Woe is me! Have been having some troubles with my computer for some week so I decided it was time to take courage in hand and do a clean install of Windows XP.
Backed up all my files to an external hard drive, and on Friday morning set to work.
Formatted the drive and started the installation of XP, four hours later after installing XP, Service Pack 2 downloading and installing SP3 and innumerable other updates, installing motherboard , video and sound drivers and installing all the hardware, scanner, printer. Graphics tablet and all the other associated junk, I was feeling quite pleased with my progress.
Next step was to install Ghost and make a backup image of my nice clean system, that's when disaster struck, Ghost went into DOS mode and froze, wouldn't accept any DOS input commands – shut down and restarted, still frozen, reset BIOS to boot from CD and tried to restart from the Windows disk to repair windows and see if that would work, still no joy, bypasses straight to DOS and remains frozen.
Next tried the Ghost recovery floppy disk, loaded and it froze, by this time another hour or more had passed and multiple restarts had been made without any success, so as a last resort before the Axe, I dug out an old Windows 98 startup disk and tried booting from that – success it booted, so I went to Fdisk and reset the Windows partition back to active and tried rebooting into Windows. Voila! Success.
All now seemed resolved, however when I ran Partition Magic it wouldn't recognize the system partition – alas all was not well! So back to the Win 98 disk and Fdisk and have another look, sure enough there was a temporary DOS partition installed by Ghost in the system partition, I deleted that partition and rebooted to Windows, back to Partition Magic which now recognizes all the partitions – success at last. Not willing to try my luck with Ghost again I downloaded a trial copy of Acronis True Image and successfully created an image of the system partition.
By this time I had had enough for the day and quit!
Saturday morning, up and at it! Reinstalled Photoshop, got to the activation bit and ti wouldn't accept the activation code, nor would it proceed or shut down, managed to get it minimized and tried to open Control Panel to uninstall Photoshop, whoops Photoshop again, didn't matter what I tried all I got was a frozen Photoshop, shutdown and restart would not resolve the problem, still Photoshop.
Next brainwave, reboot from the XP CD and repair Windows from there, duly ran the repair application it reinstalls all the windows files – then error message " Can't access DLL.$^@. Please load the Service Pack I CD ". Service Pack I CD? Never heard of one, so I tried the SP2 CD, that wasn't what it wanted. So on to Margaret's computer and after much searching find a downloadable copy of Service Pack I , download it and burn to a CD.
Restart the whole process again, when it gets to the point of wanting SP1 it just stops and will proceed no further, won't ask for SP 1 just stops.
Back to square one, Format the drive and commence the whole reinstallation process again. By 7:00 PM Saturday I'm almost back to where I was that time on Friday – this time before I load another thing I install Photoshop, everything goes without a glitch, can only assume that Ghost had corrupted some files in the system.
Sunday was spent Installing hardware, all the updates again, and installing all the needed programs and trying to get everything back to how I am used of it working.
The moral of this story if you ever have a weekend with nothing to do and you are bored – reinstall your operation system. Its FUN!
Max
One word, my beloved Max:
MacIntosh!
Never, in all my days at work or at home have I had that much tragedy with my computers. They run like champions! I'd never go to a PC! Never, ever!!!!!
Hugs,
GK
I feel your pain Max, i have done a similar thing last year! I also couldn't get Ghost to work and ended up using Acronis True Image, great back up software, never a problem since.
I'm glad all your efforts paid off! (smart thinking using that win98 disk)
Glenna, you are so right but there is another side to this story: we just love to tinker with our pc from time to time. The triumph when it finally works out and everything runs smoothly and fast, nothing comes close to that feeling! ;)
Hannie
Glenna! MacIntosh? I thought that was something you wore when you were going out in the rain! :funny:
Why would you deny yourself the excitement and adventure of "do it yourself" computer repairs, owning a Mac sounds so Boring, never the thrill of wondering if it will start today, or come to that even shut down. Get a life Glenna, get a PC. :crazy:
Hannie that's half the fun of owning a PC, that feeling of personal involvement - I hadn't had trouble with Ghost before, about the only Norton's product I hadn't, I was copying to an Iomega external drive and it seems that ghost has problems with Iomega drivers, well I'm afraid Ghost will have to be content haunting the waste bin after this. :knuppel:
Max
My beloved Hannie AND my beloved Max
One additional word: MASOCHIST!
GK
Glenna,
There is something about men with the yearning to fix things. We used to tinker with automobiles but the only thing you can do with the late models is to plug in the ODBII and read the display. Luckily, we still have PC's. Can't imaging what we are going to do if the world is taken over by the Mac's.
Shujen
I just had to weigh in on this one! I agree with Glenna! We bought a Mac 5 years ago after a similar problem with our PC (nicknamed Demon) and haven't had a problem since. We have 2 imacs and one mac book and it would take a lot to go back to a pc. Of course you have to be able to handle the kind of free time a Mac system will give you. Oh yea one other side affect you become annoyingly protective of all things apple related. My "PC" friends think I have joined a apple cult!
Deb
Shujen & Debrorah – Think of all the restorations that could be done with the free time available when one is not constantly working to keep a PC going! What a concept!
Iron Man is forever hollering at his HP. Half the time I have to go rescue him before he has a stroke.
I'm going to throw this in just for fun. I heard it this morning when listening to my podcast of the last NPR "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" Someone found a worm (a real formerly-alive but at that point mushed) worm in the fan of their computer (probably brought in and dropped near the computer by one of their cats). It evidently crawled into the computer and caused a bit of an uproar until its remains were found. The parting words of the WWDTM host was: "If you don't want a worm in your computer, don't get an Apple!"
GK
Good on you Max for getting it going again.
For all the Mac v Pc users, a little humour. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/tessc/funnygif.gif)
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5/tassie_devil/macvpc.jpg)
Nice one Tassie!
All the Mac users owe us PC users a great debt of gratitude, if Apple had become the dominant computer system, every disaffected genius who can write a line of code, would be compiling worms, viruses and rootkits for Mac's. >:D
Then Mac's would have all the problems of the PC, constantly upgrading to try and stay in front of, or only slightly behind the spoilers. With all the associated problems of an operating system becoming overwhelmed by its own size and complexity. :'(
So Mac users, get down on your knees and pay homage to Bill Gates and all the PC users for protecting you from this scourge. :up:
Max
OK! Now I'm getting worried. Where's Glenna? I scorn the beloved Mac and no response! She must be feeling poorly, come to that jokes aside, I haven't seen a post from her for days.
Are you still with us GK?
Max
Thanks for checking on me, Max!
I'm here, but still in therapy for whiplash and trying to get things done despite the discomfort. (I thought whiplash was a hokey way for people to con insurance companies. NOT!)
I'm saving up a dissertation on PC vs. Mac when I'm back in the world. (When I worked at my last job I was friends with a guy in the art department – a PC "weenie" – who'd call me a "Mac-hole." Needless to say we had some interesting discussions!) There's a cute video on wherethehellismatt.com in which Matt is telling his story to a group at a Mac World convention. When he got ready to show his videos, he opened a PC laptop and the crowd made rude noises at him (in fun, of course). So he whips out his I-Phone and flashes it at everyone to calm them down. Very cute. Even better, the host then asked if he could have his I-Phone back.
I miss all of you. I'm lurking, and I'll be back. Hugs!
GK
SOME of us have been with PCs for so long that our situation not unlike Linus and his security blanket http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_van_Pelt
Granted, the PC is predictably unpredictable, but its virtually infinite configuration possibilities regularly provide a very rewarding WOW! factor. And then there are those hardware/software workarounds not inherent in a Mac.
And relatively inexpensive compared to Mac hardware. Not to mention all of the free and reasonably-priced apps out there for the PC. PLUS, all of the PC software I already have.
I'm fixin' to get ready to maybe start thinking about a replacement for this remarkably reliable, five-year-old local-build white box PC which has suffered through hundreds and hundreds of hours of video editing and photo restorations with nary a grunt from me or the computer.
I have been polling my PC and Mac friends for words of wisdom and/or suggestions as to which platform I should consider; any suggestions from OPR volunteers would be gratefully appreciated. Heavy-duty use will be mostly video editing and photo restoration. No gaming or database.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Sorry if this is not in the correct Forum; I was following Max' thread.
TerryB -
I've been using a PC to for forever. My first was a Packard *ell from Walmart which was wonderful with Windows 3.1, but after being upgraded to Win95 was so buggy I finally had to make a list of procedures to follow to restore it each time it crashed. Since then I've purchased my PCs from Dell and haven't had any problems EXCEPT that much of my old software would not run on Windows Vista. Fortunately, Photoshop CS2, InDesign CS2, and Illustrator CS2 worked fine in Vista. QuarkXpress 5.3 would not work at all and I had to purchase 7.1.
So, if you're going to have to upgrade your software anyway, it might be time to consider switching to a Mac. If you know your software will run on Vista, then you'll have to decide if you want the extra expense of purchasing new software.
In any case, have fun shopping!
Thanks, Tori803.
I neglected to say that Vista is most definitely NOT in my future; the new one, if it's a PC will have XP Pro, maybe Windows 7 later, after the bugs are worked out.
TerryB,
I had both, Macs and PC and I'm sticking with the PCs. I never had a major problem with my machines, never had a virus or needed to reinstall the operating system. My current desktop, a Sony Vaio, is now 5 years old and never crashed. I do a lot of video editing too without a problem. I got a Vaio notebook last September which is running on Vista and I must say, I don't know why everyone hates Vista. It's a little bit confusing in the beginning, some things are different from XP, but it did not take rocket science to figure it out. I did also not have any problems with my existing software or hardware. Premiere Elements 3 runs without a hitch.
I love Macs too, they are just esthetically very pleasing and if I had more money than I could spend, I would probably get one too. PCs are just more fun.
Gerlinde
Yay! Lets hear it for the PC's. :wnw:
TerryB, like you, mine is a five year old white box, and has been reasonably trouble free. I would never buy a "Name" brand again, they are the only ones I have had trouble with. At least with a white box you know what hardware is inside them and you even have choices, plus you get all the manuals and driver disks as well. :wow:
I give my PC a reasonably hard time, with photo editing, video editing and music editing along with all the other uses one finds for them, as well as that I am a software junkie! If I see a new program I just have to "Try it out", which results in a lot of garbage which periodically requires vacuuming out, but its hard to get everything out and registry bloat gets you in the end. >:(
I think the software junkie bit comes from my early computing days, I started off with a VZ200 (re badged Sinclair) then an Amstrad 256PCW they covered a 14 year period, and virtually if you needed a program to do anything, you had to write it your self, ergo when I finally updated to a Windows machine, where you could actually buy all those programs and even better still download freebies from the net, I was hooked. :D
Actually I rather enjoyed the challenge of the weekend, after five years of XP I had almost forgot how to do any of these things, as opposed to Win 95 & 98 where you seemed to spend half your time on the computer searching for fixes for some problem or another.
Glenna, pleased to hear you are still in the land of the living, hope you get your problems sorted out soon, have to get fixed up real soon otherwise you will be like me unable to discriminate between injuries and old age aches and pains. :'(
My philosophy is if I need a Mac - I will head for the yellow arches! :funny:
Max
Thanks for the input Gerlinde and Max.
Max, I, too, am a software junkie and have been since W 3.1. I've found EasyCleaner (http://www.download.com/ToniArts-EasyCleaner/3000-2094_4-10529179.html (http://www.download.com/ToniArts-EasyCleaner/3000-2094_4-10529179.html)) does a terrific job of controlling the registry bloat and best of all it lets you undo any registry modifications that irritate the computer. As you know, dll overwrites/incompatibilities still pose a bit of a problem but System Restore has always bailed me out provided I remembered to set a restore point before new software installation.
Gerlinde, one of the reasons for my considering a new computer is for a faster processor to speed up encoding in Premiere Elements 3. I now have a P4 2.8 with Hyperthreading, 2 GB RAM and encoding takes FOREVER. FYI, a year or so ago I got a Western Digital 1.5 GB two-disk Raid 0 drive in hopes that it would help. If it did, it wasn't evident to me, then I read on one of the Adobe forums that the processor is the bottleneck. Do you have a suggestion for a processor? There are so many dual and quad core options that I'm dazed and confused.
Terry,
encoding takes a long time, but that's of course all relative. I don't do anything else during encoding and have no additional programs open. Fortunately I have a notebook and a desktop, so I can use which ever computer is not working hard to entertain myself, while I wait for PE to finish encoding. Do you know the Muvipix.com site? If not you should check it out. You can get expert advise there on the forum and there is a FAQ with recommendations on computer hardware.
My desktop has also a P4, 3.2 Hyperthreading, 2 GB RAM processor, but I find it fairly fast. My notebook has a Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @2.4 GHz and 4GB of RAM. I chose Sony Vaio computer based on the features and software tailored for multimedia use. I believe Sony has a lot of expertise in that field ( that might be wishful thinking on my part ;)). But check out http://www.muvipix.com/phpBB3/ (http://www.muvipix.com/phpBB3/) if you did not come across this site yet, you will love it!
Gerlinde
I love all this computer talk!
Quote from: Hannie on March 07, 2009, 06:14:20 PM
I love all this computer talk!
Hi Hannie!
Join in and write something computeresque ::)
One of the redeeming factors of PCs is that they keep my adrenaline level up.
OK Terry, you asked for it!
After I shut down my pc it always immediately restarts again. I checked the keyboard, mouse and USB cord on another pc and it worked fine there, no unwanted restarts.
All the setting in the BIOS (WOL etc.) are correct. I have searched many forum the last 2 years concerning this problem, have not found the right fix yet.
I have been in contact with the Asus support team but they never came up with anything useful.
My computer has 4 USB ports at the back and 2 at the front.
Of the 4 ports in the back 2 are dedicated to remote wake up which I do not use, so I only use 2 of those 4 USB ports for my diNovo keyboard and mouse.
I use the 2 USB in the front panel for my Wacom tablet and scanner and printer. If I don't take unplug these 2 prior to shutdown, the unwanted restart problems begin, very annoying.
I wanted to be able to shut down my pc without having to unplug a bunch of stuff first so I installed a pci USB card with 4 ports. I used those to bypass the 2 problem USB ports in the front panel and it worked, no more unwanted restarts.
I am still looking for a way to fix the 2 USB ports in the front, it just doesn't seem to make sense that they should make the computer reboot at shutdown.
Hannie
ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe
Intel Conroe E6600
nVidia 7950GT 256MB
HDD1: Samsung 80SATA II
HDD2: Samsung 400Gb SATA II
2048MB F2-6400PHU2-2GBNS
Creative XIFI Xtreme Music
DVD Plextor 750A
Logitech di Novo keyboard
OS: XP MCE
Samsung 970P 19"
Bios is up to date and drivers up to date
I am still looking for a way to fix the 2 USB ports in the front, it just doesn't seem to make sense that they should make the computer reboot at shutdown.
Hannie
Try this, Hannie:
Instead of using the standard technique of Start>Turn off Computer>Turn off, do a Ctl-Alt-Del, click the Task Manager menu bar where it says Shut Down, hold down Ctl and click Turn Off.
Let me know if that helps.
I just can't take it any more. Gotta get my 2 cents in. I think the following post from Tess says it all.
ELEGANCE.
For all the Mac v Pc users, a little humour. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/tessc/funnygif.gif)
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5/tassie_devil/macvpc.jpg)
[/quote]
Look at the Mac (I have the same model at work). And then the mess surrounding the PC. And I can't imagine a time when one would see the bottom Mac dilemma. I concur that Macs are more pricey than PCs. However, being a right-brainer, I want a computer I can use, and not have to spend inordinate time working on their innards. I have a Mac Pro at home, as well as a 1998 G3 that's still chugging along. When I first opened my Mac Pro I couldn't believe what I was seeing: a pristine, clean, machine with 4 ports into which I can plug more hard drives. No "spaghetti." Even the interiors are elegant.
That said, I think a lot has to do with the type of computer one first used. We creatives had to get Macs, because PCs were strictly for number crunching, and I don't recall there being any software for art and design for PCs in the beginning.
At work, we re-route our older Macs for routine stuff, like doing scans; as a rip for an Epson printer, etc. They still work like champs; no down time. And the newer models are incredible. This is a small thing, but my I-Mac at work has little speakers at the bottom of the monitor that sound great, yet I can play my eclectic playlists and no one else has to be annoyed by them.
Iron Man, who's always worked on PCs, wouldn't touch a Mac. He hates to have to use mine for anything. If his goes down, OMG! I have to say that troubleshooting his computer has helped him get a handle on his temper!
It's the comfort factor. Those of you left-brainers who love tinkering with hardware must be in heaven with your PCs. That's awesome.
I, however, shall always have a Mac!
GK
Hannie:
Have you tried unplugging just the scanner or just the tablet? If you find that leaving one plugged in without the other, that will further pinpoint where the culprit is. If that test doesn't yield any results, try reversing/swapping the USB ports those two peripherals are plugged into. i.e., plug the tablet into the port the scanner is plugged, then plug the scanner in where the tablet was plugged.
Good luck.
Larry
Hannie,
Leo Laporte (from the TechTV's show "Call for Help") suggests three approaches to finding a problem when the computer restarts instead of shutting down:
1. Windows XP includes a Startup/Shutdown Troubleshooter in the Help and Support Center. Search the List of Troubleshooters.
2. Disable Automatic Restart in the System properties sheet. Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, select Advanced, click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery section, and clear the cleck mark next to Automatically Restart. Click OK.
3. Check out James A. Eschelman's Windows Startup and Shutdown Center troubleshooters:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm (http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm).
If none of these work, at least you still have your workaround.
Larry:
Your tip is one I had not tried yet so I gave it a try. The computer still start up after shut down.
I have swapped and reversed the USB ports. I even tried different connectors on the motherboard, makes no difference. Another thing I did is uninstall all the USB ports, restart the computer and one by reinstall all the USB appliances with a shutdown(restart!) between each one.
Tori,
I have tried all the tips a the MS helpcentre. Automatic Restart is disabled, I have also unchecked everything in power management regarding automatic restart. (also in the BIOS)
James's Windows Start up and Shutdown Centre troubleshooters I have tried as well.
The difference with my computer there is that mine actually will shut down for about 3 seconds and then it starts up again.
Glenna, one of my daughters has a MAC and she loves it. When I use it I can never find anything but that is only because of my lack of flexibility to learn a new OS!
Thank you guys for taking the time and trouble to look for fixes, very much appreciated!
Hannie
I have a question for the Mac users: when I connected my camera to a Mac, iPhoto took over and sucked all the pictures into the computer. I can browse them by iPhoto but I can't find them any other way. Where are they?
Hi Shujen
Click on the Home icon (above Applications on the upper left of the finder screen) and you'll find a folder called Pictures within which is another folder called "My Pictures." They should be there.
GK
GK,
When I did that, the pictures were opened by iPhoto. I was trying to navigate to the folder in PhotoShop but was not getting anywhere. The last time I use Mac was 1984. Did not have digital camera to worry about :(
Shujen
Shujen, I use Image Capture and set the preferences to use it. I couldn't figure out iPhoto.
(http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/kiskaopr/Picture1-19.png)
Hannie, I found this on an Asus forum, don't know if it helps?
QuoteWell, the usb 2.0 ports 3 & 4(which are by the audio slots) support S5 wake-up by usb. this means if you do a shutdown of your computer..you better not move any device(ex. mouse/keyboard/monitor that's connected to one of these usb ports) while the pc is shutting down or afterwards or else the pc will come boot back up.
From that description even when the computer is shut down, if you move your tablet it will cause the computer to start up again. Apparently there is a sub menu in the bios to disable it.
Shujen, you can open Photoshop, open Bridge from within Photoshop and then navigate to the photos folder. You can easily see and choose any photo from within Bridge, double click on the thumbnail and the image will open in Photoshop. Or if you don't use Bridge, you could still go to the folder and open the images from within Photoshop. When I click on a file, I get a thumbnail version of the photo so I can tell what it is even if I'm not using Bridge.
Bridge is awesome. You can batch rename photos, place them in separate folders, add metadata and see all the metadata already attached to the images. Very powerful way to organize your resources. I love it!
GK
Tess, thanks for the advice, I don't use the 2 "wake up" USB ports so that can't be the reason. I'm quite sure though that the problem has to do with this remote wake up function of the motherboard. There is some kind of USB conflict going on there.
The only remedy Asus came up with is to RM the motherboard. That is not a vary elegant solution: having to disassemble the whole thing and be without a computer for how many months!
Hannie
Since this thread is taking an "around-the-world" in subjects trip, I want to add one more Mac tidbit and then I'll leave well enough alone. I'd mentioned how elegant my MacPro is inside, and yesterday I got an e-mail from Apple featuring the latest MacPro. (I need a bib! Drool!)
This photo was part of the presentation, and I'm sure Apple won't mind my plugging their product here. This is the interior of the new machine – slightly less "cramped and messy" than mine. Sigh!
(http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n222/glennab-fla/MacProInnards.jpg)
GK
Shujen, did you have any luck accessing your photos? Did you try Bridge?
Thanks Kiska and GK for the suggestions. I bought a Macbook for my son and put my PhotoShop Element on it. We could not find the folder with the photos in Element or Bridge if the photos were sucked up by iPhoto. We did work around that by installing the Canon Zoombrowser (came with the camera) that works similar to Image Capture and were able to deposit the files in a folder that is visible by Element and Bridge. Next time I come to Florida, I will bring the Macbook with me so Glenna can show me where to find the folders. What I really want for myself is a 17" Macbook Pro. I love everything of it except the price tag.
Schen, I never upload photos directly from my camera, well I did once and lost them, I always use a card reader, that way you can organize them as you want at that time, I sort them into dated folders as I upload them, then I know just where they are.
I imagine you can get card readers for Mac's?
Max
Shujen, if you're ever down my way, you'd better stop - whether it be to get a tour of the Mac or just to visit (and maybe give me a few pointers on photography!).
Max, yes one can get card readers for Macs, but they're $2,000 apiece. (kidding!!)
We just had Leopard and CS4 installed on our computers at work – wowser! Speed! Stability! I'm in love! Now I have the terrible "I wants," and with a still out-of-work Iron Man, computer goodies are way on the back burner! Beanies and weenies for us for a while. Definitely no CS4, darn it!
GK