Unstable

I spent a couple of hours working on a design for some t-shirts and flyers on Xara X today when the software shut itself off. Each time I tried after that to open this file, it immediately and without any fanfare shut down the program. Boink, gone. It will open other files, but not this one.

Xara still has not given me a response on a similar problem from last week other than to let me know they didn't read my e-mail through before answering. It doesn't really matter how great a software is if it's one problem is it is unstable and you lose your work. I have been using Xara X for a couple of years, so I know it isn't me.

I have the picture exported, but can no longer modify it. Any suggestions?

Dave Cowles AKA Organ Donor

www.3DCaricatures.com
Spartanburg, SC

I spent a couple of hours working on a design for some t-shirts and flyers on Xara X today when the software shut itself off. Each time I tried after that to open this file, it immediately and without any fanfare shut down the program. Boink, gone. It will open other files, but not this one.

Xara still has not given me a response on a similar problem from last week other than to let me know they didn't read my e-mail through before answering. It doesn't really matter how great a software is if it's one problem is it is unstable and you lose your work. I have been using Xara X for a couple of years, so I know it isn't me.

I have the picture exported, but can no longer modify it. Any suggestions?

Dave Cowles AKA Organ Donor

www.3DCaricatures.com
Spartanburg, SC

I was able to see the graphic in XnView and it's there (nice work) but it's only a thumbnail. This next suggestion won't fix your file but it will prevent this, hopefully, from happening to you again.

Go into the registry and turn on the MakeBakFiles option and set it at 1.

Do this. Start/Run type in regedit and then once that comes up go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER then to Software/Xara/XaraX/Version 3.0/Options/Filters.

Scroll down a bit to (it's all alphabetical) to where it says 'MakeBakFiles'. Double click on that key and a little dialog box will pop up. Then type in 1 in the 'Value data' box and then click OK (leave the default "hexadecimal" radio button checked.

Then up to the File pull down menu and click Exit and then next time you start a file then every time you make changes to the parent file a child copy is made named the name of the file but with a .bak extension. If the main file becomes corrupted then just change the backed up files extension to .xar and you will have a good version to work from again.

XaraX should have this option on by default because of this behavior but XaraX is not the only program that does this sort of stuff. I also own as copy of PhotoImpact 8 and it will also shut down for unknown reasons. I don't know if it will corrupt a file because of an instantaneous shutdown but it shuts down (We at the forum for PI are convinced that there is a memory leakage going on and I think the same thing is happening with XaraX as well).

I'm real sorry to hear about your problem, this was a hard lesson to learn for many of us and when you set the program to do backups then it's pretty safe to deal with. I also recommend saving often but I'm sure you know about all that other stuff.

Good luck to you http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

---Wolff On The Prowl---

Dave - I couldn't open it either. Something about a error in kernel32.dll I could see the preview image --- perhaps the program has an internal censor that doesn't like your subject matter. http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Sorry I can't be of any real help. I just have sympathy. I hope you haven't had frequent problems with corrupt files. I've found Xara to be quite stable on my system. I don't ever remember it saving a corrupt file that wouldn't open.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

Dave,

Sorry to hear that, but it happens with all software. I know this does not help, but I've had Microsoft Orifice trash files, plus other apps.

Take a look at Xara Crashes

Richard touches on the reg hack, but also look at number 4 and check your temp directory usualy c:\windows\temp.

Dave Zubrowski

Xara FAQ

Thanks for the replies. I am running Windoze XP on a new Gateway 500S Plus Pentium IV with 512MB RAM. It is a pretty jamming system. What, pray tell is a kernell32.dll? That little badboy crashed my old PC (a Sony VAIO Pentium II) regularily!

Dave Cowles AKA Organ Donor

www.3DCaricatures.com
Spartanburg, SC

Not sure about the purpose of the Kernal 32.

I have found that Xara will on occassion crash and take the file with it, as you have regretfully experienced first hand.

In the previous version of Xara, you could locate a BAK file in the Windows TEMP folder and often salvage the last saved version of your document. Sadly that function was dropped in Xara X.

Whenever something like this happens to me (it happens a lot in NetObjects Fusion) I start saving like mad. Maybe every three or four moves. Then I forget and get sloppy until it happens again :-o

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person


Click to make The Xara Xone #1

<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>

you may also want to look in your windows temp folders. I have recovered many files from there after Xara goes corrupt. Just look for a file with the same name - different extension...

Kernel32 is THE Mother of All Windows OS files. VERY fundamental. Don't mess with her.

I run a great auto-backup program all the time, Powerquest DataKeper, so when things go bad (or I mess up) I always have at least dozen earlier versions of my bad file at hand. And I'm also a compulsive Savior: a role model to follow. :-)

K
www.klausnordby.com/xara (big how-to article)
www.xaraxone.com/FeaturedArt/kn/ (I was the first-ever featured artist in the Xone)
www.graphics.com (columnist, "The I of The Perceiver")

Sounds like a format,partition and reinstall may be in order... and/or... perhaps a new CMOS battery... http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif and they think I am joking...

Richard eluded to experiencing this problem with PI as well... and now that I think about it... yup,couldn't get into about 4 or five recently made files (at that time) and... it hasn't happened since I replaced that ole cmos battery...

niether have the installer problems, or the sudden crashes...

nope, that little battery may be still showing the right time and all but when run down to a point starts other calamities often blamed on other things... but alas, nope... it ends up that wee little three dollar part... first the slight unexpected glitches...then worse, the sudden crashes... then the newer Windows installers would hang halfway through installations... then when trying to do a reinstall of windows it would hang during the Windows Intro screen, you know the popup when running Windows for the first time... chances are that you will already be getting cmos errors showing up on you bios screen when booting up... guess what? The time is... new battery time http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Gee, we touched off on the CMOS battery issue bout a year ago... perhaps it's getting time to think about picking up a replacement battery once again...

thanx for the reminder.. http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[This message was edited by gidgit on March 07, 2003 at 13:09.]

Hi, Have you upgraded any windows compnents? I find that I have the greatest problems after downloading upgrades for Windowxp Home after some of the upgrades patches are installed. Try doing a restore to point just before the update if you have updated recently.
right now I am communicating with Microsoft tech as some update security patch won't install at all.
Jim

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Klaus Nordby:
Kernel32 is THE Mother of All Windows OS files. VERY fundamental. Don't mess with her.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Klaus is right here. If you know anything about the inner workings of the "root" of a system then you will know or now know that anything that has a "kernal" in the name is probably pretty darned important to the system. Linux is the same. You delete that and you delete your system in very simplistic terms. Of course I don't think the system would allow that to happen, I don't think, at least with most Windows sytems, I think you would be denied permission to delete such an important part, considering http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

I hope my information previously was of help to your Dave. It was info passed on to us from another smart guy in here a little while back and I think it's great to have XaraX set to create backup files. YOu will notice that if XaraX crashes usually a file will be created and it's usually a good copy, not corrupted. At least im my experiences!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

---Wolff On The Prowl---

I used several fills and blends in that file. Does this tend to overload them? I noticed it ran slower bfore going bye bye.

Dave Cowles AKA Organ Donor

www.3DCaricatures.com
Spartanburg, SC

It's hard to say what causes the files to corrupt from time to time. It's probably happened to more of us than come forward. For some it's probably something not worth getting upset over and for you, and I too, it was something to get steamed up over.

I was begining work on "Pan and the Fairy Goblet", once was an airbrush painting that went south. I had scanned it into the computer and began restoring and finishing it digitally. There are parts of it that I am creating as vectors so I can export them in any sized PNG or GIF that I need to import into either PhotoPaint or PhotoImpact (I'm leaning more towards PhotoImpact at this moment in time, it handles vector and painterly techniques) At one point, in the middle of some of the very intensive work, well I didn't save, I was just getting comfortable with the program and then it slowed down, then it froze and then it just shut down with an exception error warning dialog then BOOM bye bye file. I was pissed off big time, tested my faith in working in digital media but then I realized that there wasn't anything that could be done. Believe me I tried everything, asked questions here untill I was blue in the face and thought I was going to be kicked off the forum (at least in my paranoia), I was pretty bent out of shape over the mess.

So then I set out and learned all I could at the time to get into the habit of creating backup copies and to start to save, save, save all the time and that helped to prevent things from going south on me.

Then some master mind user figured out that registry item. God knows why it's not turned on by default or included as an option in the Options dialog but it's not and that's not so good, IMHO.

There are alot of folks that create images that are so full of fills and other effects. It's just a fluke in your case, and mine and others too.

I do know that ever since I built my own system and upgraded from Pentium III to IV and moved to XP Pro from Win2000 Pro I have been in much better shape.

My old system is at work now. Good system, Win 2000 Pro SP3 and PIII and over 512 RAM and plenty of disk space as well as being tweaked to death for top performance and XaraX still runs "funny" on it. On XP it's pretty darned good and stable.

So there you have it Dave. Good luck and remember to save, save, save.

Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

---Wolff On The Prowl---

[This message was edited by RAMWolff on March 09, 2003 at 22:21.]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I used several fills and blends in that file. Does this tend to overload them? I noticed it ran slower before going bye bye.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Whenever my own copy of Xara X crashes and corrupts it is usually when I have some blends with lots of (100s) intermediates. Trying to slice a blend in particular.
Tony

Don't forget that it could have been a nice watercolour...nearly finished...whoops - there goes my jar of water. D***n s**t etc

www.bricksandbrass.co.uk