I bought Poser 7 and received it today. It will not install on my computer. The opening message comes up, but when I click on the install button, my machine freezes. I tried to call eFrontier but their line is always busy, even after I know they are closed. I have opened the software. I am afraid that I am stuck with something that will be worthless. Has anyone had this problem? It may be just a bad CD. It would not install on my wife's Vista machine either. The CD says WIN, so that should not be the problem. The worst part was that the FAQ wanted me to run Windows in Diagnostic Setup. I tried that and when I rebooted, Windows stated that I had made significant changes in my hardware, and I had to re-valadate Windows. I had to try 3 times before I could do that. I am now afraid to put Poser in my computer

Do you have alot of processes running in the background maybe? Try turning off anything that is not a system critical process, and try reinstalling it.

First, make a backup of your system partition using Norton Ghost, Acronis TrueImage or Powerquest PartitionMagic.

Then turn off firewall and antivirus - you also might want to unplug your Internet connection.

Now install Poser.

Turn on firewall/antivirus again.

I started my machine in Diagnostic mode. That cut off the firewall and virus protection, plus several other programs. The software still would not work. Most troubling, however, was the message that I had significantly changed my hardware and I had to try 3 times to get Microsoft to re-valadate my copy of Windows. If I lose the money I spent on Poser, that is one thing, but if I screw things up with Microsoft, my computer will stop working. I am not about to do any more. I want a program that will install nad work, or I want my money back. I guess there is a policy that I cannot return opened software from Amazon. They may give me my money back or not. I hope at least they will send me another copy. If they do, and I haven't found out what is wrong, I can perhaps sell this thing on eBay and get something back.

Could it be that you haven't updated Windows in a LONG time? Significant change in hardware is NOT something an installer can do.

vista?
ok don't run it whjen you pop disc in
instead...

EXPLORE the CD
right click AUTO RUN icon (looks like a sort of gold disc on my vista)
Open Properties, go to compatibility, chose XP Service Pack 2, tick Run as Administrator

THEN run poser, worked ok on my vista ultimate after doing that :)

I tried the explore idea. It does not work. I know software shouldn't cause a change in hardware. I don't even know if Poser had anything to do with it. It happened when I restarted Windows in Diagnostic mode. I would like to know how Microsoft checks suchs things. It might have just been a weird fluke. I install updates to Windows constantly. I also have a Velocity Micro with a QA6700 processor with a 8800 GTX video card and 2 gigs of memory running XP. The thing ought to install. It just doesn't. It would not install on my wife's Vista machine either. Of course, I did nothing except put the CD in the machine and wait for autorun. I know nothing of Vista and don't want to learn anything about it.

Sorry you're having problems. Is it the Velocity Micro machine on which you are trying to install poser? If so, perhaps you should contact them. I was wondering why they would sell you a quad-core 64 bit machine and install xp (32?) and only 2gb memory. I guess there is some missing information here.

I would be interested in helping out. Poser is not easy to learn and use, so you will have to be determined and get past your frustrations. I have been a programmer for many years and still see things that don't make sense at the moment. I just take a break and later I start to remember details that I didn't notice in the heat of battle.

Let me know if I can help out and maybe we can talk on the phone. I get enough typing in my work and don't like that as a means of communication.

I finally solved the problem. I rebooted in Safe Mode. I feel a little stupid. That is usually one of the first things I try when I have a problem. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I guess I panicked. I had 3 good reasons: 1. The software would not install. 2. Windows picked today to say that I had made too many changes in my hardware when I hadn't changed anything. 3. I could not contact eFrontier. Thanks for all the help.
I would like to know more about my machine. I had a very unimpressive HP when I bought this machine last year to run Lightwave. I went with 32 bit instead of 64 because I didn't know if all my programs would work in 64. I was told that XP didn't make use of more than 2 gigs of memory. I have 2 slots open if the extra memory would make an improvement. Is it worth paying for Windows 64 XP. As I said, I have no interest in Vista. I don't like my wife's machine, and I have one CAD program that will not run in it.

you can get a 120 day free trial of xp64. i did a thread on that....

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=3128871

(xp64 is currently $139.99 at newegg.)

there was a lot of discussion on that thread about whether it was worth it or not and here's a new one talking about some of the problems encountered:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2727322

i don't have any apps that use 64bit right now but i will soon. i think i will go with xp64 instead of vista. it seems like it's better but i am set in my ways. i remember waiting a while before going to xp and even then didn't update all my computers at first. but my daughter works at microsoft and i think i paid $35 for each installation, so it was a no brainer.

i find that lots of people are certain about their advice based on what they think but often the reality is different. i generally run tests to see for myself. there have been lots of cases during my career where what was generally accepted as fact was later proven wrong.

i am doing lots of batch rendering and have a utility that times everything. i have varied my render  settings to determine what the important factors are. i will be releasing a version of that utility to the members of the forum pretty soon. you could install the trial version of xp64 in a separate partition or on another drive and then run tests before you buy.

in that vein: one of my computers has a utility for over-clocking. everyone was real excited about that. i overclocked by 20% and my renders were actually slower. so, opinions are one thing but i prefer reality.

i'm glad you got things working. let me know how things go.

there's that old saying "your mileage  may vary ", and dennis has the right way of taking care of that