Questions & Answers
General
The Mutual Fund Investor
Retirement Calculator
General
Q: After I download one of your files, I forget where I saved it
to disk. How can I find it?
A: If you know the name of the file you
downloaded, click Start, click Find. Click on "Files or Folders…". Enter
the name of the file in the "Named" field. In the "Look in" field, choose
an option that will perform a broad search, such as "Local hard drives". Then click
on the "Find Now" button. If you don't know the name of the file you saved, the files
listed below are among the possible files you downloaded.
| Install-MFI.exe |
Install-FS.exe |
Install-RC.exe |
| Install-MFIDemo.exe |
Install-FSDemo.exe |
|
| MFI.zip |
|
|
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The Mutual Fund Investor
Q: How do I contact Dial Data?
A: Their phone number is 800-275-5544. You must state you are using "The Mutual Fund Investor".
When you sign up, you will be issued a User ID number that begins with "RS", and a password. Enter that
information in the "Modem|Services Setup" section of the MFI program. You will then be able to download
data from Dial Data.
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Q: I bought a new computer. How do I transfer
my old program and data to the new computer?
A:
For the Windows version, do the following.
- Step 1. Make a backup of your data (under the File menu). Within the "Manual Backup" section,
the name of the backup file that will be created is listed. It may say something
like, "MFIDataBackupNow03.zip". Remember this file name. Click on the
"Backup Now" button, and the file will be created. It will be stored in
the Backup folder under the folder containing your MFI program files, typically
C:\Program Files\American River Software\MFI\Backup.
- Step 2. Intall MFI onto the new computer using the Install-MFI.exe file you purchased
and downloaded. If you do not have this file, you will have to purchase and
download it again.
- Step 3. Copy the backup file you created in Step 1 to the new Backup folder on the new
computer. Get into MFI, go to the Backup/Restore feature under the File menu.
Click on the Restore tab. Highlight the backup file you just copied and then
click on the "Restore Now" button.
For the DOS version, do the following.
- Step 1. Make a backup copy of your data from your old computer. You may need
a few formatted floppy disks to complete this task. Do this from within
MFI by using the Backup/Restore mechanism that is located in the F5 Data
Management Utilities section, option number 4. When the program prompts
you for "Copy from:", enter the drive and subdirectory that is
shown on the bottom of the screen, typically C:\MFI\MFIDATA. When prompted
for "Copy to:", place a freshly formatted floppy disk into Drive A,
and type in A:\ in the edit box. The program will then make a complete backup
of your data. When completed, go to step 2.
- Step 2. Take your SETUP disk and install the program onto the new computer as if you
were a new user. This explanation will assume you are installing onto the
C:\MFI subdirectory, but the explanation holds for other setups. When completed,
go to step 3.
- Step 3. Take your backup disk you made in step 1, and place it into Drive A of the new
computer. Get into MFI and go to the F5 Data Management Utilities section,
option 4 - Backup/Restore Data. When the program prompts you for "Copy
from:", enter A:\ in the edit box. When prompted for "Copy to:",
enter the path at the bottom of the screen, typically C:\MFI\MFIDATA. After the
process is complete, you should have the program and your data on your new
computer.
NOTE: for the DOS versions, if you have data for more than one Master List, you will have to
do this same process for the subdirectory containing that data. For example, you may
have a Master List in C:\MFI\MFIDATA, and another one in C:\MFI\PERSONAL. Go through
the three steps for C:\MFI\MFIDATA as well as for C:\MFI\PERSONAL.
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Q: I bought a new computer and now my modem won't work
with my DOS version of MFI. What can I do?
A: To solve your problem, you need to gather some information located in Control Panel.
- Step 1. Get into Control Panel. Double-click on "Modems". Click on the
"Diagnostics" tab. There should be a listing of all the devices
connected to your Com ports. Find your modem and click on it to
highlight it. Then click on the "More info..." button. After a
few minutes, you will see information you will need to solve your
problem. Write this informatin down. It should include the Com
port number (e.g., COM1 or COM2), the interrupt number, and the
address (e.g., 2F8). You can now close Control Panel.
- Step 2. The first thing you need to try is to make sure the Comm port is
set correctly. From the MFI Main Menu, get into the F4 menu and
choose option 3, "Edit Modem Settings". Choose the data service you
are trying to connect (e.g., CompuServe). If the Com port listed at
the top in the red box is the same as the Com port report by Control
Panel, you need to try Step 3. Otherwise, set the Com port correctly
by highlighting the correct port at the bottom of the screen and
then press Ctrl-Enter. Now try to connect from within MFI. If you
are still having problems, try Step 3 below to solve your problem.
- Step 3. Get into the Main Menu of MFI and proceed to the F1 menu. Choose
option 4, "Edit Startup Configuration". There may be some switches
already entered in the yellow box, and if so, leave them there.
You will be adding some switches in an attempt to make MFI communicate
with your modem. The first switch to add is the /COMX switch. If
it is already in your yellow box, you will edit it settings. If it
isn't there, add the switch /COMX and then enter the settings you
obtained from the Control Panel. The /COMX switch has the form of
/COMX=XXXX,IRQ
where XXXX is a four-character address specification, and IRQ is the
interrupt number. So, if Control Panel reported an address of 2F8,
and an interrupt number of 3, you would write,
/COMX=02F8,3
Note that a preceding zero was added to the 3-character address that
Control Panel reported. The /COMX switch requires all 4 characters and
so you should add a preceding zero if you have a 3-character address.
Note also that there should be no spaces after the /COMX. The "="
sign comes right after the /COMX and the address comes right after
the equal sign, and the comma and interrupt number come right after
the address.
Press Enter to save your settings, and now try to connect via your
modem.
- Step 4. Some users need to add another switch to their Startup
Configuration. This is the /INIT0 switch. It tells MFI to skip
asking if the modem is present and just dial it directly. If you
include this switch and it doesn't help when you try to connect,
your computer may hang and you might have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del or
push the computer's restart button. Note that the /INIT0 switch
has a zero at the end, not the letter O in the alphabet.
NOTE: Some users need both switches described in steps 3 and 4 above to
get their modem to connect. Such a startup configuration (set in
option 4 from the F1 menu) example is,
/INIT0/COMX=02F8,3
If you still cannot connect via your modem, you may need to try a
different modem. An external modem is also suggested if you are
going to do this.
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Q: What is the latest DOS version, and how do I upgrade?
A: The latest DOS version is version 6.0. Version 6.0 will upgrade any previous
version of MFI above version 4.0. There will be no future upgrades to the
DOS version. It is recommended you upgrade to the Windows version. The
Windows version allows you to import the data you have maintained in the DOS
version. The Windows version is available for purchase from this web site.
Q: How do I know what DOS version of I have?
A: When you press the Esc key from the Main Menu, you will see a serial
number in the lower right of the green box at the bottom of the screen.
It will read something like, 600961231. The first 3 digits are the
version number (6.00 in this example). The last digits indicate the
release date (12/31/96 in this example).
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Retirement Calculator
Q: Can you specify an actual year for the printed output to start, rather than just year 1?
A: No, not as of version 1.
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