I've used DakStats Football off and on since 2002, and the MAIN thing that has turned me off to the program is that the program locks up on me during the game, forcing me to reboot my laptop during the game and have someone write down everything while I try to get back up and running again.
I thought I was the only one who had this program, but this happened to a team we played last season and our (and their) stats are screwed up because of it.
So, I have two questions ... 1. why does this happen? and 2. what can be done to prevent it? (Besides just sticking with Stat Crew)
First..thanks for your post. I run DakStats Football live at local high school and college games. I haven't experienced the lock-up problem that you mentioned. DakStats is also used at many championship games and high profile events for both the NAIA, NCAA, and High Schools. Since, we are a scoreboard company many of our customers use DakStats to send live data during the event to our scoreboards and video boards. If it locked-up, then not only would the operator know, but also everyone in the stadium would see the data go blank. So, its important to Daktronics to make sure the program doesn't 'lock up'.
I am not going to say the software is bug-free. I am sure there are glitches in the code. From you post, its happened to you in the past.
I will make sure to take some extra time this summer to look into play-by-play mode entry and see what I can find.
I know football was many months ago...but if you can remember some more specifics that would be greatly appreciated. Did it happen when editing a play? Or just during normal play entry? Was it a crazy play and you weren't sure how to enter (like a hook-and-ladder, with a fumble that went out of the endzone for a safety)?
I forgot to mention a couple quick things that might help...
1. Run Windows Update. You can access via you Start Menu or thur Internet Explorer via the Tools menu. DakStats using many Windows System files that Microsoft updates from time to time. I recomend installing all that are labelled 'Critical' or 'Recomended'
2. Make sure you have latest version of the Software. Web-Sync customers get the latest version of DakStats for free as part of the Web-Sync service. Each year we release new versions. The current version is 4.22. We will be releasing a new version this August...it will be 4.23.
3. Real Time Virus Scans. Some customers have said that if they DISABLE their real-time virus software during games...then they don't have the lock-ups. I have never been able to duplicate this. I have Norton Anti-Virus installed...and have never experienced this issue. But, thought I would put it out there as an option to try based on what other customers have told me.
