Motive Power ®
Motive Power ®  |  GarageKeeper ®  |  Search 

Free Version

Features

Videos

FAQ

Support

Versions

Service

Dealers





Download Free Version

About the free version of Motive Power

Motive Power shop management software is free to all. This is the full functional product, nothing is limited or blocked in the free version. We are retiring after providing software, training, and support to about 1500 independent auto and truck repair shops over the last 35 years. We hope that you will enjoy using Motive Power whether for your personal rolling stock or in your shop.

The free version contains a line in the heading showing the MotivePower.Biz website and possibly a phone number. That line gives you a way to find support if needed and helps keep the support people available. The program is very well documented. First level training on the basics comes from videos at You Tube. You can look for the channel MotivePowerDotBiz or use the videos link at this site. Any questions that are not covered by the built in Help system get posted to the FAQ at this site.

There is a parallel set of Learn files for a shop that has work in progress and work history. You can run all the reports and analysis to understand how things work before you start using the live section with your own data. Both the live files and the Learn files are available at the same time so you can try things out in the Learn section as you get up to speed.

If something is not covered by any of those resources you can send an email to motivepower@outlook.com for help or you can contact one of the dealers.

Some of our resellers will continue to provide help with installation, training and support. You will see their details by clicking on Dealers at this site. Ask them for their rates as they don’t all charge the same.

Everything can’t be free, what do I pay for?

If you are running the single user version with the line of advertising in the invoice heading you never need to spend a dime. The built in documentation, the on-line training, the on line FAQ and the email support are free.

If you want to get going faster you may want to purchase one-on-one training. If you get stuck on a problem and want help right away one of the dealers can connect to your PC for remote support.

If you use the program heavily in a commercial business you may want to get the line of advertising removed. If you want to use the program in a multi-user environment you need to get software to remove the advertising and enable more users. You will also want some help with network security and firewall configuration. If you remove the ad or go multi-user we will receive a small percentage of that money which we use to keep this site up and running and answer the emailed support questions.

What is different about the installation procedure for the free version?

After you install MotivePower it will show you two desktop icons, Motive Power and Motive Power Learn. Click on each of these icons to connect the Motive Power data to the SQL software which processes that data. The default user name is SW (for Service Writer) with no password. The main Motive Power icon will give you a message that you don’t have an engraving yet.

Next you need to download the correct data file, copy or save it to the right place, rename it and tell Motive Power to use it.

If you want to run the Auto/Truck repair shop version:

  1. Download MPowerSQLDataV11.bkp.AutoTruck
  2. Save or copy that file to the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\MotivePower3\BackThisUp if that folder exists or to C:\ProgramFiles\MotivePower3\BackThisUp if there is no (x86) folder
  3. Rename the file by removing the .AutoTruck from the end of the file name
  4. Go to All Programs in the Windows program group, pick MotivePower, and run Restore Short Term Backup. Next, click the main Motive Power icon. The default user name is SW with no password

If you want to run the BoatBuilder version:   

  • More details on the free boat builder version
    1. Download MPowerSQLDataV11.bkp.BoatBuilder
    2. Save or copy that file to the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\MotivePower3\BackThisUp if that folder exists or to C:\ProgramFiles\MotivePower3\BackThisUp if there is no (x86) folder
    3. Rename the file by removing the .AutoTruck from the end of the file name
    4. Go to All Programs in the Windows program group, pick MotivePower, and run Restore Short Term Backup. Next, click the main Motive Power icon. The default user name is SW with no password

    If you want to run the Time and Materials version:

    Please note: the Time and Materials version does not have pre-set tables in the live data. You set those up for your own preferences

    1. Download MPowerSqlDataV11.bkp.TimeMaterials
    2. Save or copy that file to the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\MotivePower3\BackThisUp if that folder exists or to C:\ProgramFiles\MotivePower3\BackThisUp if there is no (x86) folder
    3. Rename the file by removing the .TimeMaterials from the end of the file
    4. Go to All Programs in the Windows program group, pick MotivePower, and run Restore Short Term Backup. Next, click the main Motive Power icon. The default user name is SW with no password

    Configuring the free version Invoice Heading

    The free version has a line of advertising in the heading. To add your own information you need to go to Settings | Invoicing | Shop Heading. Edit each line like Your Shop and Your Street Adress to replace that line with your current information. DO NOT remove the bottom line of advertising or you will have to set up the invoice heading from scratch.

    If that happens reduce the shown heading to 12 point and delete the space at the end of the first line so that both lines of the free engraving become one. This will become the bottom line of the heading. After that you can add your own shop name, address, phone and other things like your slogan, or web site or email address. The program tries to make your logo proportional to the size of your heading. A long heading may be appropriate if you want a tall graphic and vice versa. Check the videos for a walk through on configuring the heading for the free version.


    Download Motive Power Now


    Motive Power evaluation is a free download. There is a full set of data files to help you learn the program. You can add some of your own data to see how well it works for you. You are limited to starting 30 new tickets in the learn section. Several utility programs are also included.

    After the installation is completed, click on the Motive Power Learn icon. This will finish your installation by installing the SQL Server 2008 R2 Express data engine. After that finishes, click on the Motive Power Learn icon again. Enter SW for the user code, leave the password blank and click on Go.

    Follow the directions above to download and install the set of tables that best matches your needs.

    You'll need at least 400MB of free space on your hard drive to download and install Motive Power. The installed program will take about 110 MB for Motive Power and its data engine.

    We recommend that you make a new folder on your hard drive and put the download there.

    For complete details, see Getting Started with Motive Power.

    Click here to save the Motive Power Help file without downloading the program. You may need to go to the saved file, right click the file, choose properties and then Unblock the file before it will work properly.