What are the system requirements for running Investment Studio?
Investment Studio runs under Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista. Under Windows 95 and NT, Internet Explorer 4 or higher must be installed (see below). A mouse or equivalent pointing device is required. Internet access is needed to download quote updates.
The core executables and documentation take up roughly 5 MB of disk space, but you will need at least 40 MB on top of that for data storage (portfolios, trading systems, quotes etc.). Once you start building your own quote database, it can easily grow to several hundred MB.
Windows 95, 98 and ME have a 64 kB system resource limit, capping the number of open windows that they can handle. Since Investment Studio's user interface tends to contain a large number of windows, it's possible to exceed this limit, especially in high color mode. You can check resource utilisation by clicking Help > About in Windows Explorer. If you run low on system resources or experience stability problems, close other applications, reduce the number of open windows in Investment Studio and (if nothing else helps) consider reducing your system's color depth. Windows NT and higher do not have a 64 kB resource limit and are therefore not subject to this limitation.
What's the minimum recommended configuration?
Investment Studio is known to run even on a P90 with 48 MB of RAM and VGA display (!), but the minimum recommended system has at least a P233, 64 MB of RAM (for Windows 98; for Windows XP, at least 128 MB of RAM are recommended) and SVGA display (800 x 600 pixels).
Why must Internet Explorer 4 (or higher) be installed on Windows 95 and NT in order to use Investment Studio?
Investment Studio uses several Internet-related technologies that were not available in the original releases of Windows 95 and NT (HTML Help, ActiveX scripting, WinInet services, embedded web browsers). Installing Internet Explorer 4 or higher adds all the required components to Windows. If you are using Windows 98 or higher, those components are already built in.
I use Mozilla. Must I switch to Internet Explorer in order to run Investment Studio?
No. Internet Explorer needs to be installed on your computer (since it provides system services used by Investment Studio), that's all. It doesn't have to be set up as your default browser, and you don't have to use it. You can keep navigating the web with whatever browser you prefer.
Why must I install Investment Studio Lite before I can install the registered version?
The installer for the registered version of Investment Studio works as an upgrade pack for Investment Studio Lite. It replaces core components of Investment Studio Lite with their registered equivalents, leaving the rest (as well as your quotes, portfolios and other personal settings) unchanged. It doesn't contain components common to both versions, and can therefore not be used to set up Investment Studio from scratch, i.e. in the absence of a previously installed copy of Investment Studio Lite.
Is Investment Studio or Investment Studio Lite adware? Does either version contain or come bundled with spyware?
No. There are no ads and no spyware in either version.
Does Investment Studio or Investment Studio Lite send information about my portfolios (or other personal information) to others?
Absolutely not. All information which you enter into Investment Studio is stored locally (i.e. on your computer's hard drive) only. If you worry about unauthorized access through the network, install a firewall like ZoneAlarm, which blocks any network connection not explicitly authorized by you.
If you don't use browser objects pointing to external URLs, the main Investment Studio executable will never go online. The downloader will, but only in order to retrieve data. If you don't trust the downloader, put all your sensitive information (e.g. portfolios) on a removable and/or encrypted disk partition and keep the quotes on a different partition. Then run the downloader only when the partition containing the sensitive data isn't mounted.
Under Windows 2000 and XP Professional, you can encrypt and password-protect directories using the built-in EFS (Encrypting File System). Under all Windows versions from 95 and up, you can also use third party disk encryption tools like PGPdisk or DriveCrypt.
If I register, will my contact information (name, address etc.) be sold or given to others?
Your contact information is used to verify and process your payment(s). This necessarily involves submitting it to a payment processor. Other than that, we will disclose the contents of our customer records to third parties only if required to do so by law or as needed to investigate suspicious orders.
What are the differences between Investment Studio Lite and the registered version of Investment Studio?
They are summarized in the following comparison table:
Feature Investment Studio Lite Investment Studio Registration reminder popups Yes No InvestmentStudio.com links in charts and graphs Yes No Max loaded portfolios 2 Unlimited* Max assets per portfolio 6 Unlimited* Max quotes per asset 250 Unlimited* Max download lists 6 Unlimited* Max active download lists 2 Unlimited* Max download items per list 25 Unlimited* Max optimizable trading system parameters 2 Unlimited* *Within system resource bounds (e.g. CPU speed, memory, disk space).
Registered users may also be offered access to premium content and services (e.g. data, scripts, macros or articles).
I understand that Investment Studio licenses are leased, not sold. How does this work in practice?
Upon registration, we e-mail you a unique PIN (Personal Identification Number) and a download URL for the registered version of Investment Studio.
When you enter your PIN into Investment Studio, it generates an e-mail which you then send to us. In return, we e-mail you a subscription certificate. Together with your PIN, the certificate fully enables Investment Studio on your computer.
While the PIN is permanent, the subscription certificate eventually expires. Investment Studio then generates a new request e-mail, you send it to us and we send you a new certificate. This procedure is repeated every time your certificate expires, until you decide to terminate your subscription.
What's a subscription certificate?
A subscription certificate is a time-limited key. Together with the PIN (Personal Identification Number) which is sent to you upon registration, it fully enables the registered version of Investment Studio. The certificate eventually expires and must then be replaced. It must also be replaced if you move Investment Studio to a different computer or if you perform major system work (like reinstalling Windows).
The standard certificate duration is one month. This is separate from the billing cycle. For instance, if you sign up for quarterly billing, you will be billed once every three months; you will replace your subscription certificate three times between successive billings.
How do I change the e-mail address where I receive my subscription certificates?
Send an empty mail from the new address to
with your PIN (and nothing else!) in the Subject field. A confirmation request will be sent to the old e-mail address and must be answered for any changes to be carried out.
How do I terminate my subscription?
Simply stop paying for new certificates. You will still be able to use your current certificate until it expires and to request new certificates which have already been paid for. We can not issue partial refunds for unused subscriptions and certificates. If you don't know how long you'll be using Investment Studio, sign up for monthly billing; this way, you only pay for one certificate at a time.
