WBid is the premier bid sorting application for Southwest Airlines Pilots and Flight Attendants. Quick Reference:

- Download the latest version of WBid. - Register WBid. - Get Help.

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Versions of WBid prior to 3.1, maintenance release 4, will not be able to retrieve bid data after July 31st, 2009 !

The Company is making a major shift of their data servers. On July 31 2009 the old servers will be shut down. Versions of WBid prior to maintenance release 4 will no longer be able to retrieve bid data or submit bids.

WBid 3.1, mainteance release 4, already "talks" to the new Company data servers. If you already have this version there is no other action needed.

What do you need to do? Make sure you have WBid 3.1, maintenance release 4, installed. You can check the version and release on your installed version by launching WBid, then selecting Help from the menu, then choosing "About WBid" from the pull-down menu. WBid 3.1, release 4, is listed as version "3.1.4".

If you need to install the new release, click the Download link on the upper left corner of this page. Follow the instructions to download and install WBid. Note: Your anti-virus software will see this newly installed version as a completely new program so may prompt you with warnings. This is normal and expected.

WBid 3.1, maintenance release 4

WBid 3.1, maintenance release 4, was released on June 1, 2009, and can be retrieved from the Download page or from within WBid (Help | Check for Maintenance Updates).

This maintenance release is required for all users. The Company is changing the server that WBid uses to retrieve bid data and submit bids. Soon the old version will not work because it will have nothing to connect to. Please download and install this version.

Not sure which update you have? Within WBid click Help | About WBid. The version number and maintenance release information is listed on the About WBid window.

Windows Vista User's

After WBid is installed, the Registration Key (assuming you have registered this version of WBid) will be retrieved when WBid connects to retrieve bid data. However, Windows Vista has special security requirements that requires "Administrative Rights" to install your Registration Key. Please see this KnowledgeBase Article to install your Registration Key.

Macintosh User's

WBid is designed to run only on Windows. It can be run on a Macintosh but it requires some help.

Every program that runs on a computer is designed for a specific operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.). This means Windows programs only run on Windows and Macintosh programs only run on Mac's. Big software houses have versions for each (i.e. Microsoft Office) that are designed to look similar but under the hood they are very different applications. Occasionally you will even see distribution media (perhaps a CD or DVD) that says it works on both Windows and Mac; but when installed the media detects what platform it is running on and installs the appropriate, but different, application.

All is not lost. There are two ways to run WBid on your Mac.

1. If you have a dual-boot Macintosh you can boot to Windows and use WBid, or

2. You can use a class of programs called Windows Emulators (i.e. Virtual PC, VMWare, or Parallels) to run an "instance" of Windows on top of your Mac OS. Then, WBid can be installed and run from that instance of Windows.

If you do not want to use a Windows emulator program consider using one of the following bid sort programs designed to run on Macintosh:

CrewBid

iBid

Having trouble installing or using WBid?

Answers to the most common problems:

1. WBid 3.1 does not appear to accept the Registration Key or says "Administrative Rights" are required.

The Registration Key (assuming you have registered this version of WBid) will be retrieved when WBid connects to retrieve bid data. However, Windows Vista has special security requirements that requires "Administrative Rights" to install your Registration Key. If you have a problem getting WBid to accept the key see this KnowledgeBase Article

2. During the installation your computer hangs while attempting to install the "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime (includes ATL and MFC) Service Pack 1".

This is typically caused by an anti-virus program from blocking the installation. Temporarily turn-off your anti-virus software during the WBid installation. When the WBid installation is complete be sure to re-enable your anti-virus software.

3. The installation fails with an "Unable to set Serial Number" error.

This occasionally occurs if spaces or extra characters are entered in the Employee Number field during installation. See this Knowledge Base article.

4. When Windows starts you get a 'script error' with something that appears to be related to WBid.

This is a timinig issue with the WBid 3.1 Update Task in Windows Task Scheduler. This is something different than the WBid program. A computer 'service' needed by the update script is not available at that point in the Windows startup sequence. After Windows starts you can setup the task. Alternately, youi can simply remove the Windows Task for WBid updating from this Knowledge Base article.

See a list of Known WBid 3.1 problems.