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Category: MSD ChemStation / MSD Software Upgrades

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MSD ChemStation / MSD Software Upgrades

1. I am looking to upgrade an old WIN 3.1 data system on a 486 computer for my even older Hewlett Packard 5970 MS/ 5890 GC system. The last time I checked with HP/Agilent (a few years ago) they claimed that the only way to upgrade the computer hardware to a Pentium machine required use of a network-based solution (If this sounds sketchy, please bear in mind that I am recounting a conversation which is at least a few years old, and was at the time only marginally understood)which cost about 16K! This seemed like a lot for a cheap computer and 500$ worth of software. Does anybody know of any vendors who have found lest pricey ways around this problem? Thanks (id=9)

There are companies that do suggest they can update your 5970 MSD. However, this is tricky proposition and some cases could be a problem. The simplest solution might be the "remote data analysis" alternative. I'm not sure about the 16K, but Agilent did provide a bundled solution that includes the data analysis software, PC and a contributed utility macro (copydata.mac). This macro is available from our website. The solution allows the remote data analysis computer to accept data files from the existing ChemStation and automatically process the files. At one time there was an application brief which described the setup. There may still be one issue. The existing ChemStation does need a networking interface card. As these ChemStations where all HP PCs, you need to follow up and find a card that will work. If you need some assistance in setting up your solution, please ," Ask Dr. ChemUser".

2. How do I upgrade from an \hpchem system to an \msdchem system? (id=135)

The Agilent MSD ChemStation installation software look to see if there is an existing version of the ChemStation on the computer. If there is an existing version, the installation program will attempt to install the new version on top of the existing version as a default. This means that if your existing version of ChemStation is installed in \hpchem and you accept all the defaults during installation, your new version of ChemStation will also be in the \hpchem folder.

This can cause a problem for the installation of other software from Agilent such as the NIST05 version of the NIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral Database. The NIST05 installation looks for ChemStation to be installed in the \msdchem folder. If the installation does not find this folder, it will issue an error dialog box on installation and abort the installation.

You can specify that the installation of the new version of the ChemStation software be in the \msdchem folder. However, this means that you will now have two versions of ChemStation on your computer. You are better off to uninstall the exiting version and then install the new version that will create the \msdchem folder.

First you will need to make a backup of all of your data, methods, and any custom macros that you may have written. The data are normally stored in a folder \DATA which is under the folders for the up to four instruments that may have been specified. The folders for each of these instruments have the names 1, 2, 3, and 4 and will be found in the \hpchem folder. The methods will be in a folder inside these instrument folders with the name METHOD. Your custom macros will either be in the folder \msexe or \msmacros, both of which are in the \hpchem folder.

Use the Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add/Remove Programs selection to uninstall the existing version of ChemStation. This will not remove the \hpchem folder. After making sure everything you want from the \hpchem folder has been saved, delete the \hpchem folder using Windows Explorer

You can now install the new version of ChemStation. As the installation runs, make sure that the software installs to the \msdchem folder. After the installation is complete and you have configured your instrument, you can restore the data, methods and macros that you backed-up from the previous installation. There is no assurance that all of your macros will still function; therefore, you should text them before using your new system.