what would cause this?

[kaydville]

Hi,

I bought a new computer going from 750 mhz Windows Me laptop with 320mgs of ram to a Windows XP dual core 2.8 ghz with 1 gig of ram.
Here's the problem. I use a program called Writer's Cafe to organize my research notes. With my old computer I was able to run this program with Internet Explorer or Firefox with no problems. On the new system, I get frequent hangups and/or freezeups whenever I re-enter the program after leaving it to search online. Sometimes I have to shut down the program. Other times it's just a long delay with a frozen partially white screen. This never happened on my old system. I was able to do my research online and switch back to WC to work.

I tried running it with my firewall and antivirus off. No change. I also tried to recreate the problem with other programs.
I ran Corel Photopaint, Corel Painter, 2 MS Word Documents, IE 6 and Firefox and then switched back and forth between various programs. I had no problems at all. I added in Writer's Cafe. Still had no problem switching back and forth between any of the other programs but when I switched to WC the program hung up.

The program supports Win98 through XP. The program creator offered some suggestions but they didn't work.

Anybody have any thoughts on what might cause this or what my next step should be? :confused:

Thanks,
Kay

[Sterling_Aug]

Is there any upgrades to new versions available for this program?

[BipolarBill]

If the program uses a browser for an interface, it's probably a spyware problem.

http://www.ewido.net/en/download/

[kaydville]

I'm running the latest version. It's also the same version that is on my laptop. It was released in March or April. I also tried installing a previous version but it still did the same thing.
I ran the Ewido scan. It found a lot more than Spybot which I run weekly. It didn't make any difference in the program's behavior. But on the + side, I have a new spyware scanner. :)
I appreciate the help. Any suggestions are welcome.

[bruceb]

That program only supports 32 bit xp .. your new machine is a Dual Core
Processor and that is likely at the root of the problem

Make sure your BIOS is the Latest Version and also that Dual Core
operation is Enabled in the BIOS .. see if that will work .. if not then
try setting the BIOS to Single Core operation and see it that works ok

Failing that I would suggest you post at the program makers forum at:

http://www.writerscafe.co.uk/ ... select the Forums link at left side

Free registration

[kaydville]

Hi, thanks for another option to try. The bios was set for dual core; reset it to single. Problem still exists. I checked out the bios update. These are the fixes in the new update:1. Improve PCIE graphics detection algorithm.
2. Fix memory module detection for SMBIOS.

Could either of these be the source of my problem? No point in updating if neither of these could be the source of my problem since everything else seems to be working fine.

BTW: I did contact the software maker and he couldn't help & I did post to the board but have received no replies.

Thanks,
Kay

[kaydville]

Went ahead and did the bios update. No change.

Thanks,
Kay

[kaydville]

Ok. I'm back. I've solved the problem but the solution has it's own problem.
I decided to go back to my original thought that it must be a conflict somewhere. I went back to Services and started again. Turned everything off and added things back in until I narrowed it down to Workstation Service. When this is disabled my program runs perfectly. But I can't access my network.
Is there anyway to start Workstation from within Windows without going into MSConfig and rebooting? Can I create a shortcut to it? Or does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix the conflict itself?

Thanks,
Kay

[BipolarBill]

I would reinstall Windows and plan ahead next time with a backup schedule.

[kaydville]

I can reinstall windows but I'm not sure what you mean by "plan ahead next time with a backup schedule"? I have a backup schedule but what does that have to do with this problem?

[BipolarBill]

If you back up your PC on a regular (weekly) basis and something like this happens, you can simply restore the backup. I would think that would be obvious.

[BipolarBill]

Which reminds me - have you tried System Restore?

[kaydville]

Not so obvious, Bill. The computer is only a couple of months old and the problem has been ongoing since close to the beginning. But since I was having no other problems I had no reason to suspect it was a system problem. I don't do restores every time my computer hiccups. I thought I could fix by tweaking the settings or by doing a program reinstall when I had more time. Who would guess the problem was WorkStation Service-- you didn't.
Bill, I appreciate this board. I've gotten a lot of help here. A lot of it from you. But I don't appreciate the attitude. You having a bad day or what?

[BipolarBill]

Nothing gets done when you sugarcoat all of the time. People don't take it to heart. This has been my experience. Besides, what you see as attitude is not. I'm just keeping it simple. I have other things to do, you know.

You didn't mention that this has been a problem since new either.

Backups are critical from day one. There is no time that it's safe *not* to backup. As an example, how many car keys do you have? I bet you have at least 2 - one spare. Do you have spares of your data? I bet not. If it's important, it's imprtant enough to back up.

The Workstation service is critical. It cannot be disabled - period. My guess is that it's not the Workstation service that's causing this anyway - it's probably some other program you installed (or that sneaked in) and it's causing problems with the service.

Now, it could be that the initial Windows image that the vendor installed is corrupt. Since this PC is new, I would suggest that you contact the vendor for help.

[kaydville]

I have a workaround solution to the Workstation problem. If I cmd stop Workstation I can use my program with no problems. Then when I'm ready to backup my work over the network, I do a cmd start so I can access my network. I created bat files to execute the commands. It's not ideal. But it works.

Thanks for the help,

Kay

[kaydville]

You were right, Bill. It wasn't Workstation causing the problem. Someone suggested that I "look on any network drives or locations you have mapped for shortcut files that may have become invalid".
I deleted 1 dead shortcut and the problem was fixed. After all the hours I've put on this and all the people who have helped me, it's hard to believe I was 'done in' by a dead shortcut. And that, instead of messing up my network connections, the problem would effect a writing program. :x

Anyway, thanks again.

Kay

[BipolarBill]

Yup - mapped network drives and shared folders can cause big headaches if they are not maintained.