We’ve just released a new version of our freely available GMAT Practice Test software.  The new version is available for download immediately. Best of luck in your GMAT preparations!

A recent customer wrote to support concerning a known potential issue with Microsoft Windows’s Windows Installer program. He was encountering the following error message when attempting to install our software:

“The Windows Installer Service Could Not Be Accessed” error message when you install a program in Windows XP”

Luckily we were able to refer him to a document on Microsoft’s Website for resolving this issue. Here are the relevant links:

• For windows 2000, please refer to this Microsoft support to fix the problem.
• For windows XP, please refer to this Microsoft support to fix the problem.

A customer recently inquired why we do not support saving and grading partially complete exam sessions. We responded:

“While we understand that it is difficult to find the time to complete a simulated GMAT or GRE test session in a single sitting, based upon our extensive experience, it would be a disservice to you to grade a partially complete simulated exam.

While practice sessions and drills have their place in GMAT and GRE test preparation, our software is meant to recreate the actual exam experience from beginning to end. Both exams require a significant time investment. In fact, time management throughout an entire GMAT or GRE test session (both maintaining uninterrupted focus and working efficiently) is the major factor in every student’s final score. Thus, we want our software to assist students by preparing them for the rigors of comprehensive time management throughout a complete exam session.

Although it can be an inconvenience, we believe you’ll thank us for forcing you to find the uninterrupted time to practice with an authentic simulator. Good luck on your upcoming exam and please let us know if we can answer any other questions for you.”

“I just received USPTO approval to take the patent bar exam and am looking for a good exam simulator. Do your answers and explanations reflect the changes in revision 4?”

-Nika T.

Hi Nika,
Yes, our answers and explanations are current with MPEP edition 8 revision 4 (the current revision used for the USPTO exam). We even offer some great MPEP study aids for revision 4 including quick search and a downloadable single-file version of the MPEP. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Rick Jones

All three GMAT question pools will be updated this evening and our simulator scoring engine will undergo a slight adjustment to account for recently observed scaled sectional percentile changes in the actual GMAT exam.

This update to our question pool has been performed to insure that all of our customers have access to the most accurate GMAT simulator available. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

–

User Support

Upstart Raising

US Tollfree: (888) 568-8585

Fax: (661) 749-9573

Scintill wrote:

Hi,
I am interested in buying GMAT simulator for my gmat practice, but I don't
have a internet connection at my home.

Can you clarify some of my doubts.
1.Is there any other way I can access your test material without internet.

2.If I use your gmat simulator from my friends house or internet cafe and If
the internet connection gets disconnected in the middle of the exam, can i
continue the test ..
Because I don't know whether I will get a 4 hours continous internet
connection in my place.

3.If i wish to take the same test again for various reason can i do it. or
Is one test charged for one testing session. ?

Thanks,
Scintill
     

Hi Scintill,

Thank you for your interest in our GMAT Simulator. I’ll try to answer your questions below.

You will need to connect to the Internet initially in order to login to the exam. The simulator software will download the entire question pool as it launches and after the exam begins you will not need to be connected to the Internet. After your session is complete, the software will attempt to connect again in order to save your results, but if it fails it will simply continue without saving.

A broken connection will not affect your test session. You only need to be connected at the beginning when you login and at the end when the software attempts to save your results.

You can access your saved session in order to review your questions, answers, score, timing information, explanations, etc… at any time after completing a simulated session. However, each new session requires a new access code because each session is unique and generates a different set of questions based on the performance of the test taker.



I hope these are satisfactory answers to your questions, if you need any more information please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Rick Jones

–

User Support

Upstart Raising

We are proud to announce the release of our USPTO Registration Exam Simulator:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office replaced the traditional semi-annual paper-based Registration Exam (Patent Bar) with a computerized year-round offering in the summer of 2004. Upstart Raising provides an emulation of the USPTO patent bar testing software as an aid to prospective registration examinees who wish to practice for the patent bar under the most realistic conditions available outside of the actual exam. Our software mirrors the basic functionality and navigational controls of the new patent bar testing software and combines this authentic recreation with actual USPTO test questions to provide a completely realistic testing environment.

All of our patent bar exams have been updated to reflect the changes to the law and the rules brought about by the American Inventor’s Protection Act of 1999. Our software grades each completed test session and provides the correct answers alongside explanations for each question. Additionally, each completed test session is saved and made accessible for review at any time. Instructors, tutors, and their students can easily take advantage of this feature to simultaneously review completed test sessions in distributed classroom environments or traditional settings.

You can download or read more about our Patent Bar Simulator here.

Upstart Raising provides searchable copies of both revisions of edition 8 of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure as a service to the legal community, prospective USPTO registration examinees, and our Patent Bar Simulator software customers.

The new computer-delivered USPTO registration exam is proctored at locations with access to a copy of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) that can be searched for specific text in its entirety. The free electronic copies of the MPEP available on our searchable MPEP download page facilitate a similar search both through the Adobe Acrobat Reader search function and the Quick MPEP page search available within the Upstart Raising Patent Bar site.

NASD Continuing Education Program:

The NASD mandated continuing education for all of its registered representatives in 1996. As part of the Firm Element component of this mandated continuing education requirement, each securities firm must develop and administer an ongoing continuing education program to keep it’s employees up-to-date on both job related and product related topics. This NASD section of Upstart Raising provides services which help fulfill the Firm element requirement of the CEP for individuals and entire companies.