Don't install Adobe Photodeluxe on your 7000 series Compaq!, and always question the Full Restore!
Oct 29 '00
This is my story.
Last week I bought a Canon S10 digital camera. I installed all the necessary software onto my Compaq Presario 7465, and everything worked great. Yesterday, I decided to install the Adobe Photodeluxe 3.0 that also came with it. The software loaded up fine, and it also loaded Type Font Manager. After installation, the new software prompted me to re-boot the computer, which I did.
When my computer started up again, I tried to open Photodeluxe. This was at about 2:00 p.m. The program wouldn't open. I received an error message every time I clicked on the shortcut on the desktop. I thought that was a little strange so I tried to open it directly from the folder - still nothing. I wasn't sure what to think, but since I had a full day, I went on to try and work on something else. The something else wouldn't open either. Now I was starting to get upset.
I knew it had to have something to do with a program I had recently installed and I was convinced it was the inexpensive Largan Chameleon camera I had also recently installed. I started uninstalling. I ended up uninstalling the Photodeluxe, the Largan camera, and the Canon camera. Nothing. I tried to run the Compag diagnostic program, and got an error message.
I ran a system check, and was told that one of my .dll files was corrupted, and I should reinstall it from the installation disk. I got out my computer documentation and disks ... no installation disks! All I had was two 'QuikRestore' disks, that would erase every file on my harddrive and restore my computer to factory settings. Not an option. At this point, I was starting to boil. After a little more messing around with the help files, I called Compaq customer service. I wasn't sure if I qualified for telephone service, as I have had the computer for a while, but I was willing to pay if that was what it took. By this time, it was about 3:30 p.m.
The automated voice at Compaq customer service told me my wait was "over 20 minutes". Instead of waiting, I browsed through the Compaq website and found an FAQ at http://web14.compaq.com/falco/detail.asp?FAQnum=FAQ3998 titled Compaq FAQ: Installation of Type Font Manager or Adobe Photo Deluxe shipped with scanners or printers may cause date on hard drive to be corrupted, prompting a full Quick Restore. (FAQ3998). What?!? Talk about horrendous! I was upset, but not too upset, because I just returned from vacation yesterday and had acquired a somewhat content attitude during the last week. At the time, it didn't occur to me to question the validity of the information, because I had found it on the Compaq website. Oh, if only I had.
A direct quote from the body of the FAQ was "If the software has been installed on the computer, and the hard drive data has become corrupt, the only recovery option at this point is to do a full restore." It then goes on to tell you how to do this (incorrectly). I took a deep breath, and resigned myself to the restore. I spent approximately one hour ensuring every vital piece of information on my computer was backed up to a CD. I got out my QuikRestore disks, and noticed that the instructions with the CD differed from the instructions on the Compaq website. The CD told me to put disk one in my drive, ensure I was in Windows, turn off the computer, and then follow the on-screen instructions. The Compaq FAQ told me to click on the Compaq Support icon on the desktop and select Full Restore. I went with the Compaq FAQ.
I clicked on Full Restore, and followed the instructions. The computer started doing its thing, and about 15 minutes into the process it stopped. I had a blue screen, with a red box that said Quick Restore. It sat, and sat, and sat. I fumed, and cursed, and screamed. My husband vacated the area. By now, it was about 6:30 p.m. I called Compaq customer support and was told my wait was 'less than 8 minutes'.
My wait was actually about 5 minutes, and I got a very nice and patient gentleman. He gave me his full name, but I forgot it already. I gave the man my information, and told him that I had downloaded Photodeluxe, and then was not able to open about 50% of the programs on my computer. I told him I found the FAQ and that it told me to do a Full Restore. He said "Oh no, don't do that" (!!!!!!!!!!!) I said "I already did" and then I said a couple of not very nice words (I apologize now since I didn't then). He asked me what website I had read that on, I told him Compaq, and he told me he would make a note that the FAQ needed to be changed (as of 24 hours later it is not). He then apologized, and asked me what my problem was. I told him about the blue screen staring me in the face and he put me on hold for about three minutes.
When he returned, he had a plan and we started. He walked me through a bunch of steps and asked me if I had a recovery disk. I went through my disks and told him I had a Windows 98 startup disk, but that was the only one I had made. Apparantly that wasn't what I needed. (**Side note ... as soon as I got my computer back up, the first thing I did was make a recovery disk via the Compaq support program.) Since I didn't have that disk, he had to completely rebuild, or repartition, or something my DOS driver ... or something. He walked me through a bunch of steps, and finally we ended up back with the Quick Restore. Since my earlier restore had only half completed we had to start back at the beginning.
We went through it, and this time it appeared to be working correctly. He told me he was going to send me the fix disks so I could reinstall the Photodeluxe. I informed him the Photodeluxe CD was resting in a dozen pieces at the bottom of my trash can. He told me I should install the fix anyway. So I will when it gets here.
The phone call took about 45 minutes, the restore took almost another hour after I hung up. By 8:00 p.m., I had my computer back, practically empty. I diligently started reinstalling all my programs. I went to bed at 9:30 p.m., and got up early to finish reloading all my programs. I now have my computer back, with most of it back. The only things I weren't able to retrieve were my Internet Explore settings (bookmarks, preferences) and two programs I had downloaded from the Internet and later paid for. I have the programs, but they won't accept the registration keys again. For one of them I already wrote the author of the program and he is going to send me a free key, and I am still working on the other one.
The morals of my story are:
1. Just because the Compaq website says it's so, doesn't mean it is so.
2. Follow the instructions on the CD, not the website.
3. Don't install Adobe Photodeluxe on a 7400 series (or maybe any) Presario without getting the fixes first.
4. Talk to a live person before doing something as drastic as a Full Restore.
**Extra tip - If you do have to do a Full restore, be sure and disconnect any peripherals first, like printers and scanners.
All in all, I am still mostly happy with my Compaq computer. I am pretty peeved that I wasted most of a day on this, but it could have been worse, and a lot of the blame was my own. I was happy with Compaq support when I finally got through to them, and I was happy I didn't have to pay anything. (wouldn't that have been the icing on the cake).
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joli
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Location: Keaau, HI
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That is my son Joseph in the picture.
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