Mara

Thanks for that site with all the products Convar makes, Dano ...the great thing about this company is the provide - free- the program to recover 'lost' or damages files. The one thing I wish they'd add is: If one can't open their 'found' files. Darn. After all, the renaming of the files aside, if the original photo program that created them no longer will open them, or, for that matter a number of other photo programs can't open them now ... hmmm. Am laughing at myself now since I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to change a 'file extention', Seth ... but once I realized that no file extention showed, wandered through my computer until I discovered how to 'show hidden files', etc - yipee!! And now that the 'file extentions' show, it's reassuring to see that each is still in my original Jpeg or Tif formats. http://i36.tinypic.com/2l916o7.jpg Tried changing one file to each photo image format/file extention that any of my photo programs can work with - and still it won't open - and then tried importing it into MS Word, etc, and no luck. I think these photos are doomed. Perhaps I'll just figure out how to 'wipe the stick' clean and then experiment by transferring one image onto it - and see if it too becomes unopenable - and if not, surely the stick itself is still usable. My very sincere thank you to everyone who was so very kind to help - how wonderful all of you are!!

Oh thank dod, we may have figured out what happened ... not how to get my own photos to open but how we ended up with someone else's photos on the little 'stick'! Apparently the store sometimes takes back items in it's computer department and would have no way of knowing if the 'stick' had been used if the person returning it had resealed the plastic package carefully. Hmmm. And apparently, since the CONVAR program I used this afternoon often finds "previously deleted files", that "could explain things" (someone else's photos). Another hmmm. While the offer to bring it back for a new one is fine, it still leaves me with the woe of not being able to open my own photos from it, though - but I've now transferred all files from the little 'stick' onto my hard drive, deleted (from my hard drive) those that belonged to someone else, and can just keep what I hope are my own photo files until a way to open a 'Convar' file is found. (I refuse, absolutely refuse to think that the other files transferred onto similar new 'sticks' and popped into the Safety Deposit box at our bank may suffer the same fate - eep!). Still trying to use Google search to find a way to open CONVAR files but no luck so far ... but perhaps doing something with the 'file association' may help.

Yes, I actually use my truly old Corel Photo House V4 all the time, Wolfeymole, but rummaged around using 'Search' in the computer and still no mention of CONVAR, though. Then rummaged around inside the 'Corel' program folder with the same results. But after installing the CONVAR 'recovery' program from author's site, I am now more than befuddled - am beginning to feel 'the planets may be out of alignment' - gentle smile - because ... It 'found' tons of photos (we already knew there were sitting there, though) but when it transferred the photos onto my harddrive - some photos will open and others still won't (all still under the CONVAR 'file association' though). And the files that opened are not mine!! Literally have never ever seen these photos before nor the people in them! How can this happen on a new 'stick'!?! If I was a drinker it would this would be darn near enough to make me to pop a long straw in a wine bottle! Gentle smile. Plus, I can only assume all the files that still won't open are mine - and I can't for the life of me find a section at CONVAR on how to open one of their files (nor, for that matter, why their program would be lurking on the stick and change all my photo to their name!). I wonder if you would be kind enough to lead me through the steps regarding "a file association issue"?

Popped the little stick into our daughter's laptop with the same result, sadly. How on earth a photo from my computer transferred itself onto the stick in a "digital photo recovery system" is quite beyond me ...especially since I right-clicked on 'Properties' of the little stick and can't find any reference to CONVAR - except for my perhaps doomed photos. Can only hope that if I download the above mentioned "recovery system" it will "recover" or open my photos. And if that works, may pop the new 'stick' into the nearest garbage can as how on earth could I trust it again. Drat. Thanks so much Dalo - how kind you are to help me with this, especially since photos are so precious to me. Please keep for fingers crossed too - gentle smile!

I keep going back to the below site, Scan Disk, the company who makes my wee stick)... https://www.customernation.com/pls/ps/ps.ps_main?p_host=304&p_supplier=5096&p_parm=PSHPP ... and I'm obviously a dolt or they simply don't mention, for instance, why file names suddenly became 'CONVAR' when transferred to the little drive. ...so actually sent an email to the people at CONVAR asking for assistance and, while perfectly lovely about it, they suggested I consult ScanDisk's website. Gentle sigh as I've done this over and over again. I can't help but think there is something 'simple' that I've missed but still befuddled sadly.

Just wandered through the internet and couldn't find an answer, so do hope someone here can help me, please. I downloaded a flock of photos onto a little 'mini hard driver' - Cruzer Mini with 512 MB of space. (Apparently this thing is 'pre-formatted' so all I had to do was pop it in and the computer recognised and downloaded to it). When putting the stick back into the computer, the computer does recognize it and, in fact, all images are there (however, rather than each file called what it was prior to the transfer there are now called Convar 1, Convar 2, etc). The problem is, they won't open. Right clicked on each and chose 'Properties' and they still show as 'Corel Photo House File', thankfully. And if it helps any, I know that each is created/saved in either TIFF or JPEG format. But when trying to open, all I get is a tiny pop-up box saying "Corel House" with a circle and nasty red 'X' through it. Then tried right clicking on them and 'Open with'. No luck. 'Copied' files from the little stick into 'My Documents' and tried again - same result, sadly. Perhaps I'm doing something incorrectly but any idea on how to rescue my photos from this little stick drive would be so appreciated! Thanks once again, Mara

Too funny!!!!!! Oh dod, that was just too funny!!! One needs warning before reading it, though - snorted my coffee up my nose and my eyes are still running from laughing! Thanks so much for sharing - it's a great one!

How reassuring to know that the update won't cause hiccups with the computer - thanks ever so much to all of you once again and I'll install it right now.

I do not use Internet Explorer as a browser - it's used only for Microsoft downloading updates to my computer. Just wondering if the upgrade to Internet Explorer Version 7 is really necessary (computer keeps popping up a window wanting to install it) - or is Version 6 fine for what it's used for? (A 'friendly' swears the update messed up her computer - and now that mine is running beautiful, thought I'd ask for an expert opinion before letting it install). Thanks so much, Mara

The red mess is gone! A very special thank you to everyone who has helped with my computer woes and to DALO and DSTM for suggesting the 'O&O Defrag' program! If one looks at the above red mess and then the below 'snapshots' ... well, magic happened - huge happy smile! This was taken just before started the above program (and pretty much confirmed the red mess was really was, well, a red mess. http://i37.tinypic.com/2ikb0n7.jpg And when the program finished, the below is what the program said - wow, only 2 fragmented files left! http://i36.tinypic.com/69jqzs.jpg And just to confirm things, I went to Windows Defrag and clicked on 'Analyze' - and got the below: http://i33.tinypic.com/2vimueq.jpg Again, thank you to everyone for your great kindness and help!

Yes, welcome r0b001 !

Yes, the JK Defrag program actually completed and it was only when zipping back to the 'Analyze' part of normal Windows Defrag that I noticed the huge oops! (The program is completely gone now but it was that mass of red now showing that had me worried the poor hard drive was about to go poof any moment now - eep!). It's marvelous how things change when it comes to what to do or not do with our computers anymore - can remember being told when I first bought this magic box that defrag was "vital a mimimum of once a month". Will just wait and hope that gradually the red mass lessens - especially now that I know, from reading all the help on this thread and the info on DSTM's thread re defrag, that trying to use Windows Defrag right to fix the woe isn't going to be helpful. Thanks again - really do appreciate all the wonderful help and kindness here!

I'm afraid something odd seems to have happened following my running a 'defrag' program. Because a friend was helping me through the steps, I ran the normal 'Windows Defrag' and took a snapshot of it, so we could compare how well the new program would defrag, even immediately following the normal Windows one. http://i33.tinypic.com/21kks5x.jpg And then downloaded JK Defrag (Version 3.34) from author's site ... Ran Malwarebytes on it ... Ran Avast on it ... Installed the program (please see snapshot below)... http://i35.tinypic.com/2u45udx.jpg Clicked on the program .exe... And it seemed to run fine. But when returning to the normal 'Windows Defrag' and clicking on 'Analyse' ... please see below photo. http://i34.tinypic.com/2vsrdcz.jpg 1. Ran normal 'Windows Defrag' - it still looks the same. 2. Used 'System Restore' to previous day - it still looks the same (but I've learned another valuable lesson ... 'System Restore can't fix everything' - gentle sigh. 3. Ran normal 'Windows Defrag' 3 more times today - and always with the same results - nothing has changed, looks just like above snapshot. My friends use the above JK Defrag program and swear by it so I'm truly befuddled as to what went wrong. (What did I do wrong, if anything, I wonder, when running it) ... And now I can't figure out how on earth to get rid of all the red and the fragmented files showing. Would someone please be kind enough to assist.

Yes - huge happy smile! And thanks so much! One of the hardest lessons to learn for a Novice is not all information on all websites are dependable - and having a site like ours (here!!! another smile) is terrific.

Do realize that suggestions for 'the best' anti virus, anti malware and firewalls are numerous on the internet and while I'm lucky and have trusted 'advisers' to say 'eek!' or 'good', many of us are perhaps still bewildered as to whom to trust and how easy (or hard) each of the programs are to run. Would it be possible to to have a 'stickie' at our site with: 1. A list of a few free Anti Virus programs available online (with a link?) and perhaps mention how many of these programs one should have and how many running at each time, etc. 2. The same for a few free Anti Malware programs. 3. The same for a few free personal FireWalls...along with a note saying which may be easier for a Novice to undersand (all those windows popping up are impossible to understand if only 'numbers and letters' are shown re what is trying to get in, etc). (I mentioned the woe with above mentioned Fire Walls simply because I thought I was a 'bump above' Novice - yet when using Comodo yesterday, saw it said 'UNsafe" and managed to stop myself from even getting into 'VAIO Support Center' on my own computer - eep!). Anyway, the above is just a thought and regardless of your decision, thanks again for having such a terrific site!

My 'cash' card was compromised only a month ago - and our Credit Union called to warn us and say that the account had been closed. Didn't loose any money (as the Credit Union covered the loss), it's a huge pain in the bum re-opening accounts and getting a new card, etc. Until our retailers (here in British Columbia, Canada) are forced by law to attach their 'magic machines' via a heavy wire cord to under the counters (as some do), I'm beginning to think they should share in the loses. Not their direct fault but since they know this is happening frequently, surely they should too be held accountable for ensuring they take all measures possible?

Hi Sean, welcome!

The body can be fed but wonder how they are mentally?!

Yes, welcome! You've surely come to the right place to learn how to 'fix things'!

Hmmm, re: " How many generations will it take before cattle develop two legs shorter than the others because of grazing along a mountainside" ... ...don't know how long it takes to develop, but we've surely got them here - we call them 'side hill gougers' here (huge smile!).

This is what worked ... I know that if I hadn't had the wonderful help here, my poor computer would have been doomed - truly! (Towards the end, just before the 'Recovery process' I couldn't even return to the VAIO site to double-check I'd written instructions off correctly for using the 8 discs, simply because the 'Windows Explorer window closed everything nearly instantly!). I apologize for such a quick 'Yipee!!' note last night and below is the steps followed: 1. Turn off your computer (not Restart, but actually off, using 'Start>-Turn off Computer' ... using 'Restart' didn't work for me when doing the below) 2. Restart your computer (perhaps wait 3 minutes first as when I didn't, I didn't have any success with the below). 3. The instant the VAIO logo appears on the computer's screen, briefly press the F10 key on computer keyboard. (And, if this doesn't work the first time, don't panic - gentle smile - just repeat above steps and this time hit the F10 key hard and often while the VAIO logo is on screen!). 4. The VAIO Recovery Wizard will appear on screen ... with a warning about loosing everything within one's computer if you continue... 5. Click "I understand" (in my case, this is the first time to see this section - which would explain why the 'next' key would never highlight for me before using this above method). 6. Click "Next" For those that have never done this before, the total 'Recovery of C: Drive', don't worry when the screen goes totally black on occassion - it will come back showing which stage it's working on (there are 4 steps it goes through) - and it took about an hour from start to the 'Welcome to Windows' arriving on the screen. And although the Task Bar may start shooting up 'Balloons' asking for updates, etc, I totally ignored them. Figured there would be time enough later to do that and didn't want to risk any action while the process was being done - eep! 7. Create a 'Restore Point' now, while computer is lovely and clean! (Thanks for the reminder DSTM!). 8. Transfer the 'zipped' Antivirus and AntiMalware software from disc or 'mini hard drive' into your computer - and install. 9. Use Start>Restart Computer. While it's shutting down, Microsoft Windows will start updating your computer automatically and then restart. 10. Now, update both Antivirus and AntiMalware programs! I'm sure the remainder of the steps involved with reconnecting with the internet and Importing one's bookmarks and email address book, etc, is covered elsewhere within the site, but do have a couple wee hints: a) Before starting the Recovery process of C: Drive, don't just either burn all your important files to CD or transfer onto a mini-harddrive, double check that everything you can't 'live without' has actually survived the transfer! For instance, it was only after the process and when transferring that I realized I'd made an error somewhere along the way. Used FireFox Browser but when 'Exporting' Bookmarks and saving file, I didn't realize it only saved my really old ones from Netscape which had transferred into FireFox bookmarks when I switch computers. And worse, my own 'Personal' file from documents didn't transfer! Darn! b) Never ever start the process of backing everything up to disc or mini-harddrive when you're tired or distracted! Never! Was so so so sure I had everything but alas, completely forgot all my music and video files - eep! Today will be spent downloading and installing all my favourite programs but again, without all the help here, I would have been 'doomed' - gentle smile. My sincere thanks and gentle hugs to all who were so wonderful to help me!

It worked, it worked!! Huge happy smile! (Had to use the F10 way but it worked!) Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Thanks for mentioning the security programs, Seth - I've got AVG, WinPatrol, MalwareBytes, SuperAntispyware (all in zip form and pre-scanned for bugs) placed in one of those little hard-drives, ready to go when my computer put back as good as new...and shall remember to activate all of them prior to heading to the internet to download latest version of FireFox, etc. Have all your instructions written out and will start doing them in just a moment, so thanks again! And RandyL, thank you so very much for your great help!! The computer kept throwing up a pesky wee window from Acrobat Plug-In saying "This operation is not allowed" when I got back to the VAIO site - but it finally worked and I wrote out everything step by step. Now I'm all set! Thank you, thank you and, although I'm not a religious persons, I think of each of you with your immense kindness and patience as 'little angels walking this earth' - gentle smile.

Thanks ever so much, Seth - shall write out the instructions and try it first thing in the morning (it's getting a bit late here and my mind is turning to mush - gentle smile). So wonderful of you to help, especially since just minutes ago my AVG threw up a warning that it found 2 more Trojans - and when I clicked on 'remove threat', another window arrived saying it couldn't. (Literally have not been anywhere on the internet except right here for past two days and I know that I haven't picked up a Trojan here - just convinces me even more than my poor computer is in serious difficulty). It's exciting to know that as early as tomorrow the poor magic box may be working wonderfully again - thank you, thank you!

I know I haven't explained my steps very well and do apologise. This is what I've been doing: Start>VAIO Support Center>VAIO Recovery> Screen goes black for a macro-second> New page called VAIO Recovery opens (showing several choices)> Clicked on "Restore C: Drive"> Another page opens saying, "Restore C: Drive, Page 1 of 4" ... But at the bottom of the page there is a choice (back or next) and the word 'next' is not highlighted - and because of this, I can't click on it and proceed to page 2 of 4, etc. Over and over again, I can't get to page 2 of 4 of the above - and I've been back to the VAIO site again lest I missed a part about what to do if a word such as 'next' refuses to highlight. Again, I apologise for being unclear in what I've been trying to do and I'm ever so sorry.