Issues with SKY Index

[P Sanchez]

Hi

I am currently working on finishing my certification course, and over the past couple of years, I have had several issues with SKY Index on my computer.  Kamm assured me that I have the 'correct parameters' in my computer to run this program, but when I try to run it, lots of times it causes my computer to freeze up.  In an attempt to solve this issue, I have switched to a brand new solid state drive, and doubled the size of my RAM.  Still, to no avail.  When I work with SKY I have to make sure that all programs on my computer are closed, and I have to be constantly backing up my work, so when the freeze does occur, I don't lose any data that I have entered.  

I don't know if anyone out there can help me with this?

Thanks

Pam

[Theresa Duran]

Pam, that sounds so frustrating! I’ve had my share of headaches getting SKY to work on new computer setups, but memory or system requirements has never been an issue. Could it be an antivirus program that is causing the problem? Is there any consistent pattern that leads to the freeze-ups, like particular commands or keystrokes?

 

Good luck! It may take some detective work to diagnose your problem, but SKY is worth it, in my opinion.

 

Theresa

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[Judi Gibbs]

>I have switched to a brand new solid state drive, and doubled the size of my RAM. 

Congrats on taking those steps. I have done the same with the computer that I use for indexing.

>SKY is worth it, in my opinion.

I agree that I like SKY. SKY came on the market just as I was starting to index—version 5—and I’ve used it since the beginning of my business—and since the beginning of SKY.

BUT I’ve found SKY 8 very unstable. I quickly went back to SKY 7—because of stability issues.

Kamm doesn’t like me saying this, but I’m not the only one who feels this way.

I also note that his website says that SKY 7 is still available for those who have built their business on it.

I really regret that Kamm is limiting access to SKY 7. I’ve done a couple indexes in SKY 8, and I acknowledge that it has some features that are useful—but stability is not among them.

The two times I used SKY 8, I had a problem with freeze-ups the night before the index was due—and I was up at midnight and beyond trying to “unfreeze” so that I could submit the index.

BOTH times I had to get Kamm to do it—and I wasn’t about to have it happen a 3^rd time.

I don’t know if these comments are helpful. I don’t know if Kamm will still let you have SKY 7—but it may be worth asking.

~Judi Gibbs

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[Judi Gibbs]

Macrex is now free. Using it would mean a learning curve with another software, and the package is free because they can’t guarantee tech support down the road—but I’m not aware of any problems with freeze-ups.

 

The package looks rustic—but some long-time and highly experienced indexers swear by it.

 

~Judi

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[Carrie Brady]

I've had some instability problems with SKY8 too, though I would not recommend Macrex either. Three years ago, my office switched from Macrex to SKY because we'd had nothing but trouble with Macrex for years leading up to that. It didn't play nice with the admin settings on our computers, it had output issues constantly that we couldn't figure out, I think I spent more time on the phone with Gale than I did actually using the program. If I can save even one indexer that frustration, I'll be happy.

Carrie Brady

Maryland Department of Legislative Services

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[Judi Gibbs]

Thank you! for that feedback!!

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[Shmuel Gerber]

I recently had some trouble with loading SKY 8; it would take a long time when starting and wouldn't really be workable. 

I think it was due to my having moved or deleted some of the document folders it was trying to access.

Uninstalling and reinstalling worked for me, but I had to do it in a specific way that took some trial and error, and also wiped out my preferences — which was what accomplished the fix — as well as my activation.

If you want to try this, I suggest doing Help > Manage activations from within SKY and deactivating before doing the other steps.

Also please make backups of your drives and folders; I take no responsibility if things get messed up!

Download the latest version of SKY from https://www.sky-software.com/Downloads/SetupFiles/si8/download_si8.htm for the reinstallation.

( There is also a "test release" version for those who want to test the latest bug fixes before they are put into the generally released version; that one is at 

http://www.sky-software.com/_products/si8/protestrelease.htm )

Here is what I did:

I uninstalled SKY 8 and then also deleted the folder

%LOCALAPPDATA%\SKY Software

If you type that exact string into the Windows File Explorer, it will automatically substitute whatever the "Users > ... > Appdata > Local" folder is for your user account.

(It took a few tries of uninstalling before stumbling upon the existence of that folder, with the help of Revo Uninstaller Pro.)

The above-mentioned folder contains a "SKY Index 8.0" subfolder that stores user preferences, including file locations. 

However, it also contains the "Activation.dat" file, so I had to go online and manage activations after that file was deleted before being able to activate again. That's why it would be better to do Help > Manage activations from within SKY and deactivate before deleting the folder.

I then installed the latest (non-test) version of SKY, and it seemed to load normally.

If you want to try diagnosing the problem without losing all your preferences, instead of uninstalling and deleting this folder, you could try using a plain-text editor to edit the files

"Preferences.xml" and "ProgramState.xml" to look for any disk and folder locations that are incorrect. (Although I'm not 100% certain that the folder locations were the issue.)

Even if all the folders exist, another consideration is whether you might be having any synchronization issues or lags with OneDrive, DropBox, etc. for files that SKY is trying to work with.

--Shmuel Gerber

[Iris Ailin-Pyzik]

I don't think I've had a freeze (now on version 8.0.10) since migrating to my current laptop system, which has 16gb of physical memory, and 500gb of hard drive.  Having said that, it will probably jinx it.  Memory and storage have become pretty cheap (yeah I've been in computers for a long time), and this is not the most expensive laptop I've ever bought.  (And just to be clear - I've worked on a laptop when traveling, but at home it's hooked up to external monitor, keyboard and mouse.)

I'll also add that I've never used the built-in backup system, having been a lab rat (chemist) and having worked in IT.  I think I've described my system previously, and here's what I do.

When I start each chapter, I save the working file with a tag with the chapter number, such as projectname.01 (of course Sky adds its file type), and this is saved to the working file folder for the project.  When I end for the day, if the chapter is not finished, I do a Save As with a letter tacked on, such as projectname.01a.  I will also do that with the next letter when I'm going to try a risky operation, such as a large search-and-replace, or anything where I'm concerned I could massively muck up the file, or if it is a very large chapter.  Remember that your working file name is in the upper left corner of the window, so you can always see what it is.  All of these are saved in the working file folder, which is designated under Options>Preferences>File Locations.  If there is any crash of any kind, it is on me to make sure I continue to work on the very latest file.  I have found that Sky does not necessarily choose my last file, sometimes reverting to the prior one, if there was an abnormal exit of any kind.  After a normal close of the software, it has always re-opened the last file I worked on.  To be doubly safe, you can/should copy whatever files you feel you need to, to a flash drive.

I'm also a PITA about having file names sort properly, so the zero in the chapter number is there so that the files will sort properly in order by name.  If you've got over 100 chapters to put in, make it 001.

We've seen people appeal for help in the forum when their file suddenly won't open.  With this system, you might have to go back a chapter (or whatever increment you've saved) but your whole file isn't locked up.

I will add that I have found that for many programs, (Excel is a particular culprit) when available memory is limited, it can act oddly without indicating why.  And it isn't necessarily what is currently open that is the problem, it can be related to whatever you have had open since the last reboot.  I'm not saying this to say that any specific program is blameless, but that I've seen oddities in other programs, generally, I believe, because memory is not released back to the system properly when the program is closed, so the pool of available memory shrinks, and then less memory is available for what you want to run.  Chrome, btw, is a particular memory hog, but has gotten better about releasing memory when it is closed, which it did not do well in the past.  Any time ANY program crashes, it is a good idea to reboot.

Iris Ailin-Pyzik

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[Lora Marchand]

Hi there, 

During my Berkeley course a few years ago, someone found that it was best to leave the index folders in whatever location Sky put them in when creating new files. This went against my wanting to organize them in my own way, in different folders, but seemed to largely solve the freeze problems for me. Something to consider if that applies to you. Good luck! 

Lora

On Aug 25, 2022, at 4:33 PM, Shmuel Gerber <gerber...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Marie]

Hi, all,

I am quite sorry to hear anyone is having trouble with Sky. It's so frustrating when tools we rely on give us problems. I wish I had some helpful suggestions.

Not to be contentious (I swear I am not trying to be that girl), but I wanted to share that I have had not even a lick of trouble from my installation of version 8, and I ask quite a lot of it.

I only bring this up in case people might get the idea that V8 is problematic across the board.

In my personal experience, each version of Sky has improved upon the last. Were it to disappear from the indexing world, I seriously doubt I would continue indexing.

This is certainly not to dismiss or diminish the problems anyone is experiencing, only to say that I am surprised (and quite sorry) to hear it.

Warmest wishes and happy indexing across the board,

msn

[Nigel D'Auvergne]

Totally agree. I’ve been using the latest versions of Sky since 2001 with no problems.

Nigel

_______________________________________________________________

Nigel D'Auvergne • Freelance Indexing

Steyning • West Sussex • UK

+44(0)7743 611935

www.nigeldauvergne.co.uk

On 26 Aug 2022, at 16:56, Marie <msnu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi, all,

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[Judi Gibbs]

Hi, Marie.

I’m very glad to hear that it is working flawlessly for you. I’m wondering what you are doing that provides that flawless service.

I’ve had the same freeze-up problems that were discussed, and others I know have also had them.

So what do you do that avoids them? How do we get around those problems?

That’s what I’d like to know.

~Judi

 

From: skyind...@googlegroups.com <skyind...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Marie
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2022 8:56 AM
To: SKYIndexUsers <skyind...@googlegroups.com>

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[Marie S. Nuchols]

I sincerely wish I knew what was different in our systems, but I simply don't know.

What I can tell you is that I am currently working on a nicely equipped Lenovo. Though I don't use it for gaming, it was built with gamers in mind, and has good specs to support that class of user (which also supports the heavy demands of Photoshop, which is why I purchased it). Having said that, my previous, less-well equipped system had no problem running V8, either.

Also, in response to the location of the files, all my files live in Dropbox; thus far, I have never had a problem with that practice.

When you all are seeing these freezes, are you working on really massive indexes?

msn

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[Judi Gibbs]

>>I don't use it for gaming, it was built with gamers in mind, and has good specs to support that class of user

I also work on a gaming computer—one that will support gamers. And it is fully updated.  

>all my files live in Dropbox

That is an interesting thought. It could depend on exactly where the files are located.

I’ve got Dropbox, but I’ll lose access if the power goes out—which can happen in a winter storm—or even at other times. I’m not willing to have a work situation in which I’ve got to be able to access Dropbox—because of the potential for power outages.

>are you working on really massive indexes

No. The worst freeze-ups came with a book with 260 indexable pages, including the endnotes. I’ve got it on my shelf, and I just checked length. The index is appropriate for a book that length.

The one challenge in that book is Tlingit diacritics—but then SKY 8 is supposed to be able to handle diacritics with simple copy and paste.

Marie, thank you for your comments. They’ve given me something to think about.

~Judi

 

 

 

From: skyind...@googlegroups.com <skyind...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Marie S. Nuchols
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2022 11:46 AM
To: Judi Gibbs <ju...@writeguru.com>

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