Xara Screenmaker 3D Problem

[Pappy]

Hello,
I just bought the Xara Screenmaker program and have something wierd going on. I can make the screensavers OK, but they freeze up on my computer after running about 5 minutes! They run fine on everything else Ive put them on.

Im running a 2.4 P4 processor, 512 ram, 80 gig hard drive and a Gainward Ge Force 3 128 video card.

Anybody else seen this??

Ihave used other Xara softwares for awhile now and have never had a problem with them. I emailed support, but have gotten no response.

I saw this little program a few days ago and thought "what the heck".........figured it would be fun to play with. But sheesh!!

Thanx in advance.

[Soquili]

Hi Pappy,

Welcome to the forums.

I can't guarantee I can answer your question, but when a screen saver locks up it could be due to the msvcrt.dll not containing a routine the screen saver is looking for.

Do a search on your PC for msvcrt.dll, you will probably find multiple copies of the file in various directories. Find the copy that is in your Windows/System or Winnt/System32 folder (depending on which version of windows you are using). Right click on that file and then select the Version tab. Write down the version number you have. Do the same on a PC that is running the screen saver correctly. If the version on the PC that works correctly is higher than your, you may need to install a new service pack for your version of windows.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Soquili

[Pappy]

I took your advice and checked the .dll file you mentioned. I have version 7.0.2600.1106 on this machine and also on a laptop (I though) that the screensaver was running OK on. Turns out, it will run about 2 hours on it and then freeze up. So bottom line.............theyre freezing up all the way around. This machine and 2 laptops. All XP and all have plenty of "snuff" to run em.

Oh well................

[Soquili]

Hi Pappy,

In researching a request by Nixielee in the Xara3D forum, I found that XP SP1 (clean install) does not have a required codec to run the screen savers. Did your XP machines come with service pack 1, or were they purchased/upgraded to XP before the release of service pack 1? Is SP1 installed on your machines?

I'm asking to see if there is a relation between XP SP1 and the problems with the screen savers created by Screenmaker 3D and Xara3D5.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Soquili

[Pappy]

My desktop was special built............and has all the XP updates/service pax. My laptop is a little HP and it also has all the updates.
Thanx

[Soquili]

Thanks Pappy.

That information leads me to think that something in the service pack may be prohibiting the screen savers created by Screenmaker 3D and Xara3D from working in a consistent manner. This may be one of the reasons Microsoft stopped providing the free version of the indeo codec in XP SP1. Unfortunately this would mean that anyone with XP SP1 would need to buy the Ligos version of the updated codec for the screen savers to work correctly. If you are interested you can purchase the codec from Ligos.

Soquili

[ChasFred]

I have downloaded the Ligos codex and installed it on two of my computers and I still have my cube screensavers stop also. Has anybody found a cure for this. I have tried contacting Xara support an have not heard from them yet

[dspenca]

Guys,

I have also.... (STupid!) brought Screenmaker to make a screensaver for a company, created one ok only to get complaints that the screen saver freezes up after about 5 mins. Ran various different versions off, The more cubes you have the more time it seams to be before it hangs. I also raised a support call for which I have had no reply too.

The support service seams to be CR*P.

not happy..

Dave

[bigfoot651]

I think I have solved the problem of the screensaver freezing. If you go into the windows display properties then Settings -> Advanced -> Troubleshoot, untick “enable write combining” then restart the computer this seems to resolve the problem.

I have yet to try it over a long period but before I tried this my screensaver would not go any longer than 3 minutes. Since turning it off it has ran for at least 20 minutes