The damned bug again ... since months ago all was working ok, I could do big renders for prints. But my 20 MB hard disk died in a pc crash, I needed to buy another one, and now a render of more than 1200 x 900 give me the hellish message. Help me, please. My system: -Windows2000 -1800 Mhz. processor -768 MB RAM -80 GB. HD - 81% free space -Poser5 -Trying to do: 3600 x 2700 (with my old disk and the same system I could do it!!!) I have defragmented the disk, but nothing new under the sun. Bug continues...

I have never seen this bug with P5. Do you have the latest patches installed?

No, Sam. I tried one only time, but something worked bad and thanks to heaven I had a copy of my runtime, because it destroyed my Poser and I needed re-install it. I prefer dont install patches again

You need the latest Poser 5 patches. They've fixed lots of problems. I've been using Poser 5 for over 2 years now, with no problems. Insufficient disk space remedies: 1.) Curious Labs says to adjust your swap file. I prefer to let Windows XP do the work for me. 2.) I put Poser on its own hard drive, and rarely get that error any more. When I do, it's time to defrag.

Echo Bobbie there. You really (read - absopositivelutely) MUST install them there patches. Your P5 will be about as much use as a chocolate fireguard without 'em.

Totally agree with the patches: you definitely need the SR4 patch. There is a thing about the swapfile though: if Windows needs to expand the swapfile while Poser is doing something (usually that something is rendering), Poser dies horribly. So I set the swapfile manually, min and max at the same figure. I'd advise to set it at 2.0 GB on your system. Seems excessive, but Poser is very, very memory hungry during renders (easily reaches 1.5 GB virtual). And: partition that 80 Gig HD. Put Poser on its own partition.

Well, I tried to increase my swap file. Minimum 2000 MB, maximun 2000 MB. Nothing happens, same bug. Up to 4095-4095 (my system dont allows more). All the same. Hell svdl, probably I need the SR4 patch. But I resist to install it. Because I know that the most big HD becomes small when you install software without control. For example I hate to install in my pc ACDSEE V.5 if ACDSEE V.4 works well. In the case of Poser, I obtain a few effects as atmospherics and volumetric light that sure I will not use (I never use firefly render), against it eats more disk space. And the damned history is that if my *@#$%& Poser5 rendered well 3600 x 2700 pic without patch when it was in a 20 GB HD, I dont know why I cant do the same in a 80 GB HD!!! By the moment I dont need the patch Ill try before the partition solution. Now I remember that when all worked ok, I had my 20 GB HD divided in two partitions, the first 25% one with the operating system and the second 75% one with all the program files including Poser. I readed in this forum that it wasnt good that system and poser were in different partitions, but ... if it worked before with my other HD, I will that works with the new one ... or not ... ... and if not, Ill cross my fingers and Ill try to install that demented patch, and Ill pray to The God Of Render that nothing happens this time ... By the way, anybody knows a software which do partitions in a HD with data, without erasing them? Because I ever have done partitions in blank HDs before installing the operating system, but I have never done it with a HD already used, and if I have to begin from zero again, Ill cut my veins ...

Install SR4.1 - we're recommeding it for a reason! ;) Trust me, it won't take much if any hard drive space. It barely adds but mostly replaces files. Also, if you never use FireFly - you're missing out on something.

Casette: Partition Magic by Powerquest is the tool you want. Firefly is very cool indeed - and it can handle bigger scenes than the P4 rendering engine.

Poser 5 had a few problems that were finally fixed by SR 4.1. Poser grows in size because we keep installing new content. That's not a program defect. My largest Runtime is currently 12GB. I've had bigger ones. When I started out, I had Poser on a different partition on the same hard drive as Windows. But Poser kept growing. I used Partition Magic, but frankly didn't understand it. Besides I just plain ran out of room. For the past 3 years Poser has had its own hard drive. Since using Poser 5, I've been using several external Runtimes by "Theme." I've moved up from the original 30GB hard drive to a 160GB hard drive. I want room to grow. Don't be afraid to update Poser, and give it enough room to do the job.

Well, Im working again with huge pics. I explain: Partition Magic sounds well, but theres "only" USD 69.95, and Im still climbing january with my VISA at the edge of an heart-attack after Xmas. And Im afraid yet of the SR 4.1. But Bobbie_Boucher gives me the idea. I found an old 10 GB.HD, installed in an empty port, and do a entire copy of Poser5 folder. The second copy runs perfectly but in a different disk than OS. And this serves me as security copy. So ... daily render? Copy of disk 1. Print render? Copy of disk 2 Of course, temporarily, because my Poser grows day by day, but ... it gives me some time until the moment in which Ill install the SR 4.1. And I have done already three new 3600 x 2700 pics, I couldnt wait ... Thanks to all :)

There's another option for partitioning: Ghost (or another drive imaging package). Create a partition image, burn it to CD/DVD, make a bootable diskette with CDROM support and the Ghost executable (fits on one diskette). Then partition the drive using the tools you have (FDISK, whatever). Restore the image using the bootable diskette and the images on CD, you get the option to fit the image into the existing partition. And at the same time you have a valuable backup of a complete working system: when your OS dies - it will, sooner or later - you can restore everything in about half an hour. I highly recommend Symantec Ghost, it's a member of a complete suite of tools. I use both Ghost and Partition Magic on a regular basis. I've been able to rescue important data several times using these tools. Both of them are well worth the money.

I said that my solution was temporarely but I dont knew so few days ... my second copy of Poser5 worked well when the pz3 files wasnt very difficult to the program, but when I used a heavy texture map or a render with more than three lights, the message again ... so I made a copy of my runtime in another disk, I crossed my fingers, and yesterday I installed the SR 4.1 ... AND IT WORKS!!! No crashes this time in the installation, and my first test with the same pz3 file that failed the last one was ok!!! Now I supose that Ill read the tutorials of volumetric lights and other new features to take advantage of this patch ;)