I would like to be able to evaluate the new release 4.04, but I can't because it will not run on any of my businesses computers. This is because all my workstations run Windows 7 and the latest release is not only not supported, but WILL NOT (according to ICVerify level 2 support) run on Windows 7. It also will not run on my servers, because they are internet servers that run Unix.
The first thing that should cause you concern is the fact that ICVerify (which has a $299.00 purchase price and is $220.00 for upgrades is an expensive piece of software) will not run on Windows 7, the latest Microsoft windows operating system. Windows 7 has been released for 10 months and was in beta testing for a year before that.
Now for the details.
This is right from ICVerify Features
"1. A Pentium/Athlon computer running 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 2000 (service pack 4 or later), Windows XP Home / Professional (service pack 2), Windows 2003 Server (service pack 1) or either 32- or 64-bit versions of Windows Vista"
Windows 2000: This operating system is no longer supported by Microsoft as of July 13, 2010. This means this product will no longer receive assisted support or security updates from Microsoft. This affects all editions of Windows 2000, including Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. If you have problems with this operating system, Microsoft will tell you to upgrade to a newer operating system, and will probably suggest Windows 7.
Windows XP Home / Professional (service pack 2): this also reached end-of-life on July 13, 2010. It is therefore also no longer supported. There is a new service pack (service pack 3 released first April 21, 2008) that is currently supported. Main Stream Support for Windows XP ended April 14, 1009 and Extended Support phase will end on April 8, 2014. If you have a problem with this operation system, you will probably have to upgrade to a newer operation system. ICVerify is NOT supported on the 64-bit version of XP.
Windows 2003 Server (service pack 1): this reached end-of-life on April 14, 2009. There is a new service pack (service pack 2).
Windows Vista 32 or 64-bit: This is they ONLY operation system that is supported by ICVerify in a 64-bit version. It is only one generation old and so it will be supported for many years. It is not as stable as Windows 7 and problems with Windows Vista are why I had to upgrade to Windows 7.
Windows 7: This operating system IS NOT SUPPORTED by ICVerify. According to ICVerify level 2 technical support the new release (4.0.4) WILL NOT RUN on on Windows 7. They said that they (level 2) were able to run it under Windows 7 by upgrading SQL server to a new service pack, but ICVerify management apparently does not want to implement this. I was running ICVerify version 4.0.3 for many months problems under Windows 7 in 64 bit without any problems, until Microsoft had me do a repair install to fix an unrelated problem. The repair install caused ICVerify to CRASH, no Windows 7. (See problems with upgrading or repair installing Windows with ICVerify.
The lack of support or being able to run ICVerify under the latest operating system is only a problem if:
Backup of Data: THERE IS NONE. You can not back up your data with any existing backup programs and ICVerify doesn't include this capability in ICVerify. Even an image copy backup WILL NOT WORK, the restored version will receive a "Critical Error" message! If they say it isn't possible, then they would be lying, it just takes planning and work. Even when I started in the computer business nearly 41 years ago backing up data was standard and losing data was unacceptable. I guess ICVerify didn't learn this.
Operating System Upgrade or Repair: If you upgrade you operating system or do a repair install, it WILL BREAK ICVerify (ICVerify and ICVerify User Manager unable to start due to "Critical Error". You will then need to reinstall ICVerify and lose all your data stored in ICVerify (see "Backup of Data").
Hard Drive Failure: If the hard drive that ICVerify is store on crashes or needs to be replace for some other reason, you will not be able to reload ICVerify from a backup, if you try you will l receive a "Critical Error" message. You will then need to reinstall ICVerify and lose all your data stored in ICVerify (see "Backup of Data").
Replace your Computer: If you replace the computer you run ICVerify from with a new one, you will need to reinstall ICVerify and lose all your data stored in ICVerify (see "Backup of Data". If your computer comes with Windows 7 (it probably will), you will need to replace Windows 7 with Vista (or older windows - bad idea). If you don't already own Vista, you will have to buy it (even though you just bought Windows 7 with you new computer. You will also lose an other pre-installed programs that came with the new computer (not always a bad idea).
Input Suggestions for ICVerify: If you have a suggestion to improve ICVerify, don't bother calling technical support. I was told by level 2 support that they no longer have a way to pass this up. They also said that when they tried to pass along their own suggestions they were ignored.
ICVerify is a Top/High dollar priced software program and you should expect to receive a top quality, well designed program. IT is not and for a $299.00 product with possibly 4,000,000 users (a number mentioned by ICVerify level 2 support, but otherwise unverified) I expect more. I personally consider it to be a "Mickey Mouse" program, that is poorly designed by a company that seems to have little interest beyond making money. And worse yet they a charging an upgrade fee ($220.00) to upgrade to 4.0.4. According to the "ICVERIFY Release notes v4.0.4" I can find no enhancements that are not based upon the "Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA_DSS)" required ones. They are all security enhancements (fixes) and therefore this should be considered a security release. No one I know of (except ICVerify) charges for an upgrade, unless the end user receives some added value in the new release. In fact, my first notification telling me that I "HAD" to upgrade to the new release was on June 15th. I was notified by my merchant credit card processing company (my bank) that I "HAD TO UPGRADE by July 1st or the software would quit working. To me that sounded like "extortion" and I told them so. This may not have had anything to do with First Data and may have been just my bank telling me this. It may have also been that my bank misunderstood that the software was not going to quit working, but only that there would be extra fees added if I did not upgrade. The date has now been extended to August 1st. Of course, why am I going to be charged extra fees because First Data will not make ICVerify run on Windows 7 and I therefore cannot install this new upgrade on my existing computers.
If the above isn't enough to cause about ICVerify, I will be adding more information in the future.
If you question what I have stated here, check with "First Data Merchant Services Corporation". "Their First Data Payment Software" sales phone number is 1 (800) 538-0651. Tell them Terry sent you.
This is a list of things that bug when I use ICVerify. The are not major, but would be nice if the were looked into and possibly changed / fixed.
Card Expiration Date: This I would call a design oversight, rather than a bug. If a customer is already in the database and gives you a new card: you enter the new card number, then you enter the expiration date, then the charge amount, then you tab to the name field. At this point ICVerify auto-fills in the name and address from the database. It also replaces the new cards expiration date with the expiration date of the old card. If you don't catch this the card will fail because of a wrong expiration date. Why you would use an old cards expiration date from the database to replace a new cards is beyond me. Work around: if you enter a new card and it auto fills in the name and address, DOUBLE CHECK the expiration date to make sure it wasn't changed. Why would a costomer give you a different card: old one replacee because it was stolen or lost, changed cards or card companies, just want to use a different card for this purchase, etc.
Sales Tax: For many cards it will ask you for the tax amount, even for out of state and international sales. It would be an easy enhancement to allow you to enter what state or states you collect sales tax for and only ask if the customer is from that (or those) states.
Address Field: If this field has a comma in it (IE: 10 First Street, Apt A) everything past the comma is move over one field if you save the customer to the database. This corrupts the Zip Code field and more.
Order of Input: change the Tab key order to all card information first, then the sales information: card number, expiration date, cvv code, name, address, amount, etc. After all that is the normal order you will have them in. This is the order in the window, except that the cvv code is at the bottom. But, the tab key goes: card number, expiration date, amount, name, address and then on with cvv code last.
Phone Number: When adding a phone number to an existing record, dashes are not allowed. The dashes make the phone number easier to read.
| Served From: 19th-century-US-History.com on  |
| © 1999-2020 Leavey Foundation for Historic Preservation, Inc. (Sutler) |