hostler

IT WORKED. All I had to do was open the command prompt as an administrator and then enable the service using sc config secdrv start= auto now it works exactly like it should. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Now I can start transferring files from my little computer to my big one. YAY!

I am seriously starting to think that Win 7 simply will not run any program that wasn't specifically designed for 64 bit OS. That's all I got which makes no sense since my 32bit Version of 18 does work. Maybe it's a difference in the size of the OS's. Just for S&Gs I dug out an old program that I knew worked with Win 95 and tried installing it. It wouldn't even attempt it, even after I tried running the installer in Win 95 Compatibility mode. I know there were 64 bit versions of Win XP out there but I didn't have one back in the day. Guess that's where I am right now, kind of stuck. Guess I will have to hope my laptop (currently running my AM2005) will last another five or six months until I can scrape together some extra funds for a full license of AM18, course by then 18 will be 19, etc. Thank you to everyone for all of their suggestions *sighs and lets shoulders droop*

Ok so I've managed to get my trial version of 18 working. Had to uninstall and reinstall and follow the instructions again. This time it worked. But it only lasts for 10 days so I still need to get one of the other versions working. Hoping the complete uninstall I did for all of the AM versions will work...not optimistic but it's worth a shot.

Attached is a screen of the directory. I'm pretty sure that it's all how it's supposed to look Have now uninstalled every Update going back over a year. Haven't uninstalled the Security Updates though. Not sure if those matter or if any update could be the problem. In any event, I've only had this machine for two years so I am halfway through and still no luck

The CD doesn't even spin up on any of the versions, even after I went to the FTP site.

(Moderator update: A work-around for this problem has been found. See post # 26) SO I'm sure that there is a place for this topic but I don't have time to go hunting. Here's my problem: So applied for the AM 18 trial version, downloaded it and followed all the instructions and it is telling me that I need an activation code??? I sent a message to support to see if I can get that resolved. In the interim and because I just did some serious upgrades to my machine, I thought I would try to get one of my older versions to work. When I say older I mean v11,12, or 13. Umm yeah, no matter what I effin do, they won't run. Even when I go through the "compatibility troubleshooter" they still don't work. Yeah I know they were designed for 32 bit OS's and my Win 7 is 64 but you'd think that the compatibility wizard would take all that stuff into account....apparently not. The only difference between between my v11 and 12 not working and my v13, is when I go to start up v13 it says "Program can not open because MFC72.dll is missing. V12 and 11 says that you must login as an admimistrator. Um yeah, It's my computer and my account is an administrator account....doesn't make sense. <_> Anyway, since I can't afford the version of 18 that I want (the full non-subscription license) and don't really have the extra 80.00 for the one year license, I was kind of hoping that there would be someone out there who can help me get one of these effin older versions running on my computer. MY v11.1b I ran on my Win XP Desktop back in the day, yet it won't run with the compatibility set to Win XP SP 2, or SP3. V12.0n which does work on my Laptop (Win Vista), won't work with a Win Vista Compatibility setting. WTF??? For info's sake this was my computer: 3.4ghz Intel Core i3 4gb RAM 2gb Integrated Graphics Video Memory. This is my computer now: 3.4ghz Intel Core i3, 8 GB Ram, 2GB EVGA (NVidia) gt730 Graphics Card. All versions running Win 7 SP1 64 Bit OS I know I am missing something, I just hope someone can tell me what it is. I was able to install v11.1 using a compatibility setting so it should run bu it doesn't. Like I said, none of the other versions run either. Is this a case of the same program conflicting with different versions of itself? Do I need to uninstall one or more versions and try that way? What am I missing (other than the obvious that it just won't work, EVER)? Thanks in advance Ken

I apologize for not introducing myself in the beginning. My name is Ken and I have been using AM since I bought the program back in 96, could have been '97. Not sure anymore. The entire breadth of the 90s is kind of a blur for me. It was like 499, or something like that when I bought it. I am a huge Star Wars fan, mainly from the tech perspective, though. I've been building models since I was twelve. For me, AM allows me to build virtually any kind of model that I want. Given my interests I'll let you all guess what those models are. Despite being primarily a character animator, it's surprisingly good at mechanical animation as well. AM's ease of use is AWESOME. Almost everything I know about the program I figured out. Most of it is right there. I'll write more as days pass. I have to leave for work now. Everyone have a great day and I want to thank everyone who has replied to me thus far.

Worth it to upgrade? For the past few years I have been using a CD (Yes, I said CD) linked version of AM 12 on my laptop. On paper, my laptop had all the requirements to run AM 16 and 17. It never worked, for one reason or another. I am suspecting that it had something to do with the integrated graphics. I can't be sure. Fast forward. I now have a desktop. I've always been satisfied with the program's performance on a desktop versus laptop. Laptop performance is fine until the model becomes too detailed for the processor to handle it. I have some models with over 30,000 patches. Viewling them in any kind of real-time environment on my laptop is about as fun as watching paint dry and almost as slow. I've seen the system requirements for v18. It seems, on paper, to run on my machine. Rather than pay for something that I might never be able to use. I thought it best to get some "expert" opinions. I am providing the official system props from my machine along with the improvements I intend to make to it. I will leave it to you to tell me whether it would be worth it to pay for the upgrade. Just for some background, the last desktop I ran this program on, was the best my money and credit would allow ($2000+ stripped down to just hardware) It was a Dell with Win XP. My current desktop has integrated graphics as well. Any help is appreciated. OS: Win 7 Processor: Intel Core i3@3.40 GHz Installed Memory: 4.00GB Intel HD Integrated Graphics (no video memory listed) Forgot to mention the one big upgrade I am planning: a 2GB NVIdia Card. Also considering an expansion to 8GB of RAM if necessary.

It's been awhile since I have been able to devote any time to anything. I have a REALLY crazy work schedule. Just to give an update, I have managed to get my old CD working. That's a plus. I have to open the drive, close it, and while autorun is trying to recognize it, double click my program icon. It's a pain, but it works. I am okay with that. Don't ask me how I did it, I just did it and it works. Eventually, I will be buying a new machine that is built to my specs and for what I plan to do with it. Funds are still tight right now. I want to thank everyone who responded. I did read them and they were enlightening. Hopefully, I won't be having this issue in the future. Thank you again. BTW, can anyone point me to a place where I can create realistic beacon lights (i.e., like the ones you see on planes, boats, bridges, and towers)?

On paper they should work fine, perhaps a little clunky, but still run. I'm not quite sure. This being laptop and all, I figured it was the integrated graphics. I have been told that cause some serious problems with programs that suck up a lot of video memory. Maybe an external graphics module would (do they make those?). Basically the short of it is that I don't really know. I load the program, it starts up, the interface comes up and I can even draw. I just can't do anything else. I can't open the project workspace, I can't close the libraries pane, I can't change the layout at all without the program closing. It's been so long since I tried either one of them I can't even remember the error messages, if I got them at all. My licenses for both have expired anyway. I was told to upgrade to this and upgrade to that, and still didn't work. I got discouraged and stopped trying. I was able to get this to work for a little bit longer so I didn't bother to keep those licenses current. Believe me, if there was a way I could go in and tell the program that it doesn't need a disc anymore, I would do it. As I understand it, I'd have to have some knowledge of programming. I don't. I'd probably mess it up.

The answer to your question is rather confusing to me. On paper (processor speed, ram, disc space, even video memory) V16 and v17 should run on this machine. I've tried both of them. They both give me the same response. The program loads the model interface comes up. I open a new file, save a new file, or do ANYTHING to change what is actually on the screen, the program closes or freezes. I always just chalked it up to integrated graphics (laptops and all) MY computer is an HP Pavilion dv4-1465dx Entertainment Notebook. 2.1 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4.00 gb ram, I forgot the Video memory but I know it's the minimum system requirement for at least v16.

A little background: A long time ago I bought version 11. I used it for quite awhile until my machine died. I tried using it on my Vista laptop and it didn't work. I got an upgrade patch from here to version 12 which did work. I used that for a long time. Then my laptop's disc drive started developing problems. At first I thought it was the disc as it was all scratched up. After much time, frustration aggravation and troubleshooting, I have since discovered that the drive itself was going bad and is now plain done in. I bought an external to run the cd. Here's my problem: I know the drive is good, I know it will read the disc. I was able to uninstall the program and then reinstall it from that drive figuring that it would change the location of where the program would look for the CD but it didn't. It keeps saying "Cannot Locate Animation Master CD. Insert the correct cd and try again" I've disabled my other drive, it shouldn't even look there I guess it is. still. More aggravation it seems. I have asked support over and over again if there is a version that doesn't require a disc and will work on this machine (offering to pay for it) and have come up short. I already know that 16 and 17 won't work on this machine. If they don't I know 18 won't. My question is how do I get this program to look for my CD in my new drive and not the old one. This is really starting to get on my last nerve. I don't have the money to buy a new machine to run the latest version of the program or I would. Any help would be appreciated. Have to go to work now.

That explains that problem but now a new one has reared it's ugly head because I think perhaps I have some grphics issues because when I tried to import one of my old model files into 17s "project 1" it loaded but the import directory stayed up and I couldn't do anything with the imported model. everything just froze up and then it stopped working again....same issue or a different one. This is getting aggravating. Pretty much everything I have done so far has caused it to crash aside from drawing a simple square in a new model. If I close the Library, Community, and Prop Panes, the entire screen freezes and it stops working. That's probably a Refresh prob which I don't know I can do anything about. This machine has integrated graphics on it. It's the only one I have. My big machine died. All I have left of it is the drive (attached to this machine via external USB). I have no idea what the Video Memory is on this machine. I just tried to open a project file. I managed to get it to open by going through Win Explorer and selecting "Open With" and it loaded. everything was there. I was able Save As but when I tried to open the project workspace, Animation Master stopped working.. Back to two hours of trying to get my v11 CD to read....

It will not let me go to any directory other than the one it automatically opens. If I go the pull down list to select a different directory or over to the left for my quick links, the screen fades and I get "Animation Master is not responding" Then "windows is checking for a solution to the problem" etc. Could I be missing a driver or have a registry file that's gotten bamboozled? BTW I am using Vista Home Pro, it came with the machine...

I just downloaded and activated v17.0 subscription and the program opened and would let me draw lines, etc but when I tried to open an existing project file from a previous version (v11.0) instead of opening a file from the directory it automatically went to, the program stalled and then crashed. This is the same problem I had with v16.0 last year and never did figure out what was wrong so I went back to my v 11.0 (run as v12.0 with a downloaded patch file from the ftp site awhile back). Unfortunately that option is becoming increasingly difficult as the CD has gotten all scratched up and the Disc repair I tried didn't work. Needless to say, half the time it doesn't even show a disc in the drive. But that is another problem altogether. So I guess I am stuck with this. I am using an HP dv4, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1ghz, 4g RAM. Theoretically, I have the minimum processing power and the RAM, but this is a laptop so maybe I am just screwed in that regard. Any suggestions would be helpful even if they are the ones I don't want to hear...like "your machine won't run it because..." Thanks in advance for any help