Deer Park Software

Shop Talk

Installation Instructions

If you're installing Shop Talk for the first time, there are two parts to the installation that you must complete. The first part is the server installation. The second part is the workstation installation. The workstation installation steps must be done once on each workstation that will be running Shop Talk. The server installation must be run first.

If you already have Shop Talk installed and you are installing an upgrade, you only need to run step 2) of the Server Installation. You do not need to run the Workstation Installation. The workstations will automatically pick up the new version once the Server Installation is complete.

Shop Talk requires one PC on your network to be the Shop Talk server. If you don't have a dedicated server, any PC on your peer-to-peer network can be the Shop Talk server. The only requirement is that every other workstation that will be running Shop Talk must be able to access the Shop Talk server across the network.

Upgrading from Shop Talk Version 1.5

Important!: If you are upgrading from version 1.5 to version 2.0 or above READ THIS NOTICE. If you are not upgrading from version 1.5, you can skip to the Server Installation step.

The Shop Talk message format was changed after v1.5. Messages that were created by v1.5 are not readable by v2.0 or above. Follow these instructions before running your new version:
1. Any messages waiting to be read in the Shop Talk queue will be lost. If any of these messages are important, have the recipients read them with v1.5 before installing your new version. Any unwanted messages should be deleted to prevent error messages when the new version of Shop Talk tries to read them. These messages exist in a folder below your Shop Talk Server directory called "QUEUE". All files in this folder should be deleted before running your new version.
2. Any saved messages on each workstation will not be readable by your new version if they were created by v1.5. This message can be converted to the new message format by running the Message Exporter program that is included with your new version. After running the Server Installation for your new version, but before running it, go to each workstation and run the program called "msgexptr.exe" that is located in your Network Shop Talk directory. Point the program to the folder below your Local Shop Talk directory called "mailbox", then click the "Export" button. When it's finished, exit the Message Exporter. The first time you run your new version of Shop Talk on that workstation, it will recognize the exported message files and convert them to the new format.

Server Installation:

These steps are to be run on the Shop Talk server PC only.
1. If you don't already have one, create a folder that will be shared with the other workstations on your network. For this example, I'll call it "C:\NETAPPS". Make sure you mark this folder as "shared" for network access and give Full access to everyone.
2. Run the installation program. Tell the installation program to install into "C:\NETAPPS\ShopTalkServer" (replace the "NETAPPS" part with whatever you called the directory in step 1). The installation program will create the "ShopTalkServer" directory for you. Carefully read the rest of the prompts during the installation and answer the questions appropriately.
When the installation is finished, you have completed the Server Installation. You must now do the Workstation Installation steps on EACH workstation that will be running Shop Talk.

Workstation Installation:

These steps must be completed on each workstation that will be running Shop Talk.
1. From each workstation, run Network Neighborhood and browse to the PC where you installed Shop Talk on the server. Map a drive letter to the "NETAPPS" folder that you created during the Server Installation.
2. Use the My Computer program to access the drive that you mapped in step 1. Go into the "ShopTalkServer" folder and run "WS_SETUP.EXE". This program will create the necessary workstation directories and copy the needed files to that workstation. It will also create Windows shortcuts needed to start Shop Talk. You will be able to select whether Shop Talk will start automatically when you start Windows. This is recommended. If Shop Talk is not running on a workstation, it will not receive new messages.

Download a free trial version!

All of the trial versions of our products are full-working versions that are time limited. You can try them out to see if they fit your needs before purchasing.

The file that you download will be a self-extracting installation program. After downloading, just run the installation program and it will walk you through the quick and easy setup procedures.

Download Shop Talk 3.1
Select either the EXE or ZIP file format.
shptlk31u.exe
shptlk31u.zip