I want to kill my pc

[Soniccat]

I need to rant right now so excuse me if you have heard it before.

I installed a new hard drive in my pc this weekend and want to use it as my c drive. I finally loaded Windows XP and have spent all day trying to get all the commercial plugins installed again (not counting the updates that I now have to install) and boy has this been a pain in the ass to do. Some of them I have had no problem with at all (M42 works perfectly, no problem with getting all my Reaktor, Absynth, B4, Pro53, and FM7 to take their serial # and authorization codes, it went perfectly, Cameleon 5000 I did not have to reinitialize, and Energy XT also opened without a hitch) But some like Tassman 4
wont accept my serial # and Rhino 2 says it is missing files after reinstalling. Vsampler opens then crashes before I can register it, and some of them it is just a matter of finding the serial number from the emails that were sent to me.
My main sequencer Sonar 4 will not make a sound although the install went smoothly it is having a hard time recognizing my soundcard drivers. Orion Plat, FLStudio and Project 5 all are ok. This is one of the reasons that I dreaded upgrading my pc. Everytime I do I have to go through hell just to get everything back up to speed. I am glad I got Hardware synths cause I can still make music. I just can't record it yet.

Rant over and if anybody who has had similar problems want to offer advice I will be thankful.

[Ebenezer Squeezer]

I feel your pain. Recently I went throug a similar thing except with Win2k. After much screwing around I ended up using Norton Ghost to make a copy from the old HD to the new one. It worked flawelessly.

[Soniccat]

I am still using the old Hard drive but it is now a slave. All the files are on the drive but it won't register some of the reg keys. Will Norton Ghost do this. Be able to retrieve the now hidden files?

[Ebenezer Squeezer]

I'm not sure I understand. If you make your old hard drive the master, does everything work ok? If so, then you can use Ghost to duplicate it and the new drive should work ok. If you have registry problems with the old drive as master, then no, I don't think Ghost will help you any with that.

You also might want to check another thread called "Backups" where other similar programs are mentioned.

[Soniccat]

My old hard drive had all sorts of OS problems that occured when I installed SP2. I uninstalled the SP2 update but the problems never went away. I even did system restore back weeks before I installed SP2. I talked to a computer savvy friend I have and he suggested I make it a slave and buy a new hard drive. that way I can save my files. I guess I can make it a master again run Ghost and then switch it back again afterwards to get those key files. I don't want everything that was on the drive. I have decided to slim down my programs. Or I have to email all the devs and try to get things sorted ou. I am getting Ghost now to prevent this problem in the future.

Thanks for the help.

[Green Red Brownell]

AFAIK, Ghost makes a *complete* copy of the hard drive, which you can then restore to another drive. Perfect if you are switching to a larger C drive. BUUUTTTT... you'll have exactly the same files as on the old drive, and most likely exactly the same problems that you are running away from. Is that what you want? If not, then maybe you don't want to restore a Ghost image of the old drive.

Take a deep breath and make sure you don't completely hose yourself. Frustration will do that to you, so make sure it doesn't do that to you.

-- Green

[Soniccat]

Green Red Brownell wrote

AFAIK, Ghost makes a *complete* copy of the hard drive, which you can then restore to another drive. Perfect if you are switching to a larger C drive. BUUUTTTT... you'll have exactly the same files as on the old drive, and most likely exactly the same problems that you are running away from. Is that what you want? If not, then maybe you don't want to restore a Ghost image of the old drive.

Take a deep breath and make sure you don't completely hose yourself. Frustration will do that to you, so make sure it doesn't do that to you.

That is what I was afraid of. I guess I will have to just take a slow reinstall and talk to the developers. I am sure it will all be sorted put over time. I will get ghost and use it in the future and stay away from Windows SP2. That is what started this whole mess.
Thanks for the advice

[Caleb]

Ah - the amount of times I've had to go through this.

However, I have to admit - I didn't have some of the problems you had.

I've reinstalled VSampler a number of times without a problem for example.

With the devices that don't accept the serial number check to see if the serial number is not associated with your machine. Some work like this and it means that you have to go through the company for a new serial number. Some companies have this via a web service like IKMultimedia. However, there may be some where you have to send a mail to the developer.

I hate these systems - especially the ones that limit the amount of times you can do it. In PC land system rebuilds are not that uncommon.

I hope you get everything working again soon, and take several deep breaths.

As soon as I buy a new computer I'm going to be going through the same heartache all over again myself. The only good thing about it is that it gives me a chance to streamline my setup all over again.

Caleb

[Green Red Brownell]

I will get ghost and use it in the future and stay away from Windows SP2. That is what started this whole mess.
Thanks for the advice

It wasn't SP2 that caused this problem, most likely. Particularly since uninstalling it and doing a System Restore didn't "fix" it. But I doubt I'm going to convince you of that. My only concern is that this thread will affect others, who will then tell everyone "See, SP2 *does* suck". In general, I think that perception is dead wrong.

Good luck getting things pieced back together, and we'll help out however we can. But let's not assign blame conclusively unless you have conclusive proof.

[Soniccat]

Caleb wrote

Ah - the amount of times I've had to go through this.

However, I have to admit - I didn't have some of the problems you had.

I've reinstalled VSampler a number of times without a problem for example.

With the devices that don't accept the serial number check to see if the serial number is not associated with your machine. Some work like this and it means that you have to go through the company for a new serial number. Some companies have this via a web service like IKMultimedia. However, there may be some where you have to send a mail to the developer.

I hate these systems - especially the ones that limit the amount of times you can do it. In PC land system rebuilds are not that uncommon.

I hope you get everything working again soon, and take several deep breaths.

As soon as I buy a new computer I'm going to be going through the same heartache all over again myself. The only good thing about it is that it gives me a chance to streamline my setup all over again.

Caleb

I had bee putting this off for weeks myself. It was a matter of time. I have Sonar working now not sure what was up there. Tomorrow will contact Maz, Applied Accousits and Big Tick. Some of the other plugins will do later. I guess I have to be better organized and know that if I upgrade have everything on hand and keep notes. The thing that makes me the most mad is my own stupidity, I can't seem to find my Vapor disc now

Green Red Brownell wrote

It wasn't SP2 that caused this problem, most likely. Particularly since uninstalling it and doing a System Restore didn't "fix" it. But I doubt I'm going to convince you of that. My only concern is that this thread will affect others, who will then tell everyone "See, SP2 *does* suck". In general, I think that perception is dead wrong.

Your right I had my disc full up and had not defraged in a couple of months so the problems were cumulating. But I still won't install SP2 unless I have someone who knows computers around to help me optimize.

[Green Red Brownell]

Yep, migrating one's setup is a gigantic PITA. I'll probably have to do it around midyear.

The only bright part is that now you have a chance to get all your info saved away in one convenient spot (for next time)!

Good luck again....

[Soniccat]

I got a whole folder of printed email that I kept for years until my printer flaked out. The funny thing is I was in the middle of saving emails to disc when my system would lock up. At least now I have not had a crash in the two days since and I feel unburdened from that. Motto is Backup always

[fishbowl.tucson.az]

I need to rant right now so excuse me if you have heard it before.

I won't use software that I can't reliably install. That rules out anything with activation (including Windows XP!), anything with dongles, or anything that is tied to some specific host/configuration scenario.

I know this doesn't help you, but if you adopt the same policy, it may help you in the future.

I don't care how good and useful a tool might be. If it may not be there when I need it in a pinch, for example, after a sudden emergency hardware change, I'd rather not be dependent on it. I don't really care what I might be missing out on, because the benefits cannot justify the risks.

I change my hardware more often than most people. I won't use a product that punishes me for that.

[Green Red Brownell]

Good luck, Fishbowl. I guess it's a case of "different strokes". If you have the discipline to follow that mantra, great.

But the world is currently going to some form of "activation/copy protection", and you may find the pickings to be slim in the future.

All the copy protection schemes make it enough of a PITA that, when you are considering changing your hardware, you might as well make it a nice big change, all at once. Incrementally updating your hardware is the most painful... like removing a Band-Aid slowly, a little at a time!

[fishbowl.tucson.az]

Some work like this and it means that you have to go through the company for a new serial number.

And if you're paying by the hour for studio time while you wait to install a product that you cannot activate after rebuilding a machine that was destroyed by flood water, that's going to be a lot of fun waiting for the mail or the callback from support who treats you like a thief.

I prefer not to be dependent on any such thing. I won't use software that requires any activation beyond the install media and maybe a password. I sure as hell don't want my music, my ability to create it, and definitely not my ability to *access* *my* *music*, to depend on whether someone in another time zone thinks I'm a thief, or even thinks I can wait on hold, or that I have internet access, or even a telephone.

No way will I consider that sort of thing appropriate for production use.