Welcome to CROSS Systems, Inc.!
The following items are here to help you get started or find answers to your questions at any time. If you are getting back on-track with your CROSS Library, all you need to do is to renew your CROSS Library Subscription, then call us for assistance to install or update CROSS Library on your system.
Q: How can I renew my CROSS Library Subscription?
A: First, register or login here
You can also use the ‘Renew Now’ button which goes to our Auto-Renew link. You will be automatically directed to the best starting place depending on your account status. (Note: If you are already a subscriber, you will be taken to Your-account where you can renew your most recent renewal order. (Unpaid renewal orders have a Pay button on the order line.) If you are renewing early, you may do so here. Click the Renew Now button on your active subscription line. Otherwise, if you land on the CROSS Library Subscription product page, just add it into your cart, then proceed to checkout and place your order.)
Q: I never purchased from CROSS before, where do I start?
A: First, register or login here, then this product is what you need to get started. Add that to your cart and checkout, we will send you an email with your account info, and your order emails will include the link to download. Then, call for installation assistance, and we’ll help you get you it all set up.
Q: What is the best way to renew my existing subscription(s) or pay my outstanding renewal invoice(s)?
A: A) If you received an email invoice or wish to pay your last renewal invoice, just click here and click the Pay button on the renewal order you wish to checkout and pay. B) If you purchased via our website before and you are current or just expired, you want to go to your account here and locate your subscription. Then, click the Renew Now button–the purchased subscription term will be added to ANY remainder of your current subscription, so you lose nothing if you renew early. These are the least expensive ways to renew your previous subscription. If your subscription expires for longer than our grace period, you may need to add a new subscription into your cart with this link as our system may have already cleaned up your expired subscription.
Q: I have not purchased support for a few years. How do I get the latest CROSS Library updates?
A: All software updates and support are included in the CROSS Library Subscription. You may add this to your cart, then checkout to renew your CROSS Library Subscription.
Q: Do you sell library supplies like labels, catalog cards, label protectors, etc? A: YES! Click here to view library supplies used in CROSS Library software and purchase other supplies you may need such as labels, label sets, label protectors, pockets, catalog cards, display racks, etc. (Note: If you are looking for something you do not see on our site, call and let us know. We like to add products you are needing.)
Q: How can I update CROSS Library to get the latest updates?
A: You can always see the options on our download page.
(IMPORTANT: If you cannot currently backup via internet, our downloads connect you to our new cloud making backups easy with improvements in reliability.)
OTHER BENEFITS: Since Dec. 31,2019, this update also improves CROSS Library so it can automatically repair databases if your system was incorrectly shutdown, etc.
IMPORTANT: We ALWAYS RECOMMEND to update Windows 10 to the latest available update before updating CROSS Library Mint. VirtualBox installers tend to have problems on Windows 10 21H1 and at times on earlier versions. After your Windows 10 is 21H2 with the latest updates, these installers JUST WORK WELL! (If you already installed VirtualBox, it’s not a problem–just finish upgrading Windows 10 until it is on 21H2, then REINSTALL VirtualBox and everything will be ok. We can help assist in this process as we do it daily!
Q: I have CROSS Library Mint, how do I get the Latest Updates?
A: Feel free to try it–just open crosslibrary.com/download and follow the instructions to update CROSS Library Mint (the 2nd link on the page). If you have an older CROSS Library Mint (pre-2021), it should be updated for sure! Call if you have any questions or run into trouble–we will be happy to review your current version and either upgrade using the download mentioned or just update the CROSS Library Mint itself since it has improved a lot over the past year with our monthly updates–especially since November 2021!
IF YOU HAVE a GRAY CUBE for the ‘CROSS Library Helper’ icon, you can try to update by right-clicking the ‘CROSS Library Helper’ cube in your tray’, then click on Admin/Check for Updates Now…’, then read and click OK on the messages, and click YES on the last prompt to download and install the update. Click through the installer prompts to install the update. It will automatically re-open using the new update when you click the Finish button on the install process. You can always call for support.
Q: Are there recent updates to CROSS Library?
A: YES, Absolutely! We release updates normally every 2-3 months and at times on a monthly basis depending on the need.
Recent highlights: We updated January 2022 to solve an issue with Find and Search presentation in CROSS Library Mint making CROSS Library just work better. (CROSS Systems, Inc. has been updating CROSS Library constantly for over 25 years and continues to support Vista, Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 32-bit along with most Windows 64-bit systems and CROSS Library Mint systems based on Linux Mint 19.3 with an existing CROSS Library Subscription. See question #1 above to renew, if your subscription has expired.)
Q: What is the long-term support view for 32-bit Windows?
A: While Windows Updates have been been disruptive in Microsoft world, CROSS still plans to support CROSS Library on these systems as long as Microsoft can support Windows 32-bit. Microsoft compatibility has been suffering recently. While we hope it improves, migrating to CROSS Library Mint is likely a good long-term support plan: CROSS Library Mint is filling the compatibility gap in two ways–1. with laptops which run CROSS Library Mint 64-bit WITHOUT WINDOWS, and 2. with CROSS Library Mint 32-bit that runs on 64-bit Windows 10 (as well as Windows 7, 8, 8.1). If you are unable to continue using CROSS Library on your existing Windows, we can help now–call for support. IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to check for Windows Updates FIRST (before calling) since Windows Updates in late November have already fixed the October errors caused by Windows Updates. ALSO: Windows Pro editions began to receive the fix as of 12/11/2019.
A few words on Windows Pro editions: Microsoft tends to delay releases of updates including bug fixes for Pro systems, so you can expect it to take longer for these systems to be fixed when a bad update tanks your system. This delay supposedly lends toward stability via longer testing cycles, but it can also lend toward longer outages when Windows Updates screws things up. We hope you don’t have Windows problems on a Windows Pro edition. We can usually help you uninstall updates to help the best we can. If you have a Windows Pro edition, it’s best to configure your system for the slowest path to Windows Updates to try to avoid them until they are well-tested by the rest of the global community. In other words, stay off the bleeding edge if you have a Pro edition of Windows and intend to keep it running correctly without interruption. If you run into serious trouble with Windows Pro, we might end up needing to migrate your system to CROSS Library Mint if Windows troubles occur and we run out of alternatives.
Q: Having trouble with CROSS Library in Windows? Windows Updates have been riddled with problems for a long time and especially back in 2019–the reputation has become that it breaks things…that’s right! Windows Updates automatically breaks your system many times as it updates, but all is not lost! Windows Updates often breaks apps such as CROSS Library, but all of our latest updates to CROSS Library since August 5th, 2019 work fine with all of the latest Windows Updates. We hope Microsoft stabilizes the situation. Regardless of what happens in Windows, we are providing CROSS Library Mint as another platform which runs on Linux under Windows. This has proven to be FAR MORE stable than Windows over the past 2 years. Linux also has a long reputation of superior security in comparison to Windows. All of our new Laptop Systems (see #1 below) are based on Linux Mint, are very easy to use, and rid you of the hassles of Windows if you do not need Windows on your library laptop–screenshots provided at the link so you can see how clean and easy it is to use!
FIRST: Install the Latest CROSS Library Update and make a backup to our new cloud so you have a backup of your latest data. (up-to-date CROSS Library Subscription required–renew here)
#1: BEST We at CROSS are offering our new CROSS Library Mint 64-bit Linux Systems (…register first…), so ditch the continuous Windows Updates cycle in favor of a ALREADY SECURED Linux environment.
#2: CROSS is offering a cheaper alternative–our refurbish to CROSS Library Mint 64-bit option. See here for details.
#3: CROSS is offering to install CROSS Library Mint 32-bit Linux onto a Windows 10 system (may be slower than our laptop systems above due to Windows overheads).
#4: If CROSS support had installed 32-bit Windows 10 on your system previously, we can help you re-install to 64-bit if your system has more than 8GB RAM or more. If not, fixing the Windows Updates is the best path for now. The Windows 64-bit / CROSS Library Mint combination provides protection against the continuous Windows Update cycle from negatively affecting CROSS Library. However, it’s not as good protection as our new Mint Laptop systems which do not contain Windows at all! Call 1-877-615-7230 (press 2 when you hear the Support option) for assistance in reinstalling Windows, if desired. You may need to update your subscription if expired. (Note: This may be slower than using our laptop systems above due to Windows overheads.) REQUIREMENTS: We require 8GB (or more) RAM for this option due to complaints about slowness after customers upgraded to 64-bit Windows and found performance lacking with 4GB of RAM. If your system works well on 32-bit Windows 10, we suggest updating Windows, pausing your updates for as long as possible to slow down Windows Updates cycles as of November 2019.
Q: I am getting “unexpected error; quitting” when opening CROSS Library. How can I fix this?
A: FIXED–This has been fixed by Microsoft as of mid-November 2019–you must check for and apply all Windows Updates again to resolve the issue. CROSS Library functions normally after the mid-November Windows Updates are applied. Question #3 above describes the cause of the problem and alternatives. See our news page at crosslibrary.com/news for details and instructions how to fix it based on your version of Windows or call 1-877-615-7230 (press 2 when you hear the Support option) for assistance uninstalling the offending update to allow CROSS Library to function correctly.
Q: Compatibility: At times people ask about our compatibility support.
A: CROSS Library is compatible with all Windows from Windows Vista up through Windows 10 as well as all Windows Vista 64-bit and on using CROSS Library Mint! In fact, CROSS Library Mint is compatible with Apple OS X and looking to expand to more platforms! We have begun phasing out Windows XP support in 2021 as these systems are aging and we provide FAR improved performance on our CROSS Library Mint laptops. In many cases, our customers’ 64-bit Windows 10 systems will outperform XP Pro running CROSS Library Mint, so there isn’t much need to hold onto those older systems.
If you have a compatibility question, call and ask. We want to hear your question and to help you figure out your system. It is significant to note that CROSS Systems, Inc. provides a far longer compatibility calendar than Microsoft does for their own operating systems! We do this to help you save money. We support ALL 64-bit Windows along with Apple OS X and Linux 64-bit systems using CROSS Library Mint.
We support most 32-bit Windows (Windows 7 through Windows 10 with marginal Vista and XP support as we help customers migrate forward). This is FAR MORE COMPATIBILITY than many application vendors provide. We also provide CROSS Library Mint 64-bit installed directly on laptops in case you want to simplify your life and boot Windows out of the picture.
So, will this wide compatibility support continue? Yes–if for no other reason–we provide even the platform our software needs to operate, so we can run on just about any modern computer system.
Some seem to judge compatibility from different perspectives. We’re approaching it like this: If you have an Apple OS X or Windows 64-bit system: We’re compatible using CROSS Library Mint (or an equivalent environment that runs CROSS Library on your system). We provide that environment for your system and CROSS Library runs inside there. This is a common practice today (using an wide array of technologies). Why? Because, system updates often tweak settings, shared program files, etc. that can cause costly repairs to keep software running. We SHOULD CHARGE by the hour to provide this support to our customers, but we cover that AND platform support AND software updates AND hosting AND cloud-backup services ALL in our subscription model. By doing this, we provide a better value to all of our customers. It’s actually easier and cheaper for software vendors to not need to deal with all of the thousands of combinations that can occur by providing an environment where Windows Updates, Antivirus software, utility software, drivers, various windows interfaces, etc. do not affect the behavior of that system to such a large degree.
32-bit: We ALSO continue to provide full support for Windows 32-bit systems from Windows 7 up through Windows 10. So, you get both compatibility and support for all Windows platforms beyond what even Microsoft provides–we reduced our Windows XP and Vista support to marginal support just in 2021 as our customers migrate off these older systems to much-improved Windows 10, 11 or our CROSS Library Mint laptops! (These systems actually tend to remain stable as long as your hardware continues to function well and your anti-virus software is up-to-date.) So, feel free to continue as-is, and we’ll continue to support CROSS Library for you!