# Bentley A3 software on windows 7 FAIL FAIL FAIL



## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

:banghead:I just tried loading up my Bentley dvd onto my shiny new windows 7 machine, and guess what? It dont work. This proves my opinion that the ebahn software was written by drunken monkeys, and not real programmers. 

At least when they printed books you could at least look thru the badly written repair procedures, and try to deduce just what they were talking about.

The web site says i need to upgrade to win7 pro or ultimate, for a measly 90 bucks extra... just to get bentley to work? F that. 

Has anyone found a workaround for windows 7 lack of backwards compatability on the home "premium" (audi also uses this word as a euphemism for bottom of the line)????:banghead::banghead:


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## grubble (Oct 28, 2007)

Run as Administrator?

WinXP compatibility mode?

Try these yet?


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

tried it all.
microsoft wins again.:banghead::banghead:

funny thing is, I was still running win2k pro, at home, because i was too paranoid about upgrading to xp! I skipped vista, because i heard so much bad stuff about it, and figured win 7 was problem solved. Guess not. and dont get me going on win7 cleartype blurry system fonts.. you cant completely kill them. upgrade? really? If i wanted a mac, I would have bought a mac!:screwy:


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## tdotA3mike (Feb 5, 2009)

SilverSquirrel said:


> tried it all.
> microsoft wins again.:banghead::banghead:
> 
> funny thing is, I was still running win2k pro, at home, because i was too paranoid about upgrading to xp! I skipped vista, because i heard so much bad stuff about it, and figured win 7 was problem solved. Guess not. and dont get me going on win7 cleartype blurry system fonts.. you cant completely kill them. upgrade? really? If i wanted a mac, I would have bought a mac!:screwy:


oh please! :banghead:

try to get your OS9 progams to work on OSX! :banghead:

do not blame microsoft blame bentley for not building in the compatibility! :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:


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## eddiefury (Aug 5, 2007)

can i ask...what does Bentley A3 software do???


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

eddiefury said:


> can i ask...what does Bentley A3 software do???


It is the repair manual for the audi a3. Pretty much the bible for working on these cars, along with vcds. All repair and diagnostic procedures, wiring diagrams, maintaince info....

a must have, if you dont like taking your car to the dealer and being gouged.


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

tdotA3mike said:


> oh please! :banghead:
> 
> try to get your OS9 progams to work on OSX! :banghead:
> 
> do not blame microsoft blame bentley for not building in the compatibility! :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:


I blame both. The bentley barely worked on XP, and was even then quite buggy.
microsoft products have become so bloated, any improvement in computer hardware is always negated by fatter, sloppier, operating systems.


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

SilverSquirrel said:


> The web site says i need to upgrade to win7 pro or ultimate, for a measly 90 bucks extra... just to get bentley to work? F that.
> 
> Has anyone found a workaround for windows 7 lack of backwards compatability on the home "premium" (audi also uses this word as a euphemism for bottom of the line)????:banghead::banghead:


Had the same issue. Upgraded to Win7 Pro. If you're a student, you can get an upgrade for $30 here: http://www.microsoft.com/student/office/en-us/default.aspx Click the MS Windows 7 Pro upgrade at the bottom.

You then have to install MS Virtual PC and XP Mode. It'll then work.


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## azoceanblue (Aug 13, 2006)

SilverSquirrel said:


> *Any improvement in computer hardware is always negated by fatter, sloppier, operating systems.*


:banghead:


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

krazyboi said:


> Had the same issue. Upgraded to Win7 Pro. If you're a student, you can get an upgrade for $30 here: http://www.microsoft.com/student/office/en-us/default.aspx Click the MS Windows 7 Pro upgrade at the bottom.
> 
> You then have to install MS Virtual PC and XP Mode. It'll then work.


not a student. but yeah, the only workaround is upgrading to win7 pro and use virtual machine.
Us non-students have to pay 90 clams to get this upgrade from win7 home premium.


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

SilverSquirrel said:


> not a student. but yeah, the only workaround is upgrading to win7 pro and use virtual machine.
> Us non-students have to pay 90 clams to get this upgrade from win7 home premium.


Find a student that hates Windows...perhaps they will assist


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## kgw (May 1, 2008)

That's, eh, bogus! Back when I went from Win2k to Vista Ultimate, eBahn quit working. . .I went to their website and with a few emails sent back and forth got it working. You've probably done all this: compatibility mode, run as administrator. I'm sure there's a way to get it working.


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

I'm gonna try this method and see how it goes. Will report back when done.

https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/display/faqs/Install+Windows+XP+using+Sun+VirtualBox


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

Just got off the phone with Bentley ebahn support. They say they are working on a windows 7 version, but no word on when. They seem well aware of this(major!) problem.

According to the guy on the other end of the phone, there were some workaround tricks you could do in vista, to get things running, but windows 7 took away the workaround they were using.:banghead: 

They gave me a third license (comes with 2), since my windows 7 computer cant be de-activated, but cant run the repair manual. 

Ill just load up on my wifes xp laptop for now.


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## tdotA3mike (Feb 5, 2009)

SilverSquirrel said:


> I blame both. The bentley barely worked on XP, and was even then quite buggy.
> microsoft products have become so bloated, any improvement in computer hardware is always negated by fatter, sloppier, operating systems.


bloated? are you on crack? win7 isn't bloated... its a the biggest improvement since winXP...

vista... meh 

try snow leopard if you want to talk about bloated broken software :banghead:


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## dj age one (Jun 2, 2000)

SilverSquirrel said:


> :banghead:I just tried loading up my Bentley dvd onto my shiny new windows 7 machine, and guess what? It dont work. This proves my opinion that the ebahn software was written by drunken monkeys, and not real programmers.
> 
> At least when they printed books you could at least look thru the badly written repair procedures, and try to deduce just what they were talking about.
> 
> ...



man, thats nothing, if I could pay $90 to fix my problem I would do so in a heartbeat... I'm trying to get VAS PC up and running.. $250 per CD from vw/audi, ontop of a $1330 5054a, and the ****er will only run on 2000 or XP. I figured I could backdate my Vista laptops to XP, but f'n toshiba had to go and screw with all the drivers and XP will not install on that machine, just says "no hard disk found" so now on top of $1700 in equipment and software I need to go and find a used laptop with xp on it..

you think bentely is poorly written, you oughta see the install procedure for VASPC. its like 13 f'n pages long, and it states "procedure will take over 2hrs" for software!!!!!:banghead::banghead:

People wonder why I get a little rude when they ask if I can diag there CEL for free 

gotta love VCDS. 5 minuets and its up and running.


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

tdotA3mike said:


> bloated? are you on crack? win7 isn't bloated... its a the biggest improvement since winXP...
> 
> vista... meh
> 
> try snow leopard if you want to talk about bloated broken software :banghead:


had it less than a week. still learning. got most of the cleartype fonts changed, but cant kill the system font, freekin sergio. Give me nice 1 pixil wide crisp lines anyday over cleartype.

by bloated i mean i dont care for aero. If i wanted a mac, i would have bought one. I just want to use my cad and other software, and draw fast and not have crashes. thats all i want . so far not crashed, knock knock


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

dj age one said:


> man, thats nothing, if I could pay $90 to fix my problem I would do so in a heartbeat... I'm trying to get VAS PC up and running.. $250 per CD from vw/audi, ontop of a $1330 5054a, and the ****er will only run on 2000 or XP. I figured I could backdate my Vista laptops to XP, but f'n toshiba had to go and screw with all the drivers and XP will not install on that machine, just says "no hard disk found" so now on top of $1700 in equipment and software I need to go and find a used laptop with xp on it..
> 
> you think bentely is poorly written, you oughta see the install procedure for VASPC. its like 13 f'n pages long, and it states "procedure will take over 2hrs" for software!!!!!:banghead::banghead:
> 
> ...


ouch. 

but I agree, big thumbs up for vcds.


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## trucaliber (May 13, 2009)

*vmware is free*

So the reason for upgrading to Win7 Pro or Ultimate is to use VirtualPC? I believe VMware Desktop works just fine on Win7 Home edition, and you should be able to install WinXP in VMware and boot that up to run Bently. Just install the 30-day trial VM-Workstation to create your VM-machine. Once it's running switch over to the free and small footprint VM-player.

http://www.vmware.com/products/workstation/

http://www.vmware.com/products/player/

It isn't 'integrated' with Win7 and can't auto-run Bently from a shortcut on your desktop. But it works, and you can boot it up on any system you may upgrade to in the future. Having WinXP 'in a bottle' is very useful and has saved my hide many times.


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

good tip. Ill look into it. Thanks!


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

SilverSquirrel said:


> good tip. Ill look into it. Thanks!


I just did it using Windows 7 Home Edition and VMWare player. Either its my new laptop, or VMWare runs A LOT smoother then Virtual PC w/ XP Mode.

Go get 'er done!


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

did you need to activate the license on XP to run vmware?

I have the XP disk, but XP is up and running on my old computer, so the license is taken.


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

SilverSquirrel said:


> did you need to activate the license on XP to run vmware?
> 
> I have the XP disk, but XP is up and running on my old computer, so the license is taken.


Yes, I did. I had a machine that was inoperable so I was able to use that license.


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## aqn (Nov 20, 2001)

*Fark Bentley!*



SilverSquirrel said:


> :banghead:I just tried loading up my Bentley dvd onto my shiny
> new windows 7 machine, and guess what? It dont work. This proves my opinion that the ebahn
> software was written by drunken monkeys, and not real programmers.


Bentley is a bunch of money grubbing whores. Their customer service is not. Their
programmers/eBahn's programmers are still using punch cards.

I now use this instead: alldatadiy.com.
It costs $45 for a five-year subscription. (Subsequent five-year subscriptions, e.g. for other
cars, are $29.95 each.) Yes, you have to have network connectivity to use it.
I can access my WiFi router from out in the garage so that's not a problem for me.
You can use it "offline" by loading the necessary pages in separate browser tabs beforehand.

It has all the necessary information: procedures, specs (wear limits, torque figures), wiring diagrams, etc.


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

Wow, very similar to Bentley, but I think its more detailed as far as instructions go.


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## MisterJJ (Jul 28, 2005)

aqn said:


>


Is that for an A3? Supposedly the ground for the wiper motor is shared with the ground for the headlights, causing the wiper motor to blow if you add xenons. The above diagram does not show this.


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## aqn (Nov 20, 2001)

MisterJJ said:


> Is that for an A3?


The diagram is for a 2006 MkV GTI.



> Supposedly the ground for the wiper motor is shared with the ground for the headlights, causing the wiper motor to blow if you add xenons. The above diagram does not show this.


I have no idea if that's the case, but I have these observations about your observation:

How do you know the diagram does not show that when it does not show the headlights nor their
tracks/connections?

Also, I would think you'd need to follow the wiper motor's "tracks" (number 41 and 176, to other
diagrams) to see where/how it's grounded.

And finally, I fail to see how sharing a ground with anything can cause anything else to "blow"?
(That does not mean it's not true or not possible; I just don't understand how.)

Anyway, someone with a Bentley manual may want to compare the two diagrams, but I kinda doubt if
this diagram is wrong, as it's likely that whatever alldatadiy.com has would have come from the same
source as the Bentley.


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## MisterJJ (Jul 28, 2005)

aqn said:


> How do you know the diagram does not show that when it does not show the headlights nor their tracks/connections?


Sorry, I misread it. I see now that it is not complete.




aqn said:


> And finally, I fail to see how sharing a ground with anything can cause anything else to "blow"?
> (That does not mean it's not true or not possible; I just don't understand how.)


I don't get it either but others have said that the only thing that the wiper motor and headlights have in common is a ground connection.

I have the diagrams of the headlights and see that the left halogen headlight grounds to "366 - Ground Connection 1 (in main wiring harness) while the left xenon grounds to the same place AND "655 - Ground Connection (on left headlamp).

I'm not sure where this connection on the headlamp is but if this extra ground connection is what is required to stop the wiper motors from blowing, all you would need to do is run a wire from terminal 5 on the headlamp to a solid ground.

P.S. Sorry to threadjack


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## Alogp (Mar 23, 2013)

Hi guys, need some help here please. I purchased Vas pc from eBay. Installed it to a point where it's asking for a erWin
Password and login. Would anybody know how to get passed this stage? 

Much appreciate any help.


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## amanojyaku (May 3, 2012)

SilverSquirrel said:


> did you need to activate the license on XP to run vmware?
> 
> I have the XP disk, but XP is up and running on my old computer, so the license is taken.


 
If your running it on vmware you can disable the network adapter and keep a snapshot of the image when you first installed Xp. Once you disable the network adapter it won't go out to the internet to activate and before XP expires just restore the Virtual XP back to the snapshot of when you first installed XP.


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