Recipe Software and Archive Support

Providing the highest quality software is very important to us at Lakefront Software, Inc.  We work hard to give you the best product we can and take pride in its quality.  If you are experiencing a problem, we'd like to help you and would also like to know about it so that we can make it  even better. 

When obtaining support, we ask you to follow three steps:

   Consult the Documentation

BigOven comes with a Help file that can be accessed by pressing F1 while running the application.   The manual is also available online.

   Read our Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

The most common issues are listed below.   Plus we've got a running FAQ section of our Message Board that we keep up to date with new questions, as well as a Help/Problems & Fixes forum on the BigOven Message Board with current issues and responses.

Answers to the Common Issues

I.  Registering the Product and Using the Forums

Q:  "Does BigOven run on Windows Vista?"

A:  YES!  All versions of Vista are supported.

Q:  "Do you have a Macintosh version?"

A:  No, at this time, BigOven recipe software is Windows-only.  But Macintosh users are welcome to use our vast recipe archive. 

Q:  "I haven't received my (registration code) / (order email) / (password) from you."

A:  Please take a moment to double-check your Junk Email folder for email.  Most of our automated system email is sent from chefmail@bigoven.com.  Sometimes this email is incorrectly filed as junk or spam email by overly aggressive spam filters.

Q:  "When I'm trying to use the forum, it gives me a message that I need to activate my account, but I think I've registered already."

A:  We use an off-the-shelf program to run our message board, and for the time being, this message board software uses a separate user database from our list of purchasers and BigOven.com recipe archive members.   This means that while you may have already signed up to use BigOven.com, or purchased the product, you need to go through another, albeit quick, process to post on the forum.

Simply click the "Join" link in the upper right corner of the forums  

(We know, it's rather silly and inconvenient to have multiple user databases, but for the time being, we've prioritized other work higher, so we're stuck with this process for now.  We appreciate your patience.)

II.  Installation and Setup

Q:  "I have had troubles loading and viewing my first recipe box -- I get a blank window."

A:  You're probably missing an updated version of the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC), which is a free library distributed by Microsoft, and included with later operating systems.  (We do not distribute this with our main setup program because the vast majority of machines now have MDAC installed.)  The earlier versions shipping with Win9x have been significantly improved.   Please visit this page, download MDAC_TYP.EXE, run MDAC_TYP.EXE to install it, and re-run BigOven. 

Note too that BigOven also requires Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 or later, which you can check via the Help/About menu option in Internet Explorer.  Please visit www.microsoft.com/ie to get the latest version.

Q:  I am running Windows 95 or Windows NT and am getting an error about "GetLongPathNameA".

A:  Please see this forum thread for resolution.

III.  Getting Recipes into BigOven

Q:  "Can I import recipes from other programs?"

A:  Yes!  Currently, BigOven is able to import MealMaster (.MMF) recipe files and original MasterCook (.MX2, .MXP) files, and those of Cook'n.  In addition, you can paste any recipe in "* Exported from BigOven *" and "* Exported from MasterCook *" format into the program.

Q:  "Can I import recipes from other recipe websites?"

A:  Yes!  With BigOven's integrated web browser and easy to use Screen Import feature, importing recipes from any website is a snap.  See the "Screen Import" feature on the Edit menu to get started.

IV.  Publishing Recipes and Syncing to PDA's

Q:  "Can I publish my own recipes on the web?"

A:  Yes!  You can post recipes to BigOven.com with one click of the mouse (just click the Post to Web button on the toolbar!).  You can also Publish recipes to your own website using one of seven recipe layout themes.  See "Publish to HTML" on the File menu.

Notice that once you publish your recipes with BigOven to your website, other BigOven users will be able to instantly import your recipes!  No programming is required.  Want us to link to your site?  Simply post a notice in our Message Board.

Q:  "What about PDA support?"

A:   You can publish recipes to your Pocket PC or Palm Device with our BigOven mobile companion software.  (Pocket PC users -- have you checked out PocketShop yet?)

   Contact us

Still don't see the answer you're looking for?  Please post a message in our Help, Problems & Fixes area of the BigOven Message Board.

Got other questions?  Please visit our Message Board.