Some cool free photo software images:
XP Data Execution Protection (DPE) protects me from Windows Explorer (1 of 2)
Image by Nemo's great uncle
Friday, my new Dell laptop arrived.
Saturday morning, I installed ZoneAlarm. (I've used their free firewall on every machine for years and their antivirus product on my old laptop for two.)
Every since, whenever I try to access MyDocuments, MyComputer, Recycle Bin, Unused Desktop Items, and other special Windows folders—or open the Quick Launch folder—Windows Explorer crashes. (Not shown is the third message that sometimes appears from the Dr Watson debugger.)
Especially galling is the fact that these folders include Control Panel. In other words, I have no way of configuring my system or uninstalling software. I can't post any photos, however, because Start|Settings|Control panel simply flashes the screen as Explorer crashes and then promptly reloads.
Updates
Clicking the "What should I do?" leads to the following description of Understanding Data Execution Prevention (DEP), the apparent culprit.
…memory locations that only Windows and other programs should use…
Unlike a firewall or antivirus program, DEP…
How can I tell if DEP is available on my computer?
To open System Properties, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
Alas, if DEP is crashing Windows Explorer, there is no way to open Control Panel.(sigh)
The "memory locations that only Windows… should use" is especially rich since Windows Explorer is the archetypical Windows program, alway running. You can turn it off, but the OS will instantly reload it.
FWIW, I disabled ZoneAlarm yesterday, but no improvement. Uninstalling ZoneAlarm and rebooting between James' first two comments did nothing but turn the Windoze firewall ON. Double-clicking Recycle Bin still causes DEP to shut down Windows Explorer. No access to Control Panel either. I assume because it involves Windows Explorer, a program that DEP hates with a vengeance.
FWIW, this is my third XP machine. The three-year-old laptop (Toshiba) with the dead hard drive was XP. My two-year-old desktop (Dell) is XP. Neither has DEP to protect me from Windows Explorer.
My "no way to open Control Panel" was the problem. The solution was to bypass that folder (opened in Windows Explorer) by right-clicking on MyComputer and then choosing Properties to access the System Properties control panel directly.
Thanks to James for keeping me on the problem instead of just letting it slide.
Cubase from Musician's Friend (1 of 2)
Image by jdwarrick
Cubase SE software from Musician's Friend, photo 1 of 2
09/13/2007: My "non-returnable" copy of Cubase software from Musician's Friend arrived damaged. Fortunately, it appears to just be cosmetic.
(photo taken with cellphone camera)
UPDATE: Discussion Thread
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Response (Stefanie) - 09/25/2007 02:09 PM
Dear Musician,
Thank you for your recent inquiry. We are extremely sorry about the damage done to your product. We can assure you that it will not happen again. To show our gratitude for receiving and keeping a damaged product, we have credited you back .00 for your troubles.
If there is anything else we can do for you, please feel free to let us know.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions or concerns.
We appreciate you choosing Musician's Friend.
1-800-391-8762
MF question reference number '070914-000201'.
It reflected forever
Image by Mona Loldwoman (Look for the good)
4 photos
sunset reflection for test of Panarama Pros free software. Which I did not post, it loaded the pics out of sequence, twice. It wouldn't let me verify before making the panorama and took it ...f o r e v e r.
This is thru Picasa mosaic maker and cropped in HP camera software, cleaned up in Paint pro 8. Twenty times faster than Panarama Pros even with using the 3 programs.
