Thought that I should drop this here in case I can't "return" to the internet world as fast as I hope. I'll be formating my computer today and being a monster with 24GB of RAM and 3 harddrives is gonna take a while... not to mention the whole lot of programs I got to re-install... *sigh* drivers, softwares and their serials, my personal stuff from last week backup... *sigh* *depressed*

Something went wrong with my computer (first time in the last 2 years!! I'm impressed, Windows XP!!). No idea what happened, but went to some web page or another and suddenly my Automatic Updates can't be automatic anymore no matter how many times I select that option and the whole System Restore doesn't work (as if I've never had activated it - which is IMPOSIBLE since I do system restores whenever Windows is acting funny!). When I tried to run Windows Malware removal tool it never comes up and my antivirus keeps saying that is out of date even when I manually installed the latest updates.

At first I thought it was the "Antivirus 2009" that MacsChick warned us about some time ago, but I DIDN'T let it run and I immediatedly had my Anti-spy and anti-virus scan the computere, but they couldn't seem to find anything wrong, but I know better. I mean, c'mon! I live in this baby almost 24/7!! So, I'm gathering all my software cds and looking for all the boxes and the serials (I got a few programs that I bought online so the serials are in my email account) and getting ready to confront the monster.

So, if I can't get back as fast as I hope and someone misses me... I'm NOT angry at anyone and I'll be back as soon as possible! (MacsChick and Kyrian, love you both and I'll be back - hopefully - so don'tcha worry, ok?)

*grumble grumble* Stupish people that create crap stuff to ruin other people's computers. I hope a giant squid appears in their shower and scare them to death...

Good luck, ghostdoll! I hope all goes well with your computer. It's a shame you won't be able to drop by and read my stories, but don't worry--they'll be waiting for you when you get back!

Ack! Back from the non-internet world!!

Formatting computer is no fun at all!! Specially when the computer in question has a HUGE amoung of space (3 hard drives: 250GB, 500GB, 1 TB). It takes forever to formatt all of them and it takes forever to install everything! Adobe Creative Suite, Bryce and ZBrush are no fun to reinstall - Bryce and Zbrush got like 12 sub stuff that needs to be installed one at a time!! *faints*

And the drivers... god! The whole driver hunting season is a nightmare! Some of my drivers couldn't work as they should 'cause I made the mistake of installing all of Windows XP SPs BEFORE installing the drivers when originally SP2 and SP3 came AFTER. Really.

And to make matter even worst... (right, like if things weren't bad enough) I had a fight with one of Microsoft customer services agents. For some reason or another when I tried to install my LEGAL copy of Office 2003 one of the .CAB files was "supposedly" corrupted. How in the world does a file in one of those Micorsoft DVDs can get damaged?!! Well, aparently this one did and when I tried to get someone in Microsoft to help me out the little goblin gave me hell. The creep practically acussed me of trying to install an ilegal copy of office. I had to explain to the moron that NO thief in their right mind would call Microsoft for any kind of problem with an ilegal software! I mean, c'mon! *sigh* When I intended to scan my box - showing the serial number - did the idiot passed me to a supervisor and after wasting 30 minutes telling me how much better Office 2007 was (and I telling them where they could take Office 2007!) they send me a link with the "missing" CAB file to see if it worked. It did - thanks to the pc gods!!

A nightmare in all. The moment I get my hands on the low-life that spends his/her time creating viruses... *grumble death threats under her breath*

Well, I'm glad you're back--and so soon! If you get the right person to work on your computer (including yourself if your talents lie that way ), they can usually be back up and running pretty quickly. I've had similar problems happen to my computer (as you know). The virus was bad, but when my Office 2003 was "corrupted"--basically, I couldn't type or use my mouse or anything--that was the worst. Whew! What a relief to have you back!

Glad yer back.
Happy I run Macs here.
If something happens it's usually hardware/cabling failure, too many activated fonts,
or my own stupid fault.....

Why did you need to format all 3 HDs? wouldn't just formating the windows (c:) disk have done the trick?

I'm a paranoid freak >_<; *embarased*

Whenever I format my computers (desktop and laptop) I do all the harddrives to make sure NOTHING survives (litearally). I agree that usually all you need to do is format the (C:) one. But I had a pair of situations where the viruses "hid" in the other harddrives and after formatting and reintalling everything in (C:) they would show up... making you start the whole format nightmare all over again *cries brokenly*

Eh, I'm a rabid mac-hater. And yes, I've worked with Macs - far too much for my own good. I just can't stand the OS. At least with a PC I know where to kick her and what hammers to bring to make her do whatever I want her to. Macs do get viruses too, is just that is NOT that common. We got one and the bill of the Mac tech was almost four times what it would have cost us to call a pc tech (which in my case is almost unnecessary since I do most of my pc's upgrades and repairs)!! I think most of my problems with Macs are the costs and the OS quirks. The infinite windows really drive me nuts >_<

But to each their own. Seems like in your case your Mac is a good girl that you enjoy spending time with

ACK!! *having a virtual heart attack* I HATE ADOBE!!!! *furious* God, why in the heck do I bother with buying the programs? I get the worst customer service ever! Finally finished installing CS3 and I remembered how horrible is to install the stupish program! *sniff* *sniff* ;_; CS2 was such a blessing to install. Why oh why the new versions seems to be far worse than ever? I had to uninstall and re-install the suite like 4 times for it to finally work! In the end it seems it was the codecs that come with the programs (Flash and such). *sigh* And when I tried to reach Adobe to get some help in the matter... it seems all the employees have been brainwashed to tell the customers "how much better it is CS4" (I told them where they could push CS4 as well). CS4 is a nightmare. Is so full of buggs... not to mention that, contrary to what Adobe says, it runs real bad with 64-bit OS (Got XP Pro 64 in my desktop and Vista Ultimate 64-bit in my laptop). Stupish stupish people.

Argh... I'm gonna go a drink a huge grape and blueberry smoothie. I think I earned it.
*hides under couch and mopes with persian kittens*

you know it sounds like you really need a decent active virus scanner.

one that actually finds and kills virus... like the one I mention in this post

should get a mac

except she said in her previous post that she hates them.

Know what you mean about CS, mine got in a fight with my font app, and lost........
Took me a full day to reinstall with brushes, actions, textures,scripts, displacement maps, plugins........ all those passwords.

Mac repair guys are like the maytag man, most Mac users prefer to do their own work.
I've heard they can get viruses,
but (Knocking on formica) I've never had one in running 25 years worth of Macs,
from the lowly Mac+ all the way to my current array.

I feel the same way about Win OS.
But them, I rarely use 'em, so it wouldn't be a fair compare.
Like hating a stick shift because all one knows is an automatic.
Which OS did you come to dislike?

If something goes wrong, inevitably it's either hardware failure,
or me pushing the system parameters.

Nice when ya get something you like and are comfortable with, no matter what the platform.

I really like the look of Macs and their OS, but I like windows configurability. the little things like being able to set all the system sounds and skinning windows to look like other systems etc.

But I too haven't used Mac OS that much so that may not be a fair comparison on my part. I do like the way a Mac can out perform a PC with it's processors tied behind it's hard-drive though. and when it comes to graphics and video PC's aren't even in the same league.

Actually you can do system sounds on a Mac,
and with the right audio program, can even record your own.

Since Mac has a smaller market share,
there's a corresponding drop in availability of programs.
Except in pro audio. Still right up there in that.



I use a Roland Digital workstation that has a Win-like interface,
but can connect it to my Mac, giving me a total of 32 tracks between the 2.

LOL Aww. Thanks Rock, but as a matter of fact I got AVAST running in my machines for years now. For some reason or another Avast couldn't fix this particular problem this time ;_; I got Comodo and CCleaner. My Antispy is pretty good as well. I really don't know what went wrong. Perhaps with a good cleanup everything would have been fine, but since I'm such a paranoid chick I go for the extreme and do the whole formatting thing BEFORE consulting second opinions. Mom said that she hopes I don't act this way when related to my health >_<

Thanks, but NO thanks

I was so-so with Mac ups to Jaguar. The whole situation with clicking outside the working window into the desktop making the program minimize itself and suddenly the Mac "voice" asking me "what do you want to do now?' made me wish I could throw the computer out the nearest door. And the "infinite" window just kills me. Not sure if is the way the computers at work were configured, but the fact taht I can't "make" the programs use the ACTUAL monitor size space gives me hell. At least with Windows I just mazimize the programs to the size of my computer scree and there is no way for me to click OUTSIDE the program windows unless I minimize the window.

I would agree with that... at least BEFORE the Shreck movies. Dreamworks switched their Mac labs for HPs ( they even said that with the cost of 1 MAc lab they got 3 HP labs). How do I know this? The Dreamwork team likes to visit my University so we got a lot of info from them. Another that likes to visit whenever they got the time are the PIXAR dudes. They use a combination of Mac/HP labs since they use a lot of custom programs they made themselves that could only be used in PCs (or so they said). My personal computers beat the G5s my work have. Mine runs faster and the graphic card is awesome. My computer runs 2 1GB ATI Radeon video cards 8D. My laptop has 1 512MB ATI Radeon, though have a friend that loves both Macs and PCs and he told me that the real "secret" with either machine is to know her and take care of them. It was a little more than 2 years since I had to format my computer and in that time I NEVER had a serious virus attack that AVAST couldn't stop right from the start, so I guess I should be grateful and not complain so much... and in all honestly, the formating isn't that bad. Is the re-installation of all the software and their serials (and activation!!) the real pain

I have a lot of respect for anybody willing to take on the task of reconfiguring a system, especially when well out of the 1TB range.
My hat's off to ya......





there's a mac script for moving windows that were off screen back on.
Happens to me when One or more of my monitors gets disconnected,
or if I'm working in Pro-Tools
(Not very: I use Cakewalk)

Resetting the PRAM can often do the same thing.

I made an elderly quicksilver '91 G4 run as fast as a G5 by hardware and clocking mods.
(Was proud of myself for that one, ran for 6+ years of constant abuse)

Ease of use and versatility: that's the keywords, no matter what the platform.

Some of mine are Legacy era, but they're configured to do very specific tasks,
and I don't want to have to slow things down by (say) carrying internet connectivity on a machine that only does audio,
or having to play with 2nd party OS management programs and secondary OSs.
(I just HATE to wait)

Now if I could find a truly KICK_BUTT mac font management program, I'd be in tall timber.
(Using Lino's FontX, which has infrequent 'issues' when you manage more than 10k fonts)

Oh yeah, you can turn off that voice, under speech>Spoken user interface
I had to disable mine, when it would show up in recordings.

My hatt off to you as well, nojj

Hmmm... does Pro-tools does that a lot? A couple of friends and co-workers have complained that Pro-tools seems to "scramble" their machines.

oh yeah! I agree with you 100%. I know a LOT of people that are whatever platform "hardcore" defendants, but in the truth they don't really know the platform they so-defends and never have tried other platforms. I can say that I don't like Macs, because I had (and STILL) work with them. Saying that I don't like something I have never tried is kind of absurd (at least in my mind).

Oh! I agree with this as well!! We have a machine at work that only has Studio Max installed and another that only has Final Cut. If I ever get the chance to do it on my own, I would like to have at least 3 desktop pcs. One for Web, one for print and another just for Internet and Office

Oh... there's no X-fonter for Mac?? We use that one for the PC at work that has the Font Library/Archive (we move them as we need them through the network in the other PCs). That's suxs I know how bad it is when you got a huge collection of fonts and the software that is "supposed" to help you ends up causing more problems.

P.S. Thanks about the spoken user interface trick. I got to kill the annoying voice!! It was very good feeling. Die stupish voice-over! Die!!

um... web and internet are the same thing..

um... web and internet are the same thing..

LOL. Not for graphic designers, no. What I mean is... @ work we got a computer that is for us to browse the internet, email, and all the connection hip. Then the Web computer is for designing... *ta-ta-ta-taaaah* Web pages! No, seriously This computer has Dreamweaver, Flash, Contribute and all the other programs the guys use to make web stuff. We don't have the Web computer connected to the internet. As a matter of fact... non of the other computers but the internet computer are connected. Boss says its better this way to minimize the chances of a viruss attack (although most of our computers are Macs, so it always made me suspicious the whole "Macs don't get viruses" thing when you consider my Boss' claims )

oh ok, a web design computer

Awww, Rock. Thanks! *glomp* I have to do the whole spanish-to-english translation whenever I'm here and I keep forgeting that I mess around. I should have said that it was a web design computer >_< Sorry. Thanks for not kicking me out of the forum. You rock, literally XD

Hmmm... does Pro-tools does that a lot? A couple of friends and co-workers have complained that Pro-tools seems to "scramble" their machines.

[I]

It's that 'special' interface.
Plus I hate having to use their overpriced hardware.
I have my OWN overpriced hardware.........

I'm using Linotype's font program, which does most everything, is Mac specific, and free.
Does OK, unless I'm using......errrr....questionable fonts I D/L
(Font Explorer: beats the crud out of Font Book)


My DD was thrilled, I gave her an old HP Pavilion for Christmas,
my wife was thrilled because it's one less computer lying around our kitchen.......

My printer array let me down for Christmas

Glad I could help out Ghostdoll


Know a couple cross-platform system guys, and they're pretty cool about the mac/windows thing.
I just have too much tied up in software and hardware peripherals to switch now.......

I get the same kinda bias in music
Blues? BLUES? Isn't that kinda boring? (I get paid to do it, and no it isn't boring)
Why don't you use a Fender/Gibson/Warmuth? ('cause I play a PRS, it's better)
Wouldn't you rather have a Bag end/Eden/GK/ [insert brand here]? (Ampeg, Dude!)

It's whatever works.........

Your boss probably doesn't want ALL those computers connected to MOL when folks are supposed to be working.

I guess that's exactly the same with me. I preffer my personal settings with my machines and that's how I get the stuff done in "record time" (my boss's words NOT mine! I'm not that ego-driven )

oh! You're in the music industry then? For some reason or another I thought you were into graphic design. silly me And YES, I know that you don't have to be a graphic designer to do Macs XD I do admit that (at least in my opinion) the best music hardware is with the Macs. Being a genre ignoramusses I really can't tell what is what, but if I like the rhythm I will get it. Perhaps that's why I have so many different "sounds" in my ipod - or so says one of my friends

Yeah, the evil man! 8D But I got to admit that the way he configured the network and that just one of the computers OUTSIDE of it is the one with Internet Connection baffled me! It makes so much sense (at least to me!) so I wanna copy the idea if I ever get the oportunity of having my own tiny computer lab

>oh! You're in the music industry then? For some reason or another I thought you were into graphic design. silly me happy.gif



Actually I do both.
I'm a photographer, and do graphics design and photo restoration/manipulation.
Also a musician, and have a recording studio in a soundproof room.
Built it mostly for my neighbors, as both of my sons are drummers.

My other business is on eBay, so I get to spend a lot of time on line.