Buggy Nikon Capture 3 software

[Dennis D]

I'm running XP Pro, with 1gb ram, NC3. It stops sometimes during batch processing (mainly just converting NEF's to TIFF's).
Dennis D

The Nikon Cature 3.00 trial software that came with my D100 has a
serious bug that can cause NC3 to freeze when saving .NEF files on
Windows.

I've tried NC3 on three separate Windows XP PCs and it has locked
up on me on all three when saving NEF files that I have edited.
What's so bad is it locks up the entire PC (forcing a hard reboot),
not just NC3!

Maybe this is why Nikon still has not released NC3 in the U.S. (I
can't find it available yet anywhere).

Has anyone else had a problem with NC3 freezing their PC after they
edit a NEF file and then try to save the file?

I am certain this is a software bug in Nikon Capture 3.00 and not
Windows XP. NC3 is the only one of dozens of Windows apps I use
that freezes like this on any of the Windows XP computers I have.

I called Nikon tech support to complain, but got a customer service
rep who seemed confused about my complaint, and refused to escalate
me to their Level 2 support.

Until Nikon fixes NC3, IMHO it is unusable for Windows XP users.

John Swenson

--
Dennis D

 

[alfred_schiele]

Hi

I'd like to offer some thoughts to possibly separate the problems better.

1) Today I downloaded the newest graphics driver for my card. Looks like the NC3 process itself does not freeze any longer totally but still sometimes uses all the processing power it can get.

2) I watched the task manager carefully. The processing "hunger" started near the 512 MB memory usage limit (about 490MB). I just opened some NEF's to get there... scolled a bit, etc... When I closed the NEF's windows in NC3 the processing need dissapeared at once... Maybe we shouldn't offer XP more than 512MB RAM?...

Regards, A. Schiele

 

[charlie gast]

I have been using NC3 on a Dell 8200 running XP almost daily for about a month. No lockups or glitches yet.

Charlie

 

[Geir Atle Ward]

With due respect to you, I disagree. I'm convinced NC3 is the
problem, not Windows or some other Windows application. There are
only two apps on my PC that can read NEF files, and both are from
Nikon: NC3 and Nikon View 5. I also have the Nikon plugin that
allows me to open NEF files in Photoshop 7.

How many programs you have that is capable of reading nef files has nothing to do with program conflicts with other software.

So I don't see how the problem could be with another app that reads
NEF files.

If the problem is a dll - it could be ANY program that uses this dll.

I've been using Windows for a decade now, and am a very advanced
user when it comes to using and understanding Windows applications.
I haven't had apps freeze my whole PC like this since before
Windows 2000, back in the Win 98/Win 95 days.

Well if you're an advanced Windows user you should know that windows shares dll with all programs asking for them, so your problem could very well come from another software using the same dll as Capture 3. When software is installed on a windows machine, it doesn't nessesarily install all dll that this spesific software need. If it find the dll already installed on the machine, it checks release information first, and then decide if installing the dll is nessesary. Windows keep a record of how many programs accessing each of the dll's.

Two other users on
this thread have confirmed they have the same problem with NC3.

Then you must have something in common on your machines. All my machines are AMD-powered - How about yours?
My machines have 512MB RAM - How about yours?
Did your problem exist from day one, or did they appear after some time?
As I have said earlier, I have had no problem with Capture 3 on my machines.

There are tens of thousands of different configurations of hardware
and software that can interact to create bugs. Obviously NC3
doesn't have problems on many Windows installations, since a lot of
NC3 users say it is running fine on their Win 2000 or Win XP
systems.

But the fact that NC3 causes some Windows XP systems to freeze
means that Nikon didn't test the software thoroughly enough before
releasing it.

Do you imply that Nikon should test ALL possible combinations of software/hardware before releasing their software? Then you would NEVER be able to buy Nikon (or anyone elses software), because that is simply impossible.

Since I have reproduced this freezing problem on 3 separate Windows
XP PCs, I'm certain it's an NC3 problem. The software is unstable.

Capture 3 works very well on my computers.
Geir Atle

 

[Dennis D]

Have you done any batch processing?
Dennis D

I have been using NC3 on a Dell 8200 running XP almost daily for
about a month. No lockups or glitches yet.

Charlie

--
Dennis D

 

[Alan Saldinger]

Don't know if this'll help with NC3 problems (I haven't had the
nerve to put NC3 on my WinXP machine ;^) but I'll pass it along
just in case....

I've owned a D1x and Capture 2 for about a year - for the first six
months or so I was running NC2 on a Win2K machine, and never
experience any problems. I then bought a new WinXP Pro
machine (both are IBM Thinkpad T23s), installed NC2, and
immediately began experiencing frequent crashes when just
opening NEF files in NC2. Like some others' experiences,
the NC2 crash would result in having to reboot XP - and
even that wouldn't work sometimes (it'd hang on rebooting).

I loaded the latest update for NC2, called Nikon, etc., but
still had the problem. With every crash, my PC was getting
less stable, and I feared I'd have to wipe my disk and reload
XP (even though it was a pretty new machine).

I then managed to do the right search on this forum, and found
someone having similar crashes/hangs, who said he'd worked
around the problem by changing NC2 to run in Win'98/Win ME
"compatibility mode" [right click on NC2 icon, select "Properties", and
then check "run this program in compatibility mode.." and select
Win '98/Win ME]. Anyway, since I made this change 4 or 5 months
ago, I've not had a single NC2 crash and things have worked liked
they used to on my old W2K machine. Since I was previously
having the hangs about every 4th NEF I opened, I'm convinced
this worked around the problem for me.

I too feel that Nikon is pretty "green" when it comes to
Windows software (e.g. how they wiped out my NEF thumbnail
display in Windows Explorer when I installed NV5, the total
lack of knowledge of their tech. support people) and
probably just don't program "defensively" - as I too have
dozens of applications on my machines, and ever only have
trouble with Nikon's.

-Alan

 

[John Swenson]

That's really the best advice I've heard yet -- by far. I will try running NC3 in Windows XP's compatability mode and see if that works.

I get an error when I try to launch NC3 in Win 98/ME compatability mode, but not when I try Windows 2000 compatability mode, so I'll try that.

Unfortunately, my trial version of NC3 just reached its 30-day trial limit, so I can't use it anymore. Even when I uninstall NC3 and use Nikon registry sweep utility, I still get a message that my trial version has expired when I reinstall NC3.

Guess I'll have to spend $150 or $200 for a copy of NC3, before I even know for sure if I can it to run properly on my Windows XP system.

Don't know if this'll help with NC3 problems (I haven't had the
nerve to put NC3 on my WinXP machine ;^) but I'll pass it along
just in case....

I've owned a D1x and Capture 2 for about a year - for the first six
months or so I was running NC2 on a Win2K machine, and never
experience any problems. I then bought a new WinXP Pro
machine (both are IBM Thinkpad T23s), installed NC2, and
immediately began experiencing frequent crashes when just
opening NEF files in NC2. Like some others' experiences,
the NC2 crash would result in having to reboot XP - and
even that wouldn't work sometimes (it'd hang on rebooting).

I loaded the latest update for NC2, called Nikon, etc., but
still had the problem. With every crash, my PC was getting
less stable, and I feared I'd have to wipe my disk and reload
XP (even though it was a pretty new machine).

I then managed to do the right search on this forum, and found
someone having similar crashes/hangs, who said he'd worked
around the problem by changing NC2 to run in Win'98/Win ME
"compatibility mode" [right click on NC2 icon, select "Properties",
and
then check "run this program in compatibility mode.." and select
Win '98/Win ME]. Anyway, since I made this change 4 or 5 months
ago, I've not had a single NC2 crash and things have worked liked
they used to on my old W2K machine. Since I was previously
having the hangs about every 4th NEF I opened, I'm convinced
this worked around the problem for me.

I too feel that Nikon is pretty "green" when it comes to
Windows software (e.g. how they wiped out my NEF thumbnail
display in Windows Explorer when I installed NV5, the total
lack of knowledge of their tech. support people) and
probably just don't program "defensively" - as I too have
dozens of applications on my machines, and ever only have
trouble with Nikon's.

-Alan

 

[John Swenson]

Has anyone found NC3 in stock anywhere in the U.S. other than buying it direct from Nikon? I see B&H is selling it for $150, but B&H says it does not have NC3 in stock.

The Nikon Cature 3.00 trial software that came with my D100 has a
serious bug that can cause NC3 to freeze when saving .NEF files on
Windows.

I've tried NC3 on three separate Windows XP PCs and it has locked
up on me on all three when saving NEF files that I have edited.
What's so bad is it locks up the entire PC (forcing a hard reboot),
not just NC3!

Maybe this is why Nikon still has not released NC3 in the U.S. (I
can't find it available yet anywhere).

Has anyone else had a problem with NC3 freezing their PC after they
edit a NEF file and then try to save the file?

I am certain this is a software bug in Nikon Capture 3.00 and not
Windows XP. NC3 is the only one of dozens of Windows apps I use
that freezes like this on any of the Windows XP computers I have.

I called Nikon tech support to complain, but got a customer service
rep who seemed confused about my complaint, and refused to escalate
me to their Level 2 support.

Until Nikon fixes NC3, IMHO it is unusable for Windows XP users.

John Swenson

 

[Alan Saldinger]

That's really the best advice I've heard yet -- by far. I will try
running NC3 in Windows XP's compatability mode and see if that
works.

I get an error when I try to launch NC3 in Win 98/ME compatability
mode, but not when I try Windows 2000 compatability mode, so I'll
try that.

Unfortunately, my trial version of NC3 just reached its 30-day
trial limit, so I can't use it anymore. Even when I uninstall NC3
and use Nikon registry sweep utility, I still get a message that my
trial version has expired when I reinstall NC3.

Guess I'll have to spend $150 or $200 for a copy of NC3, before I
even know for sure if I can it to run properly on my Windows XP
system.

Strange that it wouldn't let you run NC3 in Win 98/ME
compatibility mode - in my NC2 case, using W2K
compatibility mode yielded similar crashes as "normal"
XP mode (even though it works like a charm on my
W2K machine with all the same other applications
installed). I do feel Win XP is a major part of the problem
too - for me, it's been a real let-down compared to W2K.
Any application trouble results in a hang/crash of the OS -
back to Win95/98 days :^(

I guess Nikon would rather sell you NC3 direct for more
money that ship it to their resellers :^( Is there any way
you can get a bit more time on your trial (to see if it'll
run) by setting your computer's date to a few days ago?
Although it sounds like they may have set something
in the registry that tells NC3 that your time is up, period.

-Alan

 

[John Swenson]

Microsoft says it changed Windows XP to make the new operating system more restrictive than Windows 2000 about running Windows applications that are not written properly (apps that install DLLs in the Windows system folder, don't install in the Program Files directory, etc.), so that may be the problem here with NC3.

I suspect Nikon Capture 3 is not a state-of-the-art Windows app and probably violates some of the proper guidelines all good Windows apps should adhere to. Either that or Nikon's developers are still designing their Windows apps primarily for Win 95/Win 98.

Either way, Nikon does not seem capable of writing good, solid, state-of-the-art Windows apps to work with its cameras and scanners. (I've had similar problems with the Nikon scanning software that came with two Nikon film scanners I've owned in recent years.)

With NC3, I'm fairly sure Nikon hid something in the Windows registry that prohibits users from uninstalling and reinstall NC3 to get a second 30-day trial on the same PC.

Strange that it wouldn't let you run NC3 in Win 98/ME
compatibility mode - in my NC2 case, using W2K
compatibility mode yielded similar crashes as "normal"
XP mode (even though it works like a charm on my
W2K machine with all the same other applications
installed). I do feel Win XP is a major part of the problem
too - for me, it's been a real let-down compared to W2K.
Any application trouble results in a hang/crash of the OS -
back to Win95/98 days :^(

I guess Nikon would rather sell you NC3 direct for more
money that ship it to their resellers :^( Is there any way
you can get a bit more time on your trial (to see if it'll
run) by setting your computer's date to a few days ago?
Although it sounds like they may have set something
in the registry that tells NC3 that your time is up, period.

-Alan

 

[bumjube]

have you ever considered its a piece of software you have on the pc's ?

The Nikon Cature 3.00 trial software that came with my D100 has a
serious bug that can cause NC3 to freeze when saving .NEF files on
Windows.

I've tried NC3 on three separate Windows XP PCs and it has locked
up on me on all three when saving NEF files that I have edited.
What's so bad is it locks up the entire PC (forcing a hard reboot),
not just NC3!

Maybe this is why Nikon still has not released NC3 in the U.S. (I
can't find it available yet anywhere).

Has anyone else had a problem with NC3 freezing their PC after they
edit a NEF file and then try to save the file?

I am certain this is a software bug in Nikon Capture 3.00 and not
Windows XP. NC3 is the only one of dozens of Windows apps I use
that freezes like this on any of the Windows XP computers I have.

I called Nikon tech support to complain, but got a customer service
rep who seemed confused about my complaint, and refused to escalate
me to their Level 2 support.

Until Nikon fixes NC3, IMHO it is unusable for Windows XP users.

John Swenson

 

[bumjube]

has nothing to do with a registry entry
maybe a file called paceilui.dll and a hidden file !!!

I suspect Nikon Capture 3 is not a state-of-the-art Windows app and
probably violates some of the proper guidelines all good Windows
apps should adhere to. Either that or Nikon's developers are still
designing their Windows apps primarily for Win 95/Win 98.

Either way, Nikon does not seem capable of writing good, solid,
state-of-the-art Windows apps to work with its cameras and
scanners. (I've had similar problems with the Nikon scanning
software that came with two Nikon film scanners I've owned in
recent years.)

With NC3, I'm fairly sure Nikon hid something in the Windows
registry that prohibits users from uninstalling and reinstall NC3
to get a second 30-day trial on the same PC.

Strange that it wouldn't let you run NC3 in Win 98/ME
compatibility mode - in my NC2 case, using W2K
compatibility mode yielded similar crashes as "normal"
XP mode (even though it works like a charm on my
W2K machine with all the same other applications
installed). I do feel Win XP is a major part of the problem
too - for me, it's been a real let-down compared to W2K.
Any application trouble results in a hang/crash of the OS -
back to Win95/98 days :^(

I guess Nikon would rather sell you NC3 direct for more
money that ship it to their resellers :^( Is there any way
you can get a bit more time on your trial (to see if it'll
run) by setting your computer's date to a few days ago?
Although it sounds like they may have set something
in the registry that tells NC3 that your time is up, period.

-Alan

 

[Estuardo]

No, but I was recently made an advanced purchase of NC3 from http://www.RobertsImaging.com for just under $130.

They said they expected it in a a couple weeks a couple weeks ago. Sigh.

Stu

 

[Alan Saldinger]

Microsoft says it changed Windows XP to make the new operating
system more restrictive than Windows 2000 about running Windows
applications that are not written properly (apps that install DLLs
in the Windows system folder, don't install in the Program Files
directory, etc.), so that may be the problem here with NC3.

Hi John,

I agree with your comments on Nikon's software, but
I still feel Microsoft is to be blamed for the OS
needing to be rebooted if an application dies for
any reason (even if they decide to kill it because it
misbehaves). IMHO this is a huge step backwards, but
now that my system is stable I don't want to buy
another W2K for my computer and start over again.

-Alan

 

[Dennis D]

That's really the best advice I've heard yet -- by far. I will try
running NC3 in Windows XP's compatability mode and see if that
works.

I get an error when I try to launch NC3 in Win 98/ME compatability
mode, but not when I try Windows 2000 compatability mode, so I'll
try that.

I set the compatibility mode to "Windows NT 4.0" and it's working great so far, I did a batch of 476 images, converting to TIFF from NEF, with no problem. Using the default setting it would shut down after 60-70 images with XP.
Dennis D

 

[Dominique Provost]

has nothing to do with a registry entry
maybe a file called paceilui.dll and a hidden file !!!

:^( Is there any way

you can get a bit more time on your trial (to see if it'll
run) by setting your computer's date to a few days ago?
Although it sounds like they may have set something
in the registry that tells NC3 that your time is up, period.

-Alan

If only a cracker could tell us how...

 

[Baywing]

This one is out in left field, but do you or have you had MSN for internet service? I was getting dll errors all the time, random, and no fix. I terminated MSN, wiped out all traces I could find and no more dll errors. I can't explain it, but it seems that MSN's software is trouble. My father said that he has been getting many dll errors since his ISP sold to MSN, he never got them before, has not added any new software or hardware.

The Nikon Cature 3.00 trial software that came with my D100 has a
serious bug that can cause NC3 to freeze when saving .NEF files on
Windows.

I've tried NC3 on three separate Windows XP PCs and it has locked
up on me on all three when saving NEF files that I have edited.
What's so bad is it locks up the entire PC (forcing a hard reboot),
not just NC3!

Maybe this is why Nikon still has not released NC3 in the U.S. (I
can't find it available yet anywhere).

Has anyone else had a problem with NC3 freezing their PC after they
edit a NEF file and then try to save the file?

I am certain this is a software bug in Nikon Capture 3.00 and not
Windows XP. NC3 is the only one of dozens of Windows apps I use
that freezes like this on any of the Windows XP computers I have.

I called Nikon tech support to complain, but got a customer service
rep who seemed confused about my complaint, and refused to escalate
me to their Level 2 support.

Until Nikon fixes NC3, IMHO it is unusable for Windows XP users.

John Swenson

 

[John Swenson]

No, I've never MSN's Internet service or installed the MSN software, so that's not the problem.

Nikon Capture3 is just not fully debugged. It's beta software that Nikon rushed out too early as the final version.

The Nikon Cature 3.00 trial software that came with my D100 has a
serious bug that can cause NC3 to freeze when saving .NEF files on
Windows.

I've tried NC3 on three separate Windows XP PCs and it has locked
up on me on all three when saving NEF files that I have edited.
What's so bad is it locks up the entire PC (forcing a hard reboot),
not just NC3!

Maybe this is why Nikon still has not released NC3 in the U.S. (I
can't find it available yet anywhere).

Has anyone else had a problem with NC3 freezing their PC after they
edit a NEF file and then try to save the file?

I am certain this is a software bug in Nikon Capture 3.00 and not
Windows XP. NC3 is the only one of dozens of Windows apps I use
that freezes like this on any of the Windows XP computers I have.

I called Nikon tech support to complain, but got a customer service
rep who seemed confused about my complaint, and refused to escalate
me to their Level 2 support.

Until Nikon fixes NC3, IMHO it is unusable for Windows XP users.

John Swenson

 

[Bob Davis]

The bonus is that if you bought Capture 2 from February (5th, I
think) on, you get a free upgrade. Capture 2 owners who purchased
C2 before Feb get a $99.95 upgrade price. Call Nikon for details.

I was told by Nikon tech support that C3 had no upgrade option, and that the $150 price applied to all purchases. If not true, it wouldn't be the first erroneous info I got from them.

 

[Geoff Scott]

Hey at least NC3 WORKS for windows

Nikon didnt even write a version that would support the D100!!!!!!!! on Mac

Im sorry to hear of your problems
but imagine this
I run the Windows98 version on my mac... with out a glitch
flawless...

so there must be some conflict between your other software... i have no other windows programs...