Doctor Varney
Cave dwelling Luddite
Hi all.
Well, we've seen 'Doctor Destructo' himself in action enough times; we've debated whether the Apple Mac or the PC is the more stable and we've even talked about "getting the most from your tools". So now it's time for us to lay our cards on the table, leave behind (but learn from) the past and tackle the job from the ground upwards. To that end, I have a few questions which I hope you knowledgeable chaps will not mind taking the time to answer.
Some people have unfortunately made judgements about me, from a straw man effigy they have built up, from seeing me experience repeated PC issues. I really couldn't care less what people think of me because they do not see the 'real me' in it's entirety from this forum. Likewise, I don't hold it against them because I know words are cheap and may not be sufficient for me to make a full judgement, either.
As it happens, I read everyone's posts thoroughly and weigh their answers carefully. The consensus I am getting is that a PC can run flawlessly if one takes the right steps to maintain it. Since changing platform is not a financial option right now, I am going to put this to the test and try to work diligently with what I have available. I think (think!) I have gathered enough info to ask the right questions so that I can (hopefully) have similar experiences to you, who claim never to have had a hiccup, and get my PC running as best it can.
So, let's get started.
Starting with my AMD Athlon 64 Processor 4000+ on MSI motherboard with 1GB RAM / Maxtor 320GB SATA drive for OS & programs / Western Digital SATA hard drive for storage / E-MU 0404 sound card / Windows 7 Home Premium / FL Studio 10 Signature Bundle.
First off, I defied Steenmaroo's advice to go with Windows XP and instead went with Windows 7 since it could do no harm as a test. I can always go back to XP if necessary (sorry Steen, it was too tempting).
Installation went smoothly. Much faster than on my Quad Core Phenom which has 4GB RAM. The old thing also boots up twice as fast as the Phenom. I had a problem with it finding the HDD at first but fixed that in the BIOS/ CMOS/ start up by pressing delete and selecting my first boot device as HD.
I have disabled networking and disabled Internet Explorer 8 along with printer services and stuff I don't need. That's what you do, isn't it? So far so good...
So now onto installing a sound card. Fitted the E-MU 0404 card into the PCI slot and installed all the drivers and DSP Patchmix.
The DSP Patchmix destop icon has a Windows badge on it, like I've seen in the 'Administration' section of Control Panel. What does this mean? Every time I try to start Patchmix, it says
I click yes and immediately get an error message which reads:
I have tried doing what it says but the same message comes up. How am I supposed to know what "ctouser.dll" means?
I have loads of questions as I go through this process but there's no point asking any more until this is fixed.
Is this my fault? I'm just following instructions and doing what I am told to. I'm trying to stay patient and positive. I am, honestly!
PS:
And my second hard drive isn't showing up anywhere but I suppose we can look at that later.
Well, we've seen 'Doctor Destructo' himself in action enough times; we've debated whether the Apple Mac or the PC is the more stable and we've even talked about "getting the most from your tools". So now it's time for us to lay our cards on the table, leave behind (but learn from) the past and tackle the job from the ground upwards. To that end, I have a few questions which I hope you knowledgeable chaps will not mind taking the time to answer.
Some people have unfortunately made judgements about me, from a straw man effigy they have built up, from seeing me experience repeated PC issues. I really couldn't care less what people think of me because they do not see the 'real me' in it's entirety from this forum. Likewise, I don't hold it against them because I know words are cheap and may not be sufficient for me to make a full judgement, either.
As it happens, I read everyone's posts thoroughly and weigh their answers carefully. The consensus I am getting is that a PC can run flawlessly if one takes the right steps to maintain it. Since changing platform is not a financial option right now, I am going to put this to the test and try to work diligently with what I have available. I think (think!) I have gathered enough info to ask the right questions so that I can (hopefully) have similar experiences to you, who claim never to have had a hiccup, and get my PC running as best it can.
So, let's get started.
Starting with my AMD Athlon 64 Processor 4000+ on MSI motherboard with 1GB RAM / Maxtor 320GB SATA drive for OS & programs / Western Digital SATA hard drive for storage / E-MU 0404 sound card / Windows 7 Home Premium / FL Studio 10 Signature Bundle.
First off, I defied Steenmaroo's advice to go with Windows XP and instead went with Windows 7 since it could do no harm as a test. I can always go back to XP if necessary (sorry Steen, it was too tempting).
Installation went smoothly. Much faster than on my Quad Core Phenom which has 4GB RAM. The old thing also boots up twice as fast as the Phenom. I had a problem with it finding the HDD at first but fixed that in the BIOS/ CMOS/ start up by pressing delete and selecting my first boot device as HD.
I have disabled networking and disabled Internet Explorer 8 along with printer services and stuff I don't need. That's what you do, isn't it? So far so good...
So now onto installing a sound card. Fitted the E-MU 0404 card into the PCI slot and installed all the drivers and DSP Patchmix.
The DSP Patchmix destop icon has a Windows badge on it, like I've seen in the 'Administration' section of Control Panel. What does this mean? Every time I try to start Patchmix, it says
Windows said:Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer? Yes / No.
I click yes and immediately get an error message which reads:
Windows said:The Program can't start because ctouser.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
I have tried doing what it says but the same message comes up. How am I supposed to know what "ctouser.dll" means?
I have loads of questions as I go through this process but there's no point asking any more until this is fixed.
Is this my fault? I'm just following instructions and doing what I am told to. I'm trying to stay patient and positive. I am, honestly!
PS:
And my second hard drive isn't showing up anywhere but I suppose we can look at that later.