Error Using Garmin Express w/3490

Since Garmin Express is designed to be Garmin's only software program for all types of updates on many different types of devices, it's probably not possible that it woudln't be compatible with a Nuvi 3490, but stranger things have happened.

It maybe more likely that your computer doesn't meet the minimum requirements for the GE software to operate properly. Does your computer meet these requirements:

Windows

Windows Vista SP2 or newer, Microsoft .NET 4.5 (included)
1024 x 768 display, USB port and 1 GB RAM
High speed Internet access (Not for use with dial-up, mobile or satellite connections)
May require up to 13 GB free disk space

Mac

OS X 10.8 or newer
1024 x 768 display, USB port and 1 GB RAM
High speed Internet access (Not for use with dial-up, mobile or satellite connections)
May require up to 13 GB free disk space

I'm not sure if this applies to you but Garmin now states that GarminMapUpdater must be used to update maps using a PC with Windows XP. Garmin Express will not work with XP.

That's the only reason I can think of for you being directed to GarminMapUpdater. All nuvis and pretty much all Garmin devices should be able to use Garmin Express as long as the PC being used has an updated OS.

You are correct, 2016.10 is not out yet so you are up to date with 2015.40.

[Update] I see that t92 has offered even more reasons that you may have been told to use GarminMapUpdater.

Express seemed to work on the last update so something is off this time. Very strange.

I meet all the requirements:
Win 7 Pro 64-Bit
16GB
137GB Free
50MB DL From ISP
.NET was installed during setup

Two thoughts:

1) It may be a fluke and with a PC reboot, your latest Garmin Express may again offer you map update notices for your nuvi.

2) Since you say .net was just installed, it may be corrupt and Garmin Express may be the first program used on your PC to show that there is a .net problem. Although .net installation and updates have worked for me quite well in the recent past, the older .net installations were occasionally prone to failure. And back when I (and others) were having .net corruption issues, we noted that failures and error messages never directed us to .net. You can search for .net errors here and find several older threads describing the issue. If yours is a .net issue, you probably want to fix it since many programs rely on it and future issues may occur for you. You could search for .net issues with Google or maybe uninstall .net, then let Windows Update find and install it again. If .net was installed as part of the Garmin Express installation, my first suggestion is to go to Windows Update and check for updates, especially .net updates. Note that .net updates may be listed as Optional in Windows Update.

Good luck.

Good Point. I noticed on my wife's Windows 7 laptop the other day that there were a number of .net updates listed in the Optional Updates section.

Since the OP says that GE used to work then it has to be something weird with his computer setup as there hasn't been anything change in GE that would make one Nuvi model not compatible.

I suspect a reboot of the computer maybe helpful but if that doesn't fix the issue I'd try to uninstall GE from the computer and download and install a new copy.

If none of those ideas work, a call to Garmin support is in order. Who knows, maybe this is the reason for the delay in the map update.

Although an older thread, here's a discussion of past .net issues and the fixes:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/31665

And from Garmin:

http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/simpleCase.htm?caseId={c9ab5190-3cd7-11e3-f27b-000000000000}&kbName=garmin

Deleted

.NET was installed with GE (I didn't have it installed prior). I image my machine quite frequently and don't like leaving that software installed so I install update and revert back to a prior image w/o keeping GE installed. However, I did try the reboot and it didn't work so being that it used to work, may be .NET needs an update (I'm not sure). I used a GE installer that I downloaded from last April I believe so I;m not sure if there are any newer versions out but I have a feeling that the Garmin Map Updater would work if the newer version was out (2016.10) but I know for a fact the GE worked about three months ago when I put in 2015.40 so who knows.

Thanks.

You, like a lot of others, have a fear of having GE on your machine.

While I do not share that fear, I understand it.

However, rather than using an "image" to "restore" the machine to the pre-GE status, might I suggest that you use Revo Uninstaller to remove GE once you have successfully done all of the updates. Using the advanced selection (number 4 of the 4 choices) will remove all of the GE files - AND, I think the computer's copy of the map that was just installed to your Garmin (but I'll have to test that out)

I take a different approach because I also do not want GE "running" all the time on my machine during the quarter I am waiting for a new map.

So, I use "AutoRuns" to find all of these places where Garmin puts "Start-up" entries into the registry. I disable these entries so that - when I want GE - I can go "run" it from the Program menu and not have to do a new install .

If I were you, I would be worrying that - between the making of the image and the restoring of the image, some background task would have done some updates to the software that "service" or "task" is keeping up-to-date. Many packages do "automatic" updates without your ever knowing it. Google is an example.

Or, instead of going through install/removal gymnastics with Garmin Express every time, just use MapUpdater/WebUpdater/myDashboard as long as they are still available from Garmin and work without major issues. Dealing with the gmapdem.img backup/restore on a map update is the only issue I know about with these older programs, and that is not a big deal as long as you are aware of it.

I have v 4.1.3.0 ge and I did a backup of my favorites and after it was done we went for an appointment in another town I looked at my favorites and almost went into shock my favorite's were all random numbers when I clicked on them they were my favorites but were unidentifiable in the index, then at the bottom of the list was a listing called all favorites when I clicked on it there were my favorites with text description's of my favorites and I found if I delete a numbered favorite it also takes a text favorite out and it won't let me rename the numbered file, thanks again Garmin !!

I believe corrupted favorites is a long standing bug in the 1xxx nuvi series that Garmin has never corrected. It can happen at random times and may or may not be related to the activity you performed with Garmin Express. If you do some searching I think you will find how others have fixed this problem. If I recall, the solution may involve exporting the favorites to BaseCamp and editing them there to get a clean list. Then you delete all favorites on the nuvi and import the fixed list from BaseCamp.

So going back to the main issue, it's not so much having GE installed or not but it's the fact that I used the exact same installer for GE in April 2015 and was able to update my 3490 to 2015.40. I now ran the exact same installer on the same machine with the same 3490 and the software reports that it is not compatible and to use Garmin Map Updater. I'm wondering if Garmin has made a change on their end so that it will not support this model anymore. If the software (GE) was out of date, it would have prompted me to update (I would think?). I will try again once 2016.10 is released but it's still strange why this is happening.

I agree it's an odd issue. But as odd as Garmin can be at times, I'd be shocked if they decided that Garmin Express will fail to work with a quite-recent nuvi model forcing a use of GarminMapUpdater. A great experiment to run if you happen to have access to another PC is to install GE on it and see what happens when you connect your nuvi and check for updates.

I may just try that!

Any word on when 2016.10 is going to be released? There's usually a multi-page thread so I'll check there but I think it should be soon.