PI 12 : can't load if no hard disk C: !

[Roland Pisano]

Hello,
I know it can sound weird, but I have currently no hard disk named C:. My hard disk is named K:. I had a C: drive until recently but it wasn't a system drive and now it's dead and removed.
In this configuration, PI 12 crash at start (on mfc42.dll at first try, and in combo.dll at the others).
If I add a C: drive (USB, RamDisk, external hard drive), PI 12 launchs fine (but there is still nothing in c: !).
I tried to uninstall/reinstall PI 12, same bug.
But my version of PI 12 is an OEM one, bundled with a Medion graphic Tablet so Corel is not offering me any assistance and I know that new versions of PI have been released. I found an old topic in this forum about somebody having the same bug in PI 10 so I don't expect the last version not having that bug...
But is there any hope that a patch can be released ?
(slightly off topic)
After long years of using Micrografx Picture Publisher untils its 10th and last version (after, Micrografx have been bought by Corel who killed the product), I am still looking for another product to replace it. And I don't like PhotoShop, I've tried the Gimp, etc. And PI, that I didn't know at all, gives me a strong feeling... Until this strange bug.
(/slightly off topic)
Can someone help me ?
Thank you !

[Ron P.]

There are a couple of things you could try..

First would be to try and reinstall PI to your system (k) drive. When you install a program it gives the opportunity to choose where you want the program installed. The default is always C:\Program Files. In your case it should be K:\Program Files. Any system files should be stored on your system under its root drive.

Next would be to change the drive letters and paths from K to C on your system. To do this open up the Computer Management, by right-clicking on My Computer (on your desktop), and selecting Manage. The Computer Management window will open. Look in the left pane for Storage. There may a "+" beside it meaning it can be expanded for more choices. Click on the "+" to expand it. You should now see Disk Management. Click on Disk Management to open the Disk Manager.

In the Disk Manager you will have 2 panes, top and bottom, that show all your hard disk drives, both physical and logical. Right-click on your system drive (k) and you should get the option Change drive letter and paths... Selecting this you can change the drive letter from K back to C, and then windows will go through your system and make sure all the paths are changed accordingly..

I will strongly advise that you back-up your system first before making any changes, in case things don't workout as they should.

[Roland Pisano]

Hello,
Thank you for your reply.
PI has always been installed on K: drive. It's my system drive and the installation programs always propose to install in K:\Program Files\...
So I did.
And I have tried to uninstall the program, reboot then reinstall. Same thing.
Next, it's almost impossible to change the drive letter of a system drive. Try it : ask Xp to change your system c: to something else !
Using the registry, you can do it. But the following XP restart will hang just before the welcome screen with all the users. A microsoft kb explains why and how to correct things (simply put back the right letter to the system drive to find the profiles - but to do this, you need some very weird tools, as a BartPE bootable disk with a special plugin to edit the registry of the dead XP installation).
And thank to your advice, my raid1 system with two sata HD is frequently backuped to an external usb hard drive.
The key problem is still there : if your system drive is not C: and if you don't have a C: drive, PI won't start. If there is a C: drive, PI starts.
A previous topic tells this was the same thing with PI 10.

[Ron P.]

Ok,

Well as far as a patch being released for a "phased-out" version, not going to happen. Corel is notoriously slow with releasing patches for current versions, and once a new version is released no further development occurs with the older ones..

I would say that given your situation a better way would be to start completely from scratch. Reformat your system drive so that it can be set back to C:..

[sjj1805]

If the rest of your computers programs are working fine and you are only having this problem with Photoimpact, attempting to alter things such as drive letters might cure the photoimpact problem but introduce errors in other programs.

Photoimpact is working correctly for you if the computer can see a "C" drive and so you need to make the computer think it has one without disrupting anything else. There are a few ways you can do this.

The first and most obvious one is to install another hard drive onto your system and then force XP to give it drive letter C in the manner described above by Ron (Vidoman).
If this is not an option available to you then here are some alternatives.

1. Create a Folder on your K drive - you can call it anything you want but C would be a good choice!
Now use the Windows SUBST command so that Windows will treat that folder as though it was a hard drive - and you also specify the drive letter when doing so.

Syntax:
Using your drive K with a folder myfolder as the example:
SUBST C: K:/myfolder

2. Similar to the above but perhaps a more modern approach is to map a network drive. You again need to create a folder on your K drive. Slightly more work is required to set this up.

Step 1. Create the folder myfolder on your K drive.
Step 2. In Windows Explorer right click the folder and select properties.
(You can also do this by selecting sharing and security)
You will see 4 tabs - select the one named sharing then share the folder.


Step 3. From Windows Explorer select tools / map network drive


Step 4. Navigate to your new shared folder and from the drop down list of drive letters assign the letter C.




Regards - Steve J

[Roland Pisano]

Hello,
Thank you for your long and well written answer.
I knew that tricks.
I can't install another hard disk as I have a real trouble with my first IDE controller. In fact, the problem appeared when I replaced 2 HD on my first IDE controller (C: and K: as system) by a RAID1 connected to a special SATA controller on my motherboard wich replaced my system K: drive with all the C: drive data manually copied. I took off old C: and K: IDE drives and bang ! PI 12 did not start anymore !
I did not realize the link between the two facts but searching that forum, I found an old topic about PI 10 that describes the same problem !
Next : subst... hmmm... Why not... A login script to automatize the subst for all users... Does it works with limited accounts ? Worth the try...
Network share... Only the last resort. It's a per user setting, needs a login script to work... Subst is a better solution than this one.
My solution for now : a 256 Mo ramdisk. But I will low down its size to 32 Mb, il will be enough. Named C:. Usable by all users. No script. Wiped out at every reboot.
But, frankly, can we accept such a poor programming ? Why considering a C: drive as an obligation ? Can you imagine tomorrow such a system requirement written in top of your software box : "A C: drive is needed for proper utilisation" ?
I just can call that a "by design" bug, wich reveals "quick and dirty" coding. Corel has to release a patch for such a wrong piece of code.

For now, I have the solution to make PI 12 works (and 10 and 12 and maybe X3). I suggest that the moderator adds this in the FAQ.

And no, I won't reinstall everything from scratch in my specially crafted and optimized configuration (6 years long lasting with the same XP install !), it will take days and days, all that only to accomodate a software that I use ten times a week !!!!! Please, no !

Thanks to all for your help. I you know someone at Corel.com and if you have any influence on them, ask for patching ! (as I suspect that bug to be still present in X3, if anybody can confirm...)

[swiss420]

(as I suspect that bug to be still present in X3, if anybody can confirm...)

I can only Confirm this Problem still exists in Photoimpact X3.

I am getting the following error and it was driving me nuts:

AppName: iedit_.exe AppVer: 13.0.0.0 ModName: mfc42.dll
ModVer: 6.2.4131.0 Offset: 0008f549

When I first Installed it a error with the coree.dll appeared and I was able to fix it for one start by installing .NET v2 but next start did not work anymore. I installed uninstalled installed uninstalled etc. No change. I even Installed a Photoimpact V11 with the same results. Both Versionsn Worked fine on my old Windows which had C: as the System Drive. On my new System I have the System Drive on K: and C: is free. (I admit this setup is unusual so I figure not many encounter this error)

Corel How about a Patch to fix this Issue? Or how about some mention of this on your Support Pages? Cant find anything about it except here in the Forum. Or atleast adjust your Minimal requirements to reflect the necesity for a C: Drive.

Hope others are finding this Answear faster then I did.

[sjj1805]

Are you saying you do or you do not have a C drive. The other poster had no C drive.

For what it's worth I have multi boot computers and have working copies of PhotoImpact 11 / 12 & X3 on drives with letters D , E and also M.
No problems.

[swiss420]

Ulead / Corel I would like to mention to you that I just spend a Week searching for a way to work again. The rest will be in Swiss German because I dont believe you want to understand it.....

Godvertami namale blödi hure afänger bi Ulead/Corel. Scho sit merere versione so en scheiss go produziere. Ich hofe ihr wärdet glücklich mit mim gäld dän i de zukunft wird ich eure shrot sicher nüme zahle.

Just to make this Post a little Productiv yes it worked perfectly mapping a share to C: Unfortunately I would have liked to keep C: Free but I guess thats too much to ask for. Now I had to make a Batchfile that maps the drive and afterwards starts Photoimpact until its closed at this point it disconnects the drive again.

@echo off
net use C: \\computername\share
call "K:\Programme\Corel\PhotoImpact X3\Iedit.exe"
net use /d C:

Sorry have to edit a little Typo: C comes before the Share All good now.

[sjj1805]

Ulead / Corel I would like to mention to you that I just spend a Week searching for a way to work again. The rest will be in Swiss German because I dont believe you want to understand it..........

Sorry to rain on your parade but we are not Corel and we are not Ulead.
We are a bunch of customers just like yourself who use this User to User Web Board as a means of helping each other with ideas and problems.

[swiss420]

Oh you missunderstud me I am very greatfull to you sjj1805 and others that are helping here find solutions to Problems that are as in this case hard to solve. I would have never expected this to be the Problem since its only a drive letter not until I read this Thread. Then it was a matter of minutes to solve it. You will not belive how gratefull I am for this. If you ever plan on comming to Switzerland call me up.

The Swiss German rant is just the frustration having to read through all the Ulead and Corel Support Pages and not finding one hint about this. I am so thankfull to the Community Providing great Support.

[sjj1805]

Thanks for sharing the batch file - could be useful to others who have this same problem.