Actually, it's the same old problem with the locked folders error under Windows XP / NTFS file system. I bought the program last week and almost every few minutes I get the dreaded error. Strangely, the locks are not released even when Poser is not running, and I have to re-boot to use P-BOOOST again. I have tried several things, including multiple runnings of Correct Reference, and running in safe mode to ensure that nothing else was running in the background causing problems. When it works (for a very few switches for me) this seems a great program, but I'm stumped now. Howard (the author) has been very helpful, but he is a bit mystified too, and suggested I post here and see if anyone else has run into this problem. Does anyone have any ideas?

Well, it's a workaround, but it does work.... Decide what you'll need before you begin the project. Move the folders you'll be wanting into the "Default" or some other specially named folder. Switch all the banks to the ones where your project items are, and go from there. It IS a problem if you suddenly find you need something else, of course, but if you plan ahead a bit, it can definitely work. Of course, you also have to put all the stuff back when you're through... ;) bonni

This, what elizabyte said, is what I had to do after encountering similar problems! I LOVE P-BOOOST!!!! but I have found that, since switching to XP and NFTS that I've had nothing but problems with it. Finally uninstalled, though I plan to reinstall once I get up the time and guts to go run Correct Reference on my whole big ole huge gigantico el stupendo ProPack runtime, a mighty beast if there ever wsa one! I have found that workaround thingamabob to be just the ticket. Much as I hate to plan some things, this course of action has put some normalcy back into my Poser life. If I'm not mistaken, I think I may have read somewhere or heard in a chat or sommers that there may (some day?) be a fix coming to handle this whole issue. I hope so, but then again Diana Ross used to sing "Someday We'll be Together!" and I'm still waiting, LOL! Larry F

Since I switched to a new computer, it doesn't work at all. The folders are ALWAYS locked to PBoost, although I can manipulate them in Explorer. I've been keeping Explorer open and copying stuff into the pose folder that Poser sees as I need it. PBoost is now just open to easily delete geometry .rsr files.

I bought PBoost for myself for Christmas. Still can't get it to work, so I just uninstalled it. I've run CR and eveything is clean. I've tried the Default thing, but it locked up too.

This has worked occasionally for me.W hen in Poser, I will completely shut down P-Boost and then re-open it without closing Poser. Most of the time this works, but some times it does not.

I've had it for quite sometime - PBOOOST - and have said on multiple occasions that it was the best Poser utility I had ever bought (read, "nearly but not all"), but I was still on Win98, finally had to dump that (started having too many other problems). My PB probs all started with XP. I'm not going back to Wince98, even after being a long time hold out. I did find that I had problems moving files in Win Explorer while PB was "running" even though closed. Shutting it down seemed somewhat better, in that some files could be moved but others kept giving a "File in use by another program" thingy, which resolved after uninstalling. I put stuff I want to work in "Workers" using Explorer. Then I move them back same way. Works so far. I just got a new 80 gig disk and am thinking of housing Poser there - solamente - and think I will start with out of the box ProPack and do the Correct Reference thing that way. My current runtime is way too haphazardly composed to make that possibly reference pathway worth traveling. I think.

I bought PBoost when it first came out. When I went to XP I could no longer use it. On my E drive where my Poser is it is Fat32. I still can not get PBoost to work.

I recently bought PBoost, just couldn't get it to work, and assumed I was just doing something stupid. I'm kinda relieved to find it wasn't just me, but also kinda annoyed that it's being sold with all these problems unsolved. Morph

I've never gotten it to work propely myself..I just do what Eliz. does "attempt" to plan ahead....:(

I really can't plan ahead. I have a certain image in my head sure but I am a mix and match and change mind kind of person so even planning ahead won't work for me. As for it selling with problems. I believe in free stuff he has a utility to run to see if your Poser and system will work with PBoost.

I also had problems with pboost :( It worked so wonderfully on my old computer, but when I bought my new system it never worked properly. The funny part is that I am using the same operating system on the new machine (win2000pro). Howard is a wonderful man, who went out of his way to try to help me get it going, but in the end I just gave up. Now I jave recently reformatted my computer (for other problems) and have not installed pboost again.

I've never been able to get it to work on Win2000 pro. Nfts file system. Had to un-install it completey from poser, it had slowed poser to a crawl.

Wouldn't be without it. Running XP NTFS, Correct Reference after installs. No problems except what LarryF mentioned above "I did find that I had problems moving files in Win Explorer while PB was "running" even though closed. Shutting it down seemed somewhat better, in that some files could be moved but others kept giving a "File in use by another program" thingy, which resolved after uninstalling." When I've had this problem (very seldom)I just had to reboot.

I got P Boost but again got lots of locks - running it on ntfs win 2000 have given up and uninstalled it. In my case its probably because I tried to be clever and make a single new textures directory usable by both poser and c4d so lots of new mat files & very non standard - with a fresh install of poser and all purchases to default directories it might work but no way am I going down that road unless forced by pointy sticks

Why do we avoid the issue? PBoost is not working properly for what seems to be many people. I truly want to have something like it on my machine (like you all, Runtime files HUGE), but I will not buy another program that needs constant babysitting and "workarounds". I can get free HBO if I stand in a rainstorm with foil in my undies while I whistle the theme to Six Feet Under (ok, a slight exaggeration), but when I PAY for it I expect the process to be less painful. All blessings to Hogsoft for the work on a very cumbersome problem, but please address the issues, especially for the people who have PAID for a product and expect it to do what it says it's supposed to do.

And yet so many of us are able to use PBooost with a minimum of problems. The one big thing is that you need to run CorrectReference on all your Poser stuff. Why do we need to run CorrectReference? Because all too many artists didn't provide stuff with proper texture references. I can't tell you how many times I saw texture references pointing to a drive or folder on the artist's computer, one that we don't have! Poser locks up some stuff when we don't have proper texture references. This problem is the fault of the original artists, not PBooost or hogwarden. Hogwarden was good enough to provide a free program to fix the problem. Why not complain to the original artists who created the problem, or Curious Labs for creating a program that locks up when it can't find texture references?

On my XP Home system, I occasionally have folders locked in Poser. I restart Poser when this happens to clear the problem. It's a nuisance, but not a frequent thing so I deal with it.

My problem is PBooost does not shut down properly on my system, never seen it not remain listed as a process after shutting it down. Even had my system hung the entire day at shutdown trying to close PBooost once. I had left the room expecting the system to power off normally as I finished getting ready for work, but the system was on all day, stuck at a message about being unable to close PBooost. This has happened so many times now that I do a ctrl-alt-delete and manually remove the program from the list of processes after shutting down PBooost via its own menu.

Whenever this comes up - I talk about correcting the references with the Deep File Editor and everyone says, "You can use Correct Reference". Yes, ok, but not if you want PBooost to work. I had these problems with PBooost on XP too but not after I went through everything with the Deep File Editor - yes, it took almost a month of going through everything but everything works now. I found that if texture files had the same name as another, Correct Reference (and even the Deep File Editor) was more times than not using the graphic with the same name and not the one actually referenced. These I was able to fix with the Deep File Editor but CF just goes through like blazes and changes what may not be correct. (This doesn't actually affect the bad reference and wouldn't cause a lockup, but the texture in the render wouldn't be correct). The process was lengthy but not as bad as you might think because in the cases where there were, let's say 24 MAT files (or some huge number), all I had to do was change or fix the reference for one and then in WordPad or any editor that does global replaces, replace the other bad path references with the corrected one. And then one whole folder would be done. Then when I install new stuff, I do it 2 ways. I install the files while all my folders are 'switched' to default, do my Deep File check and then if all is ok, I move the files using PBooost still to the appropriate subfolder(s) I made. The other way is to 'switch' to the appropriate subfolder(s) first and then the files unzip to their proper places and then I do my Deep File check. From the posts I see in this thread, most of you seem resolved to just not using the program but if you do take the time - evening after evening for a while - to 'manually' do the check references you'll find that it all works. (Remember in the Deep File Editor references that come up in blue mean only that the wanted files exist on the computer but the reference (the path) is still not correct - they must be changed) (Important) And one thing that's nice when it is all fixed is that when there is a problem and the lock up happens, it's easier to know that what caused it is what you just loaded or just loaded before and then you know what file to fix in the Deep File Editor. One last thing (also important) - I use poser 4 so much of my reference problems had to do with calls for JPEGS in the bump reference of any given MAT or CR2/HR2/PP2 file. And since I can't use jpgs as bumps in P4, the issue became either removing the reference to any bump (NO MAP) or deciding I needed the bump and going into P4 and converting the jpg to bum. Once I did that, references that I left as .bum were ok. The bottom line is the Deep File Editor affords you some control over what's happening.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=670225

I've been using it for months under WinXP and LOTS of libraries. Minor problems only. I've found that the best way to avoid locked folders is: 1. every time you install anything, go to your poser root folder and make sure that there are NO read-only files in it. If they are, change to read-write. You can do that in a single command if you select to change the attributes in all subfolders and files. 2. every time you install anything and create new libraries (I think pBooost calls them Banks), run Correct reference. These procedures may take some time, but let you use PBooost under WinXP NTFS system without major problems.

HI Ok so this is a problem but lets not go blaming Pboost (a progran I do not own but may well need in the future!) I have similar problems with P4 and Xp home as it is It's a problem with the Ntfs file system folks not the program and I don't think that Howard or any of us with the odd exception should have to fix the OS its mr Gates or who ever designed the file system. Oh and that trick with read only files doesn't work on my system it will not let you change them if it thinks they are in use! sorry to go off on a rant but I hate to see people 'ragging' on someone who has worked really hard on something. Sorry again Dave

The read-only idea wasn't mine, unless that poster's name is also Dave... But TheWanderer's right, the fault actually lays with how in the XP environment, Poser4 looks at the folders and I think how it incorporates them into the Poser selection area (menu) or something. Howard explained it to me a long time ago and maybe the programs help mentions it. The program worked (works) beautifully in Win98. But it's also because P4 works differently in Win98. Also, I don't really mean if you use Correct Reference it won't work - as I said at the opening of my prior post. It's only that Correct Reference will sometimes assign a wrong texture pic because another texture file has the same name. I see this mostly with Reflection Maps like "gold.jpg" or "silver.jpg"; often these will be duped. And also hair texture files like "black.jpg". So I use Deep File Editor so I can really see what's going on. Sure, the initial push to get it done is a drag but once it's done, it's smooth sailing and yes, I love PBooost. I've always thought Howard did a great job with it and it's updates and with his tech support. Let it be said. Dave

I think that 3dave44's experience and explanation would in all probability solve my own problems but I have thought, given the innate haphazardness and "mind of its own" mentality of my ProPack runtime (that thing might bite me if I fool with it too much, LOL), my thought is Correct Reference and/or Deep File Editor would be the long way around to fix it, whereas completely reinstalling from the ground up would probably be the shorter (and safer), at least less problematic way of getting these problems solved. I HAVE BEEN HERETOFORE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH PBOOOST AND HAVE SAID SO MANY TIMES!!! Hogwarden has answered questions to me personally on more than one occasion, always promptly and informative! Having recently had more than a week of comparatively "free time" on my hands, I would have done all this then, but for the minor and very annoying fact that I have misplaced my ProPack CD, so am considering stripping everything out of the current install except "original Poser content" and starting from there. This whole issue is not necessarily one person's fault, more likely a "confluence of events" that have lead produced it. Or something like that, LOL. Larry F I might point out, too, that because someone else using the same product having or not having "issues" with it does not negate the fact that others had or did not have "issues".

I don't recall "ragging" on anyone especially Howard. I maade a simple and true statement. Regardless of whose or what's fault, I can not use PBoost on my system :)

Hi there, kayjay97, I didn't mean to imply that you did and apologize if you took it that way. Sometimes in here, though, person A will state they have a problem and somewhere down the alphabet of responders "someone" will state something to the effect (sic) that seems to indicate "Well, I've never had any problems so how could you, must be your own fault" or something to that effect. Well, sometimes, it is "your own fault" meaning, it could well be mine, but it is still a problem. Personally, I have no interest in upsetting or ragging on anyone in here, having benefitted greatly knowledge wise from just hanging around here. Larry F

WOW! What a thread!

Firstly I must extend my sincere apologies to all above who have had problems with PBooost. I'll always try to help and have released copious updates to make the program as reliable as is feasable given the awful arguments which occur between Poser and Windows. The PBooost user-base is in four figures: I am very proud of this and strongly aware of the responsibility I have to each and every one of you. Luckily, the vast majority of PBooost users are very happy with the program otherwise I'd have topped myself by now! LOL!

Right: I'm going to list all the problems which have been sent to me redarding PBooost 1.4.2.19... those of you with earlier versions need to get the free update to 1.4.2.19. Problems fall mainly into the two 'Folder lock' camps:
NTFS:
Windows NT/XP NTFS has what appear to be un-alterable security features which keep track of files and folders which Windows thinks are 'in use'. Great! Security features on the file-system! Sounds pretty handy... Poser, or the compiler used to port it to Windows, contains some really bad file system code in the section where it searches for unresolved referenced files when loading content. The result is that Poser leaves hundreds, even thousands of folder searches OPEN when it searches for even one reference file. Windows, understandably, thinks these folders are in use, and won't let ANYTHING change them. CorrectReference can help here... but only to a point! It can't fix compressed content and has various foibles such as picking the wrong duplicated file on most occasions. It also won't fix geometry references, readScript references or Poser 5 material references. Heck! no-one had heard of the last two references when I wrote it!... and yes... CRPro is in the final stages of beta-testing. I should get it into the stores around the beginning of Feb. It is possible to fix these new reference types in the PBooost DFE. Recent research (thx. Lb!) is pointing to the possibility of a solution to the folder locking by getting Poser to close all the open search objects from Python... It could be a pipe-dream, but it may work. Of course, this would exclude users with plain ol' Poser 4 so I'm not sure it's the answer.
FAT32:
Under FAT32, things are different. The majority of FAT32 systems behave just like Win98... nice... always switching banks with no lockups. But some FAT32 systems lock up the folders as soon as Poser starts... either the Poser start-up code is confusing Windows into locking the whole runtime, or Windows is simply 'guessing'. If this is the case, converting to NTFS is the ultimate solution. Seems a bit far to go to make a $20 program work, I know... there are many different camps of thought on whether NTFS or FAT32 are 'better' all round... but I believe that XP with FAT32 is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
OTHERS:
A few people (some of whom have contributed above!) have suffered folder locks when everything looks AOK: I'm sure that most of these resolve to bad geom, Poser 5 material or readScript references. PITA! Until CRPro, fixing the new reference types is a text-editor job. Be aware, however, that it appears some virus-scanning software, or programs which interfere with the file system, can randomly make files and folders unavailable to programs. One of these is IMON(the Intel monitoring software).
A couple of users have found their video cards argue with PBooost's openGL code: I have a GL/animated splash-free version I can supply in these circumstances.
A couple of users with very high res screens and very large fonts have problems with PBooost cutting off labels and buttons and awful appearance of the text: I'm working on this at the moment.
A couple of users have had failure to start due to conflicting windows component dll's or software/hardware conflicts. Mainly fixed with Windows re-install. (Error code: modname: Kernel32.dll modver: 5.1.2600.1106 offset: 00013887).
Confused banks... This happens when either:
1: PBooost's registry data or the PBMemory.dat files are removed or corrupted by an outside force,
2:The root library folders are renamed or deleted.
In all of these cases, the problem can be fixed by renaming a couple of folders. If this happens, ASK FOR HELP! I need a couple of screenshots and can help you fix it straight away.

Usually, your problems are presented to me by e-mail or IM (although I must say they have all but dried up since the release of PBooost 1.4.2.19!) and, as many of you will testify, I have a pretty good success rate at getting things sorted. But not in every case.

Luminas problems are/were very strange indeed!
Initially, Poser was crashing when trying to load files, or not seeing referenced files at all! After many mails back and forth, he found in task manager a program which was locking all the folders and files at irregular intervals.
IMON - the Intel monitoring software. Now it appears he just has some bad geometry references in his pz3's which CR can't touch.

When I'm stumped, I wish I could just pop round and take a look... bring some diag software to run, and fix the problems there and then... but it's not possible.

Howard:))

(sound of applause) Thanks, Hogwarden.

I have these problems sometimes. I just upgraded to XP. I have started to do what elizabyte mentioned. I figure out before hand what I need and put it into a bank named something related to the project. With out P-Booost I would have a hard time keeping things organized. I like the fact I can keep all the Mike. Vicky, and other characters seperate. I've also started useing the deep file editor and have found it very handy. I cant imagine useing Poser with out it! I LOVE it! Thank you Hogwarden.

Way to go, hogwarden! I'm hoping to get back my use of PBooost soonest, but I'm thinking I should, as I said earlier, "rebuild" my ProPack install from the ground up, running Correct Reference along the way, to make sure that I have no inaccurate "pointers" to files once I'm finished, and then reinstall stuff I want. I must admit that the Deep File Editor leaves me wanting to take my dog out for a walk. Can't get my head around it, LOL. And, I need to get that latest upgrade (IM coming your way). Thank you for all you do. For my money you're a terrific merchant! Larry F

Well, I hop ethis reply doesn't disappear into the void like the last 2.... Thanks to help from Hogwarden, and some ideas posted here. I have been able to pretty much get P-BOOOST working well. Thanks to everyone for their replies, I really do appreciate hearing that I wasn't alone in having some problems, and hearing about other peoples solutions gave me the encouragement to continue with this utility.

I got PBoost at the end of last year and have been unable to use it, but since I'm relatively new ro the whole Poser thing I thought it must be my fault and that I was doing something wrong. Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions, 1) because I now know I'm not totally stupid and 2) because hopefully, by trying all your suggestions, I'll get PB to work after all. 8) Catlin