Aspire not saving all the time

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello everyone..... In the last two days when I use my Aspire (newest version), I can make one save. But when I try to save after another small change, I get an Aspire error message: "Failed to create File........ Code 103"

When it won't let me save, I try to close Aspire. It warns me that I haven't saved my changes. I try to save, and it gives me the same message again (Code 103). The only way I can exit Aspire, is to select the option to quit without saving. I have restarted my PC several times, over the last two days, and this problem persists.

I also did the on-line check to see if I have the newest version (hoping there was a patch). But I get the message saying I have the newest version of Aspire.

This is a frustrating problem, and I had some important changes to my file that I lost as a result..... What do I do????? Thanks, Chuck

[Brian Moran]

Hi Chuck,

If you contact Vectric via support@vectric.com we can try and get to the bottom of the problem.

Are you saving your file to a local disk or a USB / Network drive? If a USB or Network drive, please try repeating the process on a local drive where you have full rights to save a file (such as your 'My Documents' folder). There are folders on a PC where you can create a file, but not delete it (and hence overwrite it).

Brian

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello Brian. Thanks for your reply. I will contact Vectric via the link you supplied. As a note, the problem of not saving is with saving to my PC's C drive.

I guess the fact that I posted the question here on Shopbot's forum is a testament to my familiarity with this forum, and my respect for the results I get.


Thanks, Chuck

[dlcw]

I have had this error message on several occasions. I hit 'save' a second or maybe third time and the file is saved. Not sure what is going on. I'm not saving to a Windows 7 secured part of the hard drive or anything. I save everything in 'My Documents' subfolders.

Another computer gremlin I guess. At least I can eventually save the work without loosing it. :)

[knight_toolworks]

I have had this error message on several occasions. I hit 'save' a second or maybe third time and the file is saved. Not sure what is going on. I'm not saving to a Windows 7 secured part of the hard drive or anything. I save everything in 'My Documents' subfolders.

Another computer gremlin I guess. At least I can eventually save the work without loosing it. :)
same here. hitting the save button over going through the menu seems to do it too.

[Chuck Keysor]

Thanks guys. I will try to save the way you suggest.

Some notes: I use Windows XP. I save on my internal C drive. And in doing more testing, I found that this problem only existed with my big Aspire files, like on the order of 45megabytes. Smaller files didn't have this problem.

I have sent a detailed email to Vectric, and when this is resolved, I will post the results here.

Thanks, Chuck

[rcnewcomb]

Have you tried defragmenting your hard drive? You may have enough free space but it is divided into lots of small pieces. Defragmenting may help with problems saving large files.

Microsoft instructions are available ->here (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305781)

[knight_toolworks]

aspire and vcarve have problems with larger files. like whne I have a lot of parts to toolpath it can cause aspire/vcarve to crash. when I do these large stencils that take 4+ hours to cut I have to divide them up with several toolpaths to keep the software from crashing. but this is a good idea as it is easier to see where you left off if a bit breaks or such.

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello again. OK, I just got done de-fragmenting my hard drive. I went from 223Gig of free disk space, up to 293Gig of free disk space. Then I went back to see if my save problem was affected. De-fragmenting did not help. But it was worth a try, thanks.

Then I thought I would try and save 5 times using the pull-down menu, and then try using "ctrl S". Well, on my 5th pull down save, I got the message that a "fatal error" had occurred, and it asked me to create a "dump" file. So I hit the save dump file, and got another error message saying that the dump file had failed to be created. Then Aspire shut down completely.

Any other suggestions? I will try whatever I can while I am waiting for support help. These added experiments may help Vectric support to figure out what the problem is.

Thanks, Chuck

[adrianm]

What sort of anti-virus package(s) are you running?

I've seen a similar problem on a relatives PC who was doing a lot of video editing which is also large files.

In that instance he had two AV solutions that were fighting over the file.

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello Adrian. I have McAfee which comes as part of my Internet service. A couple of years ago, my ISP switched from some brand (I forget) to McAfee, and at that point I HAD to remove the old anti-virus software, as it would not let me install McAfee. So the possibility you suggested should not be possible in my case,,,,,,,,, I hope! Thanks, Chuck

[rcnewcomb]

I got the message that a "fatal error" had occurred, and it asked me to create a "dump" file. So I hit the save dump file, and got another error message saying that the dump file had failed to be created. Then Aspire shut down completely.


Create a directory C:\temp on your hard drive. That is the directory that Vectric products look for when they create a dump file after a fatal error. If the program fails again it will create the dump file in that directory. You can send the file to Vectric support and it will help them understand exactly what was going on when the program crashed.

[Chuck Keysor]

Thanks Randall! Per your instruction, I have just now created a temp folder in my C drive. Chuck

[Chuck Keysor]

OK, following is the reply I got from Vectric Support. Does it give anyone any ideas for me? Also, this sounds pretty lame, but how do I zip a file? My email account limits me to files of 20 Megabytes, and the problem files are 40 to 45 megabytes. Thanks, Chuck....

"I am afraid that we have not had any other reports of this and the software has not altered since December of last year, so this might point to a problem on your computer.
The 103 error message is a serialization error but is usually only seen on reading of a file
rather than writing the file. If you are writing to a local hard drive, this may point to
a bad or unwritable sector on the disk.
If you are able to zip up one of the files and send this to us, we will take a look at this
it might yield some clues.
The file size should not in itself be a problem, but obviously the larger the file, if you
do have a fault sector on the disk, the greater the likelihood that some of the file
would be placed on that sector."

[Chuck Keysor]

Concerning the suggestion that using the save button (I assume "Ctrl s") may avoid my problem of not being able to save my file, using "Ctrl s" creates the exact same error message I get when saving via the pull-down menu. And after pressing "Ctrl s" 5 times, I got the fatal error message as before. But this time it did create a "dump" file. I will email that to Vectric.

Again, this is rather disconcerting, as this is my most valuable file. IE, I have spent a ton of time, over the course of the last two months to create this file, make test cuts, modify the file, over and over again. I have maybe 5 versions of this with different file names (just saving with a new date once a week). And every one of these now exhibit this same problem.

Comments????? (Help.........) Thanks, Chuck

[dlcw]

With more then one person reporting this issue, I would think Vectric would want to dive into it deeper. Just my thoughts......

[rcnewcomb]

how do I zip a file?

How to Zip a file in Win XP: ->Link (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306531)
and here is a ->Video Tutorial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq3vdsCux-c)

[adrianm]

Chuck, have you done a disk check for possible errors?

Right click on the disk drive in Explorer, choose properties and then Tools. Click on Check now and follow the prompts from there.

[dlcw]

On my system, I have Checkdisk, Defrag and Cleanup scheduled to run every week and I still get the occasional Aspire error of not being able to save a file. Aspire has never outright crashed on me or eventually not saved a file.

I've never had this error with any other program I run on my computer. MS Office, Sketchup, Windows Live Mail, Outlook, Quickbooks, etc., etc. I run many programs.

Not pointing fingers - just saying......

[Chuck Keysor]

Thanks Adrian and Don.

1) I went to the C drive/properties/tools/checking. Then I first tried a check without any options selected. It told me it was doing Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and then it simply said "Disk check complete." And there was an OK button to close out the window. No report of anything good or bad.

So I chose the next checking selection, which said to "scan and attempt to recover bad sectors". This time, it took 4 times as long, maybe, and did tests of Phase 1, 2, 3 and 4. Then it said "Disk check complete." And there was an OK button to close out the window. No report of anything good or bad. So, if it fixed anything it didn't say so.

Then I went back to my two files I know aren't working right, and they still both wouldn't save.

2) Then I took the first problem file, opened it, selected all vectors, and copied, then pasted into a brand new file. I did this for both flaky files.

After doing this, I made changes and edits, and saved each NEW copied file without any problems. :)

So for now, I will register this as a public comment that something is wrong somewhere, maybe in my computer, maybe not. But should anyone else have such a problem:

a) they can at least copy and paste their work into a new file, and hopefully escape.

b) be certain to copy and paste before you go and hit the save button 5 times in a row, because that, in my case, shut down Aspire, and any unsaved work will be lost.......

I will stay tuned for further comments, but I will move on. Thanks, Chuck

[shilala]

Chuck, you mentioned how important these files are. I was going to suggest that you copy them to a usb hard drive or thumb drive (flash drive, or whatever you might call it).
I initially suspected your hard drive was flaking out, and it probably is. It may not be long until it goes altogether. That's no big deal as long as you have this real important stuff backed up.