I’m an IDIOT
I can’t begin to tell you the problems I’m having. Like, I left my USB2 external harddrive connected to the laptop (as was suggested by the ‘Install Advisor’ that HP provided) and it re-formatted the drive!!!
Never mind that that was where I had backed up my system (as HP had also advised me to do).
And never mind that the emergency back-up disks I had dutifully created (12 CDs in total) proved to be totally useless. (They ran -maybe 1.5 HOURS in total- then reported some unidentified problem that forced them to close.)
So now Im stuck with VISTA whether I want it or not. Right now Im in the process of trying to recover whatever files I can from the portable hard-drive (you know, like ALL the raw tracks from the last five songs I recorded on this computer) PLUS dealing with the issues of re-installing whatever programs I want, and discovering that many of them DONT WORK in VISTA.<br><br>Meanwhile Bill Gates is, Im sure, laughing his a$$ off.
I am sorry to hear of your calamity.
I do know how frustrating it can be to rely on a piece of machinery to hold something valuable of yours only to have it let you down.
The more I hear of all these upgrades the more it makes me want to never go there.
I’m on windows98SE and ntrack2.3 and it is the fear of the unknown, and the known that makes me hesitant to go with something new…
I while back, like 2003 I was going to go to Windows 2000 than I read a few DAW centered reviews and it sounded like nothing but trouble.
Then XP came out…looked like more of the same, as far as the music related software and driver hangups…
Honestly I just don’t have the time to upgrade a system and suffer the possible losses and all the hoops you have to jump through with video and sound cards drivers…and software.
If I were to by a new system it would have XP on it or Vista, since there is nothing to risk there…
Thanks for the tip about the external drive, I have one too and that would certainly have got me, only mine has about 2 years worth of backed up scratch tracks for songs…
I do hope things turn around for ya, for the better of course.
keep shinin’
jerm 
OoHh MmAaNn… What a shame.
I know you followed the instructions down to the letter.
For me… I thought I’d take the studio dual boot P-111 and upgrade the ram… Put another stick of ram into IT… That was maybe a year or so ago, now…
When I booted it up into XP it (something) looked kind of weird… till it Blue Screen’d… I ended up having to rebuild the XP Desk… Now I am unable to reinstall the Matrox dual screen video drivers into XP… The XP desk wants to load some compatible drivers that don’t work correctly. The '98SE desk survived it all… Working fine… The XP desk didn’t… I just don’t seem to be able to let “Well Enough” alone…
I have no idea why I abuse myself like that…
Bill…
What a bummer B.C. 
Windows upgrades really chaps my butt, just from the point that if you stay with the older os as I have with 98se, you eventually get in the same shape with any new proggies not working because upgrades can’t work with older os’s. So (satan)Gates has you by the short 'n curley’s don’t he. And if you are as dumb as myself, you never know with what upgrades or proggies to go with.
Vista isn’t a bad OS - I just can’t figure out why, during its install, it decided to format my external drive. It makes no sense to me at all.
I downloaded something called EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard and it reports being able to find my back-up file on the drive but I would have to purchase the full version to attempt to restore it. Part of me wants to and part of me is looking for the message from the universe in this; maybe I should let it go.
Eyup!
Bill, there are genuine free data recovery tools out there, and if all you have done is reformat the drive and not done any reloading of new data there is an excellent chance of recovery. After all, all that a quick format does is erase the entries in the file allocation tables, the actual data itself is not touched.
I had a similar problem several years ago and managed to recover all my data, although the process took several hours.
I’m sure I still have the application on a redundant hard drive, I’ll try and dig it out.
Steve
Thanks Steve. I went to Best Buy and bought a proggie called Search and Recover 4 (made by iolo, whoever they are) for $29.99 CDN which made some impressive claims on the box. I figured, like you, that a simple re-format shouldn’t be that difficult to get around and the other proggie found the backup file so what the heck…
Search and Recover 4 doesn’t say that it runs in Vista but it seemed to install okay and is “searching” right now - over an hour now, actually.
The one advantage to all this is that, since it’s an external drive I can ensure that nothing else happens to it. Vista wrote a 500 MB backup of itself to the drive but nothing else has been added since.
I guess we’ll see…
EDIT - I dunno - it’s at 61% and says that it’s found 2,214 files! I’m beginning to wonder if I bought a refurbished external drive. - EDIT
2nd EDIT - At 65% it’s reporting 3500 files found! I must confess that curiosity has the better of me now. - 2nd EDIT
3rd EDIT - Complete waste of time and money. $30 and hours of my time to find more than 3000 partial files that cannot be combined in any kind of meaningful way. I give up - I am re-formatting the drive right now to remove the temptation to even try this again. The universe has spoken; it’s time to move forward. -
3rd EDIT
4th EDIT - Okay that’s it. For the interest of anyone else - before upgrading to Vista BACK UP YOUR FILES - on DVD or CD, if on an external drive - DISCONNECT IT BEFORE THE INSTALL. Also I suggest you back up the files straight - not with Noron Ghost or any other program - just copy them straight.
Strange thing, my install of Band-In-A-Box 2007 survived the upgrade without a scratch, near as I can tell - REAL DRUM samples and all - very strange. - 4th EDIT
Glad you survived Bill!
I must say though… right now, my PC’s ain’t broke so I ain’t a FIXIN’ em! LOL! 
My buddy at work bought a new laptop with Vista pre-installed AFTER I warned him not to do so. He was surprised to find that NONE of the software we use will run on Vista. Since this stuff is very industry specific, it might be Vista ready when Vista’s replacement debuts! He’s hosed…
D
Eyup!
My Vista upgrade DVD has just arrived…
Steve
This is scarey stuff!
| Quote (Beefy Steve @ April 20 2007,03:44) |
| My Vista upgrade DVD has just arrived...... |
Be afraid. Be very afraid...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows…or.mspx
Go there before upgrading, or installing on new hardware. Use the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. If a piece oh hardware can’t be checked assume it won’t work unless the manufacturer says there are no problems on Vista.
Eyup!
Well, my new pc is only a couple of months old, all the current ones are being shipped with Vista pre-installed.
I ran the upgrade advisor and to my surprise it reported only one problem. It said I would have to install a new driver for my video capture card and that this driver was available from the download centre.
Pretty amazing, seeing as how this card is an obsolete piece of kit and will not work under XP!
(I use Ubuntu Linux if I want to capture any video with this card)
I think I’ll wait until I have bought a large enough hard drive to back up my current configuration before upgrading 
Steve
(Beefy Steve @ Apr. 20 2007,02:44)
QUOTE
Eyup!
My Vista upgrade DVD has just arrived......
Steve
My Vista upgrade DVD has just arrived......
Steve
Beefy - put down that box. Niiiiice and easy, now step away from it son... Easy does it ...
I like that… 
Nice advice. there… Or… Did you take the plunge?
There’s nothing like gettin a little mud on the tires…
Bill…
Eyup!
I am listening to wise council here.
The “upgrade” dvd is still in its’ pack.
Unusual for me, as I am a bit of a tinkerer and like to mess with stuff.
But yes, I put the disk in a nice dark drawer and s l ow l y shut it away.
I am hoping that, like a fine wine it will slowly mature
Steve
Hi Beefy Steve:
I’m glad you didn’t open that up and go past the point of no return…
It funny hearing you say you have this Dark Drawer… Maybe, some day audio guys may have to go beyond XP… as an Operating System.
As long as the Audio Application Writers stick to XP we wouldn’t need to go beyond that Operating System. Well, that what I think…
But yes, I put the disk in a nice dark drawer and s l ow l y shut it away.
I am hoping that, like a fine wine it will slowly mature
Ain’t that a great line…
Bill…