The external runtime that I had all of my runtimes on decided to go caputs on me. I can't say I'm surprised because it ate all of my files that I saved on it during a computer reformat, back in October and I had to reinstall all of my runtimes from scratch. A few days ago the drive gave me a funny error and I didn't want to take any chances, so I moved all of my files to my laptop and filled it to capacity and formatted the external drive. I then moved my runtimes back to the drive. It worked well...for a day but then yesterday I got some funny error again and this time when I rebooted I was prompted to do a scan and fix. So I did. Now just awhile ago I got a similar funny error about not being able to save some file, and now my drive is no longer being recognized and I can't see it. Based on my last experience in October when that happened, the only fix was to format the drive using my desktop which allows me to see the drive in management, but freezes up the computer in other areas, and I lost all of my runtimes, which I then had to install from scratch. Let me tell you it's not fun to reinstall 13 gigs of compressed files once, let alone again less than 2 months later. So I'm done with Poser until I can get a larger external drive, that works and I'm not sure when that will be. I'm not going to waste my time reinstalling files again, only to lose them again to a faulty drive. I enjoy Poser, but not to that degree. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year.

dude that's too bad. i keep several pcs and have hds on hand. a drive can die in under 2 years in my experience. hope you recover soon.

Only buy, download, and install stuff as you need them. Or if you fear the item not being available in a year or so, download it but again no need to install untill you need to use it. There's no need to have 13gig of compressed data installed all the time? That makes runtime death a bit more... um... survivable... :) p 3d obj explorer (i've always hated calling it "p3d0" since in "leet" speak 3=e !!! it's very badly named i reckon but i think yarp is french so he wouldn't have seen that.), even the free one, will show thumbs of the zips. so you can view your collection that way without installing.

There is hope!!!!! I turned off my computer and drive out of frustration and turned it on again for one more "try" before totally giving up. It was visible this time. Now i'm moving my most used runtimes back to my laptop (and so far so good). Then i'm going to try and test my luck and take the drive to my desktop and copy all of the runtimes over there. So hopefully with some luck and a few prayers, maybe I can salvage my runtimes. As for only installing what I use... that's what I do. I'm a total mizer when it comes to hard drive space and I delete everything I don't use. There are some figures that I use more than others, so those are the runtimes that I'm moving to my laptop, plus my lighting, poses, props, mermaids, and faeries runtimes. The rest I'm going to leave on the external drive and chance my luck at getting them copied to my desktop for safe keeping.

Glad that you were able to recover most of the data.

I've got several operational hard drives in external housings that I cannibalized from my old computers years ago. A couple left over from my old 233MMX machine, and one from my old laptop. At 6-to-20 gigs in size, the drives are small by today's standards. But hey: they work. And for storing things like pictures, they're just fine.

Amazing how I've seen some 10-year-old drives that still run great. And I've seen some brand-new modern drives fail within a week or two of purchase. Not to imply that the old ones didn't constantly break back in their day.......man, oh man did they.........but for whatever reason, you'll occasionally see a hard drive that lasts forever (in PC terms, 10 years is forever).

I wish you success with your data recovery.

BTW - when I do a backup these days, it's onto DVD's. Or, alternately, I use redundant external hard drives for backup. I'll just make more than one copy of my files on two or more hard drives. These days, new hard drives give you FAR more bang for your buck than the old ones used to. Or than we even used to dream about.

Message edited on: 12/13/2005 00:28

I don't know how old this drive is. My friend is a computer tech in Nashville and one of his customers gave it to him along with a computer he no longer wanted. The drive is a Maxtor in an external hard drive casing. So I imagine it's a few years old. The hard drive on my desktop is almost 5 years old and seems to be going strong. If I knew anything about computers, I'd swap out the hard drive for this faulty one seeing that I don't use my desktop for much of anything other than emergency storage.

{mantra)Backup...Backup...Backup!!!!(/mantra) I cannot stress that when you purchase/download stuff, save it to a 'working data' drive and a 'backup' drive. When there is enough data to archive on the backup drive, write a CD or DVD. In the least, copy it to an external drive placed in a moderate climate. It is rare that CDs or DVDs become corrupted (but it does happen on the rare occassion). But better to have two or three copies of the data than to lose the only one that you think is 'safe'. Basically, drives eventually die. Dual-layer DVD drives are a 'dime a dozen'. The media is not so cheap, but you get 8.2GB of archival storage per disc. And the media is guaranteed to go down in price (geez, you can get a billion CD-Rs for a dollar these days). ;) Be a conservative miser - conserve the data in multiplicity. One cannot depend on a single storage strategy. Best of luck and best wishes to overcome this!!

I burn all my data files to dvd every so often. Used to be to cd, but I've just got too many files for that now. It took my ten dvd's to backup Poser... Also, never buy low end drives. Let everything else fry itself before you let your data get fried. I used to have a bunch of discount cd's, now I no longer have a lot of my pz3 files from 99 to 01. Some of them work, many do not. I few CDs I bought from people in the poser community back then have gone bad as well - so now I make copies if the thing I buy is burned on an amatuer cd rather than a professional one.

Hi Acadia I had a similar problem with an internal drive not so long. The computer gave me a divide by zero error on the drive and we I rebooted.. poof it was nowhere to be seen. Took it to the shop for a look, and there it was, like nothing had happened. Turns out I needed to let it cool down a tad. Sometimes the best thing to do is just turn it off for a while... Failing that give it a whack :) (actually that worked once when my fan got stuck and the computer overheated. I managed to dislodge enough dust in there to get the fan going again!)

when I backed my stuff up I split my runtime into groups and zipped each group into seperate RAR files then burned them to a DVD that way all I had to do was double click on a couple of files and the runtime with everything in it was installed.. peice of cake. Just an idea for ya. thought that might save you from the dreaded carpel tunnel syndrome from opening countless numbers of files :O) J

Quote - Turns out I needed to let it cool down a tad.

That seems to be the case tonight. I started up Poser, but it got hung up for some reason. When I finally managed to cancel it and get it to close, I saw my external drive still lit up like it was "working", and then got a notification about some file with numbers and symbols in it not being able to be saved and to try saving it to another location. I would have done that, only it doesn't say where the file is from or tell me how to go about saving it to another place, LOL I had to shut the drive off and turn it back on, but after that it wouldn't view. I did notice the case was rather warm. I'm still going to move files to my desktop though. I'm currently transferring runtimes between it and my laptop, and when I'm done, I'll turn it off and try moving it to my desktop later today. Oddly enough I wasn't even frantic over the idea of having lost my runtimes. Annoyed and mildly frustrated, but nothing more. Guess I was expecting the day to come since it had given me such grief a couple months back. I took a risk by storing my files on a proven buggy drive and have no one to blame but myself if I had lost all my files. I would love to be able to buy a DVD player, or a larger external drive, or a few smaller ones. However finances are tight. I've been off work for 18 months on reduced income, so big expenditures such as computer drives are out of the question right now. I'll have to make due with what I have for the time being.

"I managed to dislodge enough dust in there to get the fan going again" Ewww don't ya just hate all that thick nasty dust? i swear I did that once and a 3 foot dust bunny with razor sharp teeth came after me true story... no really lol

Quote - I split my runtime into groups and zipped each group into seperate RAR files then burned them to a DVD that way all I had to do was double click on a couple of files and the runtime with everything in it was installed.. peice of cake.

I tried that. I spent hours zipping my files and burning them to CD's. I figured it was going to be the easiest reformat I've done. Turns out it was the worse! Every single one of my CD's had errors when trying to unzip the files. I posted here asking about it. I had used CDRWs and I was getting error after error about inflating data. I had to install all of my runtimes from scratch that time too. In October when I reformatted and my drive bugged out on me, I once again depended on CDs to save what files I could. Again I ended up with corrupt CD saves and lost many of my files. Needless to say I no longer trust my runtimes to CDs.

Just remember, if you use specialised back-up software, to make sure you know where a copy of that software is. All I shall say on the other stuff is that I've assembled my own computer, and so there's things I'd be willing to do which would worry other people. But if I had the cash, I'd look at using RAID, mirroring for reliability. That's a controller card, and an extra drive. Cleaning out the dust, and fitting a hard drive cooler, aren't dreadfully hard jobs. Turning the room heating down a few degrees can help too. Yes, it depends on climate, but the heat your computer pumps out can be all the heat you need. The cooler the air going in, the better.

Quote - Turning the room heating down a few degrees can help too

God! I wish I could do that! I live in a highrise building and I never have my heat turned on, yet in the winter it's always 85 degrees in my apartment. I keep my windows open a few inches all winter long, even on the coldest days, except when it's snowing, but then they are opened again, LOL

Can't do that in Australia either. If I had enough money I'd get airconditioning! lol If you are getting faulty CD's as well as drive errors Acadia sounds like there is something a bit more wrong than the drive. What program did you use to brun to CD? In all my 10 years of owning a drive capable of doing CD Burning I have not had one bad one yet. But think I don't buy the huge packs of No name CD's (most of mine are Verbatim). After all you wouldn't print all your documents to file on butcher paper.....

Sounds like you might need to look at the fan. Cleaning the fan will make it more efficient, and you can do a reasonable job of that without opening the machine. Just be careful to suck the crud out, not blow it in. A vacuum snorkel might be Ok if you held it away from the machine a bit to reduce the pull. I use the "brush" attachment and don't press it against the grill. If it's really dirty, a damp cloth to clean the bunnies off the grill will work wonders. I think Poser is drive intensive on older machines, because it hammers the virtual memory (a swap file) mercilessly. That could be why Poser is heating up the drive. No cheap fix for that. As for RAID, be wary. I had a new computer RAIDed and learned within a few days that some software (fortunately the culprit was a game, but the principle remains) regards the "copy" as illegal. So it's difficult to install and likely to refuse to run. And once you've got a RAID setup, apparently it's not easy to get rid of. I asked a techie at Best Buy if there was a program that would uninstall or modify a RAID system. "FDisk?" Oh well. M

Don;t waste any noney on cleaning kits, heres how to clean your pc on the cheap.... !!! BACK UP FIRST !!! Plugged into mains but TURNED OFF. Particulary important if you are not using an anti-static wristband. Keyboard & mouse: couple of old dry paint paint brush in various sizes and can of compressed air. spray some furniture polish on a piece of cloth and wipe a Cotton bud through the it, then clean keys. Screen: wipes are a waste of money. If you have a monitor with a coating then some wipes, example isoprol, can remove this. It happened to my camera recently, and it cost teh shop that sold me the cleaning kit more than the camera was worth to get it re-coated! So for CRT's lightly dampen a cloth and gentle elbow grease. Some say add a drop of vinegar and the like, but remember you don't want it too shiny. Inside the box: Don't use a vacum cleaner - even one of the tiny ones, most of the time they are often useless, but theres of dislodging junpers and the like. Don't blow into the case your breath contains water vapour. You can use compressed air, but if you hold the can down too long (when it's gets really cold to he touch) water vapour can form and causes drips on the motherboard. Use a paintbrush slowy and carefully. aim the cr*p downwards to the centre and wipe it out with a dry tissue. Pay carefull attention to the fans, there are often more than one, but don't prise the top of the CPU coolers to get to that if it has one, you'll break your PC. DANGER!! be extra carefull near the PSU it can still hold enough power to kill you. Outside the box/monitor/perhiprals. Damp cloth with a small amount of washing up liquid. Or use cleaning foam. Note some foams need to be wiped off after a certain time or they may mark the case, read the label extra carefully if you have a painted or hand-modded case. Mouse: wipe ball with cloth. scrap mouse droppings of rollers with one of those hooked thingys from a nail cleaning kit. wipe outside with damp cloth. Replace or wash the mouse mat. floppy and optical drives can be cleaned with a pintbrush carefully. but sometimes it's cheaper to replace them, take them apart give it a clean and re-asemble then you have a spare. Oh, and if you you break it it's your fault not mine :)

Re the 'tiny little error'..it's a dirty secret, but if you do a Google on Key words in the error message, sometimes it will pull up a solution for the problem.
Yup, Dust Puppies can be a problem. More recent computers have a temperature sensor that should go off should you go above the recommended temperatures. See if any fans are not turning, especially the one on the processor. If that's so, then get thee hence to a technician (the removal, thermal grease, pin orientation, etc., is not something for the uninitiated..;).
To be honest, I use organic methods (lung power) to do most of my 'blowing out' of detrius, etc., and it's worked so far (just remember not to spit while you're doing it..;)

yeah, i dont get a error message but the problem u told is that what i had to pass.without doing anything now my pc will format the "unformated" drive i have taken out after he dont wanna recognize it.but i have had another runtimecopy, so i dont loose any of my runtimes. dude, i know what u are talkin about.poser seems to be a systemcrasher sometimes and its a RAM eater,too.if u ar going to use poser again after that shit, u surely make some safes of ur poser runtime i guess. never say no, never give give up, never say never

Acadia, there may be another culpret with your maxtor external drive disapearing, if you have Win XP SP2 you might want to read the article in the maxtor knowlege base entitled "1394 External Storage drive stops responding in Windows XP SP2". I have been having problems with my external drive and it seems to be that XP is rejecting the driver for some reason. I reload the drivers unplug and replug the power on the drive and plug it back into the computer and Windows recognizes it again.

Message edited on: 12/13/2005 11:07

I reload the drivers unplug and replug the power >> on the drive and plug it back into the computer >> and Windows recognizes it again. Ah yes. Plug 'n' play. M

Have you considered a virus? That could be what is spinning your hard drive out of control, resulting in the overheating.

A couple of cheap and easy tips that I can share on keeping your system cool: 1) Take off the side panel case cover. Just leave it off. It does allow more dust into the case, but the increased airflow actually let's less dust just sit in the same spot, and keeps the system drastically cooler. 2) Get a desk fan and point it right into the case. What I actually did was take out the popout panels where you can install CD drives, and point the fan right at the holes. It looks ugly as sin, but the cooled air blows right at the hard drives, and with the side panel off, that now heated air blows right out the side. My computer is never too hot anymore, and I used to have a bad problem with heat. 3) You can buy a power supply with dual fans. One points down into the case, pulling the air into the power supply, the other blows out the back of the power supply. This is a decent solution to grab heat. It actually works really well on my computer, since the setup has the power supply right over the CPU, so the CPU fan blows the air up toward the suction of the power supply, and then it gets expelled from the case. Keeps the CPU very cool.

Heat is the 3rd worst enemy of computer equipment. Ahead of them on the list is static electricity, and power surges. (If you can afford an Uninteruptable Power Supply [UPS] that is a great investment to prevent things like lightning from causing unseen damage to your system. To combat static, always ground yourself before touching your equipment. (Touch an unpainted metal part of the outside of the case, or a doorknob.)

Attached Link: http://homeparents.about.com/cs/householdtips/gr/duster.htm

I dont' think there is room in that external drive casing to house a fan, so I don't think there is one in there. > Quote - heres how to clean your pc on the cheap....

Or you can take it into a professional and let them do it. Which is what I've been doing with my desktop. Although since I don't use it much anymore, I haven't had it cleaned in about 2 years. I have never even seen the insides of a computer save for pictures on the internet. I'm not about to start trying to take one apart and clean it, LOL That would be computer suicide for sure. > Quote - it's a dirty secret, but if you do a Google on Key words in the error message, sometimes it will pull up a solution for the problem.

Yes, I use google alot for stuff like that. > Quote - if u ar going to use poser again after that shit, u surely make some safes of ur poser runtime i guess.

Yeah. I'm moving a copy of my runtimes to my desktop today. But I have dishes duty and then dinner duty first :) > Quote - there may be another culpret with your maxtor external drive disapearing, if you have Win XP SP2 you might want to read the article in the maxtor knowlege base entitled "1394 External Storage drive stops responding in Windows XP SP2". I have been having problems with my external drive and it seems to be that XP is rejecting the driver for some reason. I reload the drivers unplug and replug the power on the drive and plug it back into the computer and Windows recognizes it again.

It's actually a Maxtor internal drive, housed in an external drive casing. Not sure that makes a difference. I do have XP SP2. Thanks for the suggestion about the article. I will read it and see if it helps. In October when I had this trouble, it was after a fresh reformat with fresh drivers and everything, so I really think it's something with the drive itself. > Quote - Ah yes. Plug 'n' play.

I can't say that I'm a big fan of that. It seems hit and miss. > Quote - Have you considered a virus?

Yes. I scan my laptop at least once and sometimes twice a week for viruses. My virus scanner is always active and up-to-date and notifies me if anything is detected between scans. The external drive is for storage only. It only houses my Poser runtime files, which I unzip to my laptop first before moving to the external drive. So the files are virus free. > Quote - Take off the side panel case cover. Just leave it off. It does allow more dust into the case, but the increased airflow actually let's less dust just sit in the same spot, and keeps the system drastically cooler.

Probably not a good idea for me. I have 2 kitties that shed. Computers attract that kind of stuff like magnets. > Quote - power surges

I do have a really good power surge bar, but when I'm home and there is a lightning storm overhead, I unplug my computer from the wall... just to be safe. ******* I managed to salvage all of my runtimes to my laptop. There are a few (3 or 4) items that had corrupt files that I'll have to reinstall. Once I get the files to my desktop, I think I'll format the drive there. On the weekend I did it on my laptop and it only took about 5 or 10 seconds to do that. My desktop took considerably longer to do it in October. So I'm wondering if my laptop even managed to format it at all and I only thought it had. At any rate, it seems that I can carry on with my addiction, LOL

That drive, is it a Maxtor DiamondMax 8 or 9? There was a bad series of Maxtor drives two years back. Drives that failed much earlier than they should (somewere between 2 days and 2 years).

I don't know. How can I tell what model it is?

If you dare, open the housing of the external HD. There should be a sticker on the back of the drive saying what brand and model it is. Most of the bad Maxtors were 120 GB and 160 GB, though there were also bad 80 GB drives. A friend of mine went through 3 DiamondMax9 160 GB drives within three months, until he switched to IBM/Hitachi. Just as big and fast as the DiamondMax, but much more reliable.

Quote - If you dare, open the housing of the external HD

I'll give that some thought. Computers scare me. It's taken almost 6 years, but I finally learned how to reformat my laptop with the help of Dell :) I've never "tinkered" with hardware, I don't even like to install hardware. I'd rather pay someone to manage my hardware issues and just leave me to turning it on and using it ;) The drive is only 19GB. In October, I had contacted Maxtor about the trouble and that's how I learned that it was an internal drive in an external drive casing. They told me that they've never had a 19GB external drive. They did give me a toll free number to call and talk to their tech, but after I formatted it back then, it worked well, so I didn't bother following through calling them.

19 GB? Then it must be 4 or 5 years old, at least, unless it's a 2.5" drive (internal laptop drive). The larger 3.5" drives that come in desktops have always been larger. If it is that old, chances are that it is about to die permanently. Most drives don't live beyond the age of 5. But it is certain this is not a DiamondMax 8 or 9. The smallest DiamondMax was 60 GB, as far as I can remember.

I'll be doing CPR on this thing until it coughs up my runtimes, lol In January or February I hope to be able to buy a larger internal drive and put it into the moblie disk case. I need more than 19GB because I would like to be able to store more than just runtimes on it.