I was chatting to this guy who has Pboost and as Ive been thinking of getting it, I asked his opinion. He said it was ok but when he wants to change libraries, he has to save, close Poser then switch. It says some other program is using them, although nothing else is running. He said it was a pain. Its got so many words of praise from this group I suspect hes got it set up wrong, as he didnt seem the brightest light on the block (hope he doesn`t read this, he he) but as he has a very similar setup to mine (Win XP, Athlon 2000) I would like to know if this is true. Perhaps if he has done something wrong, someone can tell me so I can pass it on.

This sounds like the imfamous FAT32-NTFS problem. P-Booost runs great on Win2k-XP if the drive is formatted with NTFS, but there is something about the NT kernel and FAT 32 that causes this effect, and Hogwarden hasn't been able to create a workaround (9x OS's and FAT 32 are fine, btw). If your setup uses FAT 32, no joy.

That's a very very rare problem that occurs on a few (mostly XP) systems. A lot of XP systems have no problem with it. There's a free test program you can run to see if it will work 100% on your system. I think it's called compatibility tester. It's either in free stuff, or you can gat it off the author's website. IM him if you can't find it.

And I happen to have a fat32 on win2k so I have that problem, but even so, I still use it to organize the library and consolidate. Great program.

Yeah, I worked up a batch menu program to interactively move the content in the folders back and forth from dummy folders. The folders lock, but not the content. There must be some reason though that some XP/2000 systems have this problem and not others. It is a running service that does it, or other TSR, or a hardware problem, registry setting - ??? I'd love to find the causitive.

I had same problems running PBoost to Sambacus using PBoost with XP and NTFS. The problems were resolved after using Correct Reference and PBoost works perfectly now from within Poser and seems that much quicker now it knows exactly where the texture files really are.

Personally I think its the folder settings. Win NT allows you to do that thumbnail thing to all of your folders and if you change it back to details the Pboost problum goes away. I have this problum at work when i use adobe photoshop, it doesnt let me save my work if i went any were near a folder and viewed it as a thumbnail untill i reset the folder to details. Its gives the same error about the file being in use by another program.

Attached Link: The Netherworks, host for CorrectReference & other fine files

The problem lies with Poser & the way it searches for textures. If your character/prop has texture references looking like this "texturestexture.jpg" then it will cause Poser to go hunting through all the folders in Textures for the one you want. When Poser does this it has a bad habit of keeping the folders open which because of the way XP works means they are locked & PBooost can't switch them while Poser is running. You can use the Deep File Editor in PBooost to correct the problem but once you have more than a couple of folders of mat poses it gets to be a lot of work. CorrectReference does the job much quicker it can go through every file in your runtime checking the texture references & if needed will change them to ":runtime:libraries:textures:folder:texture.jpg", which means Poser can go straight to the right folder & doesn't lock them anymore & PBooost can do it's bank switching when Poser is running with no problems. One sideaffect of this is that Poser does actually speed up noticably so even if you don't decide to buy PBooost (I highly recommend it) you should grab a copy of CorrectReference & let it do it's stuff on your folders :)

Attached Link: http://www.horseless-headsmen.co.uk/

Doing some housecleaning, moving, etc. right now, so the site is temporarily down. Not for long though. ;) Can also get CorrectReference at it's home site... Oh, and thanks for the kudos, c1rcle. So if I put Poser on its own NTFS partition and the texture references are correct, theoretically PBooost should work?

I'm using it like that myself & no problems as long as I remember to use CR when I install something new :)

ps you're more than welcome for the kudos, it's well earned :)

Yeah c1rcle. You said the cricial part: Remember to run CR (CorrectReference) when you install something new! I frequently forgets this and then BAM! PBooost can't switch folders anymore. I am running WinXP with NTFS and as long as I remember to frequently run CR (which takes about 1 hour each time sigh - apart from the FIRST time where it took TEN hours to complete.....) Bottom line: If you want to run PBoost (oand Poser) smoothly, you gotta have CorrectReference, and run it frequently. But I wouldn't even THINK about going back to the days without PBooost :o) It's a lifesaver!

there is another way round that too ernyoka :) for the people using P4 Pro or Poser5 you can compress the stuff once you've checked it with CorrectReference, then it'll only check the new stuff cause it can't see the compressed files.

But PBooost CAN see the compressed files, right? I mean if I want to move them? And does it slow Poser down if the files are compressed? I've never tried it (compressing files), but if it can keep CR happy I'm willing to give it a try :o)

Might be best to leave compressing them till V1.4 comes, I know v1.3 doesn't see the compressed files, I'll send howard an email see if he can confirm if it can move them when compressed. It's possible all it does is copy the complete folders & not touch the files but I'll check on that. Slowdown in Poser is minimal as it has to uncompress the files to load them, but P4 is still faster than P5 at the moment.

You don't need an hour to use CorrectReference each time. Run the program, then click in the bottom left, as indicated, and you can tell CR where to find your textures. Then you can tell CR exactly what items or folders you want checked.

Heh I tell it to check my "runtimetextures" folder. But still that one is HUGE.

Whew, thanks for that response, guys. So, Correct Reference seems worth getting anyway, so thats on. And if that cures the prob with Pboost, then thats on too. Great stuff. Ill pass all your advice on, too. My system is NTFS but I cant speak for the other guy. Also, I tend to have my folders showing thumbnails so that`s something to remember. Thanks again

Has anyone had Correct reference start changing references to the wrong ones after it's been working quite awhile? I stopped using it when it started doing this. Most specifically it started changing Tigee's texture files to Aurora's by Dalinise. I knew that was wwrong. Did it about 10 times before I stopped it. Emily

You don't have it check your textures folder. You point to the textures folder when you first start the program. Then you point CR to the folder you want to check. An example would be Characters/Vicky3/Vicky Hair

Queri...check the texture names. They may be duplicates. CR will use the first one it finds. Luckily it's rare, but when it happens it can make a mess and take a while to fix. Better to use CR than not, though. Just scream at the person who named the textures so generically. A suggestion for those of us who use XP in Thumbnail view (I won't give up thumbnail view for anything): Install your Poser stuff to a different folder (I have one called, um, Poser Installs). Then just run CR on the whole folder before you move the stuff into Poser. This saves you having to figure out which folders to check, just check 'em all. I also run P3DO Explorer to convert rsr to png, and my renamer program to rename stuff. When that's all done, THEN, I move the stuff where I want inside my Poser installation. If folder locks are going to happen, they'll happen in your temporary install folder instead of Poser this way. Also if you want to move stuff around between folders inside Poser, move all the folders you wish to work with to a temporary directory first and do it there. Then when finished, move it all back to Poser. If a lock happens and you can't move a folder back, just create a folder with the same name in Poser and move the contents over. Again, the locks will happen in your temporary folder instead of Poser.

Can't get it anywhere all the sites appear to be down. Marque

Sambucus, Here is something very simple to experiment with: When you are ready to use Pbooost 1. click on the #switch banks in the library you want to use. 2.Then use Pboost to switch the bank. 3.Click on the #switch banks again (drop down mwnue) 4. The drop down menu should show the new bank 5. Select it. I started using this technique on a w98 machine w/ppp. I was experiencing the same problem of pboost going into lala land. I can now switch on the fly without crashing.

Thanks, nickleshield. I`ll keep that in mind for when I get it.

Does anyone know where I can download correct reference? The sites are all down. Thanks, Marque

Attached Link: http://www.horseless-headsmen.co.uk/HHFree.htm

Marque, see if that url gets you there. Ok, yall. No dice. I tried to go NTFS on my Poser partition, CorrectReference on everything and The Compatibility Tester still fails. There must be something else in the windows system that either I turned off or I failed to turn on. Should NTFS indexing be on ? - I usually keep that memory hog off.

There must be something else we're missing, I have my poser set up as you have Nether, & mine passed the test again just now, I have the indexing switched off on my machine tho & no windows thumbnail pictures in any folders.

Netherworks This is going to sound off the wall, but I had a severe problem with "Cannot(Error in) rename(deleting) [file or directory name]: It is (It may be) being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file(folder) and try again" messages some time back. Two things seemed to finally do the trick; De-installing an obscure & intrusive utility that installs with several Corel Apps, called Corel Versions(TM). I also overrode Symantec's Speedisk and Cleansweep kernals that Systemworks automatically starts Even when specifically turned off (got to them via the "services" tab of run->msconfig). After that 99% of problems went away (later dumped Symantec on account of it, too). Also several versions of MS Works, MS Office, and even MS Word install their own versions of always-on Indexing "utilities" that can screw things up as bad or worse than NTSF Indexing. Don't know if any of this is relevant, but it may relate.

Ok, I'm going to try turning off several things. If it doesen't work, I'll turn them back on. Thanks for your help, you guys. If I find my solution, I'll post it. ;)

I'm interested in getting PBooost but my computer failed the test (I have XP). Bookmarked...

Neth, I just installed Pboost on my XP box and used the following procedure. It did warn me I was running under NT and it may not switch with Poser running. Created a small test bank so I could switch. 1. Started Poser4 then Pboost. It made no difference starting Pboost first. 2. click on the #switch banks in the library you want to use. 2.Then use Pboost to switch the bank. 3.Click on the #switch banks again,( the original list should still be dislayed. ) 4. The drop down menu should show the new bank 5. Select it. I have not run correct reference on this machine. NTFS disk. I turned disk file index o/o, made no difference. Try it, it might work or maybe I'm just getting lucky.

One thing you need to remember: Everytime you install something new, you need to run CorrectReference on that folder. I often put an outfit on a character and add the character to the library. I run CR on that new character. I install a new Poser resource, and run CR on that new stuff. If you don't do this, then you're likely to get a lockup where PBooost won't switch banks. If you get a lockup, you might need to save your figure, quit Poser and PBooost. Then run CR to fix the texture references. You can spend a lot of time correcting all your texture references in the beginning. But it's time well spent. You're not just preventing PBooost lockups. You're fixing literally hundreds of bad texture references.

nickedshield, I don't have Pbooost yet, but I'm absolutely considering getting it. I figure if I can get the PBooost tester to work, then I'll be good to go. I just would rather use it with the switching on the fly part intact. I even more curious to know why Windows locks the folders, but allows the content to be moved. What is it about the folders? I'd think it was some sort of Windows 2000/XP security scheme. So far I've temporarily removed all known TSRs (and mind you, I'm pretty good at digging deep for them) and 3rd party shell enhancements and still no dice. Can folders be deleted or moved while Poser 5 is running, or is this particular to P4/PP?

Neth, The little procedure I outlined is to keep Pboost's useability on the fly under p4/pp.(w98 & XP home) Under P5 ( w98)it works flawlessly, though I haven't tried under XP, lazy. To have Pboost delete a folder it has to be empty- safety factor built in so you don't mistakenly delte your original. The only thing I've really noticed is to WATCH what is being moved. It's very easy to move the default files. No harm done but time consuming the going in and deleting what was moved. Need new glasses. The switch banks reminder kind of tells what I did but doesn't actually spell it out. Other threads have explained how P5 handles libraries better than P4 a lot better than I can. Over all it is well worth the price.

Addendum: When I said P5 worked flawlessly it was the P4 runtime under P5, not the P5 runtime. That is still under development.