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David Cox's How to install e-Sword modules

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 Overview

e-Sword and Sword Project Files - These two programs are not interchangeable, and only e-Sword modules will work in e-Sword. The Sword Project sounds very close but its files will not work with e-Sword, no way.

Installation of e-Sword modules is pretty easy. You simply copy the module (uncompressed) into the default e-Sword folder, close e-Sword down, reopen e-Sword, and all the new modules are now visible.

Please note that many e-Sword modules are placed into zip files, and then an extraction routine is added to the zip file which makes it an exe file. This is good and bad. It is good because newbies and people unfamiliar with computers will get a lot of help from this. It is bad because anybody who uses a non-default program folder (C:\programs\e-Sword) will have their files in the wrong place, and you will not know it except that they won't show up.

Okay, so let's go through the steps of installation and help get things back in order.

(1) You downloaded the module you want to install. Did you install it or was it a self-extracting zip file?

(a) self-extracting zip file - Did it give you a chance to choose the installation folder?

i. Yes - What folder did it install to? Go there and copy the file back to your e-Sword installation folder (where you have e-Sword installed). If you don't know where that is see below (Find your e-Sword Installation folder).

ii. No - Try searching your hard disk for a key word in the module title to find out where it put it. Normally it will be in the C: drive, probably under the programs folder, and in the programs folder, e-Sword. (Spanish Windows XP is "C:\Archivos de Programa").

(b) I installed the file manually.

Find your e-Sword Installation folder - Open e-Sword. Select "Options" on main top menu. Look at last line of this pop-up dialog box. It should have the folding, "Location" then a drop down box, a folder icon, [Ok] [Cancel]"

This is where e-Sword is actually installed or looking for its modules and files.

[Note: I use Spanish XP, so I have them in the default Spanish program folder location, C:\archivos de program\e-sword]. For English XP installation, it should be C:\programs\e-sword.

Now go to where you copied the modules, and move them to this folder indicated after the "Location" above (in your actual e-Sword).

 Other Problems

Study the list in the chart at right. These are the extensions of valid e-Sword files. If the file that you installed does not have one of these extensions, it is not an e-Sword file. pdf, doc, rtf, etc are NOT e-Sword file extensions.

If your file is in a standard compressed format, zip, rar, etc. then you must decompress the file before you use it. Please note that it is generally NOT RECOMMENDED to download and install any file that is an executable file type, (exe, bat, com, etc) except from a trusted source. There is the rub. Be careful. Zip files can be made executable (thus a exe) extension, but you never know. Run an antivirus program on it before running it. Even then, a malicious person can easily make an exe that erases your hard disk, and no antivirus program will catch that.

Not that all of the files at left will automatically be read and incorporated into e-Sword automatically after they are copied to the e-Sword folder, AND AFTER e-SWORD HAS BEEN CLOSED AND REOPENED. To minimize and maximize e-Sword doesn't count here. Close it completely.

  "I can see the file but it shows garbage" 

This is probably a faulty download. Delete the file and go to where you got it, and redownload it. If it is garbage still, contact the webmaster of the site where you got it and see if he can help. E-Sword is probably okay, and the file is damaged. In this case there is absolutely NOTHING YOU CAN DO, he must fix it. If it is a public domain file, and you can find it one the internet in some format, send me a request and I will see about making it into a module. I don't do Bibles nor Commentaries. Bibles are usually under copyright, and I would have to verify that it is public domain. Commentaries are simply too difficult and time consuming for me at the present to get involved with. Perhaps in the future I will get into that.

Question: How do I uninstall a module?

"I installed some modules to see what they were about and now I don't want to see them any more. How do I uninstall a module?"

First, a little refresh class on how e-Sword works. When e-Sword starts, it looks in its home folder (C:\programs\e-Sword) for modules (See chart above for the file extensions it looks for.) According to the file extension, it will register each module. It does open each one briefly because it reads the tab "title" and information box for each module it will use in that particular session it is starting.

To uninstall a module, quit e-Sword and move or erase the module in question from the e-Sword folder and restart e-Sword. It is that simple.

An alternative method is to simply hide the module from the tabs e-Sword shows. Open the Menu Option, then Resources, and unclick the particular module you want to hide.

Question: I had a module, and now cannot see it, but it is physically in the e-Sword folder. How do I get it back?

"I installed some modules to see what they were about and now I don't want to see them any more. How do I uninstall a module?"

Make sure that you do not confuse the type of module that it actually is, with what you think it should be. Many commentaries files are not an e-Sword commentary (ending in CMT file extension) but are simple Note files (ending in TOP). Look for it in all the module places.

If the module is physically in your e-Sword home folder (How do I find my e-Sword home Folder?), then several things may be causing the problem.

First, did you see the module before, but cannot see it now? Yes | No

 Yes - It did appear before but not now.

Most probably the solution is that you (or somebody else) somehow clicked the checkbox in the e-Sword Resources dialog box. Click on e-Sword main menu, Options, then Resources. Scan by module type for the module, and then make sure there is a click beside its name in that dialog box.

No - It has never appeared correctly even once.

It is probably a corrupted module. First step is to find it again on the Internet, redownload it, and try again. Here pay extra special attention to the installation process. Make sure that the installation program is downloading it to the correct folder.

FOR USERS OF WINDOWS IN OTHER LANGUAGES: Windows in other languages will default install programs to a folder in that language's naming scheme. For example, in English the programs folder is called C:\programs with the e-Sword folder in that folder. For Spanish XP, the default is C:\archivos de programa\e-Sword. To find out where e-Sword is open e-Sword, Options, and Resources. Go here to see where your e-Sword default folder actually is. Now reinstall the module. If it asks you to overwrite the module, it was there but the problem lies elsewhere. If it doesn't ask you to overwrite the file, something was goofy. If it is one of those installation programs, make sure that you choose the right folder (as per the steps above), not necessarily the folder they want to install into. (1) You make have a different e-Sword default folder/path, or (2) the module creator may have set up the automatic installation to someplace that is not right for your setup.

Open e-Sword and look for the module in the tabs of e-Sword (according to proper place in e-Sword where it should appear). Not there? Open Microsoft File Explorer and look for the file physically. It's there | It's not there.

The file is not there.  Go back and redo the above steps, but before doing it, copy all e-Sword files (with e-Sword shut down) to a temporary folder. Now reinstall the module. See if there is a file in that folder. If the install program is installing to some other folder, it is probably on your computer but just not in the right place. Go to Windows search for a file (Start Button -> Find). And let it churn all night looking for the file. Look for something that is close. For example a phrase out of the title, or the extension which the module SHOULD BE IN. Personally I would start searching in the default Windows program folder (C:\Programs) in English. My machine is Spanish XP and e-Sword is installed in C:\archivos de programas, so I would look in my C:\Programs folder. Most auto install programs for e-Sword get it wrong on my machine.

The file is there, but still doesn't appear. 

This is a hard one, but it happens sometimes. My probable guess is a corrupted file that was corrupted in the process of creation or uploading (you already re-downloaded it again right?).

These modules are JET-compressed Microsoft Access database files. If you have MS Access, you might try opening it to see if it opens, and open a data file and see if you can half way read it (probably is in RTF coding which is readable with a bunch of backslashes in it). If it is locked you will not be able to do even that. What I would do is take the module to somebody else's computer that has e-Sword (or an Internet Cafe or write somebody via email in the e-Sword community to check it) and try to see if others can open it. (At that point there is little chance anybody can read it. If you cannot see it, then write the owner of the module (where you downloaded it) and try to get them to check it for you. Otherwise try to search the Internet to find another copy from somebody else.