getting POI loader to work

After your posts in another thread (http://www.poi-factory.com/node/36175),
did you look at the thread discussing Misrosoft Net Framework as suggested by CraigW -
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/35707

Do something for us please. Open Windows Explorer (what I like to do is hold down the "Windows" and press the "E" key). Navigate to C:\Windows and see if it contains a folder called "Microsoft.NET". If it does, open up the subfolder "Framework" and see what version you have.

hi i did that it has framework and framework64. and when you open them there lot of stuff!! where is the version. in the files.

On my XP SP3 machine, I see

\Framework
\\v1.0.3705
\\v1.1.4322
\\v2.0.50727
\\v3.0
\\v3.5
\\v4.0.30319

so, I am on MS .Net version 4

Since you're running Windows 7 x64, you will have (as you already noticed) a Framework and a Framework64 directory. Open BOTH of those and you will find the versions you have installed for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications. I run Win 7 x64 and in my case I have the following:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.3705
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v3.0
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v3.5
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319

If you do not see the v4.0.30319 directory you do not have .NET Framework 4 installed. You may download a copy here.

Others have suggested that you need to be running Windows 7 as an Administrator to install POI Loader. On your computer, go to Control Panel, then User Accounts. If the account you're using is not an Administrator, that could be the issue, although an "unsupported OS" error is an odd error to see if you're running as less than Administrator when trying to install POI Loader.

As has been discussed here before, several Windows 7 users have seen this problem and error message when trying to install POI Loader while most Windows 7 (both 32-bit and 64-bit) users have it install just fine. I've only seen this problem reported from individuals with Windows 7 for whatever that's worth.

Some have reported that the POI Loader installation error is resolved and the program works after installing Microsoft's .NET Framework even though Garmin does not state that .NET is needed for POI Loader to install. I think that one person stated that this did not fix their problem.

Another very interesting observation is that I can find no mention of this problem on Garmin's Support forums and a Google Search for me only finds the issue being reported here at POI Factory and not on other web sites or forums. I wonder what result would be obtained from calling Garmin's Tech Support. If anyone has called Customer Service for this error, we'd love to hear what Garmin's response was.

All in all, this is a very odd situation. Garmin does not state that .NET is needed for POI Loader to work so maybe it's unrelated. On the other hand, several POI Factory users running Windows 7 have reported the issue, so you're not alone. Yet a majority of Windows 7 users have no problem installing POI Loader. Especially odd is that this has been reported here for a few weeks now, yet there's no mention of this on Garmin's Support Forums or elsewhere on the web.

Assuming that your computer has .NET Framework installed, it may be out-of-date or corrupt. To check for updates, go to Windows Update and see if you have any updates that Microsoft suggests you install. To repair .NET Framework, you can go to Control Panel, Programs and Features, scroll down to Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile and click Uninstall/Change, then select Repair. Alternately as a last resort, .NET Framework could be uninstalled, then reinstalled. (Note that .NET Framework uninstallations and installations take quite a long time to complete.) But then this may be a total waste of time if .NET is not needed to install or use POI Loader.

This must be a terribly frustrating situation for folks experiencing the problem on their computer who want to install Custom POIs. Heck, it's frustrating even for those of us who have it work on our systems but are trying to get it to work on other folks' systems where the "unsupported OS" error crop up.

i open framework and framework 64.. i have v4.0.30319
in both. i download the new one you gave me to see if it will help. it dos not its still asking for xp or sp2 or higher. :>( i think i have to get xp to get this to work. is there framework from xp that will work? on windows7 thanks

1. If you have another PC handy, you could try installing and using POI Loader from that PC. As we've found earlier, almost all Windows 7 users have no issues with installation of POI Loader, although a select few can't install the program and receive exactly the error you mention.

2. Call or email Garmin Tech Support and ask for help. Be sure to tell them you're trying to install POI Loader and that it fails with an error message on your Windows 7 PC, then tell them exactly what the error message says.

2.a. If you do get through to Garmin, please let us know what you found out. Others with Windows 7 will almost certainly have this issue in the future.

2.b. I mentioned this earlier but haven't heard if you've tried it:

-have you gone to Windows Update and checked to see if there are suggested updates for your computer? In Windows Update, go to View Update History and see if you have any failed updates.

-have you gone to Control Panel, Programs and Features, then scrolled to the Microsoft .NET Framework, clicked the Uninstall/Change, then select Repair?

Good luck. We hope to hear from you soon, hopefully with good news.

hello i have a desk top computer thats 7 years old that has windows7 and a lap top thats 2 years old that has windows.i download the POI it did not work on there to. so i e mail garmin. to find out why there sent this back.>>>> In order to download the POI loaded to your computer, you will need a computer with Windows XP Service Pack 3 or later. If you have a Windows 7 computer, the current version of the POI loader program will work. <<< well it dos not work .there sent me this to i dont no why.

www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435
its basecamp maps

i e mail them back telling them it still do,s not work.waiting e mail for them to me ill let you all no.

i talk to gramin tec to day... hes telling me that basecamp maps work better. its more up to date them poi download. for windons7

www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435

with a mouth full of samples shouldn't talk.

The POI contained in the map data are no where near as complete - or correct - as to what you will find here. There's an 800 unit apartment complex near me that shows about 6 businesses located there. These are mailing addresses from the license data, not the actual locations. Oh, given the transient nature of apartment dwellers, I'll bet most of those aren't even accurate any longer.

i take the POI files from here. to save. then i move them to basecamp... from there to my GPS. it works like the POIdownload.... i did 8 from here .
thank you. have a good day.

Base Camp loads POI to favorites and not extras so you are limited to the number of favorites your particular model will support. POI Loader puts the files in Extra under Custom POI. I reload about 167,000 custom poi every week. (Yes, I know about splitting and using named GPI files, but it takes less than 2 minutes to read, build and transfer the large database.)

I was trying to install POILoader v271 on my new Windows 7 laptop and was getting the Unsupported OS error message every time. I tried all the suggestions on the various threads on this problem with no success.

I was going to call Garmin Support and ask, but after the phone computer told me that it would be a 30-45 minute wait, I gave up on that idea. So, I wrote up the problem in the e-mail function for support. After completing my tale of woe and submitting it, it came back with a suggestion to try the fix in this notice dated 5/14/2012...
https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/simpleCase.faces?caseId={bbca88e0-0afa-11e1-73d0-000000000000}

Basically it says to uncheck the box for XP compatability. I did that and left the box checked for 'Run As Administrator' and tried it yet again. To my surprise, it worked and installed just fine. I then ran POI Loader and loaded up my custom POI's.

Amazed at the quick reply from Garmin over email and the fact that they just created a answer to that problem.

I think the reply was automated based on the note heading info. It was just a coincidence that they released the fix the day before...