Adaptec CD Writer software locks up

[stickyb]

Can anybody help??
My son had a usb connected CD Rewriter for Christmas.
Installed it, everything works OK, until the PC is reloaded. Then starting up the CD creator progrsm locks up the laptop.
Uninstall the software, reinstall it, works fine again for writing one CD, then second time, locks up the whole PC.
Again, uninstall, reinstall, works fine for just one CD.
Fujitsu laptop running Windows 98 SE, tried with IE 5.5 and 6, still the same.
Anyone any ideas?

[SLF 999]

Have you anything else using USB at the same time, I had a similar problem with a USB modem where it would work then freeze the PC, updating to the latest drivers seemed to cure it.
Its worth looking at microsofts site and searching on the knowledge base for USB and win 98.
Or try the laptop manufacturers or CD writers sites and see if there are any updated drivers that you need

[fobotcso]

Could be a number of things from BIOS to a conflict with another device.

Will try to give a structured answer later but to get you going have a look at this site:

<a href="http://www.cdrfaq.org/" target="_blank">http://www.cdrfaq.org/</a>

Have other USB devices worked OK?

Have you tried disabling the Re-write software (packet writing) and just use the Write program?

What other Apps are running in the background? CD writers often conflict with other progs (the technique is still in its infancy).

Try stopping other programs using Ctrl/Alt/Del for each one but remember to leave Explorer and Systray running - they are the heart of Windows.

After your first, successful, CD write does your CD writing program really close? You may be surprised to find it still running in the background even though you thought it had been closed. (Ctrl/Alt/Del again).

Especially try to stop your anti-virus software and screen savers while recording CDs.

[FL310]

and when you write cds, log off the internet...

did you install the software on that usb port you have the modem on?
i have a hub and i had to install all usb devices on all ports to get rid of the problems.
this means, you need to install the modem and all other devices again and again after plugging the devicesin the next port, even if you do not change them later again.

[timmcat]

..or get hold of a copy of Nero. Despite warnings, I have Adaptec 4 and Nero 4 on my old P1 system, and find that some tasks are best suited to one than the other. Like others, sounds like a conflict here, or program not exiting correctly.

[stickyb]

Thanks for all the help guys.
Finally tracked it down to a .dll in the windows/system directory, put there by a game called Team 17.
Deleted it, allowed adaptec to indstall it's own version, and everythin ok.

[fobotcso]

Thanks for the feedback, SB. That Team 17 game has been the culprit in a number of head-scratching episodes. Wasn't CTL3D32.DLL by any chance, was it?

[Mac the Knife]

StickyB - what was that DLL? I have exactly the same problem! Email me at [email protected] soonest please.

fobotsco - I'll try renaming ctl3d32.dll and see what happens - any more info. on this mysterious DLL?

Cheers - Mac

[Mac the Knife]

OK - penny dropped. My ctl3d32.dll had been replaced by some clunkly old copy dating back to '95. Suspect some freebie useless Corel app. that I put in just before Xmas. Found a good one dated 23/04/99 and replaced it.

All well and back running properly. Thanks fellers (and PPRuNe) for giving me the hint I needed.

Have a good '02.

[stickyb]

The offending dll was mfc42.dll

[fobotcso]

Three DLLs that feature prominently (but not exclusively) in the rogues gallery are

CTL3D32.DLL
MSVCRT.DLL
MFC42.DLL

and Applications such as Flight simulator, AOL, Encarta provide their own and they may be ancient. This is a good reason not to install an old version of these programs or, if you must, try keeping some clean versions of these DLLs handy to reinstall after things go pear-shaped.

My MS Technet documentation will help diagnose some DLL faults and I'd be happy to look items up for PPRuNers if you publish the error message here or e-mail me. (You know the sort of thing, "Tcw50 caused an invalid page fault in module Mfc42.dll" etc when you try to start TurboCad).

[Mac the Knife]

fobotsco - thanks. My system finds several versions of all of these although the ones in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory are not older than '99. Should I replace these with versions with the youngest date? IOW, is the file with the most recent creation date the "best"? I know some versions are built for NT/2000 only. Are these all M$ files or do OEMs distribute their own customised versions?

Replacing that old Ctl3d32.dll has cured my system(s) of a number of irritating glitches as well as persuading the CDRW to work again.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

[fobotcso]

I don't think that there's an absolute rule that the most recent DLL is the best for all applications. There may be other compatibility problems waiting for you if you over-write an application's own version in favour of the "vanilla" MS version.

However, I don't see any problem, if you are experiencing glitches, in carefully hiding a application's DLL under a safe name while substituting it with another version. If it all goes really pear-shaped then you've always got safe-mode and returning to the last known working status.

But all this is time consuming and ultimately very boring unless you hit pay-dirt early in the proceedings; when that happens you feel very pleased with yourself!!

[stickyb]

Fobotsco, Is there any easy way to get the ltest version os these dll files from Microsoft?

[fobotcso]

SB, this link will take you to the Microsoft Download Site Main Page.

<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp?" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp?</a>

At first sight there isn't much there, but when you click on the little red cross labelled "next 40" you will find the update/upgrade patches for all MS Windows and Applications including Office.

You can, of course, restore originals from the Windows installation disk, but these upgrade downloads will often contain more recent versions.