Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I don't like entering the winning numbers every day. Do I have to do this?

A: No, there are many different ways to use Analysis Lotto. You can forgo the historical data altogether, as long as you use one of the systems without "historical" or "trends" in the name. A good choice is the Typical Delta patterns system, which works just like the lotto computer on our website. Set Looseness to about 5-10 when using this system, to play strictly by the Delta "rules", or to about 25 to play it a little looser. Also, you can still use any of the historical systems without entering data regularly, as long as there is some data for the program to look at. Most lotto games don't change character very quickly, so you could update your history data only once a month, or even once per year, if you wish. Even if some of the historical drawings are missing, the program will still generate useful numbers. NOTE: To use the trend charts, or the trend systems, it is more important to have up-to-date data.

Q: I paid for this program! Why does it tell me I have the trial version? Where do I get a registration number?

A: The program just needs to know the registration number, which you received at the time you bought Analysis Lotto. Look in the email you received after purchase. The number is in there. If you've just purchased Analysis Lotto, allow 24 hours for the number to arrive. All the functions of the software will work properly without it for several weeks. You can enter the number at program startup, or go to the HELP menu, and select REGISTER. Enter the number in the box. If you've done it right, the program thanks you, and all the functions should work.

Q: I want to drop a file into the Analysis Lotto data directory, but I can't find it on my disk!

A: Upgrading Analysis Lotto to work with Windows Vista has required us to use one of Microsoft's designated data storage locations. On most computers, you will find Analysis Lotto by looking inside C:\Documents and Settings\Your-User-Name\AppData\Roaming, or in C:\users\Your-User-Name\AppData\Roaming
A useful trick, if you lose your place inside Analysis Lotto, enter %APPDATA% (including the percent signs) into the file requester to find your way back the the right directory.

Q: Why does the program choose 100 numbers every time I want to pick a number?

A: Choosing 100 numbers is part of the program's strategy for finding the optimum numbers for you to play. The set of 100 numbers are used to develop a statistically representative sample based on the lotto system you are using. Using this set of numbers, charts can be created which show you how the system is working. When you press Pick a New Number, 100 numbers are generated and placed in the Generated Numbers window. Then one optimal number is chosen, based on those 100 numbers, and placed in the Lotto Number box. You may play this single number, or choose others from the 100 by repeatedly pressing the Choose button. You may choose several this way, or print out all 100 numbers (from the Reports menu.) If you have favorite numbers you like to play, you can enter it in the Lotto Number box before pressing Choose, or simply select numbers from the Generated list that best fit your strategy.

Q: How do I know which method for choosing numbers I should use?

A: All of the systems available in Analysis Lotto could have value under the right circumstances. I suggest that you experiment with your particular lotto or keno game. If you load some of the sample game files that come with Analysis Lotto, you can get a good idea how to set the lookback and looseness settings for each of the available systems. Also, see our video, the Delta Lotto DVD for a deeper discussion of this.

Q: How come you don't subtract the powerball or bonus ball from your last number when your are getting a Delta number in games that include an extra ball?

A: Delta numbers are only valid inside the same number set. The Bonus ball is typically chosen from a different set of balls. This makes it impossible for the Bonus ball to interact with the balls from the main lotto number. The Bonus ball can be a number higher, lower, or the same as the last lotto number - therefore it could have a negative or a zero Delta, which won't work with the system. NOTE: If the Bonus ball is chosen from the SAME set of balls as the main set, then you may decide to treat it as an extra digit, instead of a bonus ball.

Q: Why do the charts always look the same even when I change the lookback setting?

A: The lookback setting controls how many of the past lotto drawings are considered when creating charts or choosing numbers with some of the systems. You must have enough drawings recorded in your history file to support the lookback setting you wish to use. If your historical data only consists of six drawings, you can only get a maximum lookback of six, no matter what the lookback control is set to, so the charts would not change.

Q: The numbers the program picks seem very strange. I get a lot of repeated numbers.

A: This symptom usually means that you don't have enough historical data, or your "Lookback" setting is too low. Try setting Lookback higher, or if you don't have enough history to do this, set Looseness higher instead. Otherwise, change your system to one without the word "Historical" in the name. Also, there's a discussion of lookback and looseness in our Delta Lotto DVD.

Q: Every time I try to add a new lotto drawing to my history, the program won't take my number. Why not?

A: It's very important when entering numbers from past drawings that you enter all the numbers that are part of that drawing. If there are any powerball or extra numbers, type these after the main lotto number. The numbers can be separated by spaces, commas or dashes. You may enter days, dates and any other information after the numbers. If the computer doesn't see all the numbers it expects to see, based on the definition of the lotto game that it has, it won't take the number. This means that if a powerball and a multiplier are part of that game, and you don't enter those numbers, the computer may reject what you typed.

Q: How do I fix mistakes in my historical numbers?

A: You can prevent mistakes in your history data from happening by closely examining what you have entered or imported before pressing the ADD button. Press NO or CANCEL instead to prevent adding the erroneous information. Once mistakes have been added to historical data, you can still fix it by clicking in the history window with your mouse, and editing the data directly (try to match the format of the other data you see here.) You don't need to fix any of the Delta numbers you see listed here, as they will be recalculated by the program the next time you run it. Save your game from the File menu, and you're done.

Q: What's the difference between DO and DON'T repeat in game setup?

A: You should always specify DON'T repeat for most games, as the numbers that can be drawn in typical lotto and keno games do not repeat themselves in the course of a single drawing. The only time you would ever specify a game in which numbers DO repeat is a conventional 3 or 4 digit lottery game. Lottery games with repeating digits can be tracked and numbers chosen, but the delta number features of Analysis Lotto can not be used. You can still choose and track pick 3 and pick 4 numbers with the Historical Numbers, Typical Numbers, or Random numbers systems.

Also, when setting up games that have a single bonus ball or powerball, you can set that ball as DO repeat if the number is chosen on a separate pass, or from a separate ballset. Otherwise, your bonus ball will be prohibited from containing any of the numbers already picked in the main lotto number. Therefore, set the powerball to DON'T repeat if the powerball is picked from the same set of balls.

Q: The program picks the wrong number of digits for my lotto game. Why?

A: Chances are, you may be playing with the wrong game file loaded, or you specified the wrong number of digits when you set up your game. Visit File help for more information.

Q: Why don't my charts work?

A: Most of the charts will fail to work if you have no historical data. Learn more about how to add lotto drawings to your history file, or how to import data from the internet. Also, if you are playing a Pick3 or Pick4 game, or any game where numbers can repeat in the same drawing, the Delta charts will not display (Delta numbers can not be calculated on repeating numbers.)

Q: How can I get the Analysis Lotto numbers into my spreadsheet program?

A: If you choose Export from the file menu, you can save a plain-text file of historical or generated lotto numbers to your hard drive, which a spreadsheet program like Excel can import. From Excel's file menu, select load, then choose to see all files. Click on the file you exported from Analysis Lotto, and Excel will walk you through importing it. The default choices usually work well.

Q: Sheesh, this program looks complicated. Couldn't you simplify it?

A: Truthfully, Analysis Lotto is simpler to operate than most lotto software. See if your local lotto game is already set up, by choosing LOAD from the file menu. If you find it on the list, you'll be able to play your game by simply pressing Pick New Numbers. Just ignore all the extra features on the screen, if you do not wish to use them. Our support website also has a guide to setting up various lotto games. See the first question, too, for ideas on simplifying your use of the program.

It may also be useful to take a look at our training video, the Detla Lotto System DVD.

Q: The program doesn't seem to work right. I get error messages all the time. What's wrong?

A: If it really does not seem to be working right, or especially if you got error messages during installation after a download, the program may have become corrupted during the download. Uninstall the program by choosing Uninstall from the Analysis Lotto program directory, or from the Windows control panel. Then, download and install Analysis Lotto again.

Q. If the same data and same settings are always used, it seems to me the generated numbers should be the same, every time I press Generate New. Why aren't they?

A. The best way to verify what the program is doing is to look at the various charts the program creates. They will show the effects on the statistical distribution of the numbers created when parameters are varied.

Analysis Lotto is not designed to always choose the same numbers when draws are based on the same data. However, the statistical distributions of the numbers should match very closely when using reasonable looseness values.

This is the difference - we are not trying to exactly match the historical data (this would be the same as playing old lotto numbers), but instead to match the statistical distribution of numbers or deltas. This is quite different, and does not lead only to one set of numbers, but to many possible sets (though many picks will repeat anyway, just not in the same order.)

Q. I tried your software and notice that the database for my lotto game doesn't run all the way up to the present. Where can I download lotto data updates?

A.To keep our price low, we have decided not to expend the resources necessary to maintain our own databases for the thousands of lotto games played around the world. But, Analysis Lotto can use already existing data from nearly any lotto website (and there are lots of them.) Instructions are in your documentation, and also on the website at http://www.use4.com/support.htm

See our video, the Delta Lotto DVD for a clear example of how this works.

The easiest way to maintain the database for your game is to enter each winning number as it is drawn. Usually, it is not necessary even to have a continuous database - that is, many days can be missing (unless you use one of the Trend systems.)

Q. What sort of data files does Analysis Lotto use? I want to exchange data with another program.

A. Analysis Lotto uses plain text files for data. If your program can output or read plain text (or if you can display the data on the screen and use cut-and-paste), Analysis Lotto should be able to read it, or export data to it.

Q. Can you tell me what all the numbers in the historical window are?

A. What appears in the historical window: The lotto number, rearranged in ascending numerical order - then the calculated Delta number of the same lotto number. After the colon, the same lotto number appears, exactly as imported or entered (numbers appear here in the order entered, not rearranged) along with the day, date or any other extra data entered. The material after the colon can be accessed by the Filter feature of Analysis Lotto to build custom datasets filtered by dates, day of week, or number occurrances.

Q. How can I erase or replace a database?

A. If you are trying to replace a database with new entries (using Add Latest Number or Import), use the "replace" button, which will erase all the old data and replace it with the new data.

If you are erasing data in the history window on the main screen of Analysis Lotto, you need to choose "save" from the File menu to make your changes permanent.

If you try to use "delete game" from the file menu, be aware that all this does is clear the game from the memory of the program, it does not erase the game from the disk. The best way to erase a database is to replace it with a new one.