What are the system requirements ?

Digital Hoard runs on the Windows operating system. It is supported on Windows XP and will also become available on Windows Vista in the near future.
Hardware requirements: You will need 512MB RAM on a Pentium IV /Intel Centrino/equivalent AMD processor. A good quality web cam with manual focus. A SVGA video card. At least 60MB of free disk space for storing a library of 500 items, you can work out the math for larger libaries. An always-on (persistent) internet boadband connection.
Software requirements: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6+ or Mozilla Firefox 1.5+ , Microsoft .Net 1.1+ Framework and Microsoft Direct X 9 run time installed. Direct X is automatically installed in the recent versions of Windows.

What is the Digital Hoard privacy policy ?

Purchase details: For all the purchase transactions, Digital Hoard will keep certain information in its secure database so that we can validate customers, allow upgrades, resend purchase receipts & license keys when the customer loses them.

The data that is kept in our secure database include the name of the purchaser, the address, email address and phone number.
We do not use this data/email address for any other purpose than to resend License keys or inform customers of critical issues in the application. As well, we do not share this information with any third party.
It should be mentioned however that the bank/Payment gateway will handle some of this information as well, but that is purely for the authorization and validation of the transactions. The payment gateway/authorizing financial institution does keep part of the credit card number(i.e not the complete card number) tied to the purchase transaction for the purpose of clearing and settlement and issuing credits etc.

We do not keep Credit Card numbers, security codes, and expiry dates in our database.


The media database: The database that Digital Hoard creates and accesses on your computer holds your media library data that Digital Hoard fetches from Amazon. This database is not shared with anyone and Amazon does not know who is fetching the data as it is fetched under the Digital Hoard Amazon Id which is the only way to commuincate with Amazon. As far as Amazon is concerened, the data is being fetched by Digital Hoard (the company/organization) and not by an individual application. As well, Digital Hoard (the company/organization) does not have access to the individual databases of its Digital Hoard application. So your database is very private.

How do I put my library online ?

Digital Hoard can export your library in HTML format. All you have to do is the following: Click Export under the File menu and choose the 'Library to HTML' submenu

Is it possible to import my Play lists from iTunes or Microsoft Media Player ?

Digital Hoard can import your play lists from both iTunes and Windows Media Player. It will download the track/album details for all the tracks in the Play list. This will include images and cover art. Here is how:

1. Click the 'Add Play list' button at the bottom left corner. If this button is not visible, click the Toggle button until you see the bottom left pane display Play Lists.
2. After clicking the 'Add Play list' button, choose all the play lists you want to import and press the 'Import Play list' button.

Can I install Digital Hoard on multiple computers?

The Digital Hoard license is limited to a single computer where it can be used by multiple individuals having their own accounts on the computer and hence their own Digital Hoard libraries. If you want to install Digital Hoard on a friend or another family member's computer, you should purchase a separate license. We are hoping that our customers will be fair and honest in using Digital Hoard and honor its licensing scheme . After all getting a fair return on our efforts is what will keep Digital Hoard improving and make adding important features possible - not to mention - put food on our table.

Can I access my media library on a PDA/Smart phone ?

If your PDA or Smart phone supports Microsoft Excel files, then you can export your media library to an Excel sheet which can then be saved to the PDA or Smart phone. This is a proposed method for achieving this on a PDA/Smart phone.

Digital Hoard does not directly support the above handheld devices.

Can I assign custom cover art to an item?

To add your own custom cover art to an item, First save the desired image in JPEG format to your computer. Secondly, right click on the item in Digital Hoard and click on "Change Cover Image” which will ask for the filename and location. Once you have identified the file, press the "Update Image" button and you are done. For finding cover art images, you can search on Google Images or Microsoft Live.com. An example search would look like: “Ocean eleven DVD cover”. The image has to be in “jpeg” format.

Caution: By "Reloading an item" you will replace any custom cover art by what Digital Hoard finds on Amazon.

Do I have to purchase another license of Digital Hoard when it is released for Windows Vista ?

No. If you bought a Digital Hoard license that runs on Windows XP, you will be able to upgrade to the Windows Vista version of Digital Hoard free of charge. So your investment is safe.

This applies to versions 1.x.x. For example if you own version 1.3.9 on Windows XP and you want to upgrade to (say) version 1.5.6 on Windows Vista. This upgrade is free.

But upgrading from version 1.x.x to version 2.x.x is not covered under this policy. As a matter of fact, at present we do not have a pricing policy for the 1.x.x to 2.x.x upgrade. This is realy far down the line. Version 2.x.x of Digital Hoard may not be released for another two years. All the enhancements/additions in the meantime will go into the 1.x.x version.

Where do I learn more about how to use Digital Hoard ?

You can learn more about Digital hoard in the built-in help inside the application. There you will find detailed step by step instructions for performing various tasks.

Where does Digital Hoard get its data?

Digital Hoard uses Amazon Web Services to download detailed information from one of six Amazon sites around the world. It searches for and downloads detailed information about books, music, movies, and video games. For movie trivia and actor/director bios, Digital Hoard can provide you with precise links to information on the IMDB (internet movie database).

How is the web cam used to scan barcodes ?

You can use your webcam (must have manual focus feature) to scan barcodes on the back of books, CDs, DVDs, and video games. Here is how you do it:

Make sure your webcam is connected and recognized by the operating system. Click the webcam button (marked with the image of a webcam) at the bottom of the Digital Hoard GUI. This will cause a new window to appear displaying the video from the webcam. Now bring the barcode close to the webcam (2 to 3 inches away) and use the manual focus of the webcam (by turning counter clockwise) to bring the barcode into proper focus. At this point the barcode must be occupying 80-90% of the webcam window. Now hold the barcode in front of the webcam and moving it very slowly forward/backward (a fraction of an inch) until you hear a beep. The beep signals that the barcode has been scanned.

Digital Hoard will automatically download from one of six sites around the world, all the relevant information about the item being scanned. The download information will include the title, author/director, release date, retail prices for old and new items as well as cover images. After scanning the barcode, Digital Hoard will download all the info to the appropriate shelf in just seconds.

Can I add an item by ISBN, or UPC ?

There are two ways to do this: 1) One method is to scan the UPC barcode. 2) The second method is to add it manually. here is how: Click the Add Item button (shown as '+' at the bottom left of the middle column).Type the ISBN (in the case of book) or the UPC code for the item (book, music CD, DVD, video game) into the input field next to the barcode image. Now click the "Find" button.

Does Digital Hoard support the IMDB database ?

Digital Hoard knows what information resides on the IMDB database and will direct the user to the appropriate information on the IMDB site via precise links. However it does not fetch and store locally any of the IMDB data for copyright and legal reasons.

Can I scan other household items ?

Digital Hoard does not support any other household items such as electronic gadgets, boxed grocery items with barcodes, etc.
Digital Hoard was designed for the specific purpose of handling media collections that include Books, Music, Movies and Video games.

Where is the ISBN stored in the detail view of an item in Digital Hoard ?

The ISBN numbers applies to books only. For books, you will find the ISBN in the Amazon Id field. For books, the ISBN is sometimes part of the UPC code as well

Can I drag and drop items from the Amazon site onto the Digital Hoard application ?

Yes you can add items to Digital Hoard by dragging the Amazon URL from your web browser and dropping it onto Digital Hoard. Digital Hoard will add the item to the appropriate shelf. That is a book will end up in the Book shelf and a Music CD in the Music shelf, etc.

I've lost my License Key.

If you have lost your license key, send an email to dh.support@DigitalHoard.com and provide us with the following information: Your name, the email address you submitted to us at the time of purchase, or if you have the Transaction Id, please email it to us and we will send you the Purchase Receipt again. We can send the Purchase Receipt only to the email address that is already on file with us.

How do I import from another application?

First export your database in the other program to a comma-delimited file. Then in Digital Hoard you can import it as follows: From the File menu in Digital Hoard, select Import and then browse and select the comma-delimited file that you generated from the other program. Once the file is selected, Digital Hoard will read the file and add all of the items.
In a comma-delimited file, the first line contains all the field headers separated by commas. The lines following the first line, contains all the values. If the comma-delimited file is generated properly, Digital Hoard will import the library data correctly. In case of problems, you have to contact us at customer support.

Why is the webcam Barcode scanner window blank ?

This happens when your webcam is being used by another application. Close the webcam scanner window and then find the application/program using the webcam. Once you stop the other program from using the webcam (by closing the other program), then relaunch the webcam scanner window in Digital Hoard, this time it should display the video from the webcam. You can now use it to scan barcodes.

Does the barcode scanning via webcams work on laptop computers with built in webcams ?

It will work with webcams that have manual focus. If your laptop webcam has a manual focus or a command that achieves the equivalent result, then it should not be a problem. However if the webcam on your laptop does not have this feature, you can connect an external webcam with the manual focus capability to your laptop and then select this new webcam as your prefered barcode scanner.

How do I update to the latest version?

You can upgrade to the latest version of Digital Hoard simply by downloading the latest version from our website. To get the latest version, press the "Download" link at the top of this page.

It is safe to replace your previous copy of Digital Hoard with the new one. Your media database will remain intact.

What do I need to do to backup my library?

Digital Hoard stores its data in your personal Documents folder under the DHDB directory.                    

To backup your library database, make a copy of this folder.

How do I keep two libraries in synch ?

You can use the import and export function of Digital Hoard to generate (export) ||-delimited files in one library and then import the same files into the other library. This is a bit of a tricky process, so you have to know which items exactly you want to re-sync.

How do I move my media library database ?

All you need to do is find the DHDB folder in your Documents folder inside your Windows account. Make a copy of the DHDB folder and move it to its new location (perhaps another account’s Documents folder or the Documents folder of another computer where Digital Hoard has been installed). Once you launch Digital Hoard in the new account/computer, it will pick up the database that you just moved.
This also moves your Configuration/preferences file called configA.xml. If you don’t want that, you can always delete that file inside the DHDB directory of the database that you are trying to move. And still keep your old configA.xml file. If for whatevery reason this configuration file does not exist, Digital Hoard will create one for you. So relax.

How do I export my database ?

From the File menu select Export and then select the submenu called “Text File”. You can choose from the popup dialog box which part of your media database you want to export as well as where you want to store it. This will create a || delimited file. This file can then be imported into Microsoft Excel.

Why can’t I print my Digital Hoard catalog ?

Digital Hoard is a .Net application and requires that the Crystal Reports DLL (part of the Microsoft .Net runtime environment) be installed on your system. This will allow Digital Hoard to print/export your media collection to a file.

The default setup for the .Net runtime may not include the above DLL but can be included in the .Net install if one is choosing the Custom Install option of the .Net runtime install.

What all this amounts to is that if you have .Net installed and the Crystal Reports DLL is not installed (you will know this if Digital Hoard can not print), you can download this specific DLL from the Microsoft download site and install it on your computer. This will solve the problem. Alternatively the link below will also let you download the Crystal Reports DLL as well. Once you download the DLL, double click the DLL file and it will install itself on your computer.

What components does the Digital Hoard Setup program install on my computer ?

Digital Hoard will check your computer and install the following:

• The Microsoft .Net runtime environment (if it is not already installed).
• The Digital Hoard application.

How do I buy Digital Hoard ?

There are two methods to purchase Digital Hoard. 1. You can purchase one or multiple copies from the website. In this case the license key(s) will be emailed to you which you have to use to activate Digital Hoard. 2. The second method is to purchase a single copy of Digital Hoard via the built-in store inside the Digital Hoard application. In this case, once the purchase is made, Digital Hoard will be automatically activated.
Regardless of which method you use, you will receive a Purchase Receipt and the corresponding License Key(s) in the email you specified at the time of purchase.

Before you purchase Digital Hoard, first download the Free DEMO from the DOWNLOAD page. You should try it out first, which we highly recommend, to get a feel for how it works.

Can I give Digital Hoard as a gift?

It's easy to give Digital Hoard as a gift. Here's how:

Buy a copy online at the website and forward the License key that you receive in the email to the recipient together with a link to the DOWNLOAD page of the Digital Hoard website. On the purchase form, you can specify their name. But the email address, the actual address and the name on credit card field has to be yours as you are paying for it.

After you complete the order, you will receive the license key by email.
We appreciate you giving Digital Hoard as a gift to someone who will find it useful and letting your friends and colleagues know about Digital Hoard. By spreading the word, you are making sure Digital Hoard becomes the best media cataloging application

I am having problems connecting to the Digital Hoard webstore either for purchasing via application or for activation of the licens key. What is going on ?

Check and see if your internet connection is working fine. The communication with the Digital Hoard webstore is via HTTPS on a 128-bit higly secure connection. Your computer system must allow for HTTPS protocol to be used. This means the ports assigned to HTTPS must not be blocked.

Sometimes problems accessing these ports can arise because Norton is blocking outgoing traffic or your computer is sitting behind a firewall that is blocking the outgoing requests. You can always purchase/activate Digital Hoard by connecting directly to your ISP bypassing any router/firewall causing this problem.

Why is my purchase request declined ?

There are a few reasons that may cause this problem. Some of the most common ones are:
• The billing address submitted on the purchase form does not match the address on file at the financial institution that issued the credit card.
• The expiry date submitted does not match the one on the credit card.
• There are not sufficient funds in the account,
• And others …

The above are just some of the reasons for denial, you may want to contact your credit card issuer to investigate this problem further.

What does it mean when the reason for transaction denial is CVV2 ?

It means the security code that you submitted is not valid. Please ensure that you submit the correct security code.

The scurity code for Visa and Mastercard cards is a 3-digit code located on the back of the card. It is located on/to the right of the signature area. It is the rightmost three digits

Which payments methods does Digital Hoard support ?

At the moment, Digital Hoard licenses can be purchased using either Visa or Mastercard. This can be done either from the webstore (BUY) on the website or via the built-in webstore inside the Digital Hoard application.
At present other payments methods are not supported.