Computer Help?

[Jennifer]

Okay, I need to get downstairs and finish (yes, finish -- yay!) the YouTubes with Brianne, but I have an annoying computer tech question. (Gille? Anyone?)

I have an XP Tablet. I keep pinning the programs I need to the Start Menu and, upon reboot, they keep unpinning. It is driving me a little bit nuts.

Help?

[GamerChick]

I only give free advice to members who are very active and helpful in building the mythology. So you better stop whining about your novel and get back to posting new ideas... cuz, grrl, here's a freebie:

That problem happens happens a lot of tablets. Even swank ones you get for Christmas from your Gille, Soph, and Cris. It happens if the StartMenuInit registry value is not set correctly which is common when someone has to wipe a machine. When the correct procedure fails, then Windows resets the factory default programs list automatically at every logon.

Yeah, it can get annoying fast. Here's the fix:

* Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced

* In the right-pane, create a new DWORD value named StartMenuInit
* Double-click StartMenuInit and set 2 its data
* Close Regedit.exe

Done deal. Just remember to tred lightly. You are in the registry. Don't be dumb and start tweaking.

Now go finish the YouTubes. I wanna learn how to play Advanced MG3K

[Jennifer]

LOL! Gille, let me just tell you publicly as well as in pm: Thank you!!!! It worked!

[Jennifer]

Okay, Gille... I need you again.

I am totally an old school mama. I have the newer versions but I do not like them. I want to keep using Publisher98... but it hates Vista and apparently (according to Google) Windows 7, too. It was fine until I started working with big files. Now it gives me an appcrash all the time.

Any ideas, my geekfastic friend?

Jennifer

[GamerChick]

Little known fact, my friend: If you can get the program to load (which I assume you have since you're enjoying appcrashs) then Vista can run it by mimimicing any OS from Window95 through Windows 2000. Sweet, yeah? This will *not* fix every problem for every jimmy-jacked program, but about 85% of the time, you'll be good to go.

So go to the icon for the program (on your Start Menu or Desktop or wherever, grrl) and right-click > Properties > Compatibility (tab) > now choose the last OS the program ran correctly on from the drop menu. Confirm and close out.

Now for payment... I hear you have a smokin' desktop image of Maria. Screen cap. Post.

You have 48 hours... or I hack your machine remote and hide all your docs

Gille

[Jennifer]

Gille... I am losing my mind. Windows 7 just started crashing Publisher. You know... the OS that never crashes?

I won't upgrade the program, Gille. Every where I go online people say they can't properly open their files after they upgrade and downgrading back doesn't work.

I don't care if I have to edit the registry or side hack the machine (it's *my* machine, !@#$%^ it! Not MS's!!). I just want to run my program. It was the very same appcrash qs98 that I got with freaking Vista.

BTW, my (very) hot desktop of Maria died when Vista crashed. I miss it. I wish I could share it. I feel very lucky to have the one that Brianne made that's posted here at the forum.

Can I pay you back in another way?

I've been working all night. Haven't slept yet. This should have all been easy. I want to crawl under a rock and either sleep or die.

Exhausted Jennifer

[GamerChick]

Pay me back by sleeping. Or by letting Sunshine snag you a iPad. You have bad, bad Windows karma, my dear friend. There is no ignoring it. Either set up an alter and do some sacrifices of fried chicken nuggets or try Apple for a change, babe.

Ready? (Dear Lord, Jennifer, grrl... you better be sleeping right now...)

I sent you a zip with three files in it. A new custom.dic, a new qs98.dll, and a new jsp file. All for Publisher. If they aren't just right for P98, then check Maxwell's machine that's running XP and load those.

1. Place the custom.dic in:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Proof

2. Place the jps in My Documents. It needs to stay there and it needs to stay 7KB. If it is 4KB, it is corrupted.

3. Now we get tricky. Place the new dll in the same folder as above... or check a running machine (Maxwell's) and see what it is stored. Mimic that. Then at Start|Run|Search type:

cmd

A command prompt opens. You should either use 'cd' to change to the relevant directory (folder), or enter the full path to the file.

Now you're where the dll is. Now register it to your machine. To register (or re-register) a file, type:

regsvr32 <filename>.dll

or

regsvr32 <path>\<filename>.dll

where <path> is the path to the file, and <filename> is the name of the file.

You may need to move the dll around, grrl, until you find where it wants to be. This means letting it crash. Save lots and often. Start out with it wherever Maxwell's is or even wherever yours is on your old trusty Toshiba.

...

That must be it, babe. Sweet Toshi is p***ed that you left her for the XPS and the Gateway Tablet. She's wrecking havoc and revenge, grrl. Go back, Mama J! Go back to her!!

Or... let Sunshine buy you an iPad.

*shrug*

Your BFF (you are so stuck with me... poor thing),
Gille

[artzygrrl]

iPad is a good option. Or a Macbook Pro. And, you can have Bootcamp on it and have Windows XP running on the other side! :-)

[GamerChick]

Abbie has a great point, Jennifer. I know you like her and trust her, too. Listen to nice Abbie who mentions a way you can run your beloved XP. Get a Mac.

Meanwhile, go over to www.registrypatrol.com and figure out what's up with your qs98.dll... other than it having 1998 in it.

Then you can do this one, babe:

asknerd.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123

That's a *complete* work up. Complete. Far more than your dude in Bremerton is going to do, okay?

[Pip]

Mama J, do you wanna bust it out and try running in XP Mode? W7 does that and all.

As for making the leap into the arms of Mr. Jobs, if Abbie is there, grrl, go for the iPad for fun and easy function.

[Jennifer]

Thank you -- all three of you! I did everything Gille posted first and, (not so) amazing, there were a great many problems on the machine that were found and are now fixed. Publisher appears to be more stable and hasn't crashed yet. Next step, should it crash again, I'll follow the XP Mode route.

I was also able to get my little sister's hand-me-down (err... hand-me-up?) PDA to actually be recognized and run with the tiny wireless keyboard (well, tiny when you fold it, you know how it is).

All of this has taught me that I think I will go with a iPad just for email, foruming, basic apps. I just can't afford the time I have to put into any Windows OS machine. Oh... it kills me to say that. But at least I'll be focused because there won't be anything I can do on the thing except for email and foruming LOL!

Abbie, someday I might leap all the way. I'm so steadfast Windows but this is getting stupid and I'm a very heavy user -- I demand a lot from my machines... and they just haven't delivered flawlessly since Windows XP.

Thank you again, everyone.

[artzygrrl]

PS - why are you using Publisher??!! You should be using InDesign! A much more powerful design engine and much more customizable...I could teach you with a few youtube videos and a phone call or two ;-) Also, if you know any college students, they can generally get it for about $100 through their university, and that is..wonderful. Though, I'd suggest shelling out $300 for the whole CS4 design suite and I can "school" you in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign if you need any help figuring them out. Though, as powerful and awesome as you are, Jen, I'm sure you could do it.

Anyway, If you are tired of programs not working and OS's crashing and hardware and software just not jiving, you should just go completely Mac. There's surprisingly little you would miss from your PC days. And if you do, there's always VirtualPC, if you don't want to run XP on Bootcamp.

(BTW...I have Bootcamp with XP and Mac OSX on it, and it works beautifully )

iPad would be so easy, but I think I would go with something a little more versatile for the time being. The iPad has some of the same flaws that the iTouch and others have had...some key features are missing, and I'd wait for a couple of generations till they shell out what the customers "want." Then, you can sell your MacBook for primo dollars still (they go for lots even used) and buy the latest iPad.

Or, you can just get an iPad and not do all that work. But, I'm trying to maximize your options here. Maybe I'm just being confusing. *hugs* Enjoy choosing

[Olivia]

Jennifer, like Abbie, I am a firm Apple believer. I have used Apple exclusively since arriving at the very same conclusion you just posted. Windows machines need too much hand-holding, guidance, and dental work. If I wanted to have children at home again, I would get pregnant. Childbirth was less painful than the four months I struggled with a Vista netbook from a well-meaning studio. There is no such thing as a Windows-only application. Apple has everything. Let this thread die, darling, and jump the fence.

[Cris]

Olivia,

I have a couple of questions. I agree that most "art" type houses are using Apple. They're just plain better for many things graphics intensive. However, here are a couple of obstacles that are in front of the fence that are going to make that horse shy.

1. Everything we have laid out in the past 12 years is in Publisher. All of the covers, interiors, MG3K cards, comics, etc. Every. Single. Thing. If fence jumping is going to happen, how would we convert all of that material? Is it possible or would we have to start from scratch. If that's the case, then we will need to stop time for about a year in order to make this work. I know that you are brilliant, so we will be relying on you for some help there as well.

2. If Brianne and I don't switch to Apple and if all of our authors give us their materials in PC-based applications (aside from Adobe) what are our options for a smooth transition?


Abbie,

Can we get a trial of InDesign 4? I am certainly open to learning anything new and if it will help streamline things here and prevent the 4 am headaches when the machine crashes YET AGAIN I'm all for it.

Thank you both so much!

Cris

[Jennifer]

This is all such amazing help and advice. There so much to consider, really. Sadly, because we've never used Adobe Creative Suite in anyway, a new version (not an upgrade) would set us back almost $1000... plus... I would be afraid that the XPS would turn out to have some type of hardware issue and so the whole software "upgrade" would be for naught Though... Abbie, I do run CS3 PhotoShop and I would adore hearing about any cool YouTubes or other neat tutorials as I just started with that

*sigh* Still trying to figure it all out... *horse shying back into the barn*