April 2026 mailing – Scientific Word Ltd.

Installation: Here are various installation questions people have asked us recently.

Quick start: In January, someone Emailed from Mexico asking:

Until recently I was a daily user of SWP... and with it, produced tons of mathematical notes for diverse delivered courses.
Unfortunately, the local source where the SWP group-license collapsed. And now I need a version which can save the compliled pdf files.
Not the Viewer version.

We Emailed back saying:
¡Hola! Thanks for your Email. I'm not at my desk at the moment but I wanted to reply straight away to get you up and running as quickly as possible.
- For now, please use the free 30-day trial
- Later, we can offer you our low-cost Annual Subscription
We hope this is helpful and look forward to hearing from you. Mis mejores deseos.
He followed up with:

Does version 6 run on Windows 10.? Else I will install it later as I move to W.11
What is definite is that I need SWP for my present writings. I already downloaded SWord and it helps a lot. Yet the algebra is a burden which SWP released efficiently used.

and we replied:

Yes, Scientific WorkPlace version 6 will run on Windows 10; but – unless you need the v6 New Features – we strongly recommend you stick with version 5.5. Please see our August 2022 mailing Item 3.

SWP v5.0: A few days later, a UK user wrote:

I have been trying, without success, to install my rather elderly version of SWP5 on a Windows 11 machine using the installation disk. The process goes so far and then stops. I can't get it to load in Safe Mode either. It doesn't get to the registration stage.
I downloaded the file from the website but although my serial number was recognised registration failed. Finally, I tried downloading the trial version which registered properly.
I would be grateful if you would advise me on how to get my version to run without the need for a new license. I seem to need a registration code.
My serial number is: 403-E0500-<snip>

After verifying his serial number, we replied:
To answer your question:
1. Your serial number is for version 5.0 not version 5.5
2. Licensing is machine-specific, so your previous licensing information will not help. You will need to re-Register according to the v5.0 installation instructions
3. The .exe file you need is swp-pro500.exe, available from https://www.sciword.co.uk/programs (second from bottom)
4. Be sure to follow the v5.0 installation instructions precisely
5. The installation checklist (even though for version 5.5) may be helpful.
Please let me know, with screenshots, if something goes wrong, giving the Step No. in the v5.0 installation instructions.
He did have some issue installing his v5.0 – we wrote:
...sorry to hear you’ve had problems.
1. Many problems can be solved by using right-click – Run as Administrator rather than left-click (see the installation checklist Item 4)
2. Unfortunately, using right-click is difficult with the CD, unless you know which file to run; so you’re better to use the download
3. When you find swp-pro500.exe you need first to download it (right-click – Save link As) to your Downloads folder; then right-click on it and Run as Administrator. You can’t run it directly from the web page
4. You might need to give Windows 11 permission to run the file
<snip>
Also see our October 2025 mailing Item 1, which has some screenshots of the download process – although 1(B) is about version 5.5.
– and he moved on to version 5.5, writing:

In the end I decided that I was wasting too much time trying to install SWP5.0 <snip>
However, I did manage to install SWP5 without problems on another Windows 11 machine that I have which suggests that there is some incompatibility with the version of Windows 11 provided by Dell or, more likely, the pre-installed Dell software. Not likely to be a problem which will often arise but there may be other people out there trying to do what I was trying to do.

We said:

Well it might mean that: see our April 2009 mailing Item 2 and June 2009 mailing Item 1.
Or maybe you just followed the v5.0 installation instructions more precisely that time round. Without wasting more time on it, we’ll never know… Glad you’re up and running.

Windows 11: A user in France wrote:

I have version 5.5 of Scientific Workplace that I am able to run on Windows 10 (it was necessary to use an attachment file). My problem is that, from what I have read, it should not work on Windows 11, so I would like to know:
If there is nevertheless a way to make it work on Windows 11

We replied:

Yes, you can run SWP v5.5 on Windows 11. Follow the v5.5 installation instructions; the only possible issue is referred to (linked) at Step 2

However, it sounded like he was planning to install Windows 11 on the same machine over the top of Windows 10:

Are you really sure that SWP55 can work on Windows 11? Does the file you provide take into account the small modifications that were necessary for the installation on Windows 7 (or 8 I don’t know anymore?)? I installed SWP55 6 years ago on Windows 8. I am currently on Windows 10 without problems and I did not want to upgrade to 11 because of this software...

On the small number of occasions we have tried to install one operating system as an upgrade over an existing operating system, there have always been complications; we advised:
1. Scientific WorkPlace v5.5 is running under Windows 11 on many machines around the world – including one right next to me here
2. The download of SWP v5.5 on our website (“Scientific WorkPlace 5.5 (95Mb)”) is for the latest Build 2960. For extra-clear instructions about downloading SWP v5.5, with screenshots, please see our October 2025 mailing Item 1(B).
3. I don’t remember there being a new Build specifically to take account of the change between Windows 7 and Windows 8; but it may be that you previously had the earlier Build 2953 of version 5.5; see our February 2010 mailing Item 4 and February 2026 mailing Item 5
4. We strongly recommend you install Scientific WorkPlace v5.5 on a new machine with Windows 11. We cannot give any assurances of what would happen if you update the version of Windows on a machine which already has Scientific WorkPlace installed:

Days Remaining: Someone with the 30-day trial asked:

About half an hour ago I was perusing SWP when a message with the words: you have 7 days left appeared.

We reassured him:

You can check the number of days remaining of your 30-day trial by clicking on Help – System Features (see here).

Please see our May 2013 mailing Item 6 and October 2025 mailing Item 5A.

Please be sure to follow the relevant installation instructions precisely for whichever version you want to install. For the v5.5 installation checklist please see our January 2024 mailing Item 8.

Whose licence? An IT manager from America Emailed asking:

If we purchase a license and that person retires, will we be able to transfer that license to another person?

We said:

Yes – on the understanding that the licence belongs to the University and not to the individual. What doesn't work is for the academic to retire, taking his licence/installation with him on his computer, and for the University to give the serial number to someone else: this would be, in effect, to create two licence out of one.
The terms of the standard Fixed licence are available at https://www.sciword.co.uk/fixed.htm ; most licences are installed under Clause 2.

Retrieving licence: (Please also see our August 2023 mailing Item 4 and November 2023 mailing Item 1.) A user in Germany wrote:

I used SWP 5.5 for about 10 years. It was installed on windows 7. I was absolutely sufficient with this software. My old computer is gone, but I have a copy of the installation, including the license information. It is clear to me, that I will use SWP 5.5 also in future years...

We replied, saying:

To help you retrieve the permanent licence you indicate you owned for Scientific WorkPlace v5.5, we will need your permanent serial number of the form 403-E0600- or 403-G0600-.
<snip>
You will be able to obtain this either from:

Any machine still running Scientific WorkPlace v5.5; or

The original documentation from when you bought this licence; or

The Email the licence server sent you on any previous occasion when you installed and Registered Scientific WorkPlace on a new computer; or

A screenshot of the 403-E0600 serial number that you took and saved on your phone or computer.

This enabled him to find his serial number on a laptop not in use.

Negated symbols: Someone with the 30-day trial of Scientific Notebook asked how to write negated symbols (∉, ≄, ∄ etc.). We said:

The negated symbols are on the “Negated Relations” drop down panel (see screenshot Negated1.png). If that toolbar is not showing, click on View – Toolbars – Symbol Panels.
To negate an existing symbol, highlight it, click on the magnifying glass (or right-click – Properties) and select Negate (see screenshot Negated2.png). If there are particular negated symbols (not already on the “Negated Relations” drop down panel) that you want to save, then you could save those as fragments (File – Save Fragment).
The best ways to learn Scientific Word/WorkPlace/Notebook are detailed in our 12321 mailing Item 4. Scientific Notebook has the same interface as Scientific WorkPlace, but excludes the professional LaTeX typesetting.

Beamer Support Files: Does anyone have a copy of the file BeamerSupportFiles.exe? Someone in South America wrote to say:

I own an old Scientific Workplace 5.0 license, which I recently had to reinstall due to my old laptop being stolen. I am looking to install the Beamer add-on on it, as I heavily rely on it for my presentations. I chatted with Dr. Bot at SciWord's website, and it pointed me to a link that does not work, that would provide me that add-on. Do you know any other way to obtain this add-on?

We replied:

Our best summary of the Beamer situation is in our October 2024 mailing Item 7. We were hoping you actually had a version 5.5 serial number (users often confuse v5.0 with v5.5), in which case the solution would have been to install the latest Build 2960 of version 5.5.
But for version 5.0, Beamer is only available as the patch BeamerSupportFiles.exe, as outlined in our May 2008 mailing Item 1 (our AI wasn’t confused: it accurately summarised this mailing item). The problem is that, with MacKichan Software having gone out of business, the web address for BeamerSupportFiles.exe <snip> no longer exists.

So we're wondering whether anyone reading might have a copy of the SW/P v5.0 Beamer patch previously available at ftp://ftp.mackichan.com/ swandswp55/BeamerSupportFiles.exe? If you do, it will probably be on one of your older computers in the c:\sw50\ or c:\swp50\ folders, where you would have downloaded it to install according to our May 2008 mailing Item 1.
Do please have a look and let us know – you'd make at least one user in South America very happy!

Version 6 import: A Scientific WorkPlace user in France Emailed us asking:

I would very much like to purchase version 6. However, the problem is that I am not always able to import files that I created with Scientific WorkPlace 5.5 over the past 20 years. I do not want to lose those files, and I would like to continue working with them.

We replied:

We don’t recommend [you upgrade to] version 6 of Scientific WorkPlace <snip>

Please see our August 2022 mailing Item 3 for a more detailed explanation of the differences between v5.5 and v6

The difficulty/unreliability of importing from version 5.5 to version 6 is a permanent problem: see our Leap Year’s Day 2020 mailing Item 4 – see especially 4(5)

If you did not get things to work satisfactorily with the free 30-day demo, then we would not want to sell you a permanent licence

You are not going to lose files created with Scientific WorkPlace v5.5, as their file format is .tex. These are best saved in .tex format (ideally, saved from Scientific WorkPlace as Portable LaTeX rather than Scientific WorkPlace’s own LaTeX format) and they can then be opened in future by any LaTeX installation

If you already have Scientific WorkPlace version 5.5, then we strongly recommend you continue to use that to work on your documents. If you do not have Scientific WorkPlace version 5.5 then we can supply licensing: at the moment we are out of stock of permanent licences, but we can always provide licensing by means of the low-cost Annual Subscription

We could also provide licensing for Scientific WorkPlace version 6 through the low-cost Annual Subscription; but we would not be taking responsibility to resolve the issues you have (or would have) with importing v5.5 documents.

We hope this will help others with similar questions.

Vision issues: A user in America wrote to ask:

-- I have SWP v. 5.5 running under Win 10;
-- I am legally blind in one eye and have very low vision in the other eye. This can only get worse...
1) Within SWP, is there a way to enlarge the text and symbols on the screen, without changing the typeset or PDF text?
2) Is there any software available to work with SWP in a voice-to-text mode?

We replied saying:

You can enlarge the text and symbols on the screen by clicking on View – 200% (or View – Custom – 300% etc.)

We do not know of any suitable voice-to-text software. We have used Dragon dictation software for text only (in other programs) but we do not have experience of trying to write mathematics; we expect it would not be possible.

.tex file from PDF? Someone recently sent us a PDF and asked:

can you make a sciword file for me from this?

It's a tricky question! We wanted to give a comprehensive answer for this 5 Hour Support Package user, and replied:

Pretty much anything is possible; but the complexity (and time involved) could vary by a factor of 10, depending on the story behind your PDF and what other files you have available:

If you literally only have the PDF, then the best we could do electronically would be to retrieve the text (only): all the equations would need to be re-keyed. And the bibliography would need to be typed manually, instead of being regenerated each time by extracting the biblilographic references from a database. And what about the graphics?

Do you have anything else? Any:

Bibliography files (*.bib)?

Previous versions of the .tex file?

Any backup files (.bak) in the folder containing your documents, probably C:\swp55\Docs? In File Explorer, turn on View – Filename extensions to see the .bak files (see screenshot)

Do you have the graphics files the document includes?

Do your co-authors have any earlier drafts of the document (.tex file)?

A useful place to look would be the Email correspondence with your co-authors. Does your Sent folder contain any Emails with earlier drafts of the .tex file attached?

Could you give me the story of the origin of your document please… and the helpfulness (or otherwise) of your co-authors? Have you had a catastrophic loss of your computer (ie. did your computer die) which has caused the loss of your .tex files etc? Do you have any Dropbox or Onedrive folders which might have been storing copies of your files (.tex, .bib, graphics) in the cloud?

Also, what is the timeframe you’re working to on this?
The more you can tell me, the better I can advise you as to the best realistic way forward.

In the end it wasn't necessary as the .tex file was found. But the checklist above should stand others in good stead...

Typewriters: Our home page include this video of a golfball typewriter.
In a similar vein, if you can remember typewriters this will certainly put a smile on your lips!