2. Requirements and installation

Nothing the program modifies lives next to TCEPro.exe. The installation folder (C:\Program Files\TCEPro) is read-only — on purpose: everything that belongs to you lives in your Windows profile and survives a reinstallation of the program.

Settings live in %APPDATA% (the roaming part of the profile), so in a domain they follow you from computer to computer. Catalogs and logs are in %LOCALAPPDATA% and stay on this computer.

There is no need to copy catalog files by hand, and you should not: a catalog downloaded on another computer or under another user account will not open here. When upgrading from a version that kept settings.ini next to TCEPro.exe, the old file is copied to %APPDATA%\TCEPro\ on the first start; the original is not deleted.

1. Run the installer from the supplier and follow its steps.
2. Start TCEPro. A splash screen appears with the caption "Click to continue · closes automatically in N s" — click it or wait.
3. On the first start the program asks: "TCEPro is not set as the default application for project files (*.tceproj). Set it now?" — Yes, No or Remind Me Later. After "Yes", projects open by double-clicking in Explorer.
4. Sign in: Account → Sign in to your account (§3.1).
5. Open File → Map catalogues… (Ctrl+Shift+K) and download the catalogs you have access to (§4.3). Before this step the map tree is empty — that is normal, not an installation error.
6. Open a firmware file: File → Import Firmware… (Ctrl+Shift+O) or drag the file into the workspace.

The catalog list is fetched in the background after the window has opened: the network never delays the start. If catalogs are already downloaded, they are attached from the local files without waiting for the server. On start the program also checks whether a new version is available (§15).

TCEPro runs as a single instance. If you open a second project file while the program is running, the file opens in the window that is already running. The message "TCEPro is already running … is not responding" appears only if the first window has frozen: switch to it and open the file there.

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