25 October 2013

Something For the Tech Weineis...

I have an Acer Aspire 5610Z with Windoze Vista on it. For some reason a couple of years ago it decided to just shut off as if you had dropped the battery and pulled the plug on it. A system restore back to the point before the service packs were installed fixed it for a little while, but after a few months it did it again.

It got to the point where I was having to restore it every month or so, so I reloaded Vista on it and it was OK for a while..except that the camera hasn't worked right for a long time now (I've replaced it once and downloaded/reinstalled the drivers many times). Well, it's doing it again and this time I get maybe 24 hours out of it. Tech support has been...less than helpful...through the whole incident.

So yesterday I went and got a new 500GB hard drive and Windoze 7. I am not going to put any of my old files on the new computer (I have everything I wanted to keep backed up to my removable hard drive anyway). I have it installed and I'm loading the OS. After this I'll download the drivers for the accessories (touch pad, camera, wireless network adapter, etc.).

We'll see how this goes.

11 comments:

RabidAlien said...

The best part of Windoz Vista is either a) downgrading to XP [which is what I did] or 2) upgrading to 7. Either step will solve more problems than you could imagine.

Larry said...

I would have gone the XP route but Microsloth won't support it any more. So, seven it is.

So far so good, I can't find a driver that will reliably run the camera. I couldn't get it to work on Vista either, so I guess I won't miss it.

RabidAlien said...

If its not on the computer manufacturer's website, look on the website for the actual camera's manufacturer. Check your device manager or the laptop manufacturer to find out who made it and what model, etc (if your laptop is a Dell, just search the service tag).

Larry said...

I've done so and I think there's a problem with the camera's connectivity because it did the same thing in Vista.

When the software initializes upon loading it sees the camera, but if the software is closed out and restarted normally it doesn't see the camera any more.

Oh well, it didn't work before so I don't miss it.

RabidAlien said...

Hmmm...still sounds like a software/driver issue. Does the camera come on and display at all on initial loading? If it does, then the hardware is fine. Do you get any error messages on opening the software the second time?

Larry said...

It says it can't find the camera.

RabidAlien said...

Do you get an image the first time you fire up the software? How long does the image stay up, if you do get anything from the camera?

Larry said...

I get an image as I am installing the software, but when I hit the "finish" button...it is finished. After that, it can't find the camera any more.

Like I said, it did this with the Vista OS as well, and it's Logitech software. I don't think it's a compatibility issue (and if it is I'm running it in the Vista compatibility mode anyway).

Irritating to be sure, but since it hasn't worked for a while I don't miss it.

RabidAlien said...

Hmmm...have you tried right-clicking on the software's desktop icon and setting the program to run in XP mode? This sounds like a 100% software issue, maybe an incompatible version or a set of drivers that the camera and the software don't agree on. Physical issues with the camera would normally not give an image.

Larry said...

Just tried it, same thing. I agree this sounds like a software issue but I'm not worried too much about it.

RabidAlien said...

Kewl. Yeah, finding an updated (or an archived/legacy version, if you're up to date) version of hte software may help, same with drivers. There's a combo out there that'll work, it just takes time to find it...if its worth the effort in your mind.