Anyone got a problem with XP SP3 and MSP8 ?

[sjj1805]

I am trying to pin down a problem that has reared its head in MSP8 on two different computers using a variety of different source material.



For the past couple of months I have been editing photographs with PhotoImpact - after returning from a week in Scotland I opened up MSP8 on the notebook computer to start work on the holiday video. I began to get the above error but there was nothing consistent about when it would appear.
If the program crashed I could re-open the MSP8 project file and carry on as if nothing had happened.

Tried the obvious steps - converted MP3 to WAV, even removed and re-installed MSP8, ran a Registry cleaner, defrag etc. Tried using different source material. Now the interesting bit which I was not expecting.
I opened up MSP8 on my desktop computer - I wanted to check a setting to compare it to those on the notebook. Using completely different source material again - stuff that was only on the desktop computer and were just a few images and an MP3 (later tried a WAV) I had the same error message.

So using my usual methodology I had to work out what has affected two separate computers since the last time I used this program.

My first suspect was the freebie CartoonR that someone posted on this forum so I removed it. That didn't fix the problem. Scratching me head about what else had changed on both computers in recent months I realised that XP Service Pack 3 was released.

Anyone here using XP with SP3 and MSP8?
Just so I can eliminate that as a possible cause.

Don't you just like computers!!

[Ron P.]

Yes on my desktop I have SP3 installed, however I'm not at home so unable to test it. But, I have used MSP8, with SP3, and not seen that error. I do have a project in the works (at home) using MSP8. So hopefully this weekend I can work more on it, since it is not a holiday..

[sjj1805]

Interestingly just had that same error again on the desktop computer with CD&DVD PictureShow 4. Simply grabbed the sample pictures included in PS4 so that I could answer a users query on the forum

http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic. ... 566#161566

And that same error popped up.
Now unless the extremely unlikely has occurred and two different computers have suddenly developed memory problems - the desktop is on 24/7 and hasn't given this error with any programs other than PS4 and MSP8 - it is my best guess that it is probably one of those Microsoft Updates - and most probably SP3 that is the culprit.

I forgot to mention in the first post that I also ran the Memory checker built into Vista on the notebook computer (its dual boot) - no problems found.

[sjj1805]

After spending most of the weekend investigating the problem and testing everything possible I came to the conclusion that Microsoft Service Pack 3 must be to blame. There is nothing else common to both affected computers.

I decided to take the plunge - with a total of some 2 terabytes or more hard drive space spread out over my various computers I decided I could spare a gigabyte or two and create a new partition on my laptop computer.
It had already been set up to multi boot between Vista Home Edition and XP Service Pack 3. To save Hard drive space I got rid of the "Hidden" small partition containing all of the Vista Set Up files on the pre-installed with Vista Laptop. If I ever need to re-install Vista I have a Vista Set up Disc anyway, purchased for one of my desktop computers.

I have now installed on a separate partition XP Service Pack 2. (The one that had the hidden Vista set up stuff - now deleted)
This installation is specially tweaked and intended only for Video Editing and so has no internet, no anti virus and all of the unnecessary stuff has been eliminated. No themes, no desktop wallpapers, sample sounds, no games and so on. Even things like Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer etc. have all been eliminated. The tweaks from creating a video editing profile are now built into it - didn't need a separate hardware profile - it is not going to be used for anything else.

The only programs installed are:
MediaStudio 8
PhotoImpact 12 (I made the partition to small to be able to install X3)
Hollywood FX Gold 4.5 - for the transitions for MSP8
Boris FX 1.0 - for the transitions for MSP8
I found that the copy of Audacity installed on the other XP partition worked so didn't need to install that.

So far it appears to be running perfectly. Due to my shift pattern it could be nearly a week before I get chance to give it a thorough work out.

[DLA]

Why fixing when it is not broken. I am using XP SP2 and simply turned-off auto-update.

Both of my XP SP2 stations are working perfectly fine with all the software currently installed. I will certainly not let Microsoft screw this all up with their updates.

[sjj1805]

I couldn't agree more, it is however an unfortunate state of affairs that many computer users around the world bend to the constant nagging of their XP computers to turn on automatic updates.

As far as SP3 was concerned I do manual updates rather than automatic - I tested SP3 out on one of my machines and at the time didn't notice any problems so went ahead and updated the others. I hadn't used MSP8 for a couple of months because I was busy doing some photograph restoration work. When I recently opened up MSP8 it was not practical to do an un-install
of the service pack or a system restore.

Perhaps it isn't SP3 - that is just my best guess so would be interested to hear if anyone else has installed SP3 and then has been having a similar problem. If so this will help with future trouble shooting issues on the forum.

[DLA]

I see your point. Nice to see that you test all that and then be able to support other MSP users!

The "your computer might be at risk" is annoying but so is "your computer has been updated... Restart later" that pop-ups until you eventually give-up and finally press "restart now".

[Gorf]

The "your computer might be at risk" is annoying but so is "your computer has been updated... Restart later" that pop-ups until you eventually give-up and finally press "restart now".

But neither of them are anywhere near as awful as the forced reboot that takes place during fully automatic updates. It blitzes past any "unsaved work" dialogs with no regard at all. We had to do a 500MB upload twice, because there was no easy way to see if the first attempt had succeeded after such a reboot.

[GregK]

Verrry interesting (as Artie Johnson used to say on Laugh-In) SJJ!

Based on what you've posted here, and especially that screen capture in your initial post in this thread (I came here following a link you posted in the DMF thread), I'm starting to conclude that some various little problems I've had on my XP system (and with DMF in particular) are due to bugs/problems with SP3 (the error message in that screen capture is almost identical to one I get once in awhile (although with another program or process....but don't recall when this message shows up exactly).

Should I simply uninstall SP3 from my system to prevent this error message (as seen in your screen capture) from reappearing again, and to possibly resolve some of the other little problems I seem to have with DMF and (I assume) other things on my system?

[sjj1805]

It is possible to uninstall SP3 from the Windows control Panel "Add/Remove Programs" but before you do so you need to take into account how long it has been installed and what other changes have been made to the computer since it was installed.

If you run the uninstaller it will advise you of the various programs and security patches that may be affected by removal. You cannot simply run an "Upgrade installation" of Windows XP Service Pack 2 on top of Service pack 3 - it will not let you and advises that you have to do a "clean install" which would then mean you would have to re-install all of your other programs such as MediaStudio, Microsoft Office, email and so on.

The option I took was to create a new partition on my computer - you can resize existing partitions with software such as Partition Magic - or if you have a Vista Set Up disc then this includes a utility to create, delete and resize partitions. Having created a new partition I then installed a new copy of Windows SP2 into it thus creating a "dual boot" (in my case a triple boot) system.

I am now dedicating a copy of Windows XP service pack 2 to Video Related work - this has no internet connection and so I have not installed anti virus software either - this again increases the RAM and System Resources available to do Video Editing.

The existing Service Pack 3 partition will be my day to day use of the computer with internet, email, spreadsheets, documents and so on.

Vista despite its drawbacks does have some useful items, one of which is the far superior EXIF information - more editable and more control than in XP, plus if you have a TV card then Windows Media Centre is quite impressive.

Incidentally, being a bit of a perfectionist I have now completely wiped my laptop clean and am in the process of re-installing everything.
I have created 4 partitions of differing sizes and am installing them as follows.

1. XP Service Pack 2 - for video editing only
2. XP Service pack 3 - for general use
3. Vista Home Premium - for occasional use when required
4. Common partition which will hold swap files, Web Cache and the like.

With work and other interruptions could be a week before everything is completely re-installed and then I should be able to confirm if Service Pack 3 was the culprit - out of interest I shall install a copy of MSP onto the SP3 partition to see if it still misbehaves on a clean install.

[DAAdood]

Hello I have been reading your post
although I dont know how long you wrote that post anyway, but without having SP3 I got similar erro memory. In fact I boot the computer this morning with Memory check and there was no error problem with the memory so you tell me.

[sjj1805]

Please try this link:
Troubleshooting your computer

[Ron P.]

So far I've not encountered this error with my MSP8 on my XP SP3 machine. I've done a little more work with it this weekend and that error has not surfaced.

[clemolo]

I don't think this is due to service pack 3 as I have encountered this same problem ever since I installed MSP8 on my computer when it was new 18 months ago. At that time I only had XP service pack 2. I originally thought I must have a faulty memory cell somewhere but I checked all my memory and it is fine.
I now dual boot to Vista or XP service pack 3, although MSP8 is only on the XP drive.
Cheers Ray Clements Perth australia

[sjj1805]

I have been running MediaStudio on the SP2 partition for a few weeks now and I have completed a couple of projects. It is running perfectly.

If anyone else decides to create a triple boot like I have described above then one thing I noticed is that it would have been slightly better to have partitions set up as follows

C drive: XP SP3
D Drive (or whatever letter is next allocated by Windows): XP SP2
E Drive (or whatever letter is next allocated by Windows): Vista.

Wherever you put Vista, when it runs it will always adopt drive letter C anyway. The XP installations will adopt the letter for the partition it is installed in. Because most of your "stuff" will be on the XP SP3 Partition it is generally better for that partition to take the drive letter C. By placing XP SP2 on "C" you can end up with stuff leaking through to it.