Beer Engine gone wonky

If you use Beersmith, Promash, Beer Engine, or whatever, this is the place to discuss pros, cons, tips and tricks
guypettigrew
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Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by guypettigrew » Wed Jan 31, 2024 5:24 pm

I've just got a lovely new all in one PC running Windows 11. It's great, except Graham's Beer Engine doesn't display properly.

Screen shot attached.

I've uninstalled it and re-installed with no improvement.

Anyone got any good idea, please?

Thanks.

Guy
Beer Engine.jpg
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Cobnut
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by Cobnut » Wed Jan 31, 2024 5:56 pm

My guess is it's an old bit of software which doesn't know about Windoze 11 (and so doesn't like it!).

I know in older versions of Windoze it was possible to run program(me)s in some form of "compatibility mode"...maye there's a Win98 compatibility mode in Windoze 11...

Try right clicking on the icon and see what it offers you.
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guypettigrew
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by guypettigrew » Wed Jan 31, 2024 7:08 pm

Well, that was a bit of a disaster! Windows offered me a 'tool' to correct things if it wasn't displaying properly.

I used it and Beer Engine became huge, showed just a very small percentage of the page and couldn't be changed. Completely useless.

So I uninstalled and re- installed. Re-started the computer. My computer still wants to display it super huge.

I think I've destroyed any chance of using Beer Engine now.

Guy

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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by PeeBee » Wed Jan 31, 2024 7:11 pm

I think Beer Engine got recently updated by a "Friends of Graham" group? So, not all that "old a bit of software"?

But I recently had trouble writing for an early version of Excel (spreadsheet), and then seeing all the alignment and indexing fall apart moving it to Excel 365. On Windows 10, so don't blame "Windoze" 11 (exclusively) too quickly. Perhaps "Windoze" 11 exaggerated a more "all-encompassing" hiccup?

Didn't find the issue with Excel, but I bet fixing it would make it look screwy in earlier versions of Excel. And my guess is you've all got a copy of the afflicted spreadsheet 'cos it's such a valuable "must have" brewing tool in its own right! :mrgreen: (the "Defuddler").
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

guypettigrew
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by guypettigrew » Wed Jan 31, 2024 7:46 pm

Hi PeeBee

So, what should I do to be able to use Beer Engine again, please?

Guy

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MarkA
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by MarkA » Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:52 pm

Find the .exe file and right click it

Choose 'properties'

Click the 'compatibility' tab

Check the box "Run this program in compatibility mode for" then try the different options to see which one works best

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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by MarkA » Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:57 pm

I've just tried it in Vista and XP and it looks ok

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Eric
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by Eric » Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:58 pm

Maybe a daft one, but have tried adjusting the zoom?
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by soupdragon » Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:57 pm

Is this the friends of Graham group?

https://github.com/jimbob88/wheelers-wort-works

It's still a work in progress but might be of use?

Cheers Tom

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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by PeeBee » Thu Feb 01, 2024 2:03 am

soupdragon wrote:
Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:57 pm
Is this the friends of Graham group?

https://github.com/jimbob88/wheelers-wort-works

It's still a work in progress but might be of use?

Cheers Tom
Ahhh ... that will be what I was remembering. It's what I installed to try it. Thanks.

("Friends of Graham" is a fictitious name I invented for the post ... I hope no-one is searching for a group actually called that!).





I reckon Eric had a point about "zoom". For the second mess up that was stamped on it by MS.

I notice the original mess was caused by a single change ... the "default" monospace font used by the text boxes (olive coloured background) has changed so the text tables no longer fit with the allocated column widths (or row heights?)? No solution, but it might nudge someone?

Otherwise try Wheeler's Wort Works. I believe it is Beer Engine with a bit of a polish (I never tried it in Windows 11, only 10). And any of the suggested "compatibility" options might well work too.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by themadhippy » Thu Feb 01, 2024 4:21 am

if all else fails install virtual box and use it to run xp
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guypettigrew
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by guypettigrew » Thu Feb 01, 2024 8:42 am

MarkA wrote:
Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:52 pm
Find the .exe file and right click it

Choose 'properties'

Click the 'compatibility' tab

Check the box "Run this program in compatibility mode for" then try the different options to see which one works best
Thanks, but no good. I've just tried all the compatibility modes and they all look huge!

Eric; The zoom function doesn't work, unfortunately.

Is anyone else running it successfully on Windows 11 and, if you are, what did you need to do when swapping from 10 to 11?

Guy

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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by IPA » Thu Feb 01, 2024 9:04 am

I cannot see any difference in the display than to mine in W10 ?
Except that it is full screen
Edit I can see the fault now :oops:
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by MashBag » Thu Feb 01, 2024 7:26 pm

MarkA wrote:
Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:52 pm
Find the .exe file and right click it

Choose 'properties'

Click the 'compatibility' tab

Check the box "Run this program in compatibility mode for" then try the different options to see which one works best
That should work.

I cannot recreate this issue. Is it just too big?

guypettigrew
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Re: Beer Engine gone wonky

Post by guypettigrew » Fri Feb 02, 2024 11:16 am

Yup, ginormous, and I can't make it smaller.

I tried all the possible compatibility modes (see above), but none are any good.

Time to look for a new recipe generator. One which allows me to calculate efficiency and add whatever grains and hops I want to. Plus allows me to print the recipe out to take through to my brew shed. And no, I don't have a lap top!

I'll be very sorry to give up on Graham's Beer Engine. It's easy to use and has suited me well for many years.

Any suggestions anyone, please?

Thanks.

Guy

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