FordTechCA

Win7 and IE9 works fine. apply the same security settings that are listed for IE8. make *.dealerconnection.com a trusted website too. as for mitchel on demand, i believe the trick for that is to enable compability view in IE9, or something along those lines. had to do that to all the service advisors computers when work upgraded computers recently. all computers at work are now win7pro and IE9.

just got word from Ford a few days ago that i should see the IDS software soon that handles both VCM's. been trying to get my hands on a VCMII for 2 months now, ill just keep grinding on the IDS department. still have my complete IDS setup from when i first became a tester back in 05. yes from what i was told the IDS software will work with both VCM's. sounds like it will be ready around version79 of the software, which with their release schedule would be about march or april.

its because there must of been a bug in 70.03 that they are fixing. instead of releasing or rushing out 70.04 which they were probably already working on, they released 70.03B to fix the bug in 70.03. they did the same thing with release 66, i think it was. anyone notice that it was 66A? thats was because of me. i was testing that version and the week before it was to be posted on the website for release i found a problem with PMI on 6.0L for the 03-04(the 04's with the 03 engine)model year. it delayed the release an extra week from when they planned to release it. all of us that were on the original beta for IDS still get to test new releases about 2-3 weeks before they are posted to the website. so when they get ready to go from 70 to 71, i will get 71 about 2 weeks before everyone else.

im rezzing an older thread here instead of posting to a new one, im currently testing a fix for IDS running on 64bit Win 7. as of now it seems to be working great and you dont have to do any work arounds to make it work, like using XPMode or hitting F8 on bootup to disable driver signing. i suspect if all goes well there may be an anouncement from Ford about it in the next month. just thought you all might want to know.

hmm away from work. well i dont do anything car related. besides spend my time with the wife and kids, ive been spending the last 2.5 years taking night courses at the local college trying to work my way out of this profession and into the world of IT. so far ive been focusing on OS support and networking in the world of cisco network equipment. just recently took my first microsoft certification test and passed. so along with being a Ford Senior Master, im now a MCP, Microsoft Certified Professional. hopefully after a few more certs ill be ready to leave the world of auto repair behind and start a new life in the IT world

on my laptop with IE8, ive applied the suggested settings that ford has on the PTS website. i also dont run any extra toolbars, no google,yahoo or msn. as ive found their popup blockers can be a pain until you've enabled all the necessary ford related popups. i do favor googles toolbar though over the rest, just a preference i guess. other then that most of my IE8 settings are stock to the way it loads. ive said many times at the dealer i work at that Ford IT department needs to be fired. their ability to keep a needed aspect to our job running sucks bigtime.

i saw some other posts, what issue are you having with IE8 and FMCDealer? ive been using IE8 since release on FMCDealer without problems(except the many days here and there where the Ford IT department has screwed up the website). as for backdating the OS for the equipment. well some of the blame lays on microsoft for IDS issues. my latest discussion with the IDS people was very imformative. with the current stuff going on, my feelings are IDS in some form will be around for awhile. as for the connection between the vehicle and the laptop, something will have to change within windows or the vcm and cable to make it work with 64bit. PDS is going away due to the limits of the PocketPC and the changes in the vehicles currently and years to come.

IDS with Win7 is being tweaked right now. V67 had some fixes for Win7 in it. problem we will all see once Ford gives the go ahead for support is only support for 32bit. 64bit still wont be supported and probably will never be supported, as for the reasons, im not sure i can say exactly what other then there is too many things that will need to be changed for 64bit to work properly. im running on 64bit now while reporting any problems i encounter. it works for the most part but you need to get a realtek driver for the usb cable and on windows startup you have to hit F8 before windows loads then select disable driver signing to install the driver and also every time you start your computer if you want things to work with the least amount of trouble. another option though for those of you looking to upgrade laptops seeing most are coming loaded in 64bit is spend a bit extra and get Win7 professional or ultimate. those 2 versions come with a free Windows XP download that runs in a virtual environment on the win7 desktop. ive been using that since january and it works great.

[quote=Bruce Amacker And so does IH. I wonder when Ford will wise up? about this time next year when they run out of the money reserves they had that helped them from joining GM and Chrysler begging for bailout money due to poor business decisions

i never had to do it, i started with ford back in 94 but remember seeing service manuals, wiring diagrams and H-manuals with the stickers refering to a TSB

ummm step back in time to the late 80's early 90's. did we use to apply a sticker in the service manual to refer to a TSB when there was a change?

with all the stuff thats changed why not just build the AOD and do the 4R70W internals swap to get a tad different gearing.

well some inside info for all of you, ford gave up trying to get IDS and Vista working. if you are patient and are up for a challenge, yes IDS can run on vista but Ford will never support it. the guys back in detroit are skipping straight to Win 7. one of the other problems if i remember correctly was getting vista and the really outdated wireless card for the VCM to function too. i havent tried vista. im running my IDS on a virtual drive in XP on my vista laptop. im about to install the win 7 rc though and give win 7 a try. other problems were the usb/ethernet cable that connects to the VCM from what ive been told. you may have to search for the driver for the cable from the manufacture to help with making IDS work.

yeah it took ford way too long to let it work on all editions of XP, and for those wondering, it will never be made to work with Vista. those of you who like being ahead of the curve and playing with the latest greatest software, ford is skipping vista and going straight to windows 7. i havent tried it yet, but ive heard it will run on the beta version

umm yeah, unlocking XP Home is a bandaid for now. the reason i was told why it wasnt ok'd at first, well im not too sure i agree. Ford has no plans of supporting Vista ever. i would love to tell the reason why but cant. as a beta tester ive been told to not say anything.