DennisD

Nice one, although it probably needs a couple of fans.

Marilyn, after having a trawl round the Adobe forum, that error number seems to rear it's head quite often if you have moved or maybe deleted a pic from your "My Pictures" folder, (or wherever you keep your originals), and not updated the Photoshop organiser. Have you tried File > Catalog > Recover. Just a thought.

That is the negative aspect of not having everything in one zipped file. I've found it does take some time to get individual folders back onto the C: drive. The positive I've found from doing it my way (cue for a song?), is that I never put every thing back on that I took off. This applies in particular to installation packages, music I don't listen too that often, you know what I mean. Sorry to labour this point, but never having compressed all my data, can you do a selective restore like that with your backup? Thanks for the info.

Sorry fullbug, I've tried changing everything I can think of via the control panel now as well. Different theme, different font size, but still works OK on beta and original. However, when I knocked my screen resolution down to 800 X 600, it was automatically reset to 1024 X 768 when I accessed either version of Yahoo. I have no idea if that`s significant, or relates to your problem in any way, but maybe one of the other guys here might know. Hope you can get it sorted.

Always happy to be of service. At least you now know what it isn`t. Actually, I had a bit play around with different options, but up to now, everything is still working OK. Looking at your reply though, I`m still chuckling away here.

Liked the thunder at the start, and I can still hear OK, so it`s not that bad. Seriously, I liked the track, but I couldn`t listen to an album of similar stuff. I would put that on a compilation CD.

Thought about it, but could never make up my mind.

I use Yahoo mail beta, and it`s working fine. I changed back to the other version, and that`s also working OK. Had no problems at all, and I use it on a regular basis.

Is that a freeware program Humpty? I ask because I had a look at the home page earlier, and Perfect Disk 8 is now available, but not free.

At the risk of being told something obvious which has escaped me, I`m gonna ask the question again: Why do you need to compress all your backups? I backup all my stuff on a regular basis. I have two backups of my Operating System on DVD`s. I also have a recovery partition for my OS as well. All my other files, i.e. My Pictures, My Music, Software Installation packages, Videos etc, are backed up onto DVD`s just as they are, with no compression. The file and folder structures are retained just as they are on the hard drive, and I`ve never lost a single file after doing a format and reinstall. I`ll be the first to hold up my hands and say "of course, I never thought of that", but at the moment I can`t see the need to compress everything. The only use I have for a program like Zip Genius at present, is to open zipped files.

Talking about Hi Fi equipment, VCR`s, DVD`s, anything electrical. Worst piece of dogs doodah I ever bought, a long time ago, was a Sanyo BETAMAX VCR. Looking at the recorded playback was like watching TV when you`ve had more than a few double whiskys. Luckily, because of the crap picture, I managed to get it changed, and I picked a VHS model. As it turned out, VHS flourished, and Betamax just faded into oblivion.

Some you win, some you lose. Just straying ever so slightly off topic here, one of the worst choices I ever made was with the very first VCR I bought:- Betamax Luckily it was a Sanyo, and S**t picture quality, so I took it back and changed it for a proper one, VHS. If you remember, Betamax just died a death. This subject is worth a new topic.

Thanks for this link Andavari. Keeping an eye on the condition of the hard drive isn`t something I would normally think of doing. Although running this program must fill you with a little bit of trepidation, you know; "please be OK, I can`t afford to replace you just now" But on the other hand, it`s nice to be able to have early warning of hard drive problems.

I use JKDefrag & Auslogics, but not too often. I have noticed a difference in the speed Windows Explorer loads and displays stuff after using JKDefrag, and I read that it optimizes the hard drive by putting all the folders first in line for quicker access. JKDefrag takes longer, but appears to do a more thorough job. I usually use Auslogics first because it "sounds" as if it`s easier on the drive, and then polish it up with JKDefrag, which then in turn doesn`t take as much time as it would normally. This method might all be a crock of s**t, but it works for me.

Thanks for your input, but I`ve actually missed the obvious solution, and that is to simply import all my videos to the WMP library. Once I selected "videos", every .mov, divX etc was automatically imported and filed. I can now play them singly or as a video playlist. Sometimes the obvious is staring you in the face, and you don`t see it. I`ve also got another program I can use to play movie playlists, and that is Veoh. It`s a good video downloader, as well as being a versatile player. Besides .mov files it also plays FLV and divX. And it has a nice GUI. That`s a downloaded Flash Video I tried. Works great, and Veoh is a free program if anyones interested. The download button is in the btm right corner of the page.

Thanks Hazel, I think that`s a good idea because of Media Classics straightforward and simple GUI, although the program itself is far from simplistic. JD, yes, they play smoothly in WMP. I`ve tried a lot of them to make sure, although I have to load each file individually by manually selecting "any file (**)" in the file browse window. The default "media files (all types)" will not recognize my .mov files which is a bit of a pain. In fact it`s a big pain, so I`m gonna use Media Player Classic, or if I`m looking at pics at the same time, Picasa. Just out of interest, Faststone Viewer recognises all my .mov files now, but it loads Media Classic to play them.

OK squire, thanks for that, and the link.

I`ve never been a fan of windows media player until I installed Version 11. I think it looks stunning in that black finish, and I really like the way you can organise the library to show CD cover artwork. But back to the codecs. I assume that pack you mention is OK, as you are using it. I`ve shied off codec packs because of various adverse comments I`ve read about them, but this one I take it comes without any problems? I`m trying to think what I could play that I can`t play now. Got divX v6 encoder, which plays divX movies in WMP 11 or Veoh. Got QuickTime stuff now with Media Player Classic. Got an FLV player for flash vids etc. I think I`m pretty well covered. Unless you gonna tell me different, and I`ve a feeling that thats a distinct possibility.

That`s a good link for me as well. Planning on a memory upgrade. It`s nice that you can download the scanner to run locally if you visit the site with anything other than IE. Otherwise it`s another activeX install. Thanks

Final word. Since installing QuickTime Alternative, I can now play my movies in Picasa & Windows Media Player 11. And of course, Media Player Classic for quickness. Thanks again.

Guess what guys, you are both right: Thanks.

That story is so ridiculous it could only be true. Nice find.

OK, thanks guys, I`m going with QuickTime alternative/Media Player Classic. I earlier downloaded a quicktime codec from Codec-Download, hoping to place it in picasa`s plug-in folder. Thought it might work the way I downloaded the Lame encoder for AudioGrabber. But unfortunately, when I unzipped it, it told me to obtain Apple QuickTime: B*****d. Goes without saying I appreciate your input.