Support/Training Home
HomeGauge Support
#1 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - 24 hours / 7 days a week
Before calling HomeGauge, please check our FAQs listed below for frequently asked questions. Many questions and problems
and their solutions can be found in the different sections below:
Category 1 - Home Inspection Software FAQ
Category 2 - Internet Tools / Report Upload FAQ
Category 3 - HG Website Builder FAQ
Category 4 - Computer Hardware and Cameras FAQ
Category 5 - Restoring HomeGauge Software
Category 1 - Home Inspection Software FAQ
Category 2 - Internet Tools / Report Upload FAQ
Category 3 - HG Website Builder FAQ
Category 4 - Computer Hardware and Cameras FAQ
Category 5 - Restoring HomeGauge Software
#2 Interactive Training and Software Tours - 24 hours / 7 days a week
Interactive training and other software tours show you how to complete an inspection using HomeGauge. Many other mini tours show the correct way to use common functions. View them here. View version 3 tours here.
#3 HG Community - 24 hours / 7 days a week
Find the answers in our online HG Community.
Post your own questions to get the feedback from other HomeGauge users.
Go to the online HG Community.
#4 Template Exchange and Extra Downloads - 24 hours / 7 days a week
Share inspection templates and other resources with other inspectors. Get them here.
#5 Association Downloads - 24 hours / 7 days a week
Download association logos, agreements and templates. Get them here.
#6 Email - Next business day reply
We make every effort to respond to email quickly and this is often the best way to contact us with a specific question. Contact us: support@homegauge.com. Email support is always free.
#7 Via Toll FREE phone - Office hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm Eastern Time
Toll free phone support is included in the HomeGauge Services. Read about the HomeGauge services and the many other features included in it here.
All new users get a FREE 3 month trial of the HomeGauge Service that includes phone support.
Sign up for the HG Service here
Direct: (828) 254-2030 (mobile phone users)
Toll Free: (877) 274-4299
Extra services we offer while you are getting started
Additionally, HomeGauge is glad to provide the following services while you are getting started with HomeGauge Software during your free trial of the HomeGauge Services.
- Free technical support
- Free adjustment of Logos - send logo to support@HomeGauge.com for us to adjust it for the best possible look in HomeGauge
- HomeGauge Services sign up and report upload walk through — be sure to sign up for your free trial of HomeGauge Services and try uploading a report
- Customization of the cover, invoice and summary pages or other areas of the report appearance such as color and font
Support items outside of using the HomeGauge Software and Services
The following items are NOT related to the general usage of HomeGauge Software. We try
to help as much as possible with some tips below, but with many different computer configurations out there, you are often better served by calling the manufacturer of your computer.
If we think we can serve you well, we will offer to do so for an extra fee. The fees for this extra help are listed below, but for other items it is best that you see your local computer expert.
- Computer Security / Firewall / Virus / Spyware: Configuring your computer for proper security is essential but outside the scope of our free support. To help keep your computer running smoothly, we recommend these basic computer security tips. If you are having trouble with viruses or spyware on your computer, we recommend taking the computer to a repair shop. Sorry, but this is too complicated for HomeGauge to handle over the phone.
- Switching HomeGauge to another computer: $50 or see help here
- Logo / Agreement / Stylesheet adjustments after HG Services Trial Period: $50 or see help for logo, agreement, stylesheet
- Website review and image touch ups: $125
- Copy of uploaded reports on CD: $50 per year of reports
- Transferring any file from one computer to another: using CD or USB $25
- Wireless Iinternet connectivity problems: Please call your ISP
- Internet connectivity problems: Please call your ISP
- PPC is not communicating with Active Sync: Please call the hardware company.
- Printer problems: If you can not print any web page, please call the printer company.
- Quickbooks: Please talk to an accountant on general usage and accounting issues of Quickbooks for your business.
Latest comments on this page
nehemiahnhi
(Inspector)
Ok I was useing a trail version of the HG companion, Then today I Bought it Now I cant send my report to the cloud and it keeps telling me to sign in. What happened ? May 18, 2012 9:17 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
Try opening one of the backups of the report. To do that in HomeGauge 5, click on the "Open" button, select the report you are trying to open, then click on the button with a gear on it and select the option "Open Backup for Selected Report". Try the newest backup first. If that doesn't work, try the next one down. The backup, depending on when it was created, may be missing the last several minutes of work, so you will want to take a look at the report after opening up the backup. If you still have trouble, give our technical support line a call at 877-274-4299 and whoever answers should be able to help you out. May 14, 2012 9:25 AM
assurehomeinspection (Inspector)
So after I finished a report on tablet, went home to open it and it said "report could not open" so I manually transfered the report via hooking my Tab to PC as iv done before, getting Error Opening -107286760 An invalid char was found in text content File: 00000099/report.hr5 Line: 31770 Char: 21 Any ideas? Kinda need to get this report done so As soon as possible reply would be appreciated, thanks in advance! May 11, 2012 6:01 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
This issue should be fixed in the latest version of the software on the website. Download and install the latest version directly from the website. May 9, 2012 9:06 AM
eagleone (Inspector)
HELP! In the Version 5 upgrade My pictures are loading extremely slow while adding into report. Like, 30-40 seconds per photo! In previous Version 4 it was instant. I am not doing anything different than I did before and have been using HG for 7 yrs. Do I need to re-install the software or is there a fix I can do. This report I'm working on would normally take me 1.5 hrs, and I am now on my 4th hour. May 8, 2012 1:04 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
If you are not using HomeGauge Services, you can manually copy files to and from your Android device. We have a page on our website that can walk you through it. Find the main Android page under the software section of the menu above. From that page look for the "manual move" link toward the bottom of the page. Apr 27, 2012 9:41 AM
ijw6125 (Inspector)
I just purchased the Android software. It shows me how to upload to Home Gauge cloud and not mine. How do I upload my reports off Android tablet to my cloud and allow it to load in desk top or lap top computer with Home Gauge installed? Is there away to transfer my reports to load to my other computers through my cloud? Apr 26, 2012 9:32 PM
assurehomeinspection (Inspector)
Hmm, anyway to implement or add and extension for Spanish translations? if not, I would highly suggest to implement something like that to a "right-click" option in the itemized comment box's (with 2 options for translations: 1) convert highlight to / selected to Spanish, and 2) Copy to Spanish..... I would buy homeguage JUST for that option lol. I got it already though so any where maybe a link i got a few more suggestions. Thanks! Apr 26, 2012 3:49 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
Version 5 requires its own license key. You can request a V5 license key by logging into HomeGauge.com and looking for the link on your dashboard. Apr 23, 2012 9:20 AM
hesterd (Inspector)
Hello I just downloaded HG 5 but it is not allowing me to activate with my license number. So I am under the trial version. Apr 21, 2012 1:55 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
At this time there isn't a way to itemize comments by default on the HG Companion. At this time you will have to itemize them one at a time in the HG Companion. However, it is a young product and many features will likely be added to it. For a comment to appear on the summary page on the HG Companion, it just has to be assigned to a summary. On the screen where you would normally click to add your comment, there's a summary button. If a summary isn't selected for your item, click on the summary button to assign it to a summary. The button will display as "Summary: <none>" if it is not going to a summary, and it will display as "Summary: G", where "G" is the abbreviation for your summary if one is selected (G is just an example, it will be whatever you have your summary abbreviation set to). Apr 16, 2012 10:30 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
We have a tour online that shows how to save auto comments for future reports. Maybe this can help clear up the process. You can find this in the interactive tours (item #2 above). On the tours page, look for the Reports Comments section, then the Auto Comments tours, especially the second one about adding them to your template. Apr 16, 2012 10:11 AM
npisatexas (Inspector)
I just spent HOURS working on my drop in comments ans saving as I went. NONE of them are showing up in future reports. NO CHANGES WERE MADE. PLEASE fix this or tell me what went WRONG. Thanks for your help. Apr 15, 2012 6:23 PM
alweiland (Inspector)
I am working with HG companion and like it very much. I have a few questions: How do I make it default to make comments itemized? How do I put a comment on the summary page? Apr 14, 2012 9:44 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
I have sent you an email about changing the margins. Apr 9, 2012 11:18 AM
VanOsdol (Inspector)
Have version 5 installed with my logo. version 4 has a nice margins on both sides, top and bottom even in the print preview. version 5 print preview has very narrow margins. Is there a way I can change these margins? Apr 5, 2012 10:50 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
A few users have experienced this, and we have a fix for an upcoming update. Meanwhile, the best thing to do would be to give us a call at 877-274-4299 when you are at your computer with high speed Internet access and whoever answers should be able to help you fix your problem. Apr 4, 2012 3:50 PM
stepbystep (Inspector)
How do you get video to work in the report? I can see all my images and drag them over but the video file is showing up as a blank box with a red X in the corner like the video is invalid. It recorded as an AVI file. Apr 4, 2012 2:57 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
I can't provide much help with cutepdf, however, you can make pdfs directly with HomeGauge. There is no need for external pdf software. To make a pdf directly in HomeGauge, you need to modify your print document setting. Go to "File -> Print Options", click on the name of the print setting you currently have checked (click right on the name of it, so the name is highlighted), then click on the "edit" button to the right. In the window that pops up, click on the "other" tab, then select the pdf option on that page. The next time you go to print using that print setting, it will create a pdf. In the pdf window, click on the save icon (the disc icon) to save a copy of the pdf. Mar 21, 2012 9:26 AM
mbeauchamp (Inspector)
I am having a problem printing a report to cutepdf. I have been able to do this successfully until yesterday. It appears to only be happening in home gauge. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling adobe with no results. The error is "There was a problem reading this document Error 109" Any suggestions? Mar 21, 2012 8:15 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
It may be confusing in a browser window, and it depends a little bit on the web browser, but while looking at the pdf, you should see a save icon in the pdf menu. Use that to save a copy of the report. (Some users may try to save it by clicking on the regular file menu in the browser, which won't work.) Mar 9, 2012 9:25 AM
apinc (Inspector)
I have had several inquiries from Clients that are having trouble saving the reports to their computer from the HG Website. This is when they are using Mozilla FF. Any suggestions? Mar 8, 2012 11:17 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
I would have 2 suggestions on this. 1) Make sure you are using the latest version of the software. Download it and install it directly from the website. 2) Make sure the source templates are identical, which may require copying a template from one computer to another. Mar 8, 2012 1:02 PM
cardinal (Inspector)
Is there any way to merge reports without merging the sections headers and footers? Many times they will show duplicates after a merge. I've been manually fixing them, but did'nt know if you could merge without them. Mar 8, 2012 11:11 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
You will first need a scanned image of your signature, cropped and saved as a jpg file. Go to "File -> Print options", then select the logo tab. You will next need to select one of the available lines for logos and insert your signature file. Once done, go to the menu "Options -> Forms options" and check the box to use a print logo for form signature 1. Use the right/left arrow keys to find the signature file you inserted in the print options. The next time you print preview the form, you should see your signature in there. Feb 10, 2012 2:25 PM
pbi (Inspector)
How do I get my signature on the Florida Wind Mitigation Report form? Feb 10, 2012 9:57 AM
mgrebasch (Inspector)
Could you add away to enter the customers signature from a tablet to the agreement like you do in forms? Feb 8, 2012 4:39 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
We have an online tour about reinspections. Go to the interactive tours page (item #2 above), click on the Extra Features section, and look for the reinspection tour. Feb 2, 2012 10:51 AM
aehiaz (Inspector)
Fairly new to software, and industry still tweaking templates. How is a re-inspection being performed by others. I found the button for the report re-inspection and flagged issues, do I have to make a new template just to change the general info comments that it is a re-inspection. Are others just getting rid of the pictures and comments if the issues are resolved and leaving all other? On-line tutorial would be great here! Feb 1, 2012 7:58 PM
hesterd (Inspector)
Question when I am adding a comment in the field my PPC the software seems to be intuitive to what I want to add but I do not have this same functionality on the desktop. Is there somewhere to turn this on? Jan 27, 2012 2:30 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
No, not at this time. You can always send a customer an email ahead of time or however else you normally would collect a PayPal payment -- and manually lock the report/unlock on payment. Jan 25, 2012 9:25 AM
Ok I was useing a trail version of the HG companion, Then today I Bought it Now I cant send my report to the cloud and it keeps telling me to sign in. What happened ? May 18, 2012 9:17 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
Try opening one of the backups of the report. To do that in HomeGauge 5, click on the "Open" button, select the report you are trying to open, then click on the button with a gear on it and select the option "Open Backup for Selected Report". Try the newest backup first. If that doesn't work, try the next one down. The backup, depending on when it was created, may be missing the last several minutes of work, so you will want to take a look at the report after opening up the backup. If you still have trouble, give our technical support line a call at 877-274-4299 and whoever answers should be able to help you out. May 14, 2012 9:25 AM
assurehomeinspection (Inspector)
So after I finished a report on tablet, went home to open it and it said "report could not open" so I manually transfered the report via hooking my Tab to PC as iv done before, getting Error Opening -107286760 An invalid char was found in text content File: 00000099/report.hr5 Line: 31770 Char: 21 Any ideas? Kinda need to get this report done so As soon as possible reply would be appreciated, thanks in advance! May 11, 2012 6:01 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
This issue should be fixed in the latest version of the software on the website. Download and install the latest version directly from the website. May 9, 2012 9:06 AM
eagleone (Inspector)
HELP! In the Version 5 upgrade My pictures are loading extremely slow while adding into report. Like, 30-40 seconds per photo! In previous Version 4 it was instant. I am not doing anything different than I did before and have been using HG for 7 yrs. Do I need to re-install the software or is there a fix I can do. This report I'm working on would normally take me 1.5 hrs, and I am now on my 4th hour. May 8, 2012 1:04 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
If you are not using HomeGauge Services, you can manually copy files to and from your Android device. We have a page on our website that can walk you through it. Find the main Android page under the software section of the menu above. From that page look for the "manual move" link toward the bottom of the page. Apr 27, 2012 9:41 AM
ijw6125 (Inspector)
I just purchased the Android software. It shows me how to upload to Home Gauge cloud and not mine. How do I upload my reports off Android tablet to my cloud and allow it to load in desk top or lap top computer with Home Gauge installed? Is there away to transfer my reports to load to my other computers through my cloud? Apr 26, 2012 9:32 PM
assurehomeinspection (Inspector)
Hmm, anyway to implement or add and extension for Spanish translations? if not, I would highly suggest to implement something like that to a "right-click" option in the itemized comment box's (with 2 options for translations: 1) convert highlight to / selected to Spanish, and 2) Copy to Spanish..... I would buy homeguage JUST for that option lol. I got it already though so any where maybe a link i got a few more suggestions. Thanks! Apr 26, 2012 3:49 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
Version 5 requires its own license key. You can request a V5 license key by logging into HomeGauge.com and looking for the link on your dashboard. Apr 23, 2012 9:20 AM
hesterd (Inspector)
Hello I just downloaded HG 5 but it is not allowing me to activate with my license number. So I am under the trial version. Apr 21, 2012 1:55 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
At this time there isn't a way to itemize comments by default on the HG Companion. At this time you will have to itemize them one at a time in the HG Companion. However, it is a young product and many features will likely be added to it. For a comment to appear on the summary page on the HG Companion, it just has to be assigned to a summary. On the screen where you would normally click to add your comment, there's a summary button. If a summary isn't selected for your item, click on the summary button to assign it to a summary. The button will display as "Summary: <none>" if it is not going to a summary, and it will display as "Summary: G", where "G" is the abbreviation for your summary if one is selected (G is just an example, it will be whatever you have your summary abbreviation set to). Apr 16, 2012 10:30 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
We have a tour online that shows how to save auto comments for future reports. Maybe this can help clear up the process. You can find this in the interactive tours (item #2 above). On the tours page, look for the Reports Comments section, then the Auto Comments tours, especially the second one about adding them to your template. Apr 16, 2012 10:11 AM
npisatexas (Inspector)
I just spent HOURS working on my drop in comments ans saving as I went. NONE of them are showing up in future reports. NO CHANGES WERE MADE. PLEASE fix this or tell me what went WRONG. Thanks for your help. Apr 15, 2012 6:23 PM
alweiland (Inspector)
I am working with HG companion and like it very much. I have a few questions: How do I make it default to make comments itemized? How do I put a comment on the summary page? Apr 14, 2012 9:44 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
I have sent you an email about changing the margins. Apr 9, 2012 11:18 AM
VanOsdol (Inspector)
Have version 5 installed with my logo. version 4 has a nice margins on both sides, top and bottom even in the print preview. version 5 print preview has very narrow margins. Is there a way I can change these margins? Apr 5, 2012 10:50 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
A few users have experienced this, and we have a fix for an upcoming update. Meanwhile, the best thing to do would be to give us a call at 877-274-4299 when you are at your computer with high speed Internet access and whoever answers should be able to help you fix your problem. Apr 4, 2012 3:50 PM
stepbystep (Inspector)
How do you get video to work in the report? I can see all my images and drag them over but the video file is showing up as a blank box with a red X in the corner like the video is invalid. It recorded as an AVI file. Apr 4, 2012 2:57 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
I can't provide much help with cutepdf, however, you can make pdfs directly with HomeGauge. There is no need for external pdf software. To make a pdf directly in HomeGauge, you need to modify your print document setting. Go to "File -> Print Options", click on the name of the print setting you currently have checked (click right on the name of it, so the name is highlighted), then click on the "edit" button to the right. In the window that pops up, click on the "other" tab, then select the pdf option on that page. The next time you go to print using that print setting, it will create a pdf. In the pdf window, click on the save icon (the disc icon) to save a copy of the pdf. Mar 21, 2012 9:26 AM
mbeauchamp (Inspector)
I am having a problem printing a report to cutepdf. I have been able to do this successfully until yesterday. It appears to only be happening in home gauge. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling adobe with no results. The error is "There was a problem reading this document Error 109" Any suggestions? Mar 21, 2012 8:15 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
It may be confusing in a browser window, and it depends a little bit on the web browser, but while looking at the pdf, you should see a save icon in the pdf menu. Use that to save a copy of the report. (Some users may try to save it by clicking on the regular file menu in the browser, which won't work.) Mar 9, 2012 9:25 AM
apinc (Inspector)
I have had several inquiries from Clients that are having trouble saving the reports to their computer from the HG Website. This is when they are using Mozilla FF. Any suggestions? Mar 8, 2012 11:17 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
I would have 2 suggestions on this. 1) Make sure you are using the latest version of the software. Download it and install it directly from the website. 2) Make sure the source templates are identical, which may require copying a template from one computer to another. Mar 8, 2012 1:02 PM
cardinal (Inspector)
Is there any way to merge reports without merging the sections headers and footers? Many times they will show duplicates after a merge. I've been manually fixing them, but did'nt know if you could merge without them. Mar 8, 2012 11:11 AM
hgmike (Inspector)
You will first need a scanned image of your signature, cropped and saved as a jpg file. Go to "File -> Print options", then select the logo tab. You will next need to select one of the available lines for logos and insert your signature file. Once done, go to the menu "Options -> Forms options" and check the box to use a print logo for form signature 1. Use the right/left arrow keys to find the signature file you inserted in the print options. The next time you print preview the form, you should see your signature in there. Feb 10, 2012 2:25 PM
pbi (Inspector)
How do I get my signature on the Florida Wind Mitigation Report form? Feb 10, 2012 9:57 AM
mgrebasch (Inspector)
Could you add away to enter the customers signature from a tablet to the agreement like you do in forms? Feb 8, 2012 4:39 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
We have an online tour about reinspections. Go to the interactive tours page (item #2 above), click on the Extra Features section, and look for the reinspection tour. Feb 2, 2012 10:51 AM
aehiaz (Inspector)
Fairly new to software, and industry still tweaking templates. How is a re-inspection being performed by others. I found the button for the report re-inspection and flagged issues, do I have to make a new template just to change the general info comments that it is a re-inspection. Are others just getting rid of the pictures and comments if the issues are resolved and leaving all other? On-line tutorial would be great here! Feb 1, 2012 7:58 PM
hesterd (Inspector)
Question when I am adding a comment in the field my PPC the software seems to be intuitive to what I want to add but I do not have this same functionality on the desktop. Is there somewhere to turn this on? Jan 27, 2012 2:30 PM
hgmike (Inspector)
No, not at this time. You can always send a customer an email ahead of time or however else you normally would collect a PayPal payment -- and manually lock the report/unlock on payment. Jan 25, 2012 9:25 AM
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