1. What are the system requirements for installing Risk Simulator?

The system requirements are:

• Windows XP, Vista (32 and 64 bit), or Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
• Microsoft Excel XP, 2003, 2007, or 2010 (32 bit)
• 1GB RAM Minimum (2 GB minimum recommended)
• 350 MB Hard Drive
• Administrative Rights to install software
• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 or later
• MAC OS users will require either Virtual Machine or Parallels running Microsoft Excel

Try our Troubleshooter tool to see if your system is correctly configured with all the prerequisites.

2. How do I install the software?

Make sure that you have administrative rights to install the software, and that your system requirements match or exceed those required in Item 1 above. In addition, make sure you have .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 or later already installed on your computer. Then, simply download the trial or full version of the software, double click on the exe file, and follow the instructions. Make sure to first uninstall any older versions of Risk Simulator before attempting to install a new version.

3. How long will my trial version last?

The trial version will last for 10 days before the license expires. You will be unable to use the software unless you purchase a full license or contact us for an extended trial license (you will need to send us the Hardware ID of the computer where you installed Risk Simulator).

4. How do I obtain and install the new license I purchased?

Simply install Risk Simulator, start Excel, and click on Risk Simulator and select License and you can see an 16 to 20 digit Hardware ID that is specifically generated for your computer (we locate the serial numbers from 5 to 8 hardware components of your computer and apply our encryption algorithm to generate this unique ID specific for your computer). E-mail admin@realoptionsvaluation.com your 11 to 20 digit Hardware ID number and we will e-mail you a permanent license file. Simply copy the license file we send you to your computer, start Excel, click on Risk Simulator and License, then click on Install License. Browse to the location and select the license file we e-mailed you and click OK. Restart Excel and you are now permanently licensed to use the software.

5. Can Risk Simulator work on international operating systems?

The current version of Risk Simulator 2012 works well in foreign operating systems. In fact, Risk Simulator 2012 and Real Options SLS 2012 are now available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian!

6. Why does Risk Simulator not start when Excel starts when in the past it used to work correctly?

Sometimes, if Excel freezes or has some errors due to opening a corrupt Excel file or computer instability, Excel automatically disables all add-ins. Sometimes, it is a hard disable (for serious problems) or soft disable (for less serious issues). This is an Excel security issue and not a Risk Simulator software issue. You can download and run the Risk Simulator Troubleshooter Tool and click on FIX ALL to fix all Excel issues as well as to run diagnostics on your system. You can also perform these fixes manually as discussed below:

• To re-enable an add-in that has been hard disabled by a Microsoft Office 2003 application, on the Help menu, click About Microsoft Office, click Disabled Items, select the mscoree.dll add-in for Risk Simulator and click Enable.
• To re-enable an add-in that has been hard disabled by Excel 2007/2010, in Excel 2007/2010, click the Microsoft Office Button (top left corner of Excel), click Excel Options, Add-ins. In the Manage drop-down list box at the bottom, click Disabled Items, and then click Go. Select Risk Simulator and click Enable, then click Close.
• To re-enable an add-in that has been soft disabled by Excel 2007/2010, click the Microsoft Office Button (top left corner of Excel), Excel Options, Add-ins. In the Manage drop-down list box at the bottom, click COM Add-ins, and click Go. In the COM Add-Ins dialog box, select the check box next to the disabled Risk Simulator add-in, and click OK.
• To re-enable an add-in that has been soft disabled by Excel 2003, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Customize. Click the Commands tab. In the Categories box, click Tools. In the Commands box, select COM Add-Ins and drag it to a toolbar. Click Close. On the toolbar, click COM Add-Ins. Select the check box next to the disabled Risk Simulator add-in and click OK.
• Your Excel settings may be set to high security, which disables everything that links to Excel. To fix this in Excel 2003 or Excel XP, simply start Excel, click on Tools, Macro, Security, Trusted Publishers and make sure to check/select "Trust all installed add-ins and templates" and restart Excel. To fix this in Excel 2007/2010, start Excel, click on OFFICE icon (top left corner), Excel Options, Trust Center, Trust Center Settings, Add-Ins, and uncheck all 3 options and restart Excel.
• There is also another possibility why Risk Simulator does not start with Excel. This happens when you have too many Add-Ins installed and some of them have altered the Excel startup behavior. For example, look at the Excel installation path and see if you can spot a file called Excel.exe.config, that is:

If so, one of your software add-ins has altered Excel. We suggest you make a backup of this file to a different location and delete this file in the Office folder above. Then, uninstall and reinstall Risk Simulator and it should start normally. You will need to uninstall and reinstall because Excel had been changed.

7. Why does RS sometimes not start when double-clicking an XLS file?

This happens because some software (e.g., Microsoft Outlook's Auto Previewer) holds an invisible Excel instance hostage (so that it can quickly start Excel to auto preview e-mail XLS attachments). You can either turn off Auto Preview in Outlook; open an XLS file by first starting Excel and clicking on File, Open, and not double click on an XLS file; or make sure Excel is already closed, then Ctrl+Alt+Delete and force the invisible Excel instance to end (in Processes tab, select Excel, End Process).

8. Why did I get a System Clock Back Error?

Shame on you! You are getting this error because you have finished your 10-day trial period and attempted to change the system clock back in order to keep using the software for free! The software has caught you playing with the system clock. To continue, you will need to purchase a permanent license from us, and at that time, we will provide you a license to take care of the problem plus unlock the software permanently.

9. Resolution Issues

In WIN7 and Vista, users have the option to change the screen resolutions by "zooming in/out" and not just using a regular resolution change. When changing resolutions the regular approach (e.g., changing from 1280 x 800 to 1080 x 680) will not affect ROV software look and feel. However, using the zoom function does mess up some visuals (this is true of all software out there, and Windows actually even provides a warning message explaining this). The first two figures illustrate some effects of this zoom view.
Solution: Click on Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display and you see the user interface (see the third figure below). Change the view back to "Smaller 100% (Default)" then log-off and log-on to take effect and the RS/SLS software will display normally and correctly.

10. Kaspersky Antivirus and Internet Security 2010

Kaspersky Internet Security software sometimes interferes with the proper functioning of some Risk Simulator tools. The symptoms include getting error messages when running forecasting methods or not being able to get reports created. There is a very simple configuration you need to turn on in Kaspersky that will fix this problem. Click here to download a more detail instructions file. Keep Excel open and running. Start Kaspersky Internet Antivirus either from the Start Programs location or double-click the icon at the bottom right of your screen. Click on the following: My Protection >> Systems and Applications >> Application Control >> Options: Threats and Exclusions >> Exclusions: Settings >> Trusted Applications >> Add >> add Microsoft Excel here* >> make sure the Do Not Monitor Application Activity option is selected * click on Applications >> Microsoft Excel, or click Browse to the program location where Excel.exe is located such as C:Program FilesMicrosoft Office OfficeXExcel.exe