Download, Install or Access CTI Navigator

To install from Disk(s): 

• Insert disk 1 from a fresh installation set of disks (made within the last two weeks) from your local MLS.
• Select Installation Type:
  1. "CTI Navigator Program" to install the program. After the program is installed you will be prompted whether or not to also install data. 
  2. Select "Listing Data Only" to install just listing data, tax data (if available), and/or listing photos into a previously installed CTI Navigator program.
• Select "Next" at the bottom of all the installation wizard screens to setup a normal installation. 
• If you selected to install data, click Install at the bottom of the install MLS data screen 
  • Note: Do not change the Destination Directory. It is automatically detected by the installer. 
• Follow the install wizard prompts. 
• If you initially selected install "CTI Navigator Program", immediately after the program finishes installing, you will be given the option to also install MLS data. If this option does not appear, eject and re-insert disk 1 and then select "Listing Data Only". Ensure that listing data, photos, and taxes (where available) are checked as appropriate, and then click Next and Install.  
  • Note: if a Windows "AutoPlay" screen appears when you insert data disk 2 or 3 (where multiple disks are required to install all the photos), click "Take No Action" or "X" to close the AutoPlay screen as quickly as practical. If the data installation is interrupted for very long, re-insert disk 1 and re-start the install process.  This is necessary because the program that controls the installation of data and photos is only on disk 1. 

Repair CTI Update Service: Click here to save and then run a program to repair the new CTI Update Service used by new installations. Do not run this repair utility unless CTI Navigator has already been installed successfully. 

Installations before April 17, 2012 placed all program, data and user CTI Navigator files in the "\Program Files\" folder (or in the "\Program Files (x86)\" folder in 64-bit Windows). 

If your CTI Navigator program was installed in Windows 7 or Windows Vista before April 17, 2012, you should verify that CTI Navigator was granted "administrative privileges" when it was installed in Windows. To do so, open Windows Explorer > browse to C:\Program Files\CTI Navigator\ (or, in a 64-bit version of Windows, to C:\Program Files (x86)\CTI Navigator\) > right-click on CTI Navigator.exe > select Properties > click the Compatibility tab > under Privilege Level, check "Run this program as an Administrator" > click Apply > click "Show/Change Settings for All Users" button (if this button is displayed) and in Privilege Level under the "Compatibility for All Users" tab, check "Run this program as an Administrator" > click OK. 

Use the same steps as above to also verify that administrative privileges were granted for the CTIUpdateManager.exe file in the CTI Navigator folder (right-click on CTIUpdateManager.exe > select Properties > click the Compatibility tab > under Privilege Level, check "Run this program as an Administrator" > click Apply or OK).  [Note: "Run this program as an Administrator" is grayed out (not selectable) if User Account Control (UAC) in Windows is disabled.]

When installed prior to April 17, 2012, if CTI Navigator and CTI's Update Manager are not set to "Run as Administrator", the User Account Control feature of Windows 7/Vista may send CTI Navigator updates (such as new data and photos) and outputs (such as e-mail or printing) to the Virtual Store in Windows instead of into the correct CTI Navigator folders. This also prevents the program from keeping itself up-to-date. You can read about Windows' User Account Control and the Virtual Store in "Use Windows Vista and Windows 7" on CTI's Help and Support website. 

Note 3: CTI Navigator's program files installed after April 16 should not be assigned Administrative Privileges in Windows 8, 7 or Vista. That is because CTI's new installation process (from disk or from the Internet as described above) installs an "Update Service" in the Windows System to handle all program changes for CTI Navigator. 

When you run CTI Navigator, always click "Allow" at any security prompt. Note that some firewalls may need to be set specifically to allow CTI Navigator and CTI's Update Manager to always access the Internet. (For instructions, see Configure Security for common security programs on CTI's Help and Tutorials website.)

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Install Data Index:

• Internet Link to Download Data
  • Storage Spaced Required for Data and for Photos
• Data for Multiple MLS organizations
• Update Navigator or Preview Listing to Download New Photos 
• Disable Downloading New Photos 
• Data "Too Old to Update"
• "Clear Read Only" if Photo Update Stops
• Add Another MLS to an Older MLS Installation 
• Location of Installed MLS Data
  • Location of User Information 
    • Copy or Move Your User Information
• Set Data to Internet Option
  • Reclaim Used Hard Drive Space

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Installing MLS data into the CTI Navigator Desktop program on your computer is completely optional. Most users run the program set to access data over the Internet (its default setting) rather than install data that must be kept up-to-date. However, if you sometimes need to run the full CTI Navigator Desktop when the Internet is not available (such as on a laptop or Ultrabook which may not always have an Internet connection), you have the option to install MLS listing data onto your computer. 

To install all MLS data (without photos), ensure that your computer has at least 500 MB of storage space available. To install all MLS data and all MLS photos, ensure that your computer has at least 8 GB of storage space available. 

Download DATA. To install MLS data, and tax data where available, click here and Run the CTIDataLoader.exe file (or you can Save and then Run this file). The Data Loader will automatically detect which MLS Navigator program is installed. This will open a screen similar to the following (but with a "Data path" appropriate for your version of Windows and your MLS):

Check "MLS Data" on the Downloader screen , and also check "Tax Data" if available. Then click the Download button. 

Taxes Note.  If your MLS includes taxes, both MLS data and Tax Data must be installed for CTI Navigator to be able to run when your computer does not have an Internet connection. 

Multi-MLS Note.  If you use CTI Navigator for multiple MLS organizations, the Downloader will automatically download  data for the last MLS selected in CTI Navigator on your computer. To download data for a different MLS: close the data downloader, open CTI Navigator's login screen, select the desired MLS, close CTI Navigator's login screen, and then run CTIDataLoader.exe again.

If you already have data installed on your computer (which you may want to replace if it is out-of-date or corrupted), you will see a "DynaZip UnZip Warning" requesting whether or not to overwrite the existing file(s). Click"Yes to All" to overwrite (replace) the existing data file(s) with the new data file(s). This warning screen will disappear while the existing file(s) is being replaced (which  may take a few minutes). 

When you see "Download Complete", then click OK. This will close the data downloader screen. Downloading the data will automatically set CTI Navigator Desktop to use that data when you log in. 

Photos Note. The MLS Data file does NOT include photos. Because photo files do not compress effectively and there can be up to 24 photos per listing, it is not practical for most users to download all photos for all current listings over the Internet (see "All Photos" below). However, new photos will automatically download the next time you update CTI Navigator after installing new data.

• Specific Listing Photos: If you want to ensure that the photos for specific listings download into your computer so they will be available offline, search for these listings and view a report that displays their photos before you disconnect from the Internet.  
• All Photos: If you want to install all photos for all current listings onto your computer, install photos from a recently created set of CTI Navigator installation disks from your local MLS office. You do not need to re-install the program or data if you have already installed them from the internet, and Navigator is working properly. To install just photos, insert disk 1, select "Listing Data Only, and only check Photos (un-check Data and, if available, Taxes, unless you want them to be updated).  For more information, go to "install from disks" above.
•  No New Photos: If you do not want photos to be included in updates to CTI Navigator on your computer: click the Setup button on Navigator's login screen, select the Options tab, and check "Disable automatic downloading of new photos when updating" before you click Update.
• Internet Access Option for Photos and Data:  If, after installing data and photos, you upgrade your Internet service to broadband (such as to cable or fiber-optic), or if there is a problem with the MLS data or photos or storage space on your computer (see "Fix Error Messages" in related articles below), or if you want the convenience of not needing to update MLS data in your computer, you can set Navigator to access all data and photos over the Internet. This is described under "Set Data to Internet Option" below.

After downloading data, click the Update button instead of the OK button each time you log into CTI Navigator. This will run the CTI Update Manager to ensure that Navigator is using reasonably current information. 

Anytime you want to update inside Navigator you can click on the update icon (or select File > Update in the toolbar). You also can run the CTI Update Manager without logging in by selecting Start > all Programs > CTI Navigator > Update Manager > Update button. 

"Too Old..." Note: Anytime the MLS data on your computer is too old to update automatically, just download the appropriate data (and taxes where available) as described above. You do not need to reinstall the program just to update the installed data.

Photo Download Warning: unless you disabled downloading new photos (as described above), the first update after downloading new data from the Internet can take a fairly long time. This is because the Update Manager will automatically download up to 24 photos for each new listing. After your initial update, select Compact Listing Data (at the Compact prompt, or under Tools > Compact Listing Data) when you open CTI Navigator. Wait for compacting to complete before you start another function in Navigator. 

If a CTI Navigator data update stops and displays "Updating Photos" in the same window underneath Status, one or more photos may be locked as "Read Only". To clear any read only locks on MLS photos, click on or go to /Downloads/ClearReadOnlyPhoto.exe, and Run (or Save and then Run) the ClearReadOnlyPhoto.exe file. This will open a screen similar to the following (but with a "Path" appropriate for your version of Windows and your MLS): 

Click the Start button to run the "Clear Read Only..." utility. When "Update Complete" displays below the Start button, click the Exit button to close this screen. If the error persists or other errors occur, click on Update Problems at CTI's "Instructions to Fix Errors..." web page. 

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Adding Another MLS to an Older MLS Installation in CTI Navigator Desktop

Installations of CTI Navigator after April 17, 2012 store MLS User information and data in a different location than installations prior to April 17, 2012. Consequently, to install CTI Navigator for a different MLS on a computer that already had Navigator installed prior to April 17 would require that you either move the MLS User and Data files from the old installation to the same location as the new MLS/User data installation (see above); or un-install CTI Navigator for the original MLS installation and re-install it using the new installer. If you have saved customized items in CTI Navigator (such as searches, screen layouts, CMA's, and/or flyers) that you want to continue to use, you probably will want to move your old User files to the new location. Otherwise, it is simpler to uninstall and re-install CTI Navigator Desktop for the original MLS using CTI's new installer. 

MLS Data Location

The path to where your MLS Data is installed on your computer depends on when you installed the CTI Navigator Desktop program, and into which version of Windows it was installed. 

• For installations after April 17, 2012, the default path    
  • in Windows 10, 8, 7, or Vista (both 32-bit and 64-bit) is  C:\Program Data\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\ ; 
  • in Windows XP is  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\ ; or  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.Windows\Application Data\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\ .  
   
• For installations before April 17, 2012, the default path 
  •  in all 32-bit Windows is  C:\Program Files\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\ ; 
  •  in all 64-bit Windows is  C:\Program Files (x86)\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\  .

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User Information Location. The first time you log in, CTI Navigator Desktop creates a folder on your computer in its "Users" directory with your MLS login name at  "\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\Users\{YourAgentName}\". [For YourMLScode, see Find Your MLS Code above; for YourAgentName see note 1 below.]

To copy/move just your personal User information (such as saved searches, CMA's, custom flyers, and screen/table layouts) from an older installation to the appropriate location in a new installation:

1. Open Windows Explorer ("File Explorer" in Windows 8 and 10), and browse  
   • in all 32-bit Windows to  C:\Program Files\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\Users\{YourAgentName}\ ; 
   • in all 64-bit Windows to  C:\Program Files (x86)\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\Users\{YourAgentName}\
2. Highlight and copy the "{YourAgentName}" folder 
3. Browse 
   • in Windows 10/8/7/Vista (both 32-bit and 64-bit) to  C:\Program Data\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\Users\ ; 
   • in Windows XP to either C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\Users\  or  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.Windows\Application Data\CTI Navigator\{YourMLScode}\Users\ .  
4. Highlight the "\Users\" folder and Paste [replacing the existing "YourAgentName" folder].

After logging into CTI Navigator and confirming that your user information copied successfully, you can delete the original installation files. 

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To copy/move your User information and all MLS Data (including photos) from an older installation to the appropriate location in a new installation:

Warning. Copying (or moving) all the MLS Data and photos will require several minutes. Also, if the old installation of CTI Navigator was set to use local data, the path to the Data Files would need to be changed in the CTI Navigator Setup on the login page to the new location. 

Note 1: Where instructions refer to {YourAgentName}, substitute your name as it is spelled by your local MLS. Agent Names are displayed in CTI Navigator Desktop in the Roster. 

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Set Data to Internet option

If you already have both the program and data installed correctly, you later can set the program to access MLS data over the Internet (instead of data stored internally). This may be useful for example, if you upgrade your Internet service to broadband (such as to cable or fiber-optic), or if there is a problem with the MLS data (see "Fix Error Messages" in related articles below) or storage space on your computer, or if you want the convenience of not needing to update MLS data in your computer. You do not need to re-install the program. To set CTI Navigator to always access MLS data over the Internet, open the CTI Navigator login screen > click the Setup button > under the Data Files tab (and, where available, under the Tax Files tab), click the button in front of "Internet" (which also un-selects "This Computer") > click the OK button. (The Internet setting is not recommended for any laptop or computer that does not always have Internet access because without an Internet connection you would not be able to sign in or use Navigator.) 

If you install (or change setup to use) only the program, there is no Update button on the login screen. This is because when running only the program, it must access MLS data (including verifying your login password) from CTI over the Internet (instead of inside your computer). Therefore, when only the program is installed (or selected in Setup), CTI Navigator cannot run without access to the Internet. 

If you get a server error after setting CTI Navigator to use MLS data over the Internet, see the related article, "Fix Remote Server does not exist or is unavailable". For other update issues see "Fix Update Problems" in related articles below.

Reclaim Used Hard Drive Space

If you previously installed MLS data but now have switched to set CTI Navigator to access data over the Internet (see preceding section), you can remove the old data and photo files so their storage space can be reused on your hard drive as follows:

1. Open Windows Explorer or File Explorer (not the Internet Explorer) and browse to the location where CTI Navigator MLS Data is installed for your MLS. 
2. Under the folder for your MLS, select the Data folder and delete the Mls.mdb file in this folder. Be careful to delete only this one file which has only one capital letter and only one "s" (i.e., do not delete MLS.mdw, Mlss.mdb, or Dic.mdb). 
3. Under the folder for your MLS, select the Photo folder . Then
   1. Right-click on and Rename the Photos folder (such as to PhotosX)
   2. Left-click on the folder for {YourMLScode} (above the PhotosX folder) to select it. Then 
      1. in the top menu of Windows Explorer, select File > New Folder
      2. type the word Photos and press the Enter key. Be sure this Photos folder is at the first level of indentation under the folder for {YourMLScode}. (It should be directly above and aligned with the PhotosX folder.)
   3. Left-click on the PhotoX folder. Then copy the two files named MLSPhotoA.jpg and "No Photo Available.jpg" from the  PhotoX folder and paste them into the Photos folder that you created in the previous step. 
4. Minimize the Windows Explorer screen.
5. Log into CTI Navigator and preview any Report that includes photos for any listing. If viewing Reports successfully displays the photos for the listing, open the Windows Explorer (click where you minimized it to the taskbar at the bottom of the screen) and delete the PhotosX folder. Be careful to delete the old folder that you re-named earlier, not the Photos folder that you created with only two files in it. 

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Browser Based CTI Navigator

CTI Navigator Web II & Web Silverlight

You do not need to install any CTI Navigator code to run either browser based version of CTI Navigator. Just go to the Internet website for your MLS (see list below), and sign-in with your 6-character agent code and password for CTI Navigator. 

To use the latest version of CTI Navigator Web II on virtually any Internet enabled device (Android/Apple/iOS/Windows computers, tablets and Smartphones) and any Internet browser, go to or select the "New CTI Navigator II website" address appropriate for your MLS in the table below. Instructional tutorials are available inside Navigator II by selecting Help in the top menu-bar, or you can click here to go to the index of addresses and tutorials for Navigator II. 

To use the older graphical version of CTI Navigator Web Silverlight on any Windows or Apple Mac computer running any major plug-in compatible browser (such as Internet Explorer or  Safari, or on Firefox or Chrome with IE Tab extension), go to or select a CTI Navigator Web address below  appropriate for your MLS. (You can only sign into the website customized for the MLS to which you belong. If you do not know the 3-letter code for your local MLS, click here.)   

Video tutorials are available inside CTI Navigator Web by selecting Help, or on CTI's Help and Tutorials website by selecting Tutorial Videos for Internet browser-based CTI Navigator Web. CTI's Help and Tutorials website also includes many tech tips for using specific and advanced functions in CTI Navigator Web. 

Windows 10 Browser Note: The default browser in Windows 10, Microsoft Edge, does not support plug-ins. Therefore, either go to the New CTI Navigator II website for your MLS (as shown below) in Edge, Firefox, or Chrome; or open CTI Navigator Web in Internet Explorer 11 (which is included as an auxiliary browser in Windows 10). To switch to Internet Explorer, you can open MS Edge at the MLS website, click the "More Actions " icon,  and select "Open with Internet Explorer." Otherwise, you can open Internet Explorer directly by asking Cortana to "Open Internet Explorer"; or you can type IE (or Internet Explorer) in the Search box beside the Windows menu icon, and select "Internet Explorer - Desktop App."