Holdem Manager Again- Destruction, Tweaks, and Improved Performance

Well, yesterday didn't go as planned (but so is life). I performed a tweak on my computer to get rid of an error message in Event Viewer (turns out I was right, more on this later in post). Besides having to research and solve my problem (still on the trial version), I needed to bus some Paperwork to a State Agency. By the time I was done, blogging and Poker were the furthest things from my mind. I hopped on UB, and played some free money casino games (I like the challenge of Pontoon). I also observe and chat with the Blackjack Players. Recently, one was able to turn $20 into 1k (he's done it a few times), and another turned $80 into $2k (but I think he lost a bit). Personally, I would like to try that as a side challenge, but don't have time right now, and kinda feel like chicken (a lot of folks were losing last night).

But, enough with the rambling. I kept getting an error message in Event Viewer (its gone now, since there were so many, I cleared the log), but research had narrowed it down to a user sign off issue. The only new users on my machine was Postgres from Holdem Manager. So to test my theory, I blindly deleted postgres from net user. Walla, the error was gone. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH, there's no way without indepth study to add the user back, and Postgres SQL, along with Holdem Manager, will no longer work.

I Found the error:
Message: The COM+ Event System could not remove the EventSystem.EventSubscription object {CEB8B221-89C5-41A8-98CE-79B413BF150B}-{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}-{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}



Now its true, this is a fairly new installation, and reimporting hands, plus getting the tourney info from Stars for the last 13 tourneys (or even manually entering the data), would not be overwhelming. But by God, I was intent on fixing this WITHOUT disassembling my database. I had limited time for research (even though the deadline for getting my paperwork in was today, part of my new Poker Life includes keeping up with schedules and other outside issues). So a quick search of the Holdem Manager Forums, and some googling, brought me some answers. The redo of Postgres lead to a whole new improvement in performance, and easier reinstalls on this machine and others. The latest configuration has also rid the machine of the error regarding Users signing in and out.

First off, the newest Combo Installer for Holdem Manager has 8.4x Postgres SQL with a blank password downloaded and automatically configured on your machine. So, to reinstall Postgres SQL without losing my database, I needed the 8.4x version, do an installation WITH a password - its required, but the version offered on the HEM site is 8.3x. Now, a few folks have reported in the forums that they downloaded 8.3x and installed, then installed 8.4x, and everything was okey dokey. But I didn't have that kind of time. I downloaded 8.4x directly from the Postgres SQL site (the download for windows x86 machines, the non-64 bit version of Vista).

I then put a copy of the data folder under HEMdata off the main branch of my file structure (that is, directly off of the C; direcotry). This proved useful later, since from my earlier Win2k Network Certification days, I knew NTFS systems work better with file structures directly off the main branch, as opposed to deep filing under Program files, pseudo My Documents for users, etc. In fact, on my other Computer running Win2k pro, I had moved all the folders to the Main Tree.


I also left a copy of the Data for HEM under the current Program Files Postgres folder. I then uninstalled the Postgres that came with Holdem Manager, and installed the Full Version 8.4x using the Program Files directory as the data folder. This did not work. So I uninstalled, and resinstalled using the HEMData folder. This folder also contained my previous tweaks, and they were maintained as part of the reinstallation. With the new version, you need to set a password. THIS WAS A KEY TO SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, AND THE ERROR MESSAGES IN EVENT VIEWER. I use the XP Menu style in Vista, so pull up Postgres SQL, Start Server, right click Run As Administrator, and walla, we are up and running. Now, with my Data directory located where it is, the speed and Memory performance of Postgres and HEM are greatly improved. I thought I was missing hands, so did a test reimport from files for last three tourneys. Got Error messages saying that the HH's already existed (totally fun to learn about this kind of stuff, but that's just me).

Lessons learned: when download the Combo Installer, uninstall the version of Postgres that came with HEM, and reinstall from Postgres site with Password. To keep the Database, simply move to a file folder under the main directory tree. If need to move or place on a new machine, simply copy this database from the separate file folder over to new machine (may need to make new copy, if password info stored in old directory). No need to EVER RE IMPORT HANDS!! No more error messages in Vista when logging on and off Computer, or when starting, stopping Postgres (I have the service set to manual, not AUTOMATIC, so I can run when I want to, no need to use System Resources when not using Holdem Manager).

Hope you found the Above Post Useful. PPS, I have McAfee firewall set to Standard, no ports open, and SHOW SMART RECOMMENDATIONS. Therefore, when a program attempts to go in or out of computer, I can allow access. I have never had to manually configure McAfee as the HEM site instructs (just allow access when the Pop Up window appears), and have never had to disable UAC (User Account Control).