truth in advertising or buyer beware-Vid Stud 7 PRO

[BTFL3MING]

My Video Studio suddenly stopped working about a month ago

After going back and forth with the help desk, trying a variety of fixes; re-arranging my hard drive by adding and deleting new Administrator, appdata, hot fixes et al, a rep from the help desk set up a "hand-on" log in session with me. After tapping in to my hard drive, doing all the things he had recomended over the course of this mont, he came to the conclusion that this problem needed to be kicked up another "level".

I took the Computer to MDG; they uninstalled and re-installed=$250 bucks.

I just received this e-mail today:
"Angel Babo
Angel Babon (Corel)

Mar 12, 17:16 EDT

Hello Brian,

I do apologize but upon the advice from our next level of support, the VideoStudio Pro X7 is no longer compatible with Windows 7 due to the update in the OS of the Windows 7 that made a conflict with the program. You may want to check our latest version of VideoStudio in this link https://www.videostudiopro.com/en/produ ... e/#compare. Thanks.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further questions.

Regards,
Angel
Corel Technical Support Services"

Further inquiries?

Buyer beware!!

Signed:
A former big time enthusiast of this program

[Ken Berry]

I have moved your post to the Video Studio forum since that is where it should be -- and it's likely to get more discussion here.

To kick off that discussion, I would have to say that Corel's advice is ridiculous. If it were true, then I am sure we would have already had a lot more people complaining that their VS X7 was no longer working under Win 7. (By the way, we *are* talking about X7, aren't we, and not version 7 which came out 14 or 15 years ago? I note that the Corel msg to you specified X7.)

When you say you took your computer to be repaired and they "reinstalled", was that just Windows 7 or did they manage to get X7 reinstalled and working too?

[BTFL3MING]

Hi Ken. Update:

This is what they sent me (via e-mail) to re-install on Feb 21 2018:(Cut and pasted from e-mail):

VideoStudio Pro X7
32bit: http://www.corel.com/akdlm/6763/downloa ... o_TBYB.exe
64bit: http://www.corel.com/akdlm/6763/downloa ... YB_x64.exe
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When you say you took your computer to be repaired and they "reinstalled", was that just Windows 7 or did they manage to get X7 reinstalled and working too?"
Windows 7 was/is up and running-no problem.No-The Vid Stud x7 program was re-installed but shut down at various points-I was able to add (3) photo's; (4) fades; a soon as I got to "Share" the program stopped working, it searched the Internet for a solution (to no avail) and shut itself down. I can't tell you how times I watched that little production. It even happened with Angel while he was linked in to my Computer. That is when the message about moving the problem up a level arrived; Then the final e-mail dated March 12 17:26.

I really like Vid Stud and Corel; I've used it for years-Very much like the end product; So I decided to "bite the bullet"; Bought Vid Stud ultimate (10) 4 hours ago. And guess what happened? It downloaded OK- It got half way through the installation; froze..With a little pop up saying "Contact Corel Tech -encountered a problem while installing"

I've e-mailed Angel again at Tech Support- I can't wait for the next act to begin.

Brian

[RobertOZ]

Before we can advise you further, please detail your computer specs, as your profile tells us nothing

[BTFL3MING]

Hello Robert
OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name OWNER-PC
System Manufacturer INTEL
System Model DG41TY
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5200 @ 2.50GHz, 2500 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Intel Corp. TYG4110H.86A.0031.2009.0626.1405, 6/26/2009
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name Owner-PC\Owner
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 4.00 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.24 GB
Total Virtual Memory 7.99 GB
Available Virtual Memory 6.04 GB
Page File Space 4.00 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
-NOTE: The Locale is Canada not the U.S.A

Brian

[RobertOZ]

Hi Brian, you say you have just purchased VSX10, was that from Corel, because you need to apply for a refund, your computer does not meet the minimum system requirements for VSX10

https://support.corel.com/hc/en-us/arti ... uirements-

[BTFL3MING]

Hi Robert.
Yes, I bought VSX10, was able to install it after turning off my Anti virus program (Bitdfender)-

-After the install, I was able to make a 4 pic dvd; with fades (45 seconds) ; and music-Went to the "Share" tab, transcoded and burned a dvd-Which played as expected on a TV.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was able to insert 100 pics, fades-wipes, panning motion to a project; Saved it in the usual "Saved projects" folder.

The program did the "freeze-checking-the Internet-No answer found will advise" dance and shut down at certain points yesterday (but nothing out of the ordinary for this program, from my experience) NOTE: There was something that I've never seen before, though- At one point, Windows warned of a lack of "storage space" and would have to shut down other programs to compensate. At that time , I had Solitaire and the NERO 9 "smart start" tab open-but nothing running in it-So, I closed these programs and it seemed to be fine after that.
(I have a 1 TB Standalone back up so how I could have a lack of space I don't know)

I re-opened and the program asked if I wanted to recover the project-I said yes- It re-opened and off I went again, editing.

I am only to the 6 minute mark of a 9 minute project; Haven't tried to add Titles or Music yet; nor have I burned anything.

Brian

[canuck]

Your system does not meet the minimum requirements as was noted in an earlier post.

You should not have any other program running while using VS X10 with your system

Do you do regular maintenance on your system? How much free space on your drive C:?

[BTFL3MING]

Hello fellow Canuck...
854 GB S OF 930 GB free
-Regular maintenance as required
-Plz clarify:
You mention my system does meet minimum req's- Yet I was able to use the program?

Bottom line-I really don't know whether to apply for the refund or continue on and see what the future holds-If you were me, would you go the refund route? Or is it possible to upgrade my current system?

Thx,

Brian

[Davidk]

I think there's something else wrong here.
I have X9, X10 and VS2018 installed on an HP g6-2002 64bit laptop that only has an AMD A6 dual core cpu at 2.7ghz, 8Gb RAM running win 7: and they all ran and still run fine. Note that the VS minimum processor specs are listed for specific VS functions, and I normally don't use those; 360deg editing? not really. I only updated RAM from the 'as bought' config of 4gb to 8gb about 3 years ago, so my X7 would have run on a configuration pretty much the same as yours. So the issue isn't whether the hardware is good enough, but what caused the problem a month ago.

I do agree with Ken's comment re X7 and win 7; I ran that configuration for years until memory management (the hard drive for applications was getting too full) inspired me to remove the oldest VS installations (X7 and X8) on that PC.

The timing you outline suggests that your issue with X7 was caused by an update to windows from Microsoft. As to why X10 may be a problem, possibly the same source. But I can assure you that all the versions of VS I have run fine on windows 7 on the laptop, and it's been kept up-to-date with critical/important patches to the OS. So, simply put, look further for a cause. MS updates to the OS seems a good start.

[BTFL3MING]

Hello DavidK.
Thanks for the reply.

The "Missing" Microsoft update is what I'm now thinking as well.
To me, generally speaking, I don't download Microsoft updates automatically because most of the time they are about things I don't/never will use-Such as updates to computers on networks etc-the updates seem to cover all possible types of scenarios for any Computer used in any manner-For me, I have only basic uses (Word, some editing etc)
-Plus I've been warned about Windows 10 being an outright disaster, and to avoid it like the plague. I hesitate to install any updates as I know that sometimes Microsoft adds other updates, not specifically listed in an update. For example, I know they use to put in, automatically, a small "tool" (forget the name), that verifies whether or not you are using "authentic" Microsoft products. After a lot of investigation, I found out that this update meant that your Computer was scanned through Microsoft head office, and it drastically affected the speeds the computer can process at. So, based on this type of scenario, I have not downloaded any update; I have blocked all updates; I guess the solution might be in an older update.

So, I'll see what I can find; maybe one small update will allow me to re-install Vid Stud 7, and end 6 weeks of going in circles.

Brian

[Davidk]

Heh. Like you, I am wary of MS updates. But the system does need some. So, I set windows to detect and advise any updates for windows only, and then selectively manually apply ones that seem appropriate. for example, optional updates about the currency in afghanistan, daylight time in Tonga etc - forget it. But the important or critical ones: usually several of those a month, and the monthly malware removal check - usually apply. There is a link for each one to get more info, generally a display of the KB detail if required.

And about win 10 - generally agree, altho there are articles in the press about how to turn off many of the snoopy features. The one thing you cannot do is alter the updates rate - it's auto for everything. As a retired IT person I can understand why MS wants to establish a standard operating environment - the fewer the variances, the less effort they have to put into support. Emphasis on convenience for MS, not the user. So I have stayed away from win 10, like many others, and 3 years after release it still only has on average about 50% of the world windows market - with a lot of variance in different areas: asia, much less, more affluent countries that can afford hardware replacements - much more. So, at some stage, migration to win 10 is inevitable; usually when the hardware dies or needs replacement and the new PC has win 10 pre-installed. Which is the situation I am in by choice - I'll do it when the PC dies.

Which doesn't get to the root of your issue. Something changed a month ago that had unintended consequences. Usually, it's the monthy update cycle from MS, but if you have that turned off, you need to find out what did change.

From the timing you outline, that event may have been the installation of X10. VS can have several versions installed on the same PC, the only restriction is that only one can run at once, and if you close one down, wait about 5 sec before attempting to start any other, or the same, version.
On the PC I'm writing this on, I have X8 thru vs2018 (4 versions) and I had call to test that they all ran OK when responding to another query yesterday. So Perhaps the interaction between these 2 versions on your PC is worth exploring. Perhaps the admins can make some suggestions that don't involve uninstalling X10.

[BTFL3MING]

Hello DavidK
After speaking to a Corel tech, and putting him on the "spot" about where to go from here, his first answer was a question-"Would you like a Refund?"-

At that point I decided to get the refund and be done with Corel Tech- So, just today, they had already processed my refund request of yesterday; That's the end of VS 10.

I'm going to continue the search for a solution as was recommended here. I had had absolutely no problems until that fateful day a month ago. My Spock like brain just can't handle the original Corel Tech answer of "it's Microsoft's" fault; especially since i haven't downloaded any MS downloads since 2013 (I checked my download log to verify that).

So, I guess it was something I did. Or didn't.

If I do figure out what happened, I will let you guys know. As Ken Berry said in the first post-If what I was told was true (that Microsoft is responsible for this problem) then this chat board would have lit up with many many others with the same problem. Which it didn't.

My Mum and Girlfriend say I'm unique-But not THAT unique!

A quick note to the Mod's on this site. I very much appreciate all your help now and in the past. Trying to help the General public in a Volunteer situation such as this can be a thankless job. I just wanted to let you know this is one person who will never forget what you guys did..and do.

Corel should hire YOU guys!

Yours Truly Brian