Prepurchase Questions
About Geotech
Geotech Computer Systems, Inc. was established in 1986 by noted industry author Dr. David Rich. We developed Enviro Data for in house use and began marketing it in 1996. We have focused on markets such as environmental, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, weather, and others, and have become an industry leader in the application of computer technology. With a strong commitment to the environment and public safety, Geotech has worked with many companies and organizations to maintain not only a healthier place to live, but also a safer environment. Geotech is located in Centennial, Colorado, and we are a privately held woman-owned small business.
Geotech has satisfied a variety of client needs on large and small projects involving software and services. Our clients include industrial, consulting, and government organizations; most of which are in the U.S. but include dozens of countries, and range from the largest corporations to one-person shops. Our specialty is software development related to data management, mapping and graphics, and we sell commercial software for managing, displaying, and reporting environmental quality data.
Our commercial software, Enviro Data & Enviro Spase, provide off-the-shelf functionality for multiple industries, and also provide a starting point for building semi-custom or custom applications for specific database needs involving environmental quality data and maps. Enviro Data & Enviro Spase are used for tracking and reporting soil, water, air and other data for industrial and other sites.
We use tools like Microsoft Access, Azure, Visual Basic, SQL Server, Oracle, and others to satisfy specific client business needs. Designed to easily overcome and avoid common problems, Geotech has created a streamlined, more efficient process of data management and offers a variety of implementation options which easily places client data at their fingertips.
Our clients routinely praise us for our cost-effective service and excellent technical support. Geotech is interested in learning more about your company, and would be glad to discuss your database, GIS, and other software needs.
Please see our Mission Statement and Company Profile.
Services Provided by Geotech
Enviro Data and Enviro Spase are intended to be flexible and configurable to handle most any data you need to manage. However, if you need something special, Geotech can customize the Enviro software to meet your company's specific business needs for managing your data. Our staff and consultants can provide a variety of programming and other software services. Because of our extensive experience in working with databases to manage spatial (map) and other data, we will design/redesign your company's data so you can better manage and access it spatially.
Also see Example Projects - Enviro Data Software (geotech.com)
Geotech can provide data loading services for our clients, starting with either hard-copy or digital data in a variety of formats, and resulting in a coherent, accurate data set. One example is a data conversion that we did for a medium-sized consulting company on an aging in-house database that was poorly designed and not a good fit to the company's business needs. Geotech migrated 20,000 records, overcoming a poor data normalization design in the process, in less than a day. On another, much large project, we migrated over twenty years of data for a major steel plant, over two million records, from two larger databases and hundreds of lab files into one consistent database in a week and a half.
Software Use and Licensing
Enviro Data can be run on the desktop PC or MAC, from an on-premises Remote Desktop Servers (RDS) or individual VMs, in the cloud using Azure, Windows 365 Cloud PC, or in a web browser.
Enviro Data has more implementation options than any comparable system. And now you can take the power of Enviro Data and run it in the cloud. Using the robust Microsoft Windows Azure, Geotech can help you set up your whole database system in the cloud.
Geotech Computer Systems has been encouraging our clients to migrate their Enviro Data users from on-premises Remote Desktop Servers (RDS) or individual VMs to Azure Virtual Desktop. AVD can use either Windows 11 Enterprise Multi-Session or Windows Server. This is a cloud-based system that supports multiple users connecting at the same time. It is an alternative to configuring one or multiple RDS or individual VM systems. AVD can easily be scaled up or down based on your unique business requirements.
The connection to AVD is made using the free Azure Remote Desktop clients. This client uses a reverse connect transport for establishing remote sessions which provides a much more secure mechanism. This app is available for Windows, macOS, iOS/iPadOS and Android/Chrome OS. Additionally, an AVD instance can be initiated within a modern browser using portable devices like a table or smartphone.
Enviro Data is installed on the shared AVD “host pool.” Enviro Data databases can be in Access or SQL server, depending on your needs and access to the databases can be configured for security. Enviro Spase and GIS can also be installed on the host pool. Users are added to an Azure group that provides specific roles using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). Shared drives can also be configured in Entra.
Users connect via the Remote Desktop all with their unique Entra username and password. There is no need to figure out which VM to connect to since AVD is a shared system. Each user is provided their own Windows desktop and folders. Some advantages of using the Azure Remote Desktop clients to connect to Azure Virtual Desktop besides security are multiple monitor support; custom display resolutions., dynamic display resolutions and scaling; device redirection, such as webcams, storage devices, and printers; OneDrive; and Microsoft Teams optimizations.
A Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Microsoft 365 E3 (or higher) subscription is required to connect to AVD.
With Concurrent Use licensing in Enviro Data a lock file (supplied by Geotech) is installed in a folder (usually on a server) that is visible to all prospective users. This file, GCSLicense.mde, tracks how many licenses have been purchased and how many are currently in use. For a virtual machine (VM) it can be placed in the Enviro folder. For more than one VM, it can be placed on a shared drive. For a SQL back-end, either would be fine.
This lock file also allows you to “check out” a license so you can use Enviro Data while not connected to your network. Note that until a checked-out license is checked back in, it will not be available to any other users. However, the lock file does allow for a fixed number of overuses in emergency situations. If you exceed your licensed usage both you and Geotech will be notified.
If you have exceeded the allowed number of overuses, or a situation exists where a computer or VM that had a license checked out has not or cannot be checked back in, the license file will need to be reset to make it available again. This will require opening the lock file, GCSLicense.mde and editing it.
If you cannot locate the license file you can open the file GCS.lic in another computer’s Enviro Data directory, C:\Enviro\Edata8, using a text editor like Notepad and you will find the path to the license file there. However, when doing this be careful not to make any changes and close this file without saving it.
Use Windows Explorer to switch to the folder that contains GCSLicense.mde. Double click on this file and it will open in MS Access. Create and run the query shown below.
SELECT * From CheckOut
This query will open the table shown below.
Identity the record of the computer that needs to be checked back and highlight it. Then, simply delete the record by pushing the Delete key. This will free up the locked license and allow another user to use it. The records should now look like the one shown below. Simply close the table, open the EDITOR and VIEWER, and follow the instructions to connect to the license database.
Enviro Data Single User is licensed on a per-user basis, meaning that a license is required for each computer on which the software is installed. However, with Concurrent Use licensing, the software can be installed on as many computers as you wish but can only be used concurrently by the number of users that you have purchased Concurrent Use licenses for.
To use Concurrent Use licensing, install the lock file in a folder (usually on a server) that is visible to all prospective users. This file, called GCSLicense.mde, keeps track of how many licenses are in use. For a Virtual Machine, depending on the configuration, it could be placed on the VM's local drive or on a shared drive. For a SQL back-end, either would be fine. You need to record where the file is located so if you need to add other users you will know the location.
If you cannot locate the license file you can open the file GCS.lic in another computer’s Enviro Data directory, C:\Enviro\Edata8, using a text editor like Notepad and you will find the path to the license file there. However, when doing this be careful not to make any changes and close this file without saving it.
From this point on, when you open Enviro Data, a record will be written to the license file indicating that one license is in use. When you close the program, that record is marked returned. If you need to use Enviro Data away from the office, you can “check out” a license so you can use Enviro Data while not connected to the network but until this license is checked back in, it will not be available to any other users.
The lock allows for occasional overuse of your licenses for emergency situations. However, if you abuse this privilege, this will no longer be available.
If you have purchased or upgraded to Concurrent Use licensing, contact Geotech technical support if you need help in installing and setting up the lock file.
To setup a user, or after installing Enviro Data on a new computer, close both the Editor and Viewer, then in the C:\Enviro/EData8 folder, find and delete the file named “eKey.lck”. Re-open the Editor or Viewer and the setup license form will open. Use this form to point the computer to the lock file installed above.
If you need to add or change licenses, see the documentation under Concurrent Use Licensing.
To add licenses or change your type of license:
for the full Enviro Data suite (and not the Viewer Only option) follow the steps below.
Download and extract this utility that helps reset the license information.
On every user’s computer close ALL copies of Enviro Data.
Copy “ResetEDataLicenseInfo.accdb” to the desktop or any directory on the user computer and open the file.
Click “Clear Enviro Data License Info”. This step clears all Enviro Data license information from the computer.
Click “OK” when the confirmation message appears and then close this program.
Open Enviro Data and enter the new license codes at the top of this e-mail.
Navigate to the license database when prompted.
Connect to your database.
If your database in in SQL Server (only) you may also need to edit the EDatatables table. To do this, press F11 in the Editor to view the tables. Next find and open the table EDatatables. Locate the record for EDataLibraryDatabase and delete the word “Data” in the DataBaseName field. See screen shot below.
To add licenses or remove license for the Viewer Only program, follow the procedure below.
On every user’s computer close ALL copies of Enviro Data.
Navigate to the folder C:\Enviro\EData8Viewer.
Using a text editor like Notepad you can open the file GCS.lic in your Enviro Data Viewer directory.
In that file you will find the location of the license file there and record it as you will need it later.
Close the file GCS.lic then delete it.
Delete the file eKey.lck.
Open Enviro Data and enter the new license codes at the top of this e-mail.
Navigate to the license database when prompted.
Connect to your database.
If your database in in SQL Server (only) you may also need to edit the EDatatables table. To do this, press F11 in the Editor to view the tables. Next find and open the table EDatatables. Locate the record for EDataLibraryDatabase and delete the word “Data” in the DataBaseName field.
Enviro Data Single User is licensed on a per-user basis, meaning that a license is required for each computer on which the software is installed. However, with Concurrent Use licensing, the software can be installed on as many computers as you wish but can only be used concurrently by the number of users that you have purchased Concurrent Use licenses for.
To use Concurrent Use licensing, install the lock file in a folder (usually on a server) that is visible to all prospective users. This file, called GCSLicense.mde, keeps track of how many licenses are in use. For a Virtual Machine, depending on the configuration, it could be placed on the VM's local drive or on a shared drive. For a SQL back-end, either would be fine. You need to record where the file is located so if you need to add other users you will know the location.
If you cannot locate the license file you can open the file GCS.lic in another computer’s Enviro Data directory, C:\Enviro\Edata8, using a text editor like Notepad and you will find the path to the license file there. However, when doing this be careful not to make any changes and close this file without saving it.
From this point on, when you open Enviro Data, a record will be written to the license file indicating that one license is in use. When you close the program, that record is marked returned. If you need to use Enviro Data away from the office, you can “check out” a license so you can use Enviro Data while not connected to the network but until this license is checked back in, it will not be available to any other users.
The lock allows for occasional overuse of your licenses for emergency situations. However, if you abuse this privilege, this will no longer be available.
If you have purchased or upgraded to Concurrent Use licensing, contact Geotech technical support if you need help in installing and setting up the lock file.
To setup a user, or after installing Enviro Data on a new computer, close both the Editor and Viewer, then in the C:\Enviro/EData8 folder, find and delete the file named “eKey.lck”. Re-open the Editor or Viewer and the setup license form will open. Use this form to point the computer to the lock file installed above.
If you need to add or change licenses, see the documentation under Concurrent Use Licensing.
System Requirements
Boot Camp from Apple (and other Windows emulators) allow you to run Windows alongside OS X on your Mac. You can then run Office and Enviro Data under Windows. Only one operating system can be running at a time, so you’ll have to restart your Mac to switch between OS X and Windows.
Geotech can also set you up with a Windows 365 or an Azure VM or Asure Virtual Desktop so you can connect to and run Enviro Data from your Mac.
Geotech recommends using Windows 11 with the current patches and Microsoft (Office) 365. While supported by Geotech, Microsoft has stated Windows 10 support will expire October 14, 2025.
While not recommended, Enviro Data should work with older versions of Office back to 2003 and Windows 7 and 8.1. Due to the increased macro security added in Access 2007 additional minor setup steps may be required after installing the software and before using it.
Why Purchase Enviro Data
Geotech offers a full, working version of the software Enviro Data software that will run for 7 days. This allows you to use the built-in Tour and other features to learn how Enviro Data works. There is also a Tutorial contained in the User Documentation. Both the Tour and the Tutorial use the sample database contained with Enviro Data. Upon request, we can provide you with a code that would enable it to work for a total of thirty days.
Geotech can also evaluate your current databases to determine how they can be imported into Enviro Data.
Geotech will be glad to provide you with this free trial of the software. We strongly recommend that you allow us to provide a web demonstration of the software prior to your trial, so you will get the most of your time while you are going through the trial. For more information on the free trial, visit our Download Information Form.
Geotech provides both training specific to our commercial software, and also general training to the environmental industry on environmental data management concepts and practices. Although Geotech's software is easy to use, we do strongly recommend training for first time users. These services can be obtained directly from Geotech. Training can also be very helpful for those wishing to perform their own customization work. Training classes can be presented at your location, Geotech's office in Colorado, or via web presentation. Our industry training is offered in conjunction with various conventions and conferences.
Training is also provided in "Tours" built into both the Enviro Data Editor and Viewer that can be run using an example database. This Tour covers most of the features needed to become familiar with the software. Extensive documentation including a Getting Started document is also included with the program.
Check out the many resources on our website for more information.
Enviro Data is licensed either Single Use or Concurrent Use. Single use is for one user and computer while a concurrent use license can be shared. We also offer a Viewer Only license (both single and concurrent use) for those users who only need to view or output reports and do not need the ability to edit or import data.
Concurrent Use allows Enviro Data to be installed on as many computers as you need, and as many people as you have purchased licenses for can use it at the same time. This is true of both the full software and the Viewer Only. A user can have both the Single and full version licensed and installed on their computer at the same time.
Enviro Spase is currently licensed only for Single Use.
While all licenses are perpetual, support and updates must be renewed annually.
Geotech’s Maintenance program is governed by the terms of our Enviro Software Proposal and Agreement.
Enviro Data is easy to learn and use. The menu-driven interface, and automation of many import and retrieval processes, makes it easy for the software to be used by project staff that may not be database experts. This is particularly apparent when comparing Enviro Data to other environmental data management products.
It is efficient. It is not unusual for clients to report time savings of up to 50% on data management tasks relative to the way they have done it in the past. They also report an increase in output quality due to more automated handling of the data.
It protects your data. The program is based on a fourth normal form database design, with built-in referential integrity checks, preventing orphan records and other common data problems. It also has mandatory automated consistency checks with correction assistance, so the data brought into the database is the highest quality.
It is powerful. The software, originally developed in 1996, has evolved significantly through years of daily use by many clients on a wide variety of projects, resulting in over 500 specific features. Yet the user interface hides much of the complexity, so you can use only the parts you need.
It is affordable. The cost for the software and services is less than competing products and is generally less than the operating overhead of many in-house systems.
It is scalable. Enviro Data is the only software of its type that scales easily from small projects in Microsoft Access to large projects with millions of records in Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle.
It is open. Enviro Data is provided with open source code and the ability to modify software objects, so your power users can make changes as necessary to satisfy project needs. And because you have complete control over lookup table values, it can easily handle a wide variety of data types - radioactivity, organics, metals, biology, geology, etc.
It’s tried and true. Clients have been using Enviro Data on all types of projects daily since 1996. While every project is different, most of the common issues in managing project data have been encountered before and resolved, based on project staff feedback.
You get the support you need. Geotech’s support is described as the best in the business by clients familiar with our support staff and that of other solutions. Training is provided upfront when you purchase. A built in Tour uses a sample database to show you how to use the various features. And help is only a phone call or email message away with online help from knowledgeable professionals using Microsoft Teams.
It is a mature program, in use for over 35 years.
We are often asked about the relationship between a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and our Enviro Data software. In general, the role of a LIMS is to generate data and Enviro Data to use the data. For the most part, Enviro Data is “downstream” of the LIMS, that is, it ingests data from the LIMS, organizes it, manages the quality, provides a data repository, and then outputs it into formats useful to the project staff such as reports, graphs, maps, etc. In many cases, the LIMS in used by and located in the laboratory, while Enviro Data is located in and used by data consumers, such as consultants, agencies, industrial companies, and so on.
There are some exceptions. Some smaller labs don’t have a LIMS system but use Enviro Data’s data entry and export features to fulfill their needs to organize, store, and output data. Other labs have a LIMS, but its output capabilities are limited, so they use Enviro Data to create some specific export formats such as ERPIMS for the Air Force and SEDD for the Army and EPA, as well as various state, city, and EPA regional formats.
Geotech provides many ways to help you learn to use Enviro Data.
- Live online training is available with every purchase of Enviro Data.
- A self-guided Tour is included with the program. The Tour walks you through the both the Viewer and Editor using a sample database provided with the program. It takes about 60 to 80 minutes to complete for each of the Tours and they cover every day tasks like selecting data and entering data, preparing reports, and importing and exporting of data.
- A number of documents are include with the program. These can be found in your C:\\Enviro\Edata2012 folder. They are:
- Comprehensive 600 page plus documentation covering every feature of the program including a tutorial and getting started sections.
- Short Getting Started overview of the basic features of the program.
- Data Transfer Standard document to explain and document importing of data simple for both you and your laboratory.
- This set of Frequently Asked Questions on our website to answer the most commonly encountered issues .
Geotech Support is available with purchase and our support team available to assist you with any questions or problems you might encounter when using Enviro Data. We utilize live online meetings using WebEx or Teams to respond to your questions or problems so we can show you how to accomplish a task, or we can walk you through it step by step.