topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Saturday November 15, 2025, 8:56 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Recent Posts

Pages: prev1 ... 53 54 55 56 57 [58] 59 60 61 62 63 ... 310next
1426
1) Are you using RAID setup - especially software RAID? I had endless file corruption errors on my last RAID system which tuned out to be the Promise drivers at fault.
"Software RAID" would be the purely built-in capability of your OS - while the lower end RAID cards generally don't do much on the hardware end and keep it in the drivers, they do add those drivers...

The above might sound a bit pedantic, but IMHO it's an important distinction - I've never had a problem with Linux or Windows' built-in RAID capability.

That's why I said with was the Promise drivers - it was low end 'onboard' hardware RAID that caused me issues on an MSI mobo.
1427
The trouble with this sort of discussion is there could be any number of reasons for issues to occur and it is impossible to point to a definite answer.

I know I have been in a situation in the past (on many occasions) where something doesn't quite work the way it should and I have blamed the software for the problem and got very hot under the collar about it but it finally turned out that it wasn't the software at all but a glitch on my own system.

There are bound to be some glitches in any software but I still think the place to start is your own system. If the game code is continuously being corrupted something screwy is going on with your system (even if it is caused by Portal 2) or your internet connection is corrupting downloads. Portal 2 should not be writing to the code files at all except during updates - so what exactly is corrupting your files? If the symptom you describe is purely a Portal 2 issue there wouldn't be anyone playing the game because we would all experience the issue.

I'm not saying there isn't an external factor at work here but trying to run the program on a system not running other applications.

Some things I would try (and questions to consider):

1) Are you using RAID setup - especially software RAID? I had endless file corruption errors on my last RAID system which tuned out to be the Promise drivers at fault.
2) Disable all non-essential programs and services - at the very least run MSCONFIG and disable all startup items and all non-Microsoft services (except for graphics and sound related services) and see if that solves the problem.
3) Make sure all security applications are turned off - they are notorious for interfering with the running of games. OK other games may work fine with them running (and Portal 2 does fine on my system with Avast running). To be sure Comodo is not interfering it might even be worth uninstalling it temporarily (see https://support.stea...p?ref=9828-SFLZ-9289 for at least one issue described between Portal 2 and Comodo). Here is another thread where someone found Comodo causing P2 crashes: http://forums.steamp...=1847560&page=67
4) If you still have an issue try updating graphics and sound drivers to the latest version from the manufacturer's website - or if they are already up to date step back to the previous version.
5) Have you ever used a registry cleaner or 'system tuneup' tool? I have lost count of the number of computers with problems related to this sort of software. Unfortunately cause and effect with this sort of thing are often not immediate. I have seen computers work without error for weeks or even months before a problem 'removed' by a registry cleaner comes to bite the user in the backside. Of course they always blame the software they are using on the day of the error - never the 'cleanup' they did 6 weeks ago.


This is pretty basic troubleshooting.

Have a look at the following page:
http://gamecrashfixe...-cloud-save-problem/

which has lots of portal 2 crash solutions/suggestions.

Other people having Comodo/P2 issues (I'll keep looking and adding):
http://forums.steamp...thread.php?t=1864585
1428
All I can say is I have 142 hours notched up with Portal 2 and the only problem I have had with it is the odd communication glitch in coop mode. The 142 hours also includes exploring dozens of 3rd party maps.

I suspect the problem must lie in your computer somewhere as it doesn't seem to be a widely reported issue on any of the support platforms.

Are you running security software while playing? Some security products can screw games up (I have read of a number of issues with other games with NOD32 in particular).
1429
Living Room / Re: 64 Bit OS - When to Switch ?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 31, 2011, 09:53 AM »
I am not sure but I think as 32 bit Windows uses a 32-bit word size it is more efficient in smaller memory situations. There isn't a lot to be gained by using 64-bit Windows below 2-3Gb of memory and some reports are that it is faster.

Having said that if you plan to add memory lose the headache and go for 64 bit from the outset as it will save having to do a clean install!
1430
Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Babylon discount
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 30, 2011, 02:30 PM »
There is an important lesson I learned a long time ago:

Avanquest = The place were software goes to die

They only have interest in taking money - once they buy a title the development is pretty much dead.
1431
Thanks - I'll take a look

I was wondering if I could mod it to work with WordPress websites - there really aren't any good automatic backup options for them.
1432
Is this SMF specific or will it work with any DB and collection of folders? Also can you include more than one DB?
1433
File Integrity check should only redownload the corrupted files - it doesn't require a complete reinstall.
1434
Found Deals and Discounts / Re: The Humble Indie Bundle #3
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 28, 2011, 04:42 PM »
I  :-* :-* :-* LOVE  :-* :-* :-* "Crayon Physics Deluxe" - especially playing with a graphics tablet! Great stuff.
1435
General Software Discussion / Re: Mac OS Lion opinions
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 25, 2011, 06:48 AM »
OMG! A new version of an operating system doesn't have complete support for partially outdated software! I have never saw that issue in any other system.

Fair enough if it was outdated software.

Breaking the recent/current versions of the incredibly expensive premier applications on your platform is just plain stupid. Their biggest market in the workplace is professional audio and image/design. Why the heck would they not ensure that a new OS at least works with those apps.

At worst Apple should have liaised with Adobe to make sure a patch was ready for Creative Suite 5.5 (the current version) BEFORE they release a new OS in the wild - or clearly label it a beta version. (From past experience everyone should know that Apple only ever seem to test new operating systems on the latest hardware in their development centre and every release turns out to be a fairly bug ridden beta until the kinks get ironed out - even worse than Windows which at least has extended free public betas and release candidates of all its products).

Releasing an OS that is guaranteed to annoy your corporate users is just plain stupid - and worse stupidly arrogant.

"Apple - It Just Works" - as I said stupidly arrogant.
1436
I use GMail - but I don't trust it for its storage capability which is why I back it up locally daily
1437
General Software Discussion / Re: Mac OS Lion opinions
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 24, 2011, 07:32 PM »
There are 2 words that never occur in the same sentence in Cupertino: backward compatibility.

http://www.pcworld.c...n_mac_os_x_lion.html

Known issues in Lion affect Adobe software such as Acrobat, Adobe Drive, Contribute, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash Builder, Flash Catalyst, Flash Player, Lightroom, LiveCycle, Photoshop and Premiere Pro.

I wonder if Apple is purposefully trying to sabotage Adobe...

Adobe doesn't suggest any deliberate attempt by Apple to cripple Adobe products on Lion

But I'm sure a lot of people are thinking the same thing.

I won't be upgrading for a while. Once I start Mac development again, then I'll look at it. However, for now, it just doesn't make sense.

Beats me why Adobe don't simply tell Apple to sort out the compatibility issues or they will withdraw from producing future Adobe products for the Mac and start porting to Linux. Now that would certainly provoke a response - especially after the mobile Flash debacle!

Strikes me Apple need Adobe far more than Adobe need Apple given that Adobe produce one of the main software ranges used by the majority of corporate Apple products.

Interestingly it also seems to be affecting third party audio studio products too - now if they joined forces with Adobe there could be some serious fireworks!
1438
General Software Discussion / Re: How necessary is the UAC in Windows 7?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 23, 2011, 03:58 PM »
UAC effectively turns admin accounts into user accounts but with automatic prompts to elevated security when required.
1439
Living Room / Re: Why ebooks are bad for you
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 23, 2011, 07:55 AM »
Sorry to admit it that I wasn't being clever - but what I was thinking was that the cloud servers (and presumably mirrors) are sufficiently spread around the globe that an SEMP is unlikely to take them all down - so hopefully some data would survive.

As I understand EMPs your router would unlikely to send anything to corrupt data stored anywhere if it was hit by an EMP - wouldn't it just die instantly along with all other electronics in the area?

Locally stored data would certainly be destroyed - so it could be argued that cloud based data is more likely to survive because it should (hopefully) be mirrored in multiple places and accessible once you can find a computer that works!
1440
Living Room / Re: Why ebooks are bad for you
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 22, 2011, 06:01 PM »
If there is an SEMP you could argue that data might survive better in the cloud
1441
Living Room / Re: Win 7, XP mode, & other first install queries
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 22, 2011, 05:59 PM »
Good news
1442
General Software Discussion / Re: What is Mozilla trying to do?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 22, 2011, 01:31 PM »
Hooray - an even better reason to use Firefox - I am sick to death of installing Google's f&&&&&g toolbar or avoiding its installation. Why would anyone want to use that? The only thing it does is track your browsing habits and collect marketing data.

What would be a really useful feature in FF would be the ability to block the installation of named extensions including:

Yahoo Toolbar
Ask toolbar
MS .NET extension

amongst many others ...
1443
Living Room / Re: Win 7, XP mode, & other first install queries
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 22, 2011, 09:53 AM »
I thought you were installing XP too? I strongly recommend you install XP first so that mutliboot settings are set up correctly - otherwise you will end up with either an XP install that doesn't boot (and isn't on drive C) or a Windows 7 that won't boot without repairing it.
-Carol Haynes (July 22, 2011, 03:48 AM)

I dont know - I thought the general consensus was that going virtual was easier, and had said I would go that route (VM) ....
Do you think installing XP as well would be advantageous?


[edit] I think I'll just stick with the win7 install as both my xp disk are without service packs, or maybe one of them has SP1. Which would mean I'd have to slipstream before the install even.. [/edit]

Sorry I thought there was a debate before over whether to go the VM route or dual boot XP. If you think you are going to use XP regularly I would install it completely separately on the second drive (unplug you Win 7 drive) and then use the BIOS choose boot device to boot to XP when you need to - that way it is easy to remove if you want to remove it in the future as the two installs will be completely independent.

If you plan to keep XP around for the duration install it first and then Windows 7 so that it sorts out a simple multiboot system) - do this with only one drive plugged in.

If XP is just for belt and braces compatibility (and unlikely to be used much) install a VM.

The best solution really depends on what you plan to do with XP in the future!
1444
Living Room / Re: Win 7, XP mode, & other first install queries
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 22, 2011, 03:52 AM »
I would wipe the drive and start from scratch.

By the way I updated my last post while you typed your response.
1445
Living Room / Re: Win 7, XP mode, & other first install queries
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 22, 2011, 03:48 AM »
You can see the 100Mb partition if you look in disk management. It doesn't appear as a drive in 'Computer' because it doesn't have a letter assigned.

I thought you were installing XP too? I strongly recommend you install XP first so that mutliboot settings are set up correctly - otherwise you will end up with either an XP install that doesn't boot (and isn't on drive C) or a Windows 7 that won't boot without repairing it.

The other option would be to unplug the Win7 drive and install XP on the other drive - then use boot device choice in the BIOS at start up to select the drive to boot from.
1446
General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 7 reinstall article ... lost?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 21, 2011, 09:52 AM »
Sorry - too little sleep - my brain hurts duhhhh :o
1447
General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 7 reinstall article ... lost?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 21, 2011, 05:21 AM »
Er. Barney - what was that all about - was it supposed to be in another thread?
1448
General Software Discussion / Re: How necessary is the UAC in Windows 7?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 21, 2011, 05:06 AM »
Even Dreamweaver CS4 is not compat with windows 7 64-bit (according to MS WIn7 compat list) but it is with 32 bit. It doesn't mention earlier versions except DW 8 which is not comap with Windows 7 at all and that is newer than MX2004 which isn't even mentioned.

See http://www.microsoft...7/en-us/default.aspx

Having said that I have CS 3 which seems to work on WIndows 7 Pro 64-bit (though I haven't used it much).

According to Adobe the only products tested to work correctly in Windows 7 are the CS3-CS5 products. And even then there are some issues with CS3. See http://kb2.adobe.com...508/cpsid_50853.html

Why not run an XP VM and run your Dreamweaver in there?
1449
General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 7 reinstall article ... lost?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 20, 2011, 08:10 PM »
So long as you have a good backup problem 2 isn't really an issue - give the upgrade install a go and if it doesn't help then you've lost nothing but perhaps an hour wasted!

If it appears to work just make sure you scrutinise the event manager for 'invisible' problems!
1450
General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 7 reinstall article ... lost?
« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 20, 2011, 07:42 PM »
Don't know where the article is but I think what is being described is a repair installation (like you used to be able to do with Windows XP). There was an aritcle in a recent Windows Secrets newsletter. See http://windowssecret...structive-reinstall/

Most people think you can't do this in Windows 7 but you can. It only works if you are reinstalling the same version of Windows 7, eg. Home Premium 32-bit, and you need a Windows 7 installation DVD to do it.

All you need to do is run the installation from the DVD and use the upgrade option. This will install the DVD version over the top of the installed version without affecting installed programs or data.

As always get a full backup of your system first in case anything goes wrong.

Two problems I forsee:

1) OEM installations are preactivated and mostly don't come with original media - if you use a pure MS DVD you may have activation issues afterwards because you will need a license key. There will be a license key sticker on the machine but you may have to activate by phone - or in some instances the key itself may not work.

2) If your system is hosed before you run the upgrade installation you may find issues inherited after the upgrade because it will carry over any application issues and probably any registry issues - probably best to do a clean install instead.
Pages: prev1 ... 53 54 55 56 57 [58] 59 60 61 62 63 ... 310next