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Frequently Asked Questions about Quicknote

Welcome to the Quicknote FAQ. If you don't find the appropriate help, please contact me.

 

Can I install a new version of Quicknote over an old one?
Yes you can, and you even should. By installing a newer version over an existing installation, your settings and your notes will be preserved. However, you have to exit the old version of Quicknote completely (not sleep mode) before installing the new one. To do so, wake up Quicknote and click on "Exit" in the main menu.

Why does Quicknote ask whether I want to save the file on shutdown?
The behaviour for text that you write into the main note (T) is just like any other text editor. If you enter text in it, Quicknote will ask you, whether you want to save it into an external file. If you create notes as quick notes into the category view, they are internaly managed and automatically opened and saved by Quicknote. More information on note keeping can be found in the corresponding demonstration video.

How can I change the font size of Quicknote's text?
Just right-click in the text and a menu will appear where you click on "Font".

How can I enter the Tab character into my note?
Solution:
Tab allows to navigate through the different elements of Quicknote without using a mouse. To enter the Tab-character, press Crontrol+Tab.

I am not able to send/receive notes to/from another computer through a firewall!
Solution:
Allow incoming internet traffic to TCP port 58178.

Where are the Quicknotes saved?
Solution:
By default (this location can be changed in the options), the Quicknotes are saved in My Documents\Quicknote, this is "C:\Users\<username>\Documents\quicknote" or for older windows versions "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\Quicknote" as files quicktmp.xyz, where xyz is the number of the note. The main note, unless saved in an external file, is named quicktmp.$$$. These files can be opened with any plain text editor to examine their contents.

I accidentally deleted my notes!?
Solution:
I hope you have a backup. See the previous question for the directory where Quicknote saves its notes. Check whether you included it in you backup and you can restore it from there or just open the quicktmp.xyz files with any text editor to see their contents. If you do not have a backup but have Windows Vista/7/8 Professional then the Windows shadow copy service might come to your rescue. Right click on the Quicknote folder in My Documents and select "Properties" and go to the tab "Previous Versions". Here you can open older versions of the note files and restore them.

How can I save the settings of Quicknote before re-installing Windows or how can I copy Quicknote with all the notes, reminders and settings to another computer?
Solution:
- On the source computer, run "Regedit.exe" by clicking Start, Run.
- Go to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\jcmb\Quicknote.
- Click in the menu Registry, Export and save the *.reg file.
- Look in Quicknote's option window, in the tab "Misc", in which directory the notes are saved, and save this directory, too (usually My Documents\Quicknote).
- On the destination computer, or after re-installing Windows, install Quicknote form this site and close Quicknote completely (no sleep mode). Then restore the notes to the same path as on the source computer and run the *.reg file. If run Quicknote now, all the settings and notes will be restored.

Is Quicknote available for Linux / Mac OS
Unfortunately not. Quicknote uses a lot of API calls that do only work in Windows and it would be a very difficult to port Quicknote onto other platforms.
However, Linux has a Windows Emulator called Wine that makes it at least possible to run Quicknote in its current version. There is still some inconvenience so that I do not recommend using Quicknote in Linux.

I want to uninstall Quicknote
Solution:
To uninstall Quicknote, go to Control Panel, Software and choose Quicknote in the list. Click on remove. Please make absolutely sure that Quicknote does not run any more (click on "exit"; not sleep mode). If you forgot to exit Quicknote completely before uninstalling it, you get the message "Some elements could not be removed. These can be removed manually." Make sure Quicknote does not run any more and delete the files in the directory c:\program files\Quicknote

I want to delete the list of last opened files
Solution:
- Exit Quicknote completely with the commend exit in the main menu.
- Run "Regedit.exe" by clicking Start | Run.
- Go to the Key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\jcmb\Quicknote and delete the values "letz1" until "letz9" (if existing).

Quicknote is very slow
Solution:
If Quicknote is very slow, it may help to deactivate the Option "Animation" in Options, Interface.

Looking for a new version does not work
Quicknote's Update Assistant is not able to look for a new version. This can be the case, if your PC  connected to the internet through a strictly configured Proxy-Server. To know if there is a new version, please visit http://www.quicknote.de.

Polish or other unicode characters are not properly displayed in Quicknote while they work in other applications.
This problem existed until version 5.3, with the workaround of selecting a font for Quicknote that only has one character set, e.g. "MS Sans Serif". Since 5.4, it is possible to set the codepage in the font dialog.

The volume hotkeys do not work in Vista.
In Windows Vista, every program has its own volume level. So the hotkeys do only change the volume of sounds produced by Quicknote. This problem is resolved in Quicknote 5.4, if for any reason you prefer using an older version of Quicknote, you can enable the compatibility mode for Windows XP in the preferences of Quicknote.exe. This picture shows how.

I want Quicknote to be directly visible when starting it, not in sleep mode
You can specify this in the Options, at the bottom on the General-Tab. To do this in older versions, create a reminder's task that occurs "every day", "on the start of Quicknote" and that does wake up Quicknote.

I cannot translate text from Quicknote with the software Babylon Translator!
For that software you have to deactivate transparency in Quicknote's options window. If it is deactivated and it does still not work, please try to set clearly distinguishable colors for the text background and foreground.

I can't see the Wake-Up line
You downloaded Quicknote, but after you ran it, you did not see the Wake-Up line? It's a small grey line at the top of your screen. If your background image is grey just maximize a window. You can change the color of the Wake-Up line later. Don't you still not find the line?
Try this:
- Force Quicknote to exit with the window "End Task" with CTRL+ALT+DEL.
- Download this file and run it.
- Run Quicknote. Now the line should be visible.

I can't see Quicknote after I touched the Wake-Up line (or Quicknote is squeezed in a corner of the screen and I can't resize it).
Solution:
- Force Quicknote to exit with the window "End Task" with CTRL+ALT+DEL.
- Run "Regedit.exe" by clicking Start | Run.
- Go to the Key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\jcmb\Quicknote and change the values of "Width" and "Height" to 1000.

I get the error message "Can't find DLL entry point AnimateWindows in user32" or "Invalid procedure call or argument" in Windows 95 OSR1 or in Windows NT when waking up Quicknote Version 4.2?
Solution:
- Make sure that Quicknote does not run any more, and force it to exit with CTRL+ALT+DEL if it is still running.
- Run "Regedit.exe" by clicking Start | Run.
- Go to the Key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\jcmb\Quicknote and change the value of "Anim" to 0.
- Run Quicknote normally. In this case it is not possible to animate Quicknote.

Quicknote - a trojan?
A user of Quicknote sent me an email, in which he said that the anti virus program "Stop Sign" by eAnthology detected Quicknote as trojan (C:\Program files\Jcmb\Quicknote\quicknote.exe *may* be infected, because it matches the pattern of BACKDOOR.Trojan). After I contacted eAnthology I got the following response: "We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you and your users. After careful consideration, we have added this program to the exclusion list to be added to the next update in our software."
I assure again, that Quicknote never collects or sends any data. Quicknote has additionally been certified 100% clean by Softpedia.

Which data does Quicknote send when looking for a new version?
Answer:
When you ask Quicknote to look if an update is available, it downloads a short text file from my web site. This is equivalent to visiting the site you are reading right now. No personal information is transmitted.

Sometimes there is a message that asks to donate. How can I stop this?
Answer:
Quicknote is free to use by anyone. To be able to cover the costs of webhosting and downloads, donations are welcomed. That's why Quicknote displays a message at the 50th, 100th, 300th, 500th, 1000th, 3000th, 5000th and 10000th time is is run. Of course you can also send me a postcard or do anything nice else. If you do not want this message to appear any more, just select "Do not show this message any more".

Support

If you still have questions/problems with Quicknote, or comments, please send an email to:

jm @ quicknote.de.
You can also submit your ideas to the Quicknote Bug and Request-Tracker or vote for ideas of other users.




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