Totally Fustrated!!!!

[sudsy]

Thanks to MarkO for referring me to this forum. Ok - I have been using Print Shop 21 Deluxe for a while now & have some important booklets & such in there. All of a sudden it won't open - keep getting message that error has occurred & tell microsoft. Well I call them & they said it wasn't their soft ware & they couldn't do anything about it & gave me the # for Broderbund tech help. I have been on the phone with them for 2 days & did everythig they said & nothing has worked. At least I'm getting some education with this problem but it still isn't opening for me. (not to mention I lost 2 days of work because of this) Broderbund said something about the problem having to do with 32dll. & that a file is causing the problem & said I had to find out on my own as to how to fix it. I am totally not computer savay enough to fix this on my own so here I am. Also these files (if I am correct in that they are files) are in My Documents & MicrsoftWord but when I open them in WORD they open in some kind of font that is totally alian to me??? I tried fixing that too but nothing is working for me Totally fustrated & don't know what to do short of either getting a tech in or just uninstall the program & get some other program & lose my work & start over.
Any feed back is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
sudsy

[Staff]

Don't panic. Take it one step at a time.

First, I hope when you attempted to open one of the graphic files in Word that you did not save the file after that. If so, then you can probably kiss those file(s) good-bye as Word would have changed their format on the save.

Otherwise see if you can get an exact error message as to what's happening. Need to know exactly what you did and what message showed up and when in the loading process. It's possible that something uninstalled and took an unregistered DLL file with it and, if so, then returning that DLL file to its rightful place would likely solve the problem. But, you would need to know the exact message to figure that out.

Also, in parallel, see if you can find a program that will read the format and display the files and maybe convert them to some other more common format. I looked at the listings for the common programs for this (Irfanview, XnView, Konvertor) but did not find the format there. But, that doesn't mean they won't work; maybe the websites are behind. Try and see.

A Google search for conversion programs might help too although, to be honest, that format is not considered mainstream and so may be hard to find.

Let's see where that takes you first and then proceed from there.

[sudsy]

ok Tom I will get the info tonight & post it. Sorry I didn,t get back sooner but I've been working on getting my website info together.

Thank you sooo much for answering me - was beginning to think I was in the twlight zone

sudsy
Carmy

[sudsy]

Hi Tom -
Here's the info:
When I click on Printshop 21.0 the PrintShop screen comes up & 1sec.after this message comes up:
The Print Shop 21.0 has encountered a problem & needs to close.
If you were in the middle of something the information might be lost.
Please tell microsoft about this problem.
Then I click on Error Report:
AppName:tps.exe AppVer:21.0.038 ModName:kernel 32.dll
ModVer:5.1.2600.2945 Offset:00012a5b
Then it goes on with system info do you need that? If so I will get it for you.
At the bottom it says: The following files will be included in this report:
C:\DOCUME~1\CARMEL~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\dff6_appcompat.txt

Hope this is of help & Thank You!!!
sudsy

[Staff]

Yes, thank you. The tps.exe file may have to be replaced; it may have become corrupted. I assume you have the original disc or downloaded archive that it was installed from?

See this page for general information about that type of error message...

http://aumha.org/win4/a/kernel32.htm

The page doesn't mention Windows XP but it still applies.

[sudsy]

Thank you for the link. One more quest., when it says insert the command device does that mean I go to Start & click on Run & type in there? I'm going to try the not enough memory first. Sorrry to be such a PITA

[Staff]

when it says insert the command device

Pardon me but where it this coming in? First mention of it. And, I am not certain what a "command device" is; a new term for me.

Also not certain what you mean by not enough memory as that hasn't come up in the thread before either.

Would need the context of where these items come up (and, again, exact error message text) to try to figure out what further might be needed.

[sudsy]

This is what I'm talking about Thought I'd give it a try - what do you think?



GENERIC KERNEL32.DLL ERROR CHECKLIST
by Richard G. Harper
In most cases, I still think the fastest diagnostic route for KERNEL32.DLL errors is to follow this checklist by MS-MVP Richard G. Harper:

BAD MEMORY MODULES. Try inserting the command DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:ON into your CONFIG.SYS file with the System Editing utility and watch your computer for a message “HIMEM has detected unreliable memory at address xxxxxxxxx” which will certainly indicate that there is a memory problem. It may take several reboots over a period of days for this to show up. You can also download diagnostic software from AMI, or DocMemory from SIMMTester.com, to test your system’s memory

[Staff]

It probably would not hurt but I doubt it will find a problem.

But, now I see what you are talking about.

There are two files on a Windows machine that are holdovers from the DOS days. One of them is called CONFIG.SYS and the other AUTOEXEC.BAT. These files are located (if they exist -- they don't exist on all computers) in the C: drive root folder (C:\). You can see if you have them by opening My Computer and clicking on the C: drive. Windows Explorer should then show the root folder of that drive (the top bar should indicate you are in C:\). Scroll down and look for the CONFIG.SYS file.

These are text files that can contain command lines that affect system boot. Usually Windows XP does not need and largely ignores these files for normal operation.

The statement you quoted indicates that you would need to open the CONFIG.SYS file in a text editor and insert into it the text

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:ON

on a single line. You then save the file and watch what happens when you restart. [Note: The command requires that the file HIMEM.SYS be in the Windows folder. On some XP systems the Windows folder is actually called WINNT instead of WINDOWS so you would need to change the command accordingly if that's the case on your system.]

Another way to edit this file is also a holdover from earlier Windows versions. Click on Start | Run and in that dialog type SYSEDIT and then click on OK. The System Editor will show up with four files open. One of them will be CONFIG.SYS. Edit that pane as if you were in Notepad and then save the file and close the editor. Do NOT change anything in either of the two Windows control files that will appear.

But, all that said, I really doubt that it's a memory problem as that would likely show up on multiple programs and not just the single one you are having problems with.

[sudsy]

Tom I can't thank you enough for your time & patience. I'm going to try & if all else fails I guess I'll just uninstall it & get another program.

Again I thank you, you are the best!
sudsy