Hi Helen,

I have been downloading Fitbit Connect , but that is the bit which doesn't work! i.e. refuses to sync. Dongle no. 2 arrived today (very swift service I must say, as they sent it Friday afternoon from Holland) & now there is a different problem-it wants to update and won't.

I give up.

Looking at the Fitbit community forum, there are a lot of unhappy users out there-all sorts of problems and a lot connected with using on smart phones et al, so not just me with my old fashioned desk top and W 7. I shall probably take it back to the shop (i.e. second time) get my money back, then think about Iain's advice for cheap laptop, and think again.

Hi Deirdre,
It looks from the link Ian posted that there are two mechanisms, an "App" for Windows 10, and for earlier Windows versions, "Fitbit Connect" which links the PC to fitbit.com which is where you view your statistics. Perhaps you can confirm that is what you are trying to use? If not, the link gives clear instructions on how to download it.

Hi Iain and John,

Last one pre Xmas as cooking beckons...

Iain, I made a mistake:short list was 3 and yes, John was one of the three.

Windows 10! Well, John, I had the same messages popping up on my PC from 2015 onwards and I discovered how to stop them automatically down loading until they went away when the free offer expired. We were in the middle of intensive planning for the Dorset 100 and I had visions of my catering plans etc. vanishing into the digital ether, so wanted to hold to what I knew. I am always a few years behind everyone else.

Hi again Deirdre (was John the other one on your list ?)

Unless you have sufficient computing experience to enable you to generalize (viz how the things that you know how to do work in more than one software and/or hardware environment), I would suggest that you don't upgrade to Windows 10 on your Windows 7 PC. It may do unexpected things to your settings, files and data (not lose them, just put them in different places), and the way the interface has worked for previous Windows generations may appear sufficiently different in Windows 10 that your Fitbit problems might seem trivial by comparison. The PC might also run noticeably slower and appear unresponsive with simple things like emails, let alone larger documents.

Better, if you need to stay with Windows, would be to get one of the many cheap(er) new laptops running Windows 10. Post-christmas would be a good time to look online, and the warranty should be good for a reasonable number of years. While you get used to the changes you can transfer your important files and email inbox (etc), putting them where you know where they are and not where Microsoft says they should be. The fitbit might work as well (is it supposed to measure blood pressure ?). That leaves your PC unchanged and still doing what you expect it to, for as long as it takes. (The laptop's wireless networking should mean that you don't have to rely on additional internet connections.)

Before this morphs into a 'Windows 10 upgrade woes' thread, that is.

Iain

How did you manage to avoid the upgrade to Windows 10?
They sneaked it onto my PC some time ago when they programmed the "No, I don't want Win 10" to actually install Windows 10.
However, it was a free upgrade (at the time) and it's a reasonably good Operating System.
Maybe your best bet would be to purchase the upgrade to WIndows 10.
You'll soon get used to it.

Hi John,

Thanks for the persistence in trying to help. The booklet he casts aside is actually the safety and warranty information. The rest of the video shows him setting up with a smart phone...The process is quite different with a desk top. I have asked Fitbit for a replacement dongle, in case the first was faulty, so will see when that gets here.

Have a good Christmas.

Deirdre

Here's an unboxing & setup video. It shows a set of instructions in the package.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkWyGcufHcE

PS. Fitbit people themselves said W7 was OK when I was exhausting myself on live chat for hours!

Thanks John, That is very odd becuase I found this a few days ago, & it seems to say W 7 is OK. I do have a proper Fitbit dongle thing.

[https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Windows-10-App/Windows-Compatibility-Guide/td-p/1564036]

Sorry-don't know how to underline it.

There were no instructions at all in the box! I have done it all [or not done it] by searching for information.

I just looked up the compatibility of Windows with the Fitbit Charge 2. It says "Features compatible with Windows PC / Tablet. Minimum OS: Windows 10 10586.218" so looks like the saleman is wrong.
What do the instructions in the box say?
https://www.fitbit.com/uk/devices

Hi Iain,
I had a private prediction about who might reply and you were on the shortlist of two!

Thanks for the suggestion. I did ask the Fitbit IT chap if W 7 could be an issue and he said it wasn't...I have that in black and white as I saved the chat. Don't want to go down the smart phone route. GPS not on my menu-all I need is a map & compass and a star to steer me by...

Not sure about W10-I have been avoiding it, whilst W7 is still supported.

I have had another look at the link you sent (I had read this one in my hours of hunting for a solution) and I see a bit I missed - the IT guy saying plug it into the back. So I will try that.

Merry Christmas-hope to see you in 2018

PS Anyone else reading this-still open to ideas...

Hi Deidre

It looks as if it's a Windoze problem:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-2/Fitbit-Dongle-not-working-on-my-Windows-7/td-p/2133332?nobounce

For it to work you might need to upgrade to Windows 10, or, more expensively, an Android smartphone.
If it was sold as compatible with Windows 7, you may have a case for a full money back on grounds of being "Un Fitbit for purpose".

(Some recent GPS devices may include fitness monitoring.)

Iain

As some of you will know, I am not a fan of gadgets, but for various reasons, I decided to buy a Fitbit. I am now tearing my hair out trying to set it up and wondered if anyone has any sensible advice before I (reluctantly) allow the shop to access my computer remotely, or call in my IT guy.

Sorry-this will not be short! Here is what I have done already:

-gadget is Fitbit charge 2
-I have a dongle, supplied by Fitbit (eventually), which I have plugged into the front part of my computer (I hope you know what I mean).
-I run Windows 7, but this should not be an issue (according to Fitbit)
-I have downloaded the software and the little icons etc are all there. I did this whilst, heart in mouth, firewall and anti virus disabled, in case that caused a problem.I had uninstalled and reinstalled several times prior to this. Plus re booted, rebooted-you get the picture.
-I have set up the account,plugged the Fitbit into my PC with the charger attached, jumped through all the hoops, got to the syncing stage, the little wheel goes round and round, then-nothing-it has quit. Sometimes I get the message saying it has unexpectedly quit, sometimes not.

-I have spent over 3 hours on on-line chat with three separate Fitbit people, all taking me through the same steps and nothing working. Eventally I was advised to go back to the shop and get a replacement, which I have done, but the same problem is recurring. The guy in the shop said it was probably a software issue, but gave me a new one in case the chip was faulty..
-I have looked on the web at various chat forums suggesting a similar problem and berating Fitbit engineers for their inability to fix things, but nowhere can I see a solution which looks like a fix for me.

At this rate, no-one will get any Christmas dinner here!!!

Has anyone had this problem and is there anything else I can do?

Many thanks and Merry Christmas.