Computer/CD error question (WindowsXP)

[CarolynM]

Hi! I was trying to install a greeting card program on my laptop computer. Thank you very much for helping me!!!!!!!!! Cleaning the CD and rebooting my computer to clear the RAM worked!!!!! I'm glad it wasn't a bigger problem, needing a repair job. I would re-title this thread as PROBLEM SOLVED! but I don't see an option for changing the thread title. Thank you Richard and Thorpe for your great advice!!!!!
Sincerely,
CarolynM

[Imagebuffet]

Cyclic Redundancy Check is a form of memory error checking, usually known as CRC. One would normally expect this to refer to the RAM, but some programs throw up this error when they run into incompatible files. In the latter case, the name is misleading, because it has little to do with RAM, and a lot to do with a driver that is conflicting with the install program.

[CarolynM]

Originally Posted by Imagebuffet

Cyclic Redundancy Check is a form of memory error checking, usually known as CRC. One would normally expect this to refer to the RAM, but some programs throw up this error when they run into incompatible files. In the latter case, the name is misleading, because it has little to do with RAM, and a lot to do with a driver that is conflicting with the install program.

What do I need to do (or have done if it is out of my league) to correct or fix things so that I can get the program to work on my laptop?
Sincerely,
CarolynM

[Thorpeland]

Ive encountered this exact scenario before. That CRC error can occur when the CDROM has problems reading the CD. But it will vary from CDROM to CDROM. Meaning a few finger prints can cause one CDROM to throw up the CRC while another has no problem reading the disk. Two things to try. First clean the CD very good with a soft cloth (lens cloth is good too). Then try it again. Second idea. If it fails, put the CD in again and open it up in Explorer to view the contents of the cd (right click, open). That way you don't launch the install again. Copy all the contents of the cd to your hard drive. Then run the setup.exe from there. If it fails to copy to the hard drive it could be the CDROM again or a memory (RAM) issue.

[CarolynM]

Originally Posted by Thorpeland

Ive encountered this exact scenario before. That CRC error can occur when the CDROM has problems reading the CD. But it will vary from CDROM to CDROM. Meaning a few finger prints can cause one CDROM to throw up the CRC while another has no problem reading the disk. Two things to try. First clean the CD very good with a soft cloth (lens cloth is good too). Then try it again. Second idea. If it fails, put the CD in again and open it up in Explorer to view the contents of the cd (right click, open). That way you don't launch the install again. Copy all the contents of the cd to your hard drive. Then run the setup.exe from there. If it fails to copy to the hard drive it could be the CDROM again or a memory (RAM) issue.

Thanks for the info.
Is there a way for me to clear the memory RAM before I try to do these steps? If yes, please advise how; but I'm not a geek---can it be done in a few simple steps? Going to go wipe off the CD now.
CarolynM

[Imagebuffet]

Originally Posted by CarolynM

Thanks for the info.
Is there a way for me to clear the memory RAM before I try to do these steps? If yes, please advise how; but I'm not a geek---can it be done in a few simple steps? Going to go wipe off the CD now.
CarolynM

Clearing RAM is easy; reboot the computer. But, I doubt that would fix the problem.

As I dimly recall, any kind of data error between the program on the disk to execution on your machine could result in a CRC error. Photoshop is a good suspect at causing an incompatibility issue with this card program. It could also be a scratched or dirty CD, or a CD that was burned, instead of pressed. All you can do is try to fix a few things and hope they work. Cleaning the disk, polishing out obvious scratches, using a different CD reader, temporarily preventing Photoshop from loading anything into memory on bootup, copying the disk to another hard drive and then using a cable to load it to your laptop are all options.

[CarolynM]

Originally Posted by Imagebuffet

Clearing RAM is easy; reboot the computer. But, I doubt that would fix the problem.

As I dimly recall, any kind of data error between the program on the disk to execution on your machine could result in a CRC error. Photoshop is a good suspect at causing an incompatibility issue with this card program. It could also be a scratched or dirty CD, or a CD that was burned, instead of pressed. All you can do is try to fix a few things and hope they work. Cleaning the disk, polishing out obvious scratches, using a different CD reader, temporarily preventing Photoshop from loading anything into memory on bootup, copying the disk to another hard drive and then using a cable to load it to your laptop are all options.

Thanks! Cleaning the CD with a lens cloth and rebooting my laptop did the trick! I got the program to install! Now I have to learn how to use it.

[Thorpeland]

Yup. Some CDROM drives, especially older ones have a very weak ability to read a cd with any type of prints or mild scratches. Others seem to be able to read a cd in very bad shape. Glad you got it installed.