Installing Singer Sew-Ware Conversion Tool under Windows 7

With the impending demise of security patches for Windows XP I decided that I needed to try and get the Sew-Ware conversion application running on a newer OS.  My mother uses this application extensively to transfer embroidery files to her Singer Quantum XL-6000 Embroidery machines.  She has been stuck back on XP for years because everyone said that running running this software under a newer OS was "impossible".  For an "impossible" task the solution ended up being a whole lot easier than I expected.

Get a computer with a newer OS.  I used a fresh install/patched version of Windows 7 on a spare laptop I had.  I'm fairly confident that this would work with Windows 8.x as well but have not tested yet.

UPDATE: I installed Windows 8.1 on a test system and confirmed the exact same procedure works under for it as well.

Install the Sew-Ware Conversion Tool application.  Just a standard install for the most part.  However the install did hang at 100% when running on Windows 7 and I had to manually "End Task" to kill it.  I assume there is a minor incompatibility with the install app.  It does install all the files, it just does not create the start menu icons.

Create a new shortcut on the desktop. With the installed done (and killed if necessary), open Windows explorer and browse to the C:\Sew-ware_CT folder (this is the default install location,  if you installed to a different folder open it).  Scroll down and find the CTSew_warre application file, right click it and select "Create Shortcut".

Then drag and drop the shortcut on to the desktop.

Note: At this point if you open the Sew-Ware application by double clicking the icon on the desktop you'll see the "Error in cportio.sys driver" message.

Set Compatibility options.  Right click the desktop shortcut and select Properties and then the Compatibility tab.  Check the "Run in program compatibility mode for:" box,  select "Windows 98 / Windows ME" in the drop down and click OK.  This is the secret sauce that makes it all work.

When you launch the Sew-Ware application you will be shown the UAC warning.  Click Yes to proceed.

Open a file and select "Transmit to machine".  You'll need to select the correct com port and speed for the connection. Click "Wait to Send", start the transfer from the embroidery machine and let 'er rip!

Note: When I first started testing this I was using an older Belkin USB to serial adapter.  The adapter worked fine for transferring form an XP system, but under Win 7 it would hang half way through.  I could see it sending and receiving from the PC and the machine, so I knew it was at least communicating.  I tried a couple of no name brand USB to serial adapters and they worked fine.   So, be warned, if you're using a USB to serial adapter there could be compatibility issues between it and Windows 7 as well.