WIN 500
- Thread starter joesarno
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tvengr
Well Known Member
The site goes down quite often. Not sure if purchasers are receiving keys. I have Butel ARC500 and find it very easy and fast to use.
Another software choice is PSREdit500.
The author of WIN500, Don Starr, has been inactive for quite some time. The site has, at times, been up and accessible, but users purchasing the software were not getting the license keys needed to use WIN500 past it's 30 day trial period. Many of these ended up filing a dispute with their credit card company pr PayPal to get their payments back.
The author of WIN500, Don Starr, has been inactive for quite some time. The site has, at times, been up and accessible, but users purchasing the software were not getting the license keys needed to use WIN500 past it's 30 day trial period. Many of these ended up filing a dispute with their credit card company pr PayPal to get their payments back.
eyes00only
Member
Win500 was great and I still use it sometimes. I did pay for it and it was well worth it.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
I do hope I'm wrong, but it would appear that Don is either no longer with us or has no more interest in keeping the software going.
Mike
Mike
Or perhaps unable to keep it going.
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2003
- Messages
- 1,212
His webpage is up at this time, 4/25/2020 at 22:45. Software for RadioShack PRO-series (PRO-92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 163, 164, 106, 197, 651, 652), Whistler (WS1040, WS1065), and GRE PSR-series (PSR-500, 600, 300, 400, 310, 410) scanners
reconrider8
Member
Been using win500 for years awesome software
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2003
- Messages
- 1,212
I have also been using Win500 for years.
I never could find an OBIT on Don in the area he was reported to live in.
I remember quite a while back after he'd been missing in action for several months that one of the moderators noticed someone had logged into his account here just a few days earlier.
That of course was a long time ago now. I know he had a falling out or something with GRE and possibly Whistler after they purchased GRE's IP rights. Who knows if that had anything to do with his missing in action hiatus though. I can remember Don saying something about being glad that GRE did not release the code to control and program the PSR800 to 3rd party software vendors. Maybe he was hoping to corner that market for those that did not like EZ-Scan. I'm pretty sure he had something to do with writing the firmware code for the PSR 800.
It's a shame really as both Win96 and Win500 were both decent and simple programs that worked well for their respective models. I was always glad I'd purchased both before Don went missing.
Don's website is back up, as I just checked. Don't need anything as I already have all the WIN software for the scanners I own.
Users report that they never get an unlock key when they make a purchase. They must dispute the payment with whatever method they paid with to be refunded.
Emails to the email address at the site go unanswered so something must have happened with Don. It is weird that his site comes and goes like it does.
This has been going on for probably a couple years when it was noticed that nobody were receiving license keys for the software they purchased.
I'm surprised PayPal has not blocked purchases from Dons site. Probably nothing can be done for direct credit card purchases unless someone in control of the site removes the payment options.
Same here for the software. I use all his software except Win92 and Win99.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2007
- Messages
- 7,459
Has anyone had to dispute the charge on their credit card for licensing Win500 and not being issued the registration keys?
His last post stated it was a Pay Pal only issue with the registration keys not being sent out, and credit card purchases were not affected.
forums.radioreference.com
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His last post stated it was a Pay Pal only issue with the registration keys not being sent out, and credit card purchases were not affected.
Win500: - Registration Key
Hello everyone: I have tried 8 times to purchase from StarrSoft the WIN500 software Registration Key and have used 4 different credit cards, was charged on all of them and then did not get any keys. Either the same day or the next I get an email stating that the credit card transaction would...
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Last seen Dec 27 2019
It would be nice to know if some people are getting keys.
I've only read posts stating no key ever received. Of course most people would not post about getting a key.
buddrousa's last seen date is also much newer than the thread I recall where one of the mods here noticed his account had activity. That was older than 12/27/2019. Something must be brewing if we are seeing occasional activity on his account.
I hope he is still around plus still selling his software. I used to recommend it to many simply because it was simple to use and it worked very well.
I used Win500 a bunch for PSR500's and 600's. So much so that I wore the eeprom chip out in my PSR600. The memory cells started failing from too many writes. Don helped me with the part number of the chip and I was able to successfully swap it out with a new chip.
The original eeprom chip was automotive rated so it could handle higher temperatures. The con with this chip was it's writes per cell over its life was lower.
I replaced my chip with a non automotive rated chip that offered significantly more writes per cell over the OEM chip. I don't use my PSR600 in hot environments so heat was not a concern.
Don advised turning off the hit counter in the scanner as that is a write for each hit. If you need the feature, his Win500 software will provide hit counts without writing a memory cell with each hit. I did what he advised in my PSR500 and never had a problem with it.
I have seen others post here with apparent eeprom failure with their PSR600's.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2007
- Messages
- 7,459
Back in 2016, Don (DonS) was either working for Whistler.... or working with Whistler at the time. He could still be under some sort of NDA/contract which might include not posting here, and not actively promoting his own software (just guessing here).
forums.radioreference.com
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I've wondered about that also. NDA's can be very restrictive. Uniden was pretty tight lipped about new products they were working on. Paul would throw out little hints here and there but that was it until the release date. Who knows how restrictive Whistler is.
Being under an NDA is one thing, but it's pretty clear that while his software is still offered for sale (intermittently, apparently), he has not been providing any support according to numerous reports over the past year or two. That's unacceptable. It's unlikely that Whistler is preventing him from "promoting" his software here, and even less likely that they can or would prevent him from supporting it.
Assuming he's still alive and well, he needs to either start supporting his software, or get rid of his website once and for all. It's wholly unprofessional and discourteous to act the way he has of late.
Assuming he's still alive and well, he needs to either start supporting his software, or get rid of his website once and for all. It's wholly unprofessional and discourteous to act the way he has of late.
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