Frequently Asked Technical Questions About Weight-By-Date

This FAQ contains answers to some common problems and errors for the standard and Pro editions of Weight-By-Date.  If you are having a problem that is not addressed in this FAQ, please click here to contact us and we will be happy to help in any way we can.
 

The Questions

How can I find out which version of Weight-By-Date is installed on my
computer?

My chart lines do not appear to display correctly or not at all.  Why?

How can I change my Projected Date at the top of the program window?

Why does the Pounds Lost by Week chart occasionally show a negative
value?

Some of the statistical values, such as Lbs/Week, are empty or display "---".  Why?

The Projected Date that is being calculated does not appear to be realistic!
Why?

I am a man, and it seems that the program suggests too low of a weight for my goal.  Why?

When I click on a web site in the Links window, nothing happens.  Why?

When viewing the charts, my data labels very close together and hard to read.  Why?

Does Weight-By-Date support units of measure other than pounds?

I have just installed Weight-By-Date and I get an error when I try to run the program.  What could be wrong?

I am getting an "OLEAUT32.DLL is out of date" error.  What is wrong?

The Answers

How can I find out which version of Weight-By-Date is installed on my computer?

You can obtain your program's version number by clicking on the Help menu and choosing About Weight-By-Date.  Then look in the lower left corner of the About window for the version number.

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My chart lines do not appear to display correctly or not at all.  Why?

This can happen under rare circumstances and it's related to your video driver and/or display settings.  If your chart lines are only partially being displayed or not at all, try changing the line width for each chart.  You can change your line width by clicking the <Setup> button and then choose the "Charts" tab.  Each chart will have a "Line Width" setting, and you can try either the "Fine" or "Medium" setting.

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How can I change my Projected Date at the top of the program window?

The Projected Date field is actually a calculated field based on your weight loss data.  So, it cannot be changed directly, rather it gets re-calculated each time you enter a new weight in the calendar.

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Why does the Pounds Lost by Week chart occasionally show a negative value?

The Pounds Lost by Week graph will show a negative value if you have gained weight for that week.  This is by design, so that the value will stand out from the others, and you can try to determine why you gained weight that particular week.

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Some of the statistical values, such as Lbs/Week, are empty or display "---".  Why?

In some cases your statistical values will be empty.   For example, if you have not lost any weight, the program cannot determine how many Lbs/Week you have lost or project a date for when you will reach your goal.

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The Projected Date that is being calculated does not appear to be realistic! Why?

The Projected Date is calculated based on the amount of weight that you have lost and your current weight loss pace.  Often, when you are just starting out, you may only have a few weights recorded into the calendar, and the Projected Date is far into the future.  This is simply because it is too early yet for the program to project your target date.

As with any statistical calculation, more data yields more accurate results, so try recording some future weights into the calendar and watch your projection change dramatically.  Once you are convinced that everything is working correctly, simply delete the future data that you have entered.

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I am a man, and it seems that the program suggests too low of a weight for my goal.  Why?

Both Weight-By-Date Basic and Weight-By-Date Pro will make suggestions for your goal weight, according to your BMI (Body Mass Index) value.  The BMI value is based on your height and weight, and is therefore not gender-specific.  If you're a man, however, the value may not account for the additional muscle mass that you have, so you will need to keep this in mind when setting your weight loss goal.

You may come across a diet site or health publication that has a gender-specific BMI calculation.  What they have actually done in this case, is adjusted their BMI formula, to reflect some historical data that was collected for both men and women.  For this reason, it is highly unlikely that you'll come across two sources that have the exact same "gender-specific" formula.

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When I click on a web site in the Links window, nothing happens.  Why?

In order to use the Web Links feature within Weight-By-Date, you will need to have a default web browser configured on your machine.  If you are using Internet Explorer, you can configure it as the default browser by going to the Control Panel, and clicking the Internet Options icon.  Then choose the Programs tab and check the option that reads "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser."  Click OK and the next time you start Internet Explorer you will be asked to make it your default browser.

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When I viewing the charts, my data labels very close together and hard to read.  Why?

This can happen if you have been entering data into Weight-By-Date for a long time.  Eventually you will have so much data that the data labels will tend to merge toward one another, making them hard to read.  When you get to this point, you will probably want to un-check the Show Data Labels and Plot Data Points options in the Setup window.  If you still want to see data labels, you can choose a smaller data range and click the Redraw button to redisplay the graph.

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Does Weight-By-Date support units of measure other than pounds?

Yes.  Both Weight-By-Date Basic and Weight-By-Date Pro now fully support other units of measure, such as the metric system.  There is an option on the Profiles tab in the program Setup window, which lets you choose your desired unit of measure.
  
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I have just installed Weight-By-Date and I get an error when I try to run the program.  What could be wrong?

If you have installed an UPDATE for Weight-By-Date and are getting an error, please see the next question.  Otherwise, it is more than likely that an error occurred during the installation process due to one or more other programs that were running.  It is very important that you close all running programs before installing Weight-By-Date because they may be using older files that the installer will need to replace.  If you have any icons on your task bar next to your system clock, these programs should be closed.  You can also hit control-alt-delete and click the "End Task" button for any programs that are in the list.  You can then try reinstalling Weight-By-Date to see if this solves your problem.

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I have installed an update and am getting an "OLEAUT32.DLL is out of date" error.  What is wrong?

This error can occur if you have an old version of Weight-By-Date and have recently downloaded and installed one of the newer updates.  Basically, some of the system files on your computer are old and need to be updated.  Click here to download the updated system files from Microsoft's web site and once downloaded, double-click the file and an automated installer will update the system files on your computer.  You may be asked to reboot your machine when the installation is complete.

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