Grade Point FAQs

Q:	How would I use this program at home AND school?
A:	You are allowed to install Grade Point on as many machines as you'd like: both at home and at school, but you must be careful not to end up with multiple grading databases, each with unique data. There are several approaches to synchronizing files between both locations, including a feature within Grade Point called Transport. The help file that comes with Grade Point provides detailed instructions on this topic. Select Transport from the File menu, and when the Transport Data window opens, click on the Help button for an overview. Also in the Help file's Contents there are several related topics under the heading Backup Procedures.

Q:	How is saving the information to a disk different from using the Transport feature?
A:	The default data location is the user's "My Documents" folder, usually found on the hard drive of the machine or on a server. Transport is used to keep data synchronized between the hard drives of two machines. Another option is to simply save your grades to a flash drive or small external USB hard drive, and take the disk back and forth between your home and school machines. This option is only recommended if you are making a backup in another location as well. See the next question.

Q:	What if I don't want to use the Transport feature, but I just want to have all my data on a removable drive?
A:	This is possible, but there are drawbacks to making a removable drive your primary data location: If you are using really old technology, such as floppy disks, you should know that floppy disks are the least dependable means of data storage. (Followed closely by flash drives of users who don't properly eject them.) Floppies hold relatively little data. Although your grades may fit on a floppy when you start out, as you add data throughout the year, the floppy may not be able to hold all of it. Reading from and writing to a floppy disk or even a flash drive is incredibly slow compared to a hard drive. For safety reasons, Grade Point does a lot of automatic saving, which you won't especially notice when the data is saved to the hard drive. However, once you switch your data location other than a hard drive, you will possibly notice some lags as the program pauses to save or load data. If you lose your disk or removable drive, your data will be all gone unless you are making backups to another location. Removable disks and removable drives will probably fail before your hard drive fails. If you rely on a removable disk or drive as your primary data source, please have a copy of your data somewhere else, too.


Q:	I am having trouble getting the program installed on my school machine.
A:	You may not have enough administrative rights to properly install Grade Point. If this is a home machine, make sure you are logged into Windows with an account that has administrative rights. If this is a school machine, check with your system administrator for assistance in getting the program installed. This advice applies to machines running other operating systems on a network, as well. Your ability to install programs may depend on your type of network, the type of rights your network administrator has given you, and whether any kind of desktop protection program is running on your workstation. Ask your network administrator if your machine is affected by System Policies, ZEN Works™ Policies (Novell™ networks), FoolProof™ desktop protection, etc. If your machine has the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system, user rights are set by someone who has administrative rights to the machine. Without the assistance of that person, you may not have enough system rights to get Grade Point properly installed and configured.

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