CRISIS!!!!!!!

AMEGPhil wrote on 5/10/2004, 6:40 PM
Here's my crisis...apparently, my studio computer took a power hit, or lightning, or got whacked by an Internet worm, or something. My operating system (Win 98SE) will not start normally. I have tried repeatedly to reload the OS with no success. I can boot the computer in safe mode, though, and see all my .veg files and .wav files in their respective folders. I have been told by 2 different MSCE guys that I have to format the C: drive and start from scratch.

Here's my dilemna...I can copy all the .veg and .wav files from my storage folder on my C: drive to my D: drive (an identical, currently unused 80G HD). In fact, I've already done this. Just to make sure that they transferred OK, I downloaded a trial version of Vegas onto a different PC in my house, then tried to load a .veg file onto a floppy and play it in the good PC....no luck. I got an error message stating that the computer couldn't find the file in the specified location. But, what was interesting was that my othe rcomputer was looking for a track .wav file, not the .veg file.

Is a .veg file simply a "road map" to the series of .wav files that make up the individual tracks of a project? If so, where are the individual .wav files that make up the project stored? How can I create a backup system on my D: drive that will protect my current files (including a 16 track CD that is literally 1 week from being ready to send off to the duplicators!!!!!!!) so that the format on my C: drive will not destroy all my current files? Apparently just copyin gth e.veg files isn't enough...do I need to copy everything out of my "Sonic Foundry" folder in the Windows Program Files directory over to the D: drive, then transfer everything back into the "new" Windows Program Files directory?

I'm afraid...very afraid!!!!!!

Thanks in advance for your answers...I want to get this thing back up and running ASAP, but not at the expense of losing my data. Speaking of which...if the .wav files that make up a .veg file are not stored in the same folder as the .veg file, how the hell are you supposed to back them up?

Comments

kbruff wrote on 5/10/2004, 7:06 PM
-- my suggestions...

Go and buy a new hard drive
reinstall...

(01) OS

(02) Patches / Updates

(03) Security APPS [Anti Virus / Firewall / Spyware]

(04) Reinstall Software [including updates]

(05) Install the old hard drive then migrate the files into a temporary directoey
on the new drive

(06) After you have acquired all of the files that you care about format your
old drive and use it as a backup for your new hard drive (keep in mind that you should only back up your critical files, you can do a direct copy and boot to it whenever you want)

--
Kevin
***
MJhig wrote on 5/10/2004, 7:10 PM
EDITS indicated by *...*

Yes the *.veg files are to use your words "a road map".

Firstly you would have been much better off to have created a new folder for each project at the start. Also every time you record you should have been asked which folder to store the waves in unless you turned it off. Finally you should have saved the project checking the "Copy and trim media" check box at least towards the end at least then burned it to DVD if not CD.

Since you can get into Safe Mode open each project in Vegas > File > Properties > Audio tab, in the Recorded Files folder field will be the path the audio files should be stored in. Copy this folder to your "D:" drive and the *.veg files. Hopefully this is a separate physical drive so if you should have to format C: you will not loose your data. You might also Start > Find > Files or Folders and search for "*.wav" (no quotes) on C: and if you see any wave files that you recognize as belonging to a Vegas project copy that folder to D: also.

You can use a Windows 98 startup disk and boot to DOS with CD support if necessary but that's another chapter. Also since you can run in Safe Mode this indicates it's a software problem as Windows doesn't load all the whistles and bells in Safe Mode.

What did you install *just prior to the failure*, software/drivers and in Add/Remove programs uninstall what it was.

*If the above fails;*

If this *happened* less than 5 days *ago* you can try booting to "Command Prompt only" by holding Ctl or F8 while booting then at the C: prompt type scanreg /restore, choose a date that is prior to the problem *This will restore a previous copy of the registry.*

Trying to install Windows 98 over itself is the absolute worst thing you can do. It will cause more problems to go with the problems you already have.

MJ
AMEGPhil wrote on 5/10/2004, 7:11 PM
Kevin-

I have 2 HD's installed in this PC now...the 2nd drive (the D: drive) is currently unused. Should I load the OS on the D: drive, load all the software (essentially Vegas, SF, and some soft synths)back onto the D: drive, then dump the contents of the C: drive into a temp directory?

Will that address the issue of the Vegas files not really being where they say they are?
AMEGPhil wrote on 5/10/2004, 7:20 PM
MJ-

I tried the scanreg/restore trick...I got to the point where my desktop showed all the icons, and the "Start" button worked, but nothing happened when I clicked the icons or tried to start a program.

MyD: drive is separate, and since I can boot into safe mode, I can copy just about anything to anywhere. I've already copied the folders that have all my .veg and .wav tracks, and I copied the "Sonic Foundry" folder (it has Vegas 3.0 and 4.0, SF 6.0, Acid, and CD Architect 5.0 in it) out of my "Program Files" folder-all of the track .wavs (Track 1 Take 47, etc...) are apparently stored there, because they're transferring over now...

I just want to be sure that the paths to pull the track files aren't corrupted by moving all the .wav files to the D: drive temporarily while I format the C: drive...

EDIT: I guess my question is...now that I've got the .veg files AND the actual Vegas folder (which contains the track data) moved over to the D: drive temporarily, if I format the C drive then move everything back later, will the paths still be vaild from the original .veg files?
MJhig wrote on 5/10/2004, 7:29 PM
If you have copied all the .veg files and folders containing the waves then you should be OK. You will have to format C: and load everything, OS and apps. Then when you launch Vegas and load a .veg you will have to point it to the folders containing the waves.

Copying the Vegas folders will not work for installing the program. You will have to reinstall all apps., plugins etc.

I would certainly find the problem that caused this but now that you have tried restoring the registry and it failed plus tried to install Windows over itself you are probably looking at format > install.

I hope you have all the drivers for your hardware (motherboard, video card, sound card, modem etc. saved to another drive or on CD or floppy.

MJ
AMEGPhil wrote on 5/10/2004, 7:50 PM
I'm not worried about the hardware...all the drivers are in a safe place right next to the computer, just in case this happened. I've gone through this too many times with 98-I should have had a better backup plan.

Other than my laptop, this is the last PC of 6 that I own to have 98SE on it, and the only reason I keep the freaking thing on that system is the fact that my Seasound Solo and Expander(my front end for my DAW) were designed with 98 in mind, and the XP drivers are missing some functionality. If the Seasound stuff would work right in XP, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I've got XP Pro on 3 PC's in my house, and haven't had issue 1 since I upgraded 2 years ago.

What if I tried unistalling 98 from the control panel in safe mode? Would the system recognize the CD drives and autorun the Win98 install disk after an uninstall? I've never tried it, so I'd be interested to see if anyone has, just as a last option before a format....
MJhig wrote on 5/10/2004, 8:01 PM
There is no CD support in Safe Mode and there is no "uninstall" for the OS. Logically it could not accomplish this as it would be erasing itself and sooner of later in the process would halt.

You will either need a Win startup disk and use Fdisk or a utility from your HDD MFG to format.

XP would be the way to go as 98 is obsolete now although can run very reliably is not forgiving for those that don't want to concern themselves with geek work.

Have you checked the Seasound website lately for XP drivers?

Good luck.

MJ
AMEGPhil wrote on 5/10/2004, 8:15 PM
There are XP drivers for the Seasound products, but they're not from the mfg...they went belly up in 2001. There's a couple of tech guys that have written drivers for XP, but some of the functionality is missing....

Decisions, decisions....I suppose I could load the OS onto the D: drive first, format the C: drive afterward, and reload all the software. Would that screw up the system, with OS on BOTH drives? Again, my bigget concern is the stability and retention of my data...everything else can be reloaded, rediscovered, or recreated.

Oddly enough, in safe mode in the control panel, there is an "Uninstall Windows 98 Second Edition" option in the Add/Remove Programs box...I don't want to know how that works....
MJhig wrote on 5/10/2004, 8:28 PM
"Oddly enough, in safe mode in the control panel, there is an "Uninstall Windows 98 Second Edition" option in the Add/Remove Programs box...I don't want to know how that works"

That's because the system was upgraded to SE from 98 first edition.

If you load the OS to D: you will create two boot drives. I would prefer not to do that myself. If in your shoes I would copy every wave, MP3 etc to D: that I remotely felt was important and use a Win 98 startup disk > fdisk and format C:. You should be able to create one in Safe Mode > Control Panel > Add/Remove > Startup although to be honest I didn't boot to Safe Mode to check.

Just out of curiosity, in Device Manager do you have any warning icons?

MJ
AMEGPhil wrote on 5/10/2004, 8:40 PM
Nope...that's what's kinda weird. None of the normal troubleshooting techniques for Win98 startup appear to work-I went through the whole troubleshooter. No device conflicts, no hardware conflicts, everything appears to be playing nicely together. But when I try to boot the system from the HD, right after the Win 98 screen comes up, I get a constant beep from my mobo speaker, the screen goes black, and everything locks up.

Hell, now it's fighting me to build the startup disk. I think it's possessed. I may be forced to the dual-boot just to get the old OS off....
MJhig wrote on 5/10/2004, 8:59 PM
You can get a boot disk here Bootdisk.com or as I said get the format utility from your HDD MFG.

Given what you said at the start I didn't expect an error message in Device Manager unless you installed a new driver and the ability to boot to Safe Mode generally indicates a software issue but now you mention a motherboard beep code so you should check your BIOS MFG's beep code as it could indicate a hardware failure of a device that isn't loaded in Safe Mode and you could end up with the same problem after a format > clean install.

MJ
Cold wrote on 5/10/2004, 9:02 PM
If all your data was originally stored on the C drive, bite the bullet, buy a third drive, do a fresh install of your os on this drive, it does not have to be huge as the only thing you want on this drive is your os and your apps, but it should be a good quality drive, western digital or something similar. In fact you don't want one of the new monster size drives, they are not as resilient as say a 40 or 80 gig. Now use the 80 gig you presently own as a data drive, keep all your wave files here. Do not touch your original C drive until the your CD is done. There may be a wave file or two hiding on there somewhere that you still need. Once your CD is done, then reformat your old C drive and add it into your computer as an extra data, back up drive. While it is best to back up onto removable media, DVD, CD, etc., a copy from one hard drive to a second data drive is at least a quicky back up if your data drive goes. I speak from experience, this has saved me.
Steve S.
drbam wrote on 5/11/2004, 6:36 AM
After getting all your data moved to a new drive, at this point I would retire the Seasound system for something more current and stable and just move on to XP. Likely you'd live a more crisis free life. ;-)

drbam

AMEGPhil wrote on 5/11/2004, 8:08 AM
That advice makes too much sense for me to follow.

Besides, I really like the Seasound's mic pre's-they blow away the ones on my Mackie 24.4, and the whole unit is extremely easy to use.

It also looks cool and is paid for, and there's a lot to be said for that......

Once I get this fixed, I may try to set up a dual-boot 98SE/XP system and mess with the SS WDM drivers for XP. I'm just a little concerned about some of the issues I've heard about trying to use the XP drivers, since the whole system has worked flawlessly in 98SE up until this little problem.....

kbruff wrote on 5/11/2004, 3:43 PM
"
That advice makes too much sense for me to follow.

Besides, I really like the Seasound's mic pre's-they blow away the ones on my Mackie 24.4, and the whole unit is extremely easy to use.

It also looks cool and is paid for, and there's a lot to be said for that......

Once I get this fixed, I may try to set up a dual-boot 98SE/XP system and mess with the SS WDM drivers for XP. I'm just a little concerned about some of the issues I've heard about trying to use the XP drivers, since the whole system has worked flawlessly in 98SE up until this little problem.....
"

well - then perform what two posts have recommended for you so far.
Get your system up and running again - then migrate your files to "functional" the hard disk, then perform careful and detailed searches for your audio files.


Regards,
Kevin
***
MrPhil wrote on 5/12/2004, 8:11 AM
Yes, the veg-file is a "roadmap". It asks for the missing wav-files that aren't on your floppy.
If you put in the backup drive from your crashed comp to your house PC, and start the veg-files in vegas from there, all should be fine.
try that.
Second: if it's your OS that crashed, your C: could be switched to D: and you should be able to get to all files on your old main disk if you install the OS on a new C:.
To avoid this, always have the OS on C:, and the projects and wav-files on D:.
Good luck!