1. What free support options are available?
All registered developers are entitled to free self-help technical support using online resources such as the Knowledge Base, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents, technical references and public forums. It is recommended that all developers research their question or problem using the Knowledge Base prior to submitting a technical support request. Registered developers are also entitled to free updates for the version of the product they have purchased. Please check Product Updates to determine if an update is available.

Free, unlimited technical support by e-mail and fax is available for thirty (30) days from the date of purchase for any installation, development, debugging and redistribution issues related to the purchased product. After thirty days, the developer may continue to use the free technical support options that are available, or purchase a support contract.
2. What paid support options are available?
Paid support is available either for an individual incident or as an annual contract. Response time is guaranteed based on the chosen plan but most requests are responded to within a few hours.

  • Incident Support
    Incident support is billed hourly, covers a single question or problem, and may include creating a hotfix to resolve the issue if required. A same day response time is guaranteed during normal business hours. We find that most issues can be resolved within one hour. The technician will contact you by phone or email, based on his assessment of which method will best expedite your request.

  • Standard Support
    Standard support is designed for the single developer who has occasional technical questions and requires a guaranteed response time. This support option includes unlimited technical support by e-mail or fax and response times are guaranteed to be within two business days.

  • Priority Support
    Priority support is designed for the single developer who has more frequent technical questions and prefers both telephone and e-mail support. This support option includes unlimited technical support by telephone, e-mail or fax and response times are guaranteed to be within one business day.

All technical support contracts include automatic notification of new service packs and hotfixes. Support may be purchased after the free support period has elapsed, or may be purchased with the product at a discount. Review our Product Support Options for more information.
3. How can I purchase or renew technical support?
Technical support can be purchased on-line using our secure order form. Once the order has been received, you will be issued a support contract number. This number should be used when submitting any technical support request. Support contracts can also be renewed online and eligible for a discount as long as the renewal is within thirty (30) days of the support contract's expiration date. Once a support contract has expired, a new contract must be purchased at the regular price. You can use the following links to order technical support:


If you are purchasing a new product, support contracts are available with the product at a substantial discount. If you have any questions about purchasing or renewing a support contract, please contact us.
4. Is paid technical support refundable?
Paid technical support, either incident support or a subscription, is non-refundable. When you purchase support you're paying for a priority response to your technical support question or problem. If necessary, paid support also entitles you to an updated build of the component and/or library in question, rather than waiting for the issue to be addressed in a future service pack update. If your question or problem is not critical, we do have free support options and licensed developers are entitled to free updates for the version of the product that they have purchased.
5. What are the technical support forums?
The technical support forums are a resource for registered developers and product evaluators to post questions and comments, as well as share information with other developers. When posting a technical question, please remember to review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the product and search the support forums to make sure that your question hasn't already been answered. These forums may be accessed through your web browser at forums.catalyst.com.
6. What is the procedure for submitting a support request?
Developers who have purchased the product within the past thirty days or have purchased a support incident or annual support contract are entitled to unlimited technical support by e-mail or fax. To submit a technical support request, use the Technical Support Request form on the website and provide as much information as possible. Make sure that you provide your product serial number, current version and support contract number, if applicable.

Once the support request has been submitted, it will be entered into our defect tracking system and automatically be assigned an issue ID (IDS) number which will be used to identify the issue. All subsequent e-mail messages regarding that issue must contain the IDS number in the subject of the message, or it will be rejected by our mail server.

Developers who have a support contract which entitles them to telephone support may call +1 760.228.9653 to speak with a technical support representative. New support requests will be entered into our defect tracking system and assigned an ID number which can also be used in follow-up e-mail messages.
7. Why do e-mail messages sent to support bounce back?
Technical support requests must be submitted through the online Technical Support Request form on the website. Sending an e-mail message directly to the support address will cause the message to be rejected by the mail server. If you have already submitted a technical support request, make certain the correct issue (IDS) number is included in the subject of the message.
8. What are major, minor and build version numbers?
Product versions are typically displayed as four numbers separated by periods, such as 6.0.6000.0. The first number is the major version number, the second is the minor version number, the third is the build number and the fourth is a revision (hotfix) number. A change in the major or minor version number indicates a completely new release of the product and is typically a chargeable upgrade from a previous version. If the major and minor version numbers are unchanged, but the build or revision number changes, this indicates a service pack or hotfix update for the current version and these are made available at no charge.
9. What is a product service pack?
A service pack is a collection of one or more corrections to a product and is indicated by a change in the build number, but not the major or minor version numbers. Service Packs are complete, tested product releases which include all programs, components, online documentation and example programs. Service pack updates are available for electronic download at no charge to all registered developers.
10. What is a product hotfix?
A hotfix is an intermediate correction to a product or specific component in a product and is indicated by a change in the build number, but not the major or minor version number. Hotfixes are not complete product updates and typically consist of the updated program or component, along with documentation about the correction. A hotfix may not be regression tested and may contain changes that are not documented in the current online help or technical reference documentation.

Hotfixes are designed to address critical problems that require immediate attention. A hotfix should only be installed when it is determined that it corrects a specific problem affecting the customer, or when specifically directed to do so by a technical support representative. In most cases, is it recommended that developers wait for the release of a service pack rather than install individual hotfixes.
11. What is the difference between an upgrade and a service pack?
A product upgrade is when a new version of a product is released with either the major or minor version numbers changing. A service pack is an update to the current version of a product, with the build number changing but not the major or minor version numbers. For example, a new release going from version 5.0.5035.0 to 6.0.6000.0 would be considered an upgrade because the major and/or minor version number has changed. However, going from version 6.0.6000.0 to 6.0.6010.0 would indicate a service pack update because only the build number has changed.
12. What Catalyst products are currently supported?
The following table lists the current version and scheduled end of life for all products. In some cases the end of life for a product has not been scheduled.

Product Name Version Supported End of Life
ActivePatch 1.0 1.00.1000 No June 30, 2002
ActivePatch 1.1 1.10.1100 No December 31, 2004
ActivePatch 1.2 1.20.1230 Yes December 31, 2008
Catalyst File Transfer 4.0 4.00.4030 No April 30, 2006
Catalyst File Transfer 4.5 4.50.4540 No December 31, 2007
Catalyst File Transfer 5.0 5.00.5035 Yes June 30, 2009
Catalyst File Transfer 6.0 6.00.6000 Yes Unscheduled
Catalyst Internet Mail 4.0 4.00.4030 No April 30, 2006
Catalyst Internet Mail 4.5 4.50.4540 No December 31, 2007
Catalyst Internet Mail 5.0 5.00.5035 Yes June 30, 2009
Catalyst Internet Mail 6.0 6.00.6000 Yes Unscheduled
SocketTools 3.5, All Editions 3.50.3550 No December 31, 2002
SocketTools 3.6, All Editions 3.60.3650 No December 31, 2004
SocketTools 4.0, All Editions 4.00.4010 No April 30, 2006
SocketTools 4.5, All Editions 4.50.4540 No December 31, 2007
SocketTools 5.0, All Editions 5.00.5035 Yes June 30, 2009
SocketTools 6.0, All Editions 6.00.0000 Yes Unscheduled
SocketWrench 4.0, All Editions 4.00.4045 No April 30, 2006
SocketWrench 4.5, All Editions 4.50.4540 No December 31, 2007
SocketWrench 5.0, All Editions 5.00.5035 Yes June 30, 2009
SocketWrench 6.0, All Editions 6.00.6000 Yes Unscheduled

Technical support for all versions of SocketTools prior to 3.5 was discontinued on May 31, 2001. The SocketWrench 3.6 Freeware Edition is not included in this table because it is not eligible for technical support.
13. What programming languages are supported?

Our products can be used with a wide variety of programming languages. While it is not possible to list every language, there are some general guidelines that you can follow to determine compatibility with a given language. If you have any questions about compatibility with a specific version of a compiler, please contact us.

  • SocketTools .NET Edition
    If you are using the managed components in the .NET Edition or Secure .NET Edition, you can use them with any programming language that supports version 1.1.4322 or later of the .NET Framework. This includes Microsoft's Visual C#, Visual C++, Visual Basic and Visual J++. It also includes Borland's Developer Studio 2006 and the Turbo suite of products such as Turbo Delphi .NET. SocketTools .NET includes two sets of assemblies, one that targets version 1.1 of the Framework, and another that targets version 2.0 and later versions. This enables developers to deploy only those assemblies which are specifically built for the version of the .NET Framework that is being used.

  • SocketTools Library Edition
    If you are using the dynamic link libraries in the Library Edition or Secure Library Edition, you can use them with any language that is capable of calling functions exported from a DLL. We provide function declarations and constants for Visual C++, Borland C++, Visual Basic, Visual C#.NET, Visual Basic.NET, Visual J++, Visual J#.NET, Delphi, Clarion, and PowerBASIC.

  • SocketTools Scripting Edition
    If you are using the components in the Scripting Edition or Secure Scripting Edition, you can use them with any language that is capable of referencing objects that conform to the Component Object Model (COM) standard. The scripting components are designed primarily for scripting languages such as VBScript, JScript and PHP; however, they can also be used in Visual Basic, Visual Basic.NET, Visual C++, Visual C#.NET, Visual FoxPro, PowerBuilder and a variety of other high-level languages that support COM.

  • SocketTools Visual Edition
    If you are using the ActiveX controls in the Visual Edition or Secure Visual Edition, you can use them with any language that fully supports ActiveX and the Component Object Model (COM) standard. They can be used in languages such as Visual Basic, Visual Basic.NET, Visual C++, Visual C#.NET, Visual FoxPro and PowerBuilder, as well as any other language that supports ActiveX controls.

If you are experiencing problems when using the libraries, scripting components or ActiveX controls, the first thing that you should do is check to see if updates are available for your language. If you are using Visual Studio 97, you must have Service Pack 3 (SP3) installed. If you are using Visual Studio 5.0, you must have Service Pack 5 (SP5) installed and we recommend installing the latest service pack available. If you are using Visual Studio.NET, you must have Visual Studio.NET 2003 with the latest updates to the .NET Framework installed.

14. What operating systems are currently supported?
Catalyst products developed for the Microsoft Windows platform follow Microsoft's product life cycle policy for their desktop and server operating systems. Support for an operating system will be provided during the mainstream and extended phases of the platform's life cycle and terminated when the operating system reaches the end-of-life. The following table lists the minimum required version and the end-of-life date for each supported operating system:

Operating System Minimum Version Supported End of Life
Windows 95 4.00.950B OSR2 No December 31, 2002
Windows NT 3.51 3.51.2012 No December 31, 2002
Windows 98 4.10.1998 No July 11, 2006
Windows NT 4.0 4.00.1381 SP6 No December 31, 2004
Windows Me 4.90.3000 No July 11, 2006
Windows 2000 5.00.2195 SP4 Yes June 30, 2010
Windows XP 5.10.2600 SP2 Yes April 8, 2014
Windows Server 2003 5.20.3790 SP1 Yes July 14, 2015
Windows Vista 6.00.6000 Yes April 10, 2017
Windows Server 2008 6.0.6001.22217 Yes Feb 4, 2020

Microsoft extended support for Windows XP to April 8, 2014. Support for Windows Me and Windows 98 was discontinued on July 11, 2006. Support for Windows NT 4.0 Workstation was discontinued on June 30, 2004 and support for the Windows NT 4.0 Server platforms was discontinued on December 31, 2004. For more information about the Windows product life cycles, please visit the Microsoft Windows website.
15. Why are some operating systems no longer supported?
The Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 3.51 and Windows NT 4.0 platforms are no longer supported by Microsoft. As a result, we can no longer support these platforms if the cause of the error is specific to the operating system. Once support has ended for a platform, developers may continue to use self-help resources made available by Catalyst. However, technical support, product updates and hotfixes will be unavailable unless the reported problem can be reproduced on a supported platform.
16. Will your products continue to function on unsupported platforms?
A product may continue to function on an unsupported platform; however, certain features may not work correctly or they may be disabled. Technical support for unsupported platforms will not be available, however you may continue to use self-help resources such as the Knowledge Base and support forums.

Please note that the minimum required platform for SocketTools 5.0 and later versions is Windows 2000. The SocketTools libraries and components are not compatible with earlier unsupported versions of Windows such as Windows 98, and cannot be used on those platforms.