Vista 64 bit - Drive letter "@"

[Kuurus]

I am running Vista 64-bit SP1 and Microstudio 4.006. All of my CD/DVD drives show as drive letter "@:"


I have removed the drives and cdromdrivers in Vista Device manager, rebooted and still come up with the same problem. When the DVD/CD-Rom drives come up they install with "C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys" as the driver (I have a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-109 and a Plextor PX-712UF drive). Both show as drive letter "@:" instead of their correct drive letter mapping.

[Kuurus]

Well, thanks to absolutely NO HELP from MTU support, other than copy and pasting a support document in a half hearted attempt to appease me I ended up having to uninstall from Vista and install on a virtual (vmware) windows XP. And yes, I have installed all updates.

For those of you that encourage a full reinstall of an OS just so MTU can run, that is ludicrous! No other application out there would dare suggest that course of action and points to improper QA testing of the product if you have to resort to an OS reinstall to get it to run.

Admin Note: Kuurus is highly technical, proven by his running VMWare and other sophisticated components. He is able to keep his computer OS up to date, error free, and virus free. He also is not aware of the hundreds of Tickets that MTU has received out of thousands of support requests that, after diagnosing with the customer, it becomes clear that the computer OS is damaged. It happens with many users, and it has nothing to do with MTU or our products. In some cases, we are aware of more technical fixes, but the user can't execute them. The easiest fix for those customers is to reinstall Windows.

Ddouglass just retired as a Technical Support expert with the Air Force in San Antonio, TX. He "recommends" reinstalling the Windows OS, with MTU's blessing because of the reasons I state above that he too is aware of from his years of supporting users.

From my 38 years with MTU, 30 working with Microsoft, I am confident from the feedback I read and hear that Windows gets damaged. There are even a handful of proven instances where an automatically downloaded Windows Update caused the damage, and within a few days another Upgrade fixes it. Customers demand a fix from MTU, even when the problem is Microsoft.

We know a number of users users who reinstall Windows monthly as a routine act. Our security years ago would not accept reinstalling Windows, and its new Serial Number you receive (unbelievable that Microsoft does this). We updated our security to allow this "often done" task. We think monthly reinstalling is unnecessary and do NOT recommend that practice.

However, on some computers for some users, the only answer is reinstall Windows. The hundreds of times this HAS solved the problem is clear proof that it is not the MTU software that was the problem.

For those of you trying to run Microstudio on Vista 64, dont waste your time. It won't work and you will get no support!

Admin Note: This is a typical response from a highly technical person with a problem we can't solve. We DID answer one-on-one all Kuurus's support tickets and even had our Senior Staff Programmer review the problem. Our support has been completely professional and responsive. The problem is in code that requires upgrading to run on Vista 64. PERIOD! We know it, we can't fix it instantly, and have it scheduled to be upgraded during August. This user simply can't accept that answer and chose to insult MTU instead.

We refunded his purchase price since we can't meet his needs.

For anyone else with Windows Vista 64, please do not purchase Microstudio now to run on Vista 64. We will make it clear when Microstudio is upgraded to work with Vista 64.

[MTUSUPPORT]

Thank you for stating this to me. I answered your 2 tickets over 2 weeks ago, but you did not respond whether my suggestions worked or not. We have beta testers with Vista 64bit, and they have been running since 4.006 release, without reporting any problems.

We have another customer who just reported the same problem as you on Vista 64bit. We are re-addressing this. We ordered Windows Vista 64bit today, and will install it on one of our test systems so our programmers can diagnose what is happening.

If Microstudio 4.006 does not fail on our Vista 64bit system, we will try to duplicate the problem using the programs you have installed.

We will post here what our results are. If it runs for us, If you want to help us diagnose what is wrong with your system, please post here all the programs you have installed on your Vista 64bit computer, found under Control Panel > Programs and Features.

Our Senior Programmer will be freed up from Hoster 4.00 tomorrow, so he can start on this Monday. We already had scheduled time to upgrade Microstudio over the next few days/week.

[Kuurus]

I will respond later today with the program list when I get home. Thanks for the response.

In the meantime -

i am running Vista 64
4 GB RAM
Using Nforce4 chipset and RAID drivers
I have 1 RAID1 Mirror running the OS (Drive C) and a JBOD, spanned volume (DRIVE E)
Internal IDE Pioneer DVD/RW CDRW
Geforce 7800 PCI-E Graphics card
SoundBlaster Audigy sound card
USB connected Plextor 712-UF

I have a Logitech Gaming Keyboard and a DELL Flat Panel LCD with a USB HUB on it. In my earlier troubleshooting I disabled the unnedded USB ports but still got the problem.

The scenario is this:

When I fire up Microstudio, my Pioneer and Plextor show up but they have a drive letter of "@". Oddly enough the Pioneer shows up as being able to read and write CD+G when in fact I know they cannot.

I place a CD+G in the Plextor and refresh. I see the tracks listed. I try to play one of the tracks and the little player window opens for about 2 seconds then goes away.

When I created a Windows XP virtual with VMWARE on my Vista 64 system, everything works fine. I really want to use Vista and not have to run out of a virtual though.


Programs will follow later when I get home.

[Kuurus]

Originally Posted by MTUSUPPORT

Thank you for stating this to me. I answered your 2 tickets over 2 weeks ago, but you did not respond whether my suggestions worked or not. We have beta testers with Vista 64bit, and they have been running since 4.006 release, without reporting any problems.

We have another customer who just reported the same problem as you on Vista 64bit. We are re-addressing this. We ordered Windows Vista 64bit today, and will install it on one of our test systems so our programmers can diagnose what is happening.

If Microstudio 4.006 does not fail on our Vista 64bit system, we will try to duplicate the problem using the programs you have installed.

We will post here what our results are. If it runs for us, If you want to help us diagnose what is wrong with your system, please post here all the programs you have installed on your Vista 64bit computer, found under Control Panel > Programs and Features.

Our Senior Programmer will be freed up from Hoster 4.00 tomorrow, so he can start on this Monday. We already had scheduled time to upgrade Microstudio over the next few days/week.

Have you guys tested Vista 64 yet?