Tech Support FAQ

See System Requirements for help choosing the best hardware setup for your computer.

See our Compatibility page for information on specific computers.

The Precision Test Environment (PTE) is a simplified operating system, like Windows or macOS. The PTE must be continually revised to work with new hardware (processors, displays, and storage), and new computers are released all the time. While the T.O.V.A. PTE is more compatible with new systems, there will always be some that we haven’t fixed yet.

The EAV hardware setup is less portable, but it will work with any modern computer and monitor that meets our System Requirements. For more information, see our page comparing the two.

If you have the T.O.V.A. 7 or 8, you do not have the latest version. To upgrade, purchase the Upgrade Kit from our store.

If you have a T.O.V.A. 9 kit, go to our Downloads page and enter your serial number (from the sticker on the bottom of your black T.O.V.A. USB device). You can also check for updates in the T.O.V.A. software: In the main window of the T.O.V.A. application, click ‘Status’ > ‘Updates’.

We hope to release software updates to the T.O.V.A. 9 every few months. Beyond that, it is unwise to speculate.

1. Highlight the subject in the Subjects tab of the main window.
2. Click ‘Edit’.
3. Correct the information there and click ‘Save’.

Note that changing the subject gender or birthdate will modify which norms are used for the T.O.V.A. report and may invalidate the test. (The short-form test is only valid for ages 4 to 5.5; likewise, the long-form test is only valid for ages 5.5 and up). You should try to be sure that that the birthdate is correct before administering the test.

All your T.O.V.A. subject and session information is now stored in a database, which makes it easier to search and sort for the information you seek. From the main window, you can click ‘Help’ > ‘Back up database…’.

There are several automatic backup options detailed in the “Backing up the T.O.V.A. Database” section of our User’s manual.

Our latest releases of the T.O.V.A. use Java 8 (8u171). The T.O.V.A. copies the Java we use locally, so that you no longer need Java “installed” to run the T.O.V.A.

Highlight the subject in the Subjects tab of the T.O.V.A. main window and click ‘New session’.

You may find that a test was administered to the wrong subject. The T.O.V.A. provides a couple of ways to fix this problem.

NOTE: It’s important to avoid this mistake. Children below the age of five-and-a-half are not administered the same test format as older subjects. If you administer the wrong test format to your subject, the T.O.V.A. will not be able to properly interpret it.

1. If the session should have been assigned to a subject that does not yet exist in the T.O.V.A. database, create the new subject first.
2. Highlight the session in the Subjects or Sessions tabs of the main T.O.V.A. window.
3. Click ‘Edit’ to bring up the ‘Edit Session Information’ window.
4. Click ‘Assign to a different subject’ to bring up the ‘Reassign Session’ window.
5. Select the subject the session should have been assigned to and click ‘Select subject’.
6. When prompted, confirm that you want to reassign the session.

You can also reassign a session with drag-and-drop. Double-clicking a subject will expand it to show all the tests administered to that subject. You can then click on the test that’s misassigned and drag it to the correct subject.

Highlight the session in the T.O.V.A. main window, choose ‘View’, and then click the printer icon.

No. A test credit is used when the test’s data is retrieved from the T.O.V.A. USB device and saved to the database. Once the test has been saved to the database, it can be viewed, printed, and exported as often as you like. If you import a T.O.V.A. 7 test, no credits will be spent unless the T.O.V.A. 7 data file was itself never interpreted. You will always be warned and asked to confirm before a test credit is used.

Please note that importing an uncredited T.O.V.A. 7 test does not modify the original data file. Therefore, if you import the test again, on another system, another test credit would be required. You can avoid this by exporting the test session from the T.O.V.A. 9 and importing that file on the other system. T.O.V.A. 8 and 9 files are always credited

1. Highlight the two sessions in the T.O.V.A. main window.
2. Click the ‘Compare’ button.

You can compare up to four sessions at a time. It is a very useful way to show patients or parents the main areas of attention measured graphically and over time.