X3 not starting on new install?

[Auser]

Ok,

So I install windows 7 64bit on a new machine. Install drivers.

First program to install is Paint Shop Prox X3
I install the 5 service packs (that's all there is, right?)

And start it.... and it doesn't work.

I see the splash screen (on top of everything *grrr*) and it gets to
"Initializing Command Manager" - from browsing the forum i get the idea that its just bad programming and there is nothing to be done?

That can't be right? (worked fine on a 32bit system)

[df]

Try the reset trick. Hold the shift key and double click the desktop icon that starts the program. X3 was buggy for sure. When it first came out I had to kill the process named MediaCataloger.exe (*32 in 64 bit computers) via the Task Manager (ctrl+shift+Esc) before it would settle down, but SP 1 should have fixed that. You did install the SP's in order correct?

Also make sure PsiService_2.exe *32 is getting through your firewall.

[teknisyan]

Does the same thing happens when you right-click on the PSP X3 icon and select RUN AS ADMIN?

[Auser]

Does the same thing happens when you right-click on the PSP X3 icon and select RUN AS ADMIN?

Well, I am Admin - so yes.

[JStanley]

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[Auser]

You might also want to check your system DEP settings and Antivirus/Anti-malware/Firewall settings to see if this is causing a problem...

What are "DEP" settings?

I have no antivirus. And wouldn't the firewall say if your program tries to go online before starting?

(also, Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 crashes as soon as it has started)

[JStanley]

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[Auser]

I don't feel like being reasonable, and only get more annoyed by the minute.

Isn't the DEP the thing that pops up all the time telling me i have to give extra permission?

The user account control has been turned totally off and that had no effect and so has turning zonealarm of.
And I don't run a virus scanner period, the damn thing is slow enough as it is.

And I still don't get how the program just locks up instead of failing outright.

[Auser]

Its also odd how this worked on 32 bit but not on 64 bit

[JStanley]

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[Auser]

Isn't the DEP the thing that pops up all the time telling me i have to give extra permission?

No. That should be UAC (which I know you're aware of), or other Windows 7 specific settings (including limited user rights, limited Admin rights, full Admin rights, and other settings introduced with Windows 7). The limited Admin rights was introduced when Microsoft realized that most users just installed and ran their software with the default Admin settings in previous versions of Windows. This is not necessarily a Corel problem, but they could design their programs better...

Ah yes, found it - I tried adding X3 to the DEP exception list - no joy.

Its also odd how this worked on 32 bit but not on 64 bit

These are totally different beasts. The same thing happened (to some extent) when moving from 16-bit to 32-bit (especially with Win32s on Windows 3.x, until the release of Windows 95). It's frustrating, I know....

Yeah. And have waited for so long to go to 64 bit - I thought I had waited long enough - apparently not.

Coincidentally, most of the 32-bit Operating Systems (including XP) were not so picky and had fewer rights restrictions, but the latest versions of Windows with better protections are more secure at the expense of being less compatible. It's the job of programmers to be able to meet the requirements. Corel hasn't done a stellar job of this, yet, but there are always work-arounds..

Yeah, I'm looking forward to a workaround - so far the only one I see is running the program on another computer and use remote desktop :-/

[Auser]

So, I found another workaround:

Uninstall the graphics drivers!

If I uninstall the graphic drivers for the Radeon, then X3 starts up fine. Of course the actual usage of the computer is somewhat limited without the 3D drivers....

[df]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to a workaround - so far the only one I see is running the program on another computer and use remote desktop :-/

I've found that remote desktop does not yield accurate colors. It's close, but not accurate.
You may try installing an older driver for your video card. Most 3D graphics drivers that I've seen are geared towards gaming more than image editing.

[Auser]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to a workaround - so far the only one I see is running the program on another computer and use remote desktop :-/

I've found that remote desktop does not yield accurate colors. It's close, but not accurate.
You may try installing an older driver for your video card. Most 3D graphics drivers that I've seen are geared towards gaming more than image editing.

That's not really the point, I need to have the graphics drivers installed. I can't uninstall and reinstall several times a day.

And so far I don't know of any older drivers (plus the moment any other problem crops up the support choruses of the world will sing "install latest drivers!" at me)

sigh

[df]

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pa ... river.aspx
It would appear that the latest drivers are a little over a week old. I assume that you have the install disk as well.
But, even if you just want to go back to the previous version that you had (assuming it's somewhere between the latest and the original on the disk) go to your control panel> device manager, find your graphics card, right click, properties, drivers tab, click roll back driver. The computer should have saved the old drivers unless you told it to delete drivers when uninstalling. I believe you can do this multiple times to go even further back, but I'm not certain.

And when you say you have the latest drivers but with these problems those same people will sing at you "roll back your drivers". I know, damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Good luck.