CCR and the Cricut Personal

Previous builds of CCR required the Cricut Personal to have a firmware version of 1.40. CCR would prompt you to update your firmware but the update process kept failing. This then rendered the Personal unusable until the firmware was re-done using Design Studio. This put the firmware back to version 1.34.

On 8th October 2011 a CCR update was released that allowed any Personal Cricut to use the older firmware version 1.34 to cut.

To get started using your Cricut Personal:

• Switch your Cricut on and check the screen to see what firmware version you are using. If it's less than V1.34 you will need to use Cricut Design Studio to update it. If you don't have a copy of Design Studio you can download the free trial version and update using that. Here's the link for the trial version: http://www.cricut.com/cds/Update.aspx

Once you have download  and installed DS select the Help menu, then Update Cricut Firmware. (Make sure your Cricut is turned off before you start the update). Follow the instructions carefully making sure you select the Cricut Personal as the machine to be updated. You may need to do two passes of the firmware update. If you're prompted to do a second pass make sure you turn your Cricut off again before you start the second pass.

• When the firmware update is complete exit out of Design Studio, switch your Cricut off and unplug it from your computer.
• Plug your Cricut back into your computer and power it (the Cricut) back on. If you have just updated the firmware you may get a windows message saying that the device drivers are being installed. Once they're installed you might see this message box (or a message in the bottom right corner of your screen)

• Open CCR and select the Cricut Personal as the Default Machine from the the Options menu, Project tab
• Create your design and when ready press the green Cut button. (Make sure you have loaded your mat into the Cricut)
•  At the Select Device screen click on the Cricut Personal then press the brown Select Device button.

If you see a message box that says there are no usable devices connected, remove the USB cable from your computer and reinsert it. (Also make sure the Cricut is powered on.)

• At the Cut screen change any relevant settings  (Layer/Multi-cut) and press the green Cut button

The Cricut should then proceed to cut.

• If the green circle in the middle of the cutting screen turns endlessly, press the brown Stop button. This will take you back to the previous screen where you can press Cut again. (This happened to me. The second time I pressed Cut it started cutting on my Cricut straight away).