• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Distort Crash

Sabre

New Member
Hey everyone,
We've had this problem with Flexi where we thought it might be something we were doing wrong, but it seems to exist in any project. When we try to use the distort effect, we can modify the preset distort effect, but when we change it to another style, we get an error message stating "An Unrecoverable System Error Has Occured", Flexi will prompt us to save, and then crash to desktop.

Any ideas or workarounds?

Thanks in advance!
 

Derf

New Member
What Version?

What OS, Win Or MAC?

If it is Flexi 6x or newer your can reset the default settings by going to your preference manager located C:\Program Files\FlexiSIGN or in the Applications folder \FlexiSIGN on the MAC

Or just re install the program after you have done maintenance on your system.
 

Sabre

New Member
We're using the latest 7.6v2 Build 0804 on WinXP SP2. We've tried resetting the default preferences and reinstalling the program. We're going to try to chase it down and see if it's in the adobe plugins this morning.
 

jayhawksigns

New Member
After you have tried messing with all of your settings and the plug-ins, it might be a shot to try reinstalling the software. A file may of gotten corrupted somewhere.
 

Sabre

New Member
I just finished messing with settings and preferences again, then went for the clean install with the same results. I'm currently corresponding with Scanvec, but they havent' gave me anything new to try.
 

Derf

New Member
Have you tried to uninstall SP2, I have Flexi pro 7.6v2 as well and I had issues with SP2 & Flexi RIP so I uninstalled it, problem solved :)

Is it all files or just that file?
 

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
What is the nature of the object being distorted? Is it something loaded with lots of anchor points, such as "antiqued" lettering?

Also, what kind of computer hardware is being used, how much RAM, etc.? Certain vector distortion operations can demand a lot of floating point performance.
 

Sabre

New Member
It seems to be any possible object that it will crash on. Doesn't matter if it's a 40 character text line or a black rectangle. I have no concerns about our computer not being up to the task; it's an AMD 3500+ with 4gigs of RAM on a Western Digital Raptor 10K hard drive.

We're not willing to pull SP2 off this machine for security reasons, but my next step is to install it on a different machine and see if I get the same results.
 

Baz

New Member
My production pc will never be connected online. It has original windows xp version ... It was updated originally (before SP2). but it hasnt received updates since it was originally built over a year and a half ago. And it runs exactly like it did back then, perfect.

IMO having a production computer hooked on the internet is just asking for trouble. I have another pc hooked online and thats all i use it for. And i have to do quite a bit of regular maintenance and repairs on that one just because of these damned updates. wether its operating system or hardware updates.

My 2 cents.
 

Derf

New Member
I second BAZ.... I use my MAC for web and email, I never take the production PC on line..... you could have some freak worm or virus or something on your PC that you virus/spy protection may not be seeing!
 

Sabre

New Member
I respect your opinion but I hold very little value in that solution. We run an extremely secure network here with professional users and I can assure you that there is very little chance of internet infection or infiltration by worms and/or viruses. I'm not saying we're bulletproof, but the chance of this being internet related is so small that I need to write it off completely.

What you guys are describing is the mindset that makes up a large portion of the Mac userbase. They think their safest because nobody writes viruses for a mac computer rather than putting the responsibility on themselves for running a clean and secure machine/network.

On a related note, we installed it on another machine with similar hardware and the same OS and version and it runs fine. So it's looking like I'll have to manually clean my registry out after I uninstall it and hope that there are no remains of it to corrupt my third "clean" installation.
 

Derf

New Member
Sabre, I hear you... it's just that one time this happened to me on my PC and it took days to find out that it was a Virus that was not rapidly destructive but just did little thing to weird me out.... so I installed flexi on a new clean hard drive and was good from there...

My CPU had
1) Virus program
1) Hardware and soft ware fire wall
3) Spy ware programs all updated daily and the firkin virus thing still got in. That's why I said FREAK... the 1 in 1,000,000 is still the 1 that can get you.

I have a secure network.. just because the MAC will not get viruses doesn't mean I want people browsing my files and corrupting my PC's on the net work.


I'm glad you some what fixed the problem... sorry we could not help more some times it's just easier to do what you did.

Regards, Derf
 

Techman

New Member
AS far as security for XP SP2 is not the cure all for that..
In fact. I do not use SP2 and will not.. theres no need for it..

Using a good router, a good firewall, and agood virus deflector is all you really need. Just to let you know. SP's firewall is a one way and almost useless. Eery one should be using a good two way firewall.

Then do not use IE explorer and outlook. Use firefox and thunderbird and nearly all worries about maleware will just about disappear.

--Techman
 

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
As long as the issue of security is being raised, I'm going to list a few things that may be a bit unpopular:

1. The overall fault in Windows' security does not rest completely with Microsoft and Windows operating system.

2. Many users have only themselves to blame for getting their Windows PC or another kind of computer hosed. User actions are what bring on 99.9% of computer infestations. Very few are deliberate, unsolicited intrusions.

3. It isn't difficult to make a Windows PC secure. All it takes is just a little reading and a few adjustments on Internet surfing and e-mail habits -habits any computer user regardless of platform should take.

4. You don't need a Mac to have a secure computer. And the MacOS alone is no security blanket against the Internet either.

We run an all Windows-based shop. All of our computers are networked and have Internet access. We have a good firewall though. And we have taken a number of steps to remove common points of entry for malware.

Here's some tips I recommend:

1. Do NOT use Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Use Mozilla Firefox to surf the web and Thunderbird for e-mail. The full version of Opera is now free, so there's another alternative if you don't like Firefox.

2. Proof all e-mail headers via web-based mail clients. Most web-based mail systems have lots of filters as an extra defense against spam and malware. Never leave an application like Outlook Express or even Thunderbird running all the time. Only download e-mail to your local hard disc that you intend to keep. Delete all the rest.

3. If you use WindowsXP, Win2000, WinNT or even MacOSX, do most of your computing using a login with limited permissions. Some sign making applications will need administrator rights level logins to run properly. But otherwise use a guest level login. It's much more difficult for any outside intruder to remotely install malware on your machine if you're only logged in as a "guest."

4. Obvious: keep your anti-virus software updated. Have at least a couple good anti-spyware applications installed and updated. Run a good software firewall so in the unlikely event malware does get a foothold it won't be able to "phone home" very easy.

5. Be educated about threats. I can't believe some people fall for the 419 scams and various ID theft phishing schemes. But maybe I'm a little more street smart when it comes to the Internet. There's lots of ID theft threats that extend into the "analog world" as well. Don't be lazy about this stuff. Know the threats or you could lose thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to recover your identity and rebuild your destroyed credit.

6. Using WiFi? Secure it!
Wardriving or Hotspotting are serious sports. Lots of black hat hackers, ID thieves, traffickers of child pornography and people engaged in organized crime love to do their online work via unsecured WiFi Internet connections. It may be okay for a coffee shop to run a free and open WiFi connection from a Linux box. But you don't need to do that from your home. After all, it would be pretty bad to have the FBI kick in your door thinking you're a child pornographer just because their traces led them to your unsecured router's IP address.

7. Back up your data. Even if hackers can't take down your system hardware failures can. You never know when a hard drive will clamp down. I mirror my art files between home and work every day and make regular backups that are stored at the office and at the shop owner's house. Burglars could break into our studio, steal all the computers and torch the place. But we would still be in business because we don't have our data all stuck dangerously in just one place.

There are more tips I could provide, but these are the most important ones. I recommend any PC, Mac or Linux user follow them.
 

Sabre

New Member
Thank you all for taking a substantial amount of effort to list these tips and tricks, but I still feel it's unrelated. To reply to some other statements, I'm not using SP2's firewall; we use a hardware firewall and have switched to Firefox Moox builds since long before they were popular.

Unfortunately, we're in the exact opposite situation as most people enter this business. I would go as far to say we're by far the largest computer store in our area and we hold a significant amount of service contracts around town. We are somewhat intimate with the workings of our computers and know what's best for them.

And then we decided we could do better than the other 2 local signshops...

So you'll see us constantly cruising this forum for help and tricks on materials and substrates and whatever else makes up todays project. We're starting with a nil sign experience, learning as we go.

Computers are easy, how the hell do you vectorize something ;)

Getting back to topic, I'm not sure what route I'm going to take in the end to resolve this. Manually removing flexi/amiable entry's from the registry didn't fix anything for me after the reinstall. I'll have to keep messing around, or learn to avoid that usefull looking tool and head for Corel when I need it.
 

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
Are you just making signs for in store use? Or is your computer store positioning itself to compete with other sign companies?

If the latter is the case, I don't mind if you take out some fly by night cheapie guys with better quality work (but may wind up losing money and lots of time chasing after cheaper customers trying to do it).

I think its okay for a company that specializes in selling a non-sign related item to dabble in some fast/cheap vinyl signs business. The area where it crosses the line is when the non-sign company tries to get into the electrical and permanent commercial side of the market. That area of the sign industry demands expertise. For products in that area only full time, full service, custom sign companies are going to get those jobs done correctly.
 

Sabre

New Member
We're going after every and all sign business we can get aiming squarely at being the only local proffesional sign solution. Our 2 or 3 competitors would be a joke to any of you guys. 1 of them has some small format (I havent' seen anything from him bigger than about 12") vinyl cutter that he runs out of his tatoo shop. 1 of them switched locations to the upstairs in a building with an extremely low amount of traffic about 8 months ago and has yet to produce a sign for her business; her average turnaround on any project appears to be on average 3.5 months. The final competitor bought out his mentor of 8 months when he had to leave town for another oppertunity. He's been driving the business into the ground with inconsistent pricing, horrible turnarounds and a hideous level of creativity.

We've already secured the local RCMP for some sign updating, we're doing some oilfield stuff for ExxonMobil and have several bids in at other large scale jobs. Judge if you want, but we're here to stay and we have a huge desire to be better, not just a money grab.
 

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
That's probably fine then, considering the type of competition serving that area.

In our market, we have lots and lots of people trying to jump into the sign business thinking it will be a quick way to make money. Many of those guys are running their sign business as an offshoot from other kinds of businesses. Some mainly specialize in selling window tint, waterbeds, scooters, car stereos or other kinds of electronics. They beat each other's heads in on price cutting.

And then when they get tired of starving they eye our market. Sometimes they do some pretty irresponsible baloney. They'll go around trying to sell our customers on their services claiming we're too expensive -when in fact they're Johnny-come-lately amateurs who don't know what they're talking about on pricing, don't know what they're doing and have very little talent either.

Now I'm just talking about my market (and any other market that has reputable full time custom sign companies). A business can dabble in selling vinyl graphics and other fast signs type stuff like that. But if he's going to start competing with full time custom sign companies, particularly one that's been around half a century like the firm where I work, then the guy had better already be an expert on electrical signs and be able to provide a superior product. Just going cheaper and selling garbage won't cut it. That's what's been going on in my market when non-sign companies want to break into selling any kind of sign.
 
Top