paraphrased here to refer to TL Campground Navigator 2008)

See list of GPS receivers reported by users as working well with the program...

Answer:  Garmin USB devices use a proprietary protocol to communicate with their own software packages (rather than the standard NMEA compliant string).  They make this proprietary protocol available to third party developers and it has been implemented in the TL Campground Navigator 2008 program.  Select the Garmin USB (*) communications protocol in the GPS Settings dialog.  Note: a modification was made to the program in Service Pack 2, to accommodate Garmin GPS devices that use the Garmin USB protocol. Based on user feedback, the following Garmin GPS devices are used with the program without any problems: Garmin 60CSx, Legend eTrex, GPS III, Garmin 18 USB, Garmin C320, and more...

(*) This applies to Garmin USB GPS devices.  For Garmin devices with a serial interface, the "NMEA Serial" protocol option should be selected in the GPS settings tab, and the COM port used by the device to communicate with the computer should be set.

See list of GPS receivers reported by users as working well with the program...

Answer: When the currently tracked location, as determined by the GPS supplied coordinates, has changed by the amount specified by this Buffer setting, the map redraws itself with the current location at the center of the viewport. So, a low value means the map will be redrawn when the current location has "slightly" changed.  Depending on what scale the map is at, attempting to redraw the map every few milliseconds (as the GPS position changes), can result in your systems CPU becoming overwhelmed and not be able to perform operations requested by other applications that may be running at the time (almost continuous hourglass cursor).

Answer:  (1) while holding down the Shift key, on the keyboard, place the mouse pointer on the spot you are interested in adding to the trip, and press the left mouse button.  

(2) A popup menu will appear, that will give you the opportunity to add this point as the starting point for your trip, add it as via (intermediate) point, or adding it as the stop (end) point of your trip.

In addition to these actions, the pop-up menu allows you to also do the following

(3) If you clicked on an existing trip marker on the map, then selecting "Delete" will delete that point from the current trip.

(4) Clear all the trip points currently defined.

(5) Open the trip planner dialog, by selecting "Plan Your Trip"

Since at different scales, a pixel on the screen represents a different distance, and the user can only click on a pixel, it should be noted that the accuracy of the placement of Via Points, when Shift-clicking, depends on the current scale of the map.  It is therefore recommended that when placing such points the user is zoomed-in to a scale below 2 miles, so that appropriate, accurate  placement can be assured.

Answer:  There are so many ways to search for things, in the 2008 version, that it may get overwhelming at times.  To search for any of the 13,000+ campgrounds and RV park facilities in the Trailer Life database, you need to click on the "find a Location" button, either on the splash screen or on the main screen, or select Search, Find a Location from the menu bar, or just press the F9 key while in the main mapping screen.

Answer:  After you calculate your route based on the Via/Stop points you have selected, the program calculates the "end-of-day" stop time and displays the closest campground at the end of each day.  There is a button that allows you to add those campgrounds as stop points. 

Also, in the trip planner Customize dialog, if you click on (highlight) any one of the stop points, there is a little timer icon that appears to the right of the point description.  Clicking on that icon opens a dialog that allows you to specify the number of hours or days that you want to stop at that point.

Answer:  Humans can decipher all sorts of variations in the format of an address, but computers need to follow certain rules.  For example,  if you typed

     100 Main St North Andover MA

it's impossible for the program to know if you are looking for

     "100 Main St North" in "Andover", or "100 Main St" in "North Andover"

Although the program tries to guess at what the user "meant" to type, the format for entering a search string is that one enters:

SomeStreetAddress, SomeCity, SomeStateTwoLetterAbbreviation, SomeZIPCode

Note the "commas" - they are important. They are used to eliminate ambiguity as to what the user is searching for.  The only optional comma is the one after the state abbreviation.

So, in the above example of not being able to find a city, entering "Boston, MA" with the comma should result in a successful search.

Answer:  These are French names and need to be entered the way they appear in the database and on the map.  Entering the appropriate French names, e.g.

   Percé,QC  or  Montréal,QC

should find the place you are searching for.

We have received a number of questions from users on "How to Enter the French Characters" on their keyboard.  Of course, one of the ways would be to install the French keyboard in Windows (Control Panel, Regional settings,...  You need to read the Windows information for details on how to do that, and how to access the foreign characters on a US keyboard).

On many systems, however, one can use an old (DOS) method to quickly enter some of these foreign characters from the ASCII character set, without having to make any modifications to the Operating System settings.  It is done by typing a 3-digit numeric code  on the numeric keypad of your keyboard, while holding down the Alt key.  Please, note that the numeric keypad is NOT the row of numbers at the top of your keyboard (see below). 

Also note that if you are using a laptop computer, there is probably not a separate numeric keypad, but one is embedded within the other keys and you probably need some special key to access it.  Each laptop is different, please consult your computer's documentation for details on how to do that.

Here are some common Alt-num combinations for entering characters other than English:

Answer:  You have probably set up a trip, with user-specified stops, in such a way that there are no "end-of-day" stops automatically calculated by the program.  Since the program doesn't see the need, or get the chance to calculate "end-of-day" stops, based on the travel times you have specified, it presumes that you have already decided where to stop, and therefore does not see the need to calculate closest campgrounds, either, that's why the button is never enabled. 
 

Answer:  If there are only two points in the list, one is the Starting point of your trip and the second is the Endpoint of your trip, by definition.  It does not make sense to have the ability to specify the length of layover for the starting point and the end point of a trip!  You can only specify layovers for intermediate stop points.

Answer:  Most of the time, the files are there, but the user has, probably unintentionally, saved them with a different file extension (rather than the default .trp) extension, or has saved them in a different folder. A tip, if you attempt to open a trip file and the list of files presented appears not to include all the trip files you have saved, then

(a) Make sure that the folder you are looking at is the same as the folder where you saved your trip files, and

(b) In case you somehow saved them with a different file extension, go to the "File Name:" field, of the File Open dialog, type *.* and press Enter.  That should display ALL files in the folder, regardless of the file extension.  Browse the list and see if the other trip files you saved are in that list.

*  The dialog that appears when the user attempts to save/open a file, is a standard windows dialog.  There may be additional details in the Windows documentation of how such dialogs operate. 

** Note that on many Vista installation, the Administrator account may be originally hidden, for Vista security purpose.  The link provided below contains information on how to access the Administrator account, if you are interested in doing so.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555910/en-us

I cannot run the program by selecting Start, All Programs, I get an error message that the path to TLDCN200.EXE is wrong.

The link between the shortcut in the Programs folder and the location of the executable does not appear to have been set up properly, during the installation process.  Here is how you can reset the link:

Using Windows XP

1. Click the Windows Start button (lower left corner of your screen)
2. Click on All Programs
3. In the listing of installed programs that appears, locate the Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008 folder entry. If you cannot find an entry for that folder, then go to step #5.
4. Rest your mouse pointer on the Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008 folder entry. A single entry should appear inside that folder, which should also be "Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008" without the quotes). However, the icon associated with it might be a generic Windows icon, instead of the TLDCN2008 icon. That is the shortcut to the executable, which is most probably pointing to an incorrect link and needs to be corrected. Continue with step #13.
5. If you could not find the shortcut in Start, All Programs, then Right-Click on Start.
6. Select Open. A window should open and a number of folders would appear in it. The folder Programs should be one of them.
7. Double-Click on the Programs folder. A list of program folders would appear. Check to see if the folder Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008 is one of those folders. If it is, then continue with step #12
8. Click the Up-Folder Windows icon  and notice that the folder location would be something like... C:\Documents and Settings\SomeUserName\Start Menu.
9. Replace the "SomeUserName" part with "All Users" (PLEASE, omit the quotes) and then click on the GO Windows button
10. A number of folders would appear and the folder Programs should be one of them.
11. Double-Click on the Programs folder. A list of Program folders would appear. Check to see if the folder Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008 is one of those folders.
12. Double-Click on the Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008 folder. A shortcut should appear in the Window, named Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008. The icon associated with the shortcut would probably be a Windows generic icon (because the shortcut is NOT pointing to the right executable).
13. Right click on the shortcut and select Properties.
14. Make sure the Shortcut tab is highlighted in the dialog that appears, and take a look at the contents of the field named "Target". It  Probably displays "C:\Program Files\TLDCN2008\TLDCN200.exe". The drive letter and folder may be different if you did not install using the default setting.  However, the important thing is to note the missing "8" from TLDCN2008.exe - that's he problem. Edit the contents of the Target field and add the missing "8". The contents of the field now should display:
    C:\Program Files\TLDCN2008\TLDCN2008.exe.
15. Click O.K. If everything was done correctly, the shortcut icon should now be automatically updated to the TLDCN2008 icon.
16. Close all windows to get back to your desktop.
17. Now, you should be able to start the program by selecting Start, All Programs.

Using Windows Vista

1. Click the Windows Start button (lower left corner of your screen)
2. Click on All Programs
3. In the listing of installed programs that appears, locate the Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator 2008 folder entry.
4. Click on the Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator folder one.  You should see the contents of the folder, in this case, a single shortcut link to the executable.
5. Right click on the shortcut and select Properties.
6. Make sure the Shortcut tab is highlighted in the dialog that appears, and take a look at the contents of the field named "Target". It probably displays "C:\Program Files\TLDCN2008\TLDCN200.exe". The drive letter and folder may be different if you did not install using the default setting.  However, the important thing is to note the missing "8" from TLDCN2008.exe - that's the problem. Edit the contents of the Target field and add the missing "8". The contents of the field now should display:
   C:\Program Files\TLDCN2008\TLDCN2008.exe.
7. Click O.K. If everything was done correctly, the shortcut icon should now be automatically updated to the TLDCN2008 icon.
8. Close all windows to get back to your desktop.
9. Now, you should be able to start the program by selecting Start, All Programs.

Although you don't have to transfer the files, you can access them by simply pointing to the folders they are located in, you may want to us Windows explorer to copy them in your TLDCN2008 data folders.

If you have used the default* settings to install the 2007 and 2008 versions, then your TLCN2007 data files should be in the folders shown below, i.e. your trip files would be in the folder named My Trips, your Journal pictures in the folder My Pictures, etc.

Simply use Windows explorer to copy the files from each of the TLCN2007 folder you are interested in to the corresponding TLDCN2008 folder.  There is no conversion or other processing necessary.

* If you did not use the default settings during the installation, then you need to locate the folders corresponding to your installation and copy the files as suggested above.

Based on user feedback, this is usually the result of either of the following situation:

(a) You are not currently connected to the Internet.  Accessing the Web pages for Campgrounds that have an active link in the program, requires that you are connected to the internet when trying to do so.

(b) The Web button may be confused by the user as being active, i.e., indicating that the highlighted campground has a Web page link in the program, whereas it is not.  Note, *not* all Campgrounds have web page links.  You can tell the ones that do, because when you highlight them, the Web button becomes active (see below):

Ads, in the program, are in the form of PDF files, and as such you need to have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to read them.  Normally, you'd get an error that the file could not be opened, but it is possible that no error appears, if Acrobat is not installed.