klee
19th of November 2002 (Tue), 09:31
Dear Fellow ZBs,
Just wanted to relay my experiences with ZoomBrowser. Mainly because I lived with an error for 1+ years which I finally managed to fix using version 3.2.
I was one of the original IXUS owners and it came with ZB 2.2. In mid 2001, I hit the now quite famous error which went along the lines of 'cannot add photo to the database'. In essence the photo/jpeg itself was downloaded successfully but ZB was having problems adding a new record to the idx and dat files. The photo/jpeg would not show in the ZB main window unless you initiate a Refresh folder/db. The part that put many off was that one had to OK the error for each and every photo/jpeg being downloaded. It was not the end of the world but limping along like this p***** us off having bought into Canon h/w and s/w.
I (and I'm sure many out there) floundered around the net for solutions/help whilst Canon s/w support's name was dragged into the mud. Why? There were no free updates, no support, no news etc. Some kind souls uploaded newer versions of ZB but either it didn't help or Canon actually clamped down on them. I know I got my hands on version 2.7 and it didn't help.
Then many praised a new s/w called BreezeBrowser written by Chris. This product bridged the gap for many. But I have to say (and most might agree) that not being able to use the Canon s/w that looked great and was easy to use is a constant niggling factor in the back of one's mind.
About 2 weeks ago, I started my research again and literally stumbled on the new download page that Canon released .. and lo and behold ... a Canon ZoomBrowser software UPDATE page!! Was I seeing this right?
A ZoomBrowser software update to take any version from 2.0 onwards to version 3.2.
I installed it (although the instructions on the web pg say this update needn't uninstall the prev version, I dunno about you but mine prompted to uninstall the prev version anyway!). Repeating a basic straightforward download into ZB ... the error was still there. But under the File>Database menu option, there is the new button function: Restore.
Alas ... some tool/code to extract from the corrupt db and rebuild the idx, dat, zbd files from scratch, structure by structure!! For this is what it does, and it'll take a long while (1+ hours) if your database files are in the 10Mb range. (please backup/copy your original files before executing the Restore and have available lots of disk space in the destination folder and also in the swap file/disk equiv to double the original file sizes)
The good news greeted me in the morning. I repeated the basic download of photo/jpeg and YES IT WORKED!!! NO MORE BEEBS!! NO MORE ERRORS!! The sheer joy and relieve of seeing this error free download after 1+ years! (Boy ... do I need to get out more or wot?!! )
So there - for now, 3.2 allows repairing databases and looks more stable .. for now. About time Canon - still no points for you since this should have been done yonks ago.
I hope someone got something out of this post. Enjoy snapping ...
Download links:
From Powershot web
http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/customer/zoombrowser.html
From some company's support pages in Australia
http://www.alfa.com.au/supports/canon/cameras/main.htm
From Canon Europa (you can also get here by clicking ZoomBrowser Update link whilst on the Canon Europa home page)
http://www.canon-europa.com/products/zoombrowser/zoombrowser_ex_3-2.html
-Keith-
Just wanted to relay my experiences with ZoomBrowser. Mainly because I lived with an error for 1+ years which I finally managed to fix using version 3.2.
I was one of the original IXUS owners and it came with ZB 2.2. In mid 2001, I hit the now quite famous error which went along the lines of 'cannot add photo to the database'. In essence the photo/jpeg itself was downloaded successfully but ZB was having problems adding a new record to the idx and dat files. The photo/jpeg would not show in the ZB main window unless you initiate a Refresh folder/db. The part that put many off was that one had to OK the error for each and every photo/jpeg being downloaded. It was not the end of the world but limping along like this p***** us off having bought into Canon h/w and s/w.
I (and I'm sure many out there) floundered around the net for solutions/help whilst Canon s/w support's name was dragged into the mud. Why? There were no free updates, no support, no news etc. Some kind souls uploaded newer versions of ZB but either it didn't help or Canon actually clamped down on them. I know I got my hands on version 2.7 and it didn't help.
Then many praised a new s/w called BreezeBrowser written by Chris. This product bridged the gap for many. But I have to say (and most might agree) that not being able to use the Canon s/w that looked great and was easy to use is a constant niggling factor in the back of one's mind.
About 2 weeks ago, I started my research again and literally stumbled on the new download page that Canon released .. and lo and behold ... a Canon ZoomBrowser software UPDATE page!! Was I seeing this right?
A ZoomBrowser software update to take any version from 2.0 onwards to version 3.2.
I installed it (although the instructions on the web pg say this update needn't uninstall the prev version, I dunno about you but mine prompted to uninstall the prev version anyway!). Repeating a basic straightforward download into ZB ... the error was still there. But under the File>Database menu option, there is the new button function: Restore.
Alas ... some tool/code to extract from the corrupt db and rebuild the idx, dat, zbd files from scratch, structure by structure!! For this is what it does, and it'll take a long while (1+ hours) if your database files are in the 10Mb range. (please backup/copy your original files before executing the Restore and have available lots of disk space in the destination folder and also in the swap file/disk equiv to double the original file sizes)
The good news greeted me in the morning. I repeated the basic download of photo/jpeg and YES IT WORKED!!! NO MORE BEEBS!! NO MORE ERRORS!! The sheer joy and relieve of seeing this error free download after 1+ years! (Boy ... do I need to get out more or wot?!! )
So there - for now, 3.2 allows repairing databases and looks more stable .. for now. About time Canon - still no points for you since this should have been done yonks ago.
I hope someone got something out of this post. Enjoy snapping ...
Download links:
From Powershot web
http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/customer/zoombrowser.html
From some company's support pages in Australia
http://www.alfa.com.au/supports/canon/cameras/main.htm
From Canon Europa (you can also get here by clicking ZoomBrowser Update link whilst on the Canon Europa home page)
http://www.canon-europa.com/products/zoombrowser/zoombrowser_ex_3-2.html
-Keith-