felix1

I absolutely agree with Igor. I have just installed an Nvidia 7600 with 512meg RAM and PTE runs beautifully and fast. Interestingly, I started with the Nvidia 8500, but, with my XP machine, it fouled up the booting process and we never got it running correctly (it required two or three boots to get XP up and running). We finally swapped it out for the 7600 and all is well. Seems the 8500 is designed more for Windows Vista than XP. --Felix

--------------------------- Al, Yes, I think you were correct. I finally had the sense to select all slides and uncheck the "Customize Slide" option and the music played fine thereafter. Live and learn! Thanks for your imput and info. --Felix

Al, I have inserted 4 MP3 files via the "Project/Options/Music tab" (as I have always done in the past). I have not checked any of the options boxes in the tab. As I say, this is my usual routine and it has worked fine for other shows. If I try "Synchronize Music and Slide" I get an error message saying "You cannot use personal playlists of slides." I did discover that if I add one of the MP3 files directly to a particular slide, the music will then play. So, I'm stumpted. Thanks, Felix

It is late, so maybe my brain isn't working properly. For some reason, none of my sound track music will play during the show, BUT, if I view the Timeline and click "Play", the music plays perfectly. I simply cannot get any of the music to play when previewing the show. I do not have "Synchronize Music and Slides" check in the Project Options. Help! Thanks, Felix

Okay, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. I sure think it would be cool to be able to delete at that screen which would then allow you to run the show. Ah, well... The other thing about this particular problem is that the "missing" slide was never anything except a plain old slide; it was not an animation object at all. That is what is so baffling to me. Oh, well, onward and upward! Thanks for your info. --Felix

Ah ha, yes, I re-zipped and this time it included the .pte file and it opens fine, so thanks much for that tip. But, you mention in your final paragraph that I should be able to delte the old image object in the Q&A error screen. I cannot accomplish that; in fact, I can't do anything with that screen except click on the path showing the missing slide... can't delte at all. Should I be able to? Thanks again, Felix

Igor, The problem is not that the "missing" jpg file is not in the file directory, it is, and I have even re-inserted into the show and it shows up okay in the show, BUT, I still get the "missing file" message and connot run the slide show. I did as you suggested and used the "Create backup in ZIP" and copied that zip file to new computer, but all that does is collectect the slide files into one place, correct? It does not include a new .pte file, too, right? At least my zip did not, it included only the slide files. So, I'm still stuck. It would be very good to have the option to "Delete" or "Reinsert" the missing files when that error window comes up. It would make life much more simple! So, I'm open to any more ideas. I have put a lot of time into this show and would hate to have to start all over. Thanks, Felix

Here's a puzzler: I recently got a new computer, so moved some slide shows over to the new machine. In one, a couple of slides came up "missing"-- I got the warning message at startup of show. Okay, so I fournd the missing slides in the show and replaced them. Everything looks fine. However, I still get the "Missing Slide" error at start up for one slide. The problem is that this slide does not appear anywhere in the slides list (that is, the normal blank slide with the path and name of the missing slide). So.... I cannot replace or delete the "missing" slide as I can't find it in the slides listing, and this is preventing the show from running. I'm running version 5.10. So, how do I rid myself of this pesky so-called "missing" slide? I can't even run the show without fixing this. Help! Thanks, Felix

Igor, I have now received my new computer. It is a Core 2 Duo with 3 Gigs Ram, and, most importantly for PicturesToExe, a great video card: the Invidia GeForce 8500GT with 512 Megs of Ram. I used the new 5.10 version of PicturesToExe to render and burn the same two shows that took NINE HOURS on my old (very old: 4+ years!) Dell. On the new machine, these same two shows took almost exactly 30 MINUTES! Woooooieee! Amazing! So, sir, your prediction was absolutely correct: with a modern computer and video card, PicturesToExe really, really FLIES! Thanks so much for your good work. Keep it up! --Felix

Ken, Oh, yeah, that's me, alright: I ALWAYS endure waiting, delay, or provacation without becoming annoyed.... just ask my long-suffering wife! And yes, of course you are right: 3 GIGS of RAM. In haste I often run afoul of those pesky 3-letter acronyms. Just when you get comfy with Kbytes, along comes MEGS, then along comes GIGS, and now we will have to start dealing with terabytes... and what is that to be: TERS ? Tbytes? Ah, technology. Onward and upward. --Felix

Ken, Well, I don't think that will be a problem with the new computer: C: will have 360 gigs! But thanks for the heads up. btw, I discovered that both Dell and Gateway are suffering some kind of supply problem and neither can deliver my new machine until well into the first week of November. I ended up going with Gateway as they offered an extra meg of RAM (total of 3 megs) and a better graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Dual DVI) for $100 less than the comprable Dell. So, it will be a few weeks before I can post about the improved DVD burning. But, I've heard that patience is a virtue, right? --Felix

--Okay, Igor, will do.

------- UPDATE: Just ordered a new Dell XPS with a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS. Woo hoo, Christmas came early!

Actually, my Dell is about 3 years old (antique!). The new graphics board sounds excellent, but perhaps it is time for a new computer (if my wife is not looking... ). Thanks!

Igor: Thanks for the reply. I do not have a laptop; I have a Dell Desktop, Model 8200, 1.5 gig RAM, and the video card is 64MB Invidia GForce2 MX.

Okay, I'll admit that my computer is rather old, a three-year-old Dell with 1.5 meg of RAM and with a basic grahics card, but boy, I was still amazed to find that burning a DVD with only two slide shows, each of which were less than 17 minutes long, took NINE HOURS! Yikes. I'm assuming that I really, really need to upgrade the graphics card, right? And so my question is: which one would you guys recommend? I also do a lot of Photoshop work, although PS does seem to work fine with my lowly current card, so doubt that is a consideration. Thanks, Felix

Ken, As I am just beginning to use PTE, my DVD shows have been extremely short, 3 to 5 slides, just to check on my resolution, zooming, etc. My first DVD try was of a 3-slide show and I would guess that I waited about 15-20 minutes at the 99% complete point before giving up and ejecting the disk. Perhaps you are right and I need to be more patient; however, I find the idea of having to wait an hour at the 99% complete point to be a less than attractive option, especially if the DVDs are apparently complete and play okay. But, I'll give it a shot tomorrow and let you know how it comes out. Thanks for your reply. --Felix

John, I too have just started using VB 5 and have had similar good (excellent!) results. However, there is one little bug on my system: each time I burn a DVD, the program hangs up at the "99%" complete point and does not finalize the DVD; I have to "cancel" VB and manually eject the DVD. But, the good news is that the DVDs do play and appear to be perfectly normal. Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or an idea of what is going on? No doubt something with my system, but don't know what. Thanks, Felix

Lin, Thanks for the reply. Your idea of creating custom "blanks" sounds like the way to go, then. Easy and cheap! How are things up there on the Berthoud Pass? (used to summer vacation in that neck of the woods as a kid). --Felix

Hi, Al, This is my first post. What a great forum. I Just got PTE last night and am doing fairly well so far. Even managed to do some simple animations! Woo hoo! But, my question is: do we still need to create our own blank slides? I don't see a way to automatically insert one, but maybe I'm missing something? Thanks, Felix