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Technical Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Installation
Program Launch
Easy Start
Data Importing/Exporting
Book Expert/Quiz Manager
Student Data
Reports
Scholastic Reading Counts! Quiz/Settings
Network/Computer Environment
Q. During my installation of Scholastic Reading Counts!, I get a message that reads, "An error occurred during the move data process: -132. Component: File Group: File:" What’s the problem?
A. This error is usually the result of having the Scholastic Reading Counts! Sampler version running while trying to install the full version of Scholastic Reading Counts! We recommend closing all applications before installing Scholastic Reading Counts! to prevent any potential problems.
Q. I ran the Network Installer, but it doesn’t appear as if anything has been installed.
A. The Network installer simply creates a database (a folder called "SMS_Data") on your networked server, and places Workstation Installers in a folder along with the database. To install the student or teacher applications, go to a workstation and locate the appropriate installers in the "Installs" folder. These workstations will then "point" to the appropriate network database.
Q. (Windows NT 4.0 Users) I just installed Scholastic Reading Counts! and when I try to launch the Scholastic Management Suite, I get an error that reads, "The ordinal 6451 could not be located in the dynamic link library MFC42.DLL." What should I do?
A. We recommend that you reboot your PC and re-install Scholastic Reading Counts! without any other open applications. Since this should have been your first attempt to log into the program, you will not lose any data.
Q. (Windows 3.x Users) When I attempt to launch the Scholastic Reading Counts! Installer directly from the CD, I get an error stating that the installer is not compatible with Windows 3.x. Can I run Scholastic Reading Counts! on a Windows 3.x computer?
A. You most certainly can run Scholastic Reading Counts! on Windows 3.x, however you can only run the Quiz prgram. You also can only install the Quiz program from a Network installer, meaning you must have already installed to a Windows 95/NT/MAC server in order to install to a Windows 3.x PC. Once a Win 3.x quiz application is installed on a networked workstation, all quiz data from that workstation will be managed via the networked Scholastic Management Suite application. Note: Forthcoming versions of Scholastic Reading Counts! (Fall 2000) will no longer support Windows 3.X.

Q. My students have noticed that it takes a long time to load quizzes in Scholastic Reading Counts! Will this be addressed in a future version?
A. The time it takes the quiz program to load Scholastic Reading Counts! Quizzes may depend on the speed of your workstation and the type of network you are using. We have noticed that performance on Macintosh networks is particularly slow and we are working to speed up this process in a forthcoming release.
Q. I’m a registered teacher and would like to log into the Scholastic Reading Counts! system my students use, so that I can take a quiz, view questions, etc. How can I do this?
A. Currently, the Scholastic Reading Counts! system does not recognize teachers in the Quiz program. The easiest way for teachers to view the quiz system is to establish a ‘dummy’ user name and log in using this. Here’s how to manually add a ‘dummy’ user:
  1. Enter Scholastic Management Suite.
  2. From within the Student tab, click the <Add> button.
  3. Enter a first and last name, as well as a grade. These are mandatory fields and the student cannot be created without them. All other fields are optional.
  4. Click <Done> to return to the Scholastic Management Suite.
Q. When I try to launch the Scholastic Reading Counts! Quiz program, I get the message, "Access to the specified device, path, or file is denied." What’s wrong?
A. This error message may indicate that you are low on disk space. We recommend you free up some disk space by deleting temporary files (*.tmp) or archiving data you do not use often. See your Network Administrator/Computer Technician for assistance.
Q. I have tried to install Scholastic Reading Counts! Quizzes and get an error that "not all of the titles could be imported." What happened?
A. You may have been pointing to a folder within the quiz disk, or to an incorrect folder somewhere else on your computer. When installing Scholastic Reading Counts! Quizzes, you must select (highlight) the CD-ROM containing the quizzes and click <Okay>. To install quizzes, follow these steps:

  1. Insert the CD-ROM with the Scholastic Reading Counts! quizzes into your computer.

  2. From the Book Expert or Easy Start, click <Install Quizzes>.
  3. Locate and select (highlight) the Scholastic Reading Counts! Quiz CD-ROM.

  4. Click <OK> to install quizzes. If you get a message that the folder containing the Quizzes could not be found, you have not selected the CD-ROM.
Q. Can two teachers log in to the SMS at the same time?
A. Yes, two teachers can log in simultaneously, so long as they do not attempt to modify the same students record or a student that is currently logged in.

Q. How can I tell if my data import has been completed?
A. During the data import process, a percentage bar will indicate how much of the process has been completed. Once the percentage bar has been completely filled, your import is finished. Another indication will be the number of students after the import will be higher than the number prior to the import.
Q. When I click the Easy Start button, one of my options is ‘Enroll Teachers and Students.’ I cannot find that option at all in any the following screens. Why not?
A. This is most likely because you are logged in as a teacher with only Classroom Access. Speak to your administrator about giving you School-wide Access if you wish to add teachers to Scholastic Reading Counts!
Q. (Macintosh Users) I’m trying to import our school database, anyfile.txt using the Easy Start function. I’m getting an error message that reads, "The document anyfile.txt could not be opened because the application Microsoft Word could not be found." What do I do?
A. This error is most likely being caused by a conflict with the Easy Open program. Temporarily disable the Easy Open program by clicking the close check box, and try the data import again.
Q. (Macintosh Users) I’m trying to import our school database, anyfile.txt, which is located on a floppy disk. When I select the file, it does not load. Why not?
A. This error is most likely occurring because the diskette containing anyfile.txt is labeled incorrectly. Rename the diskette to something like, TEMP, or UNTITLED, and try the data import again.
Q. If I select a class and choose ‘Export’ from the File menu, it gives me an error stating, ‘No Students have been selected.’ Can I export a class?
A. Because students may belong to more than one class or group, only selected students in the Students Tab can be exported from Scholastic Reading Counts! The issue of exporting a class at a time will be addressed in a later release of Scholastic Reading Counts!
Q. I’ve imported the data from my DOS Electronic Bookshelf, which contained some teacher-made quizzes. When I go to view my quizzes in the Quiz Manager, I notice that there are some quizzes with blank titles and authors. I notice the same thing in the Quiz module as well. What’s the problem?
A. When you create a quiz using the DOS Electronic Bookshelf and then import your EBS quiz data into Scholastic Reading Counts!, those teacher-made quizzes containing the same title and author as existing books will appear blank. The questions will be intact, however, so it is just a matter of repopulating the book title and author fields. Here’s how:
  1. Enter the Scholastic Management Suite.
  2. Click <Tools> - then select <Scholastic Reading Counts! Quiz Manager>.
  3. Highlight the blank quiz, then click the <Teacher Quizzes> button.
  4. Click <Edit>.
  5. Give the quiz a title, author, and an estimated number of words.
  6. Click <Done> to return to the Quiz Manager, then <Done> again to return to the main Scholastic Management Suite screen.
Q. I’m having some difficulty importing my EBS data into Scholastic Reading Counts!. Teacher-made quizzes are not editable, and some quizzes are not being imported at all. Can you tell me what’s going on?
A. Here’s all you need to know regarding importing EBS teacher-made quizzes:

A. Those teacher-made quizzes with title/author combinations that do not match any books in the Scholastic Reading Counts! catalog will be imported as regular quizzes, and will not be editable in Scholastic Reading Counts!

B. Those teacher-made quizzes whose title/author combination does match a previously installed quiz will not get installed. A solution to this problem is to rename the teacher-made quiz in Electronic Bookshelf before doing the import.

C. Those teacher-made quizzes whose title/author combination does match an uninstalled book in the Scholastic Reading Counts! catalog will be imported as a regular quiz, and will not be editable in Scholastic Reading Counts! The title and the author will appear blank in the Quiz Manager, and will need to be added. Here’s how:

  1. Enter the Scholastic Management Suite.
  2. Click <Tools> - then select <Scholastic Reading Counts! Quiz Manager>.
  3. Highlight the blank quiz, then click the <Teacher Quizzes> button.
  4. Click <Edit>.
  5. Give the quiz a title, author, and an estimated number of words.
  6. Click <Done> to return to the Quiz Manager, then <Done> again to return to the main Scholastic Management Suite screen.
In addition, these quizzes will be overwritten if you were to install the Scholastic Reading Counts! version of the quiz. We suggest making distinct changes to the titles of your teacher-made quizzes before importing them into Scholastic Reading Counts! to prevent their loss.
Q. In the Scholastic Reading Counts! Quiz Manager, I wish to print the questions for a selected Quiz. When it prints, however, I only get 10 questions when I know there are more available. What’s happened?
A. What has happened is that Scholastic Reading Counts! will randomly print 10 questions for any selected quiz containing more than 10 questions. At this time, there is not a way to select the number of questions to print out. We are modifying this feature to allow an option of up to 30 questions per quiz. We will also be increasing the number of questions per page to utilize less paper per printed quiz.
Q. I recently executed a search for books falling into three different genres, but it took an extremely long time to complete. Is there a way to stop the search?
A. With a database of over 20,000 titles to search through, executing a search of this nature will take a little while to complete. If you find that your search is taking longer than usual, try omitting some of the search criteria. You may want to to visit our e-Catalog and search for titles there.

Another idea would be to search on one piece of criteria, then execute another search against the results of the first search. Here’s how:

  1. Enter the Scholastic Management Suite.
  2. Click on the <Book Expert> button.
  3. Click <Search>, under the Search Expert heading.
  4. Choose your first search criterion by clicking the checkbox next to your choice.
  5. Click <OK> to execute the search.
  6. Once the results have been displayed, click <Search> again.
  7. Select your second search criterion by clicking the checkbox next to your choice. Be sure to leave the original choice selected.
  8. Click <OK> to execute the search.
Q. When I try to print some book labels I’ve selected, some of them do not print. How come?
A. The Book Label feature is designed to print the number of book labels corresponding to the number of copies you have specified exist in your library. You must first specify the number of copies you have in your library before printing book labels. Future versions of Scholastic Reading Counts! will allow a MARC records import to speed up this process. Check our Web site regularly for details.

The quickest way to get one book label per book is to Select All books, click and select "1."

The default for Book Labels is zero. Here’s how to change the number of copies of book labels:

  1. Enter Scholastic Management Suite.
  2. Click the <Book Expert> button.
  3. Click the checkbox next to each of the books needing labels.
  4. Click the <Library Copies> button.
  5. Change the number of copies to the desired amount by clicking on the up and down arrows. Click <Ok> when you are finished.
  6. Click the <Print> button, then choose <Scholastic Reading Counts! Book Labels>.
  7. Choose your label options - <Show Lexile Level> and/or <Show Points>.
  8. Click <Ok>, and then choose <Ok> from the printer dialog box.
Q. Why are Teacher-Made Quizzes worth zero points after they have been edited?
A. In the next release (Fall 2000), a teacher can manually adjust the points of any Teacher-Made Quiz.
Q. Is there a way to save an order of titles from the Book Expert?
A. An Online Book Expert, the Scholastic Reading Counts! e-Catalog, will be available this fall at www.scholastic.com/readingcounts
Q. Is the Scholastic Reading Counts! Book Expert database compatible with school library databases, such as MARC or Library World?
A. Currently, the Book Expert is not compatible with these programs. We are working to put this capability online in the e-Catalog, which will be ready by Fall 2000 at www.scholastic.com/readingcounts. It will allow online ordering of quizzes based on your library database. Soon after, we will be putting this feature into the product so that you can see your library database within the Scholastic Reading Counts! library.

Q. I’m trying to change a student’s Lexile and I’m getting a message stating, ‘Please enter an integer between 10 and 1700.’ What did I do wrong?
A. You have probably tried to enter either a non-integer, a number above 1700 or below 10, or have entered too many digits. Scholastic Reading Counts! is designed to accept a student’s Lexile between 10 to 1700.
Q. When I type in a student’s name in the Edit > Find facility, it doesn’t come up. But when I scroll to find the student, she’s there. What’s going on?
A. When you click the Edit menu choice, then click Find..., this facility is designed to search for students by last name. Try your search again, but only type in the last name of the student you are searching for.
Q. Why do students from previous years still appear in Teacher’s student totals in the SMS after old classes have been deleted?
A. These students have are still assigned to that Teacher. A Teacher with <Classroom> access can unassign students by simply:
  1. Click on the students tab and selecting all the students you would like to have unassigned.
  2. Click <Delete>. This will unassign all the students without deleting their records.
A teacher with <School-wide> access can unassign students also. To do this:
  1. Filter by him/herself using the <Filter by> pull-down.
  2. Then, follow the same steps as above.
Note: A Teacher with <School-wide> access can also delete student records permanently by clicking <Delete> when filtering by <All Teachers>. If you do not wish to do this, you must filter by a particular teacher.

Q. How can I print a list of assigned titles for a student?
A. In versions 1.0/1.1 of Scholastic Reading Counts!, the only way to do this is go to the Quiz Manager and select the books that were NOT restricted (under settings) for a student and print this list out. In the forthcoming version of Scholastic Reading Counts! (Fall 2000), you will be able to print the list of assigned (or non-restricted) quizzes directly from the "Restrict Quizzes" screen, as well as a report for each student indicating which quizzes are assigned to him/her. Please refer to the section on Reading Counts Quiz/Settings for more information.
Q. The software manual states there is a ‘Reading List’ report but I don’t see it.
A. This report was removed from version 1.0/1.1. It is being put back into the forthcoming version of Scholastic Reading Counts! (Fall 2000). Please check our Web site for updates.
Q. I’ve edited a student’s quiz data and sorted it by points earned. When I print the quiz data, the printout is sorted by title. How can I print this data sorted by points earned?
A. To compare student’s quiz results based on "points earned," use the Reading Progress Update report, and customize it to sort by points. Here’s how:
  1. Select the students you want reports on.
  2. Click <Reports>
  3. Highlight the Report titled Reading Progress Update
  4. Click <Customize>
  5. In the "Sort by" dropdown menu, select <Points>.
  6. Preview or Print the Report.
Q. The dates printed on the ‘Graph: Average Quiz Score’ reports don’t match what’s in the program. Why?
A. Because of the graphic nature of the data on this report, the date range printed on the page extends to the end of the current month. This does not impact the integrity of the data displayed in the report.
Q. When I print the report, "Student Reading Record," I notice that some students have passed quizzes, but aren’t being given credit for the Words Read. Why not?
A. What has most likely occurred is that the student has read one of the small number of books that do not currently contain a word count. We plan to offer a word count for all Scholastic Reading Counts! books in future releases.
Q. When I Print Preview a report, my computer crashes. Why?
A. This error usually results from a critically low amount of system resources, which can occur from having too many programs open at once. Quit most or all of your other open programs and try to print preview again.
Q. I’m trying to print book labels to my Image Writer II, but nothing’s coming out. Can I print to an Image Writer II?
A. We have found that our Scholastic Reading Counts! users running upon a PowerPC may have problems printing book labels to an Image Writer II. We recommend locating a secondary printer in which to print your book labels.
Q. When I print the ‘Points Status Summary" or ‘Frequent Reader Update’ it shows a different number than the total points earned on the Reading Report Card. Why?
A. The Points Status Summary and Frequent Reader Update reports were designed to show all points earned over time, rather than between a specific time period. Based on user feedback, we are modifying these reports to reflect points earned over a user-specified time period. Check our Web site for information on this and other software updates in the future.
Q. You cannot preview SMS reports without a printer installed. When attempting to preview a report, the following message is diaplay, "You have no printers installed. Please install a printer before previewing."
A. An actual printer does not need to be installed, just the printer drivers. Follow these instructions:
    For Mac
  1. Click the <Apple Menu>, then click the <Chooser>.
  2. Select any printer on the left side of the window.
  3. Close the window.
    For Windows
  1. Click <Start>, point to <Settings>, then click <Printers>.
  2. Double-click <Add Printer>.
  3. Click <Next>.
  4. Choose Local Printer and click <Next>.
  5. Select a manufacturer in the left pane, then choose a printer in the right pane. Click <Next>.
  6. Choose the <File> port (not a real printer port). Click <Next>.
  7. Follow the rest of the on-screen instructions to complete the wizard configuration – Do not select to print a test page.

Q. When my younger students log into the Quiz, they often misspell their names. Is there a way for kids to just get an alphabetical listing of names to choose from?
A. When students log into the quiz, they are asked to type their first and last names. To get an alphabetical list of names to choose from, have your students just type the first letter of their first names and a list of all names that begin with that letter will come up.
Q. How do I assign a specific list of titles to one or more student(s)?
A. An "Assign Quizzes" function will be included in the forthcoming release (Fall 2000). Currently, the software is designed to "restrict" quizzes rather than assign specific Quizzes. In order to create a list of specific Quizzes for one or more students, you need to make a list of the Quizzes that these students will not be allowed to access. The Quizzes that remain after you do this, will be those the student can access. To do this, follow these instructions:
  1. Select the Students/Groups/Classes/Teachers you want to work with.
  2. Click the <Settings> button.
  3. Click <Restrict Quizzes>.

From here you can select the criteria you’d like to use to restrict the quizzes. For example, you may have 4th graders selected and want them only to read books between Reading Levels 3-5. To restrict Quizzes by Reading Level:

  1. Click the <Rdg Lvl> header to sort the quizzes by Reading Level.
  2. Check the box (select) all quizzes below Reading Level 3.0 and above 5.0
  3. Click <Done>. All books between Reading Level 3-5 will now be assigned to the student(s).

Please refer to the section on Reports Issues for more information.

Q. I’ve tried to implement the Large Text feature, but it doesn’t seem to work. Why?
A. The Large Text setting actually does increase the point size of the text in the quiz program, however the increase is not very noticeable. This feature was designed to accommodate vision-impaired students to better view the text, but it was found that the text could not get much larger without exceeding the boundaries of the interface. This feature will be removed in the next release of Scholastic Reading Counts! which is coming out in Fall 2000.
Q. After a series of students take some Quizzes from the Scholastic Reading Counts! Sampler CD, they get an error when they click the Check Your Progress button. How can I fix this problem?
A. Using the Scholastic Reading Counts! Sampler version only, when a series of students take approximately 25 Quizzes in a row without exiting the program, the workstation may need to be restarted (turned off, then back on) in order for that report to print properly.
Q. (Macintosh Users) I’ve selected a group of students for which I want to change the settings. When I am finished making the adjustments to the settings and I click <OK>, I get an error stating, "Invalid Points."
A. This problem stems from the fact that you have selected some students that have their points setting turned on and other students that have their points setting turned off. We recommend that you either:

a) Select either ON or OFF for all the students selected. Then, re-classify students with their individual points settings.

OR

b) Click Cancel and select students by their points status, either ON or OFF, then make the adjustment you originally set out to do.

Q. A Student logs into the student application and receives error message "No quizzes currently available" or "No quizzes currently installed." Why?
A. Either all quizzes have been restricted, or no quizzes have been installed. Verify that you have installed quizzes by launching the management suite (SMS), selecting a student who is trying to log in, and clicking Settings also verify that quizzes have not all been restricted in the same window.
Q. Can the percentage of correct answers needed to pass a quiz be changed?
A. Yes. To change the percentage of correct answers needed to pass a quiz simply:
  1. Enter the Management Suite and select the student or class you wish to change.
  2. Click <Settings>. Notice the <Quiz Options> section at the bottom
  3. From this section you can change the amount of questions per quiz, quiz attempts allowed, correct answers to pass and days in between retakes. When you change the questions per quiz and/or the correct answers to pass a message will pop up telling you the new percentage needed to pass a quiz.
Q. Students are getting the following message: "You are currently not allowed to take this quiz. Please see your instructor."
A. Check the following:

Verify the student has not already taken the quiz:

  1. Select the student and click <Edit>.
  2. Click <Scholastic Reading Counts!> in the <Enrolled In> box.
  3. Click <Quiz Data> – Verify that there are no entries for that particular quiz.
If the Quiz has already been taken (and they didn’t pass), check the student’s settings:
  1. Select the student and click <Settings>
  2. Look at the <Quiz Options>
    A.  Make sure student hasn’t taken quiz more than the number of times allowed.
    B.  Make sure that the student is not trying to retake the quiz before the allowed number of days.
Check to see if the quiz is restricted:
  1. Select the student and click <Settings>
  2. Click <Restrict Quizzes> and verify that the quiz has not been restricted.

Q. What access rights and/or permissions do my students need to the "Schlastc" folder on the server to be able to use SRC and/or SRI properly?
A.

TECH TIP: Students must have full control access to the "Schlastc" folder and all of its subfolders on the server in order to be able to use the program.

If the "Schlastc" folder is located in…

NTFS volume on a
Windows NT server

Novell server Macintosh server
…you must also have NTFS file permissions to that folder and all subfolders.
…you must have Read, Write, Erase, Modify, Create and File Scan permissions to that folder and all subfolders.
…you must have Read and Write permission to that folder and all subfolders. Make sure to click on the "Copy" button after setting the student permissions and save the changes.

NOTE: In addition to granting your student and teacher users the correct permissions to the "Schlastc " directory on your server, you will need to grant users Full Control to the following directories on your Windows 2000 and Windows XP workstations. C:\Program Files\Scholastic|READ 180\Temp C:\Winnt\Temp.

Q. I’m running an AppleShare 6.1 server, and I’m having trouble installing my PC workstation installers. What should I do?
A. Due to an error with the AppleShare 6.1 software, our users attempting to install the PC workstation installers to this environment will encounter an error. Users of prior versions or 6.2 should not experience this problem. If you have more questions about AppleShare networking software, please contact our technical support line.
Q. I’m getting the error "The file COMCTL32 cannot be linked to export."
A. This error occurs for our users that are using the original release of Windows 95. These users need to upgrade to Windows 95 Service Pack 1, which is available from Microsoft at no charge at the site below. If your computer is connected to Internet, then click on the link. Otherwise, copy and paste this link into your Browser the next time you connect to the Internet.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/ wurecommended/ s_wuservicepacks/ w95svcpack1/default.asp?site=95

Q. Who can I contact for other questions?
A. Users are invited to call our Scholastic Reading Counts! Technical Support line at 1-877-COUNTS1 or email us at techsupport@scholastic.com.