Creative audigy software is killing me

[ingeborgdot]

I have had some issues with the creative software that I use with my audigy 2ZS Gamer card. It all started when the dvd audio player kept causing my computer to blue screen. Even when I tried to uninstall it that happened. I had to go into safe mode to uninstall this program. Then I was going to go in and try and repair but it didn't work. So I was going to do and uninstall of the whole package but it would only get to 60% and then give me an error message. After many hours and a lot of crying I finally got it unistalled and reinstalled. Most of the programs work but the DVD audio player must be conflicting with something on my computer as it still won't install. When I tried it gave me the blue screen again. The other program is the speaker calibrator. I will click on it and the wheels turn but nothing comes up. I tried this several times and nothing. I later went in to process in task manager only to find spkrcal.exe listed many times. So it came up on the processes but didn't come on. The only way to get it off was to end process. What do you think I should do?

 

[flexy]

i would TRY to uninstall the creative-stuff and get "jv16 powertools" (there's a working demo around) and clean and do a "registry cleaner" run, and then try to re-install drivers. And/Or....with jv16 powertools delete each entry from the registry which is creative-related. (Search function).

Be aware this is a mighty tool and you can seriously screw up your system if you mess with the registry....make a system-restore point, back up your registry ! And be very careful in case you use the "software uninstall feature" and look exactly what directory gets deleted.

I know that creative drivers can be a biatch..espeically removing/reinstalling.

 

[duragezic]

Have you tried looking for updated versions of the Creative apps you use? I know recently they got rid of most of them and it's only the driver + Audio Console left, but there may be updates for the programs off your CD. And as far as the DVD player, there's tons of excellent freeware players. If its giving you problems at all just ditch it and get something that's probably better anyway.

 

[ingeborgdot]

 

[ingeborgdot]

Could a person uninstall all of the stuff from them and then just go to their site and download the new stuff without using the cd because I think it may be bad.

 

[Kalmah]

I've had nothing but bad experiences with Creative software. The last time, I updated the jukebox software from their auto-update and then couldn't shutdown the computer forever after. (System hangs while shutting down indefinately)
I eventually had to do a format.

If possible, I just suggest staying away from it.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: ingeborgdot
Could a person uninstall all of the stuff from them and then just go to their site and download the new stuff without using the cd because I think it may be bad.

The question is do you really need all the schtuff? The driver and Audio Console package plus Windows mixer covers essential configuration. Individual applications may be available where there are updates but the original CD may be required (short of editing their setup files). CD images are available here.. I agree with what flexy recommended and/or use Driver Cleaner. Even after cleaning up and re-installing there will be some startup items that should be removed too, particularly the dreaded cthelper.

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: ingeborgdot
Could a person uninstall all of the stuff from them and then just go to their site and download the new stuff without using the cd because I think it may be bad.

yes thats what i did. Now i only have the latest drivers and audio-console which has everything you need anyway and not all their totally unnecessary other stuff.

Just try uninstalling everything and get/install the latest drivers.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I guess I am a little lost on this one. What would you recommend doing with this? I don't have all the stuff on the disc. The one thing I just can't seem to get to work now called the speaker calibrator is something I do need to get my speakers calibrated the way I want. Would someone be willing to give me some step by step ideas of what to do? I have been working on this for about 4 solid days now and all the things people have said to do and all the other things I have tried have failed. I will be very thankful to you for your help.
My problem is that it won't uninstall all of it and some residue always remains behind. Is there something that will get rid of it all???

 

[Auric]

It's not unheard of with software in general that the uninstall may get borked. Usually it can be solved by running the setup again (from original source) and either choosing uninstall or if that doesn't work then actually installing everything again before uninstalling again. However, this is where the Driver Cleaner program comes in to make it simpler and remove most everything.

 

[Smilin]

This will come across as a smartass and useless response but please rest assured I am being serious and trying to help ...

Ditch the creative labs card and get something else.

It worked for me.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: Smilin
This will come across as a smartass and useless response but please rest assured I am being serious and trying to help ...

Ditch the creative labs card and get something else.

It worked for me.

Cutting off yer nizose to spizite yer fizace, in my opine. In any case, the schtuff still needs to be uninstalled and cleaned out before installing any audio whatever it may be.

 

[Wekiva]

Originally posted by: ingeborgdot
Could a person uninstall all of the stuff from them and then just go to their site and download the new stuff without using the cd because I think it may be bad.

You certainly can do this. I have had 3 audigy cards and NEVER used the enclosed CD for the software. IMHO it's always better to go to the manufacturer and get the most recent software as what's in the box will almost always be old. The same goes for video cards...I've never used the CD for them either.

 

[QuantumPion]

You can extract the files from the executable file you download from creative and manually install just the bare drivers. That's what I do and it works fine, you get full functionality without all the bloat.