Hi Lawrence,

When Guide crashes, it doesn't have a chance to write out
its current settings. So when you start it up, it should pick
up where it was when the program started before... _not_
where it was when you crashed.

Of more interest is the question of why it's crashing in that
operation. Could I ask you to e-mail me the files 'comets.dat'
and 'soft02cmt.txt' (the file you downloaded from MPC; may
have a different name)? I'd be reasonably certain that the
former has gotten corrupted somewhere along the line, but
figuring out how it got that way might be helpful.

After you've e-mailed it to me, I'd advise replacing the
(presumably corrupted) copy of 'comets.dat' with the one from
the 'text' folder of the first Guide CD. That will put you (in
terms of comets) back where you were when Guide was
first installed, so that the "Add MPC Comets/Asteroids"
function ought to work. Also, you'll get rid of the duplicate
P/Shoemaker 3 at the same time.

When Guide 8 was released, that comet was known as
just plain ol' P/Shoemaker 3. Then it got a new "permanent
periodic comet" designation (155P), and Guide doesn't
recognize that they are one and the same. It's happened
elsewhere, since comet nomenclature can get to be an
amazingly bizarre thing. One may be known as, say,
"C/2003 F3", while the question of who discovered the beast
is hashed out. Then it might become "Larry-Moe-Curly
(C/2003 F3)", until the orbit is firmed up and it becomes
apparent that it's really a periodic comet. It then becomes
"P/Larry-Moe-Curly (P/2003 F3)". When it's recovered ten
years later, it's known as "P/Larry-Moe-Curly (P/2013 C4)",
until it reaches the point where a permanent number can
be assigned to it, and it becomes "P/Larry-Moe-Curly (160P)".

-- Bill