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AutoSketch 2.1 and Windows XP (Home) with Serv Pack 2

41 REPLIES 41
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Message 1 of 42
robin.oram5
4551 Views, 41 Replies

AutoSketch 2.1 and Windows XP (Home) with Serv Pack 2

I have seen a few refs to this topic in this group but none seem to relate exactly to my problem.

I used nice and simple AutoSketch v2.1 for years on Win 3.1 and migrated in turn to 95, 98, and 98SE. I then upgraded to AutoSketch v 7, but don't like it much and I continued to use v2.1 in Win 98SE because it suited me better.

But, on upgrading computer to Win XP Home Edition I can't even open the v.2.1 program (although v.7 opens fine). All I get is this message.

"16 bit Windows Subsystem
C:\Windows\System 32\ Autoexec.NT
This system file is not suitable for running MSDOS + MS Windows applications. Choose Close to terminate"

If I try to re-install from the original floppies I get the same message.

I realise it's a system problem probably not an AutoSketch problem. However, other people seem to have managed to use v. 2.1 on XP. Is there a workaround I could attempt ??

Would there be a way to copy across the v2.1 program files from the older machine, which I could do with my Bridge Cable program if it wasn't likely to foul up something else!

Suggestions will be really appreciated.
Robin Oram
41 REPLIES 41
Message 2 of 42
Neilds
in reply to: robin.oram5

I just upgraded to Windows XP and had the same experience when I tried to install from floppies. Sat down and read all I could find in Using Windows XP Home Edition published by Que - didn't find any ready answers. Decided to try the install again, and it went fine - go figure.
Message 3 of 42
robin.oram5
in reply to: robin.oram5

Thanks, Neilds, I wish it were so simple, this didn't work for me! Meanwhile I can still use v. 2 on my trusty old laptop. Will try a hard drive reformat and complete Windows reinstallation next working up from Win 95 and upgrading.
Regards
Robin Oram
Message 4 of 42
Neilds
in reply to: robin.oram5

Here's a link to the Microsoft answer to the problem. I got by without having to do anything (that I know of). Hope this helps you.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305521

I found by entering "windows xp 16 bit" in the search block of the Microsoft website.

Cheers, Neilds
Message 5 of 42
robin.oram5
in reply to: robin.oram5

Hi Nields

Many thanks for your help, you have saved me no end of trouble.
For the record, I went to that Microsoft link, which turns out to be for Windows 2000, then found the similar and associated article for Windows XP, no. 324767.
I skipped the "Resolution" steps nos 1-19, and started right in at "If this issue continues to occur ........... " steps 1 - 7, then reinstalled Sketch v. 2 from the floppies. It worked a treat!
This will also solve similar problems with some other old programs. Brilliant.
Thanks again
Robin Oram
15/11/2005
Message 6 of 42
Neilds
in reply to: robin.oram5

I'm glad to hear it worked - made my day. Now, if you have the same problem I had on failure to print...
The only way I am able to print a drawing is to increase the minimum line width to something above "hairline". I think my main problem is that Epson has no driver update for my printer to Windows XP. AS 2 is the only old program I have a printing problem with.

Cheers, neilds@olypen.com
Message 7 of 42
robin.oram5
in reply to: robin.oram5

Hi Nields

There seem to be more queries on printing in this discussion group than any other subject. I found that my "recently-revived" AutoSketch v. 2 now working under Windows XP prints better than ever before on my 8-yr old HP 820c printer, so can't say I have any problem. My "hairline" lines definitely print out very solidly. I don't know any Epson printers so can't comment on the settings and tweaks you might try.

Have you tried www.driverguide.com? There are many dozens of Epson printer drivers for Windows XP there, with ratings on reliability and ease of installation, you might find one for yours.
You have to sign in as a user on this site and they give you a name and p/w, but it's free.

Only problem I ever had with AutoSketch lines was that only "hairlines" would format as dashed, or hidden, or centerline and so on, I never got a line with defined width, or a polyline, to format as anything other than continuous. Soon got used to it!

Cheers
Robin Oram
Message 8 of 42
guineagardens
in reply to: robin.oram5

I am using AutoSketch 2.1 with Windows XP and service pack 2. Everything is working properly with the exception of printing, when all the colours come out differently from those on the screen. For example black lines come out as very pale grey and are difficult to see at all. However if I use "Print Screen" the colours come out correctly. To get around the problem at present, I transfer the files to an old PC running on Windows 98 which prints normally.
Message 9 of 42
Anees Abbas
in reply to: robin.oram5

Am interested in purchasing Autosketch v2. Would be grateful for advice as to how I can locate seller and possible price. Regards
Anees Abbas
Address: abbas.anees @gmail.com
Message 10 of 42
robin.oram5
in reply to: robin.oram5

You'll note from my earlier comments after I started this discussion that I managed to make AutoSketch v. 2 work fine with Windows XP, and using my HP 820 printer, courtesy remarks by Nields.
I have recently discovered that I couldn't print using my standby printer, a Canon 6000. The symptoms are as you describe, and, further, It appears that filled shapes printed OK whereas lines and text did not. This doesn't help solve your problem, I know, but may indicate there are printer driver problems to be resolved, not only AutoSketch problems.
Robin Oram
Message 11 of 42
Edward Cox
in reply to: robin.oram5

As a very happy 2.1 user since the dawn of time I now find that certain Modify tools cause a General Protection Fault (00A4:04A8).

The tools that cause most trouble are rotate, rescale.

The biggest pain is losing Rotate because I use it all the time in survey drawings for building.

I have applied the 'steps 1-7' fix, re-installed and re-started.

I am sure that someone will have a bright idea.

My version is the 1995 upgrade to windows.

Edward Cox
Message 12 of 42
bobturner
in reply to: robin.oram5

Hi
I had similar problem years ago with AS2.1 win2k.
If you look closely at the printout, you will see the EDGES of filled shape are the wrong color, whilst the fill is the correct color.
Try making a test drawing with assorted text in different colours and printing it, one of the colors will print as black, you can use this color in your drawing as a work-around, you may get similar color-swapping problems printing to a pdf file, and also pasting into Word.
Eventually we had to upgrade to AS8, (new printers kept getting installed with continuing problems with printer drivers)which I didn't really like at first, but now it seems generally better to work with.
Cheers, BobT
Message 13 of 42
Anonymous
in reply to: robin.oram5

I have the problem of using AutoSketch 2.1 with AutoSketch, the colors are wrong. I really like the 2.1 version, I also have ver 7 of auto sketch.but would like to keep using 2.1. does anyone have a fix

Regards Pat Dunne
Message 14 of 42
JP652
in reply to: robin.oram5

Edward:

I have had the same problems and have worked around the rotate problem by using the mirror function.

The rescale seems to work okay if I have a limited number of objects, otherwise I experience the same problems.

jp
Message 15 of 42
pt1111
in reply to: robin.oram5

Hello, just read your note here... I am now getting the same rotate error in AS2.1 [running on XP].. . Can I ask if you ever found a solution to the problem?

regards Message was edited by: pt1111
Message 16 of 42
Fogchart
in reply to: robin.oram5

After hours of trial and error. The General Protection Fault is being caused by my new monitor HP w2207h. Tech support for HP said NO New monitor on the market will work with such an old program like AS2.1 I do not feel this is correct, because for a while I had it working. I hope Tech support is all wet. But it is definitely the Monitor causing the Fault. Switching back to Dell Trinitron things work great.
Message 17 of 42
Anonymous
in reply to: robin.oram5

Fogchart wrote:
> After hours of trial and error. The General Protection Fault is being caused by my new monitor HP w2207h. Tech support for HP said NO New monitor on the market will work with such an old program like AS2.1 I do not feel this is correct, because for a while I had it working. I hope Tech support is all wet. But it is definitely the Monitor causing the Fault. Switching back to Dell Trinitron things work great.

Geez! Why do folks expect 15 year old programs to
work with spiffy new operating systems and even
newer peripherals? Maybe they will work for a few
minutes until the OS wises up and decides that the
ancient program deserves no further sustenance and
should be trundled off to the nursing home to
await the inevitable.

That's not to say that you shouldn't at least try.
A newer AS probably won't open your files anyway.
That's the way ADSK works these days. Time for a MAC!

_h
Message 18 of 42
Fogchart
in reply to: robin.oram5

Get off your high horse Harvey, post like yours helps no one, and you obviously don't have a clue why so many hold on to AS2. In a nut shell Harvey, AS2.1 is head and shoulders above later versions. Fact is Version 5 that was the next real revision was a major down grade. Not even the same program. The only resemblance was name only. The features lost were unbelievable. I’m guessing you have never used or really learned AS2.1. If you had, you would never make such a comment. AS2 is a very powerful 2D drawing program that I have won large bets on with people just like you. I can make 3D drawing that experts say were not be done with AS2. That is where I win my bets. My needs do not require 3D but I am very good with AS2, very good with it. Doubt but a handful know AS2 as well as I do. I make my living with it.

I bought both AS5 and AS7. Sold both on ebay for half price. It may very well be time to try AS9, but reading the manual for AS9 I’m not seeing the features I require. Guessing I’m not alone in that department. I make 95K a year with AS2, and not about to jeopardize my income. If that means finding ways to get newer hardware to work with it, then fine, that’s what we do. If it means using older hardware, then fine. We wait and hope someone some day will match what AS2 is capable of doing. AS5 and AS7 are not the answer. Not even close to what AS2 is capable of.

And that Harvey is why so many of us old horse’s are still running around. You don’t abandoned what works for something that does not work for you.

You made a statement AS9 will not import AS2 files. Do you know for a fact that is true? That makes little to no since to me. AS5 was capable of importing AS2, so why would they drop that feature. I will admit I did not try it with AS7. Once I saw multiple sheets and pages were not supported I boxed it up and sold it.

It truly is a crime that such a great program was butchered so badly with so called updated versions. From my point of view AS went down hill major after version 2.1 and obviously many others besides me feel the same. So we try our best to make it work on newer hardware. AS2 is not ready for the pasture just yet. Not until someone can match its capabilities.

Back to real subject to help others with “GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT” errors. This is a good indication that the memory of the hardware is using memory AS2 wants to use also. Another thing to check is your RAM. Bad memory can cause this error also.
Message 19 of 42
Anonymous
in reply to: robin.oram5

I will defer to your expertise on AS2.1. Maybe you
should know that ADSK bought DrafixCAD years ago
and re-introduced it as AS5. It's a totally
different program as far as I know and they
eliminated the macro feature in Drafix, one of
it's strong points.

I would not expect that any later version of AS
would open 2.1 but I'm not completely certain.
However I DO know that AS7 wouldn't open AS6 SKF
files. That's a little hint.

If you're making 95K/yr using 2.1 then it behooves
you to do what you're doing and use the Dell
monitor. The ad hominem stuff isn't necessary
either, but to each his own.

_h

Fogchart wrote:
> Get off your high horse Harvey, post like yours helps no one, and you obviously don't have a clue why so many hold on to AS2. In a nut shell Harvey, AS2.1 is head and shoulders above later versions. Fact is Version 5 that was the next real revision was a major down grade. Not even the same program. The only resemblance was name only. The features lost were unbelievable. I’m guessing you have never used or really learned AS2.1. If you had, you would never make such a comment. AS2 is a very powerful 2D drawing program that I have won large bets on with people just like you. I can make 3D drawing that experts say were not be done with AS2. That is where I win my bets. My needs do not require 3D but I am very good with AS2, very good with it. Doubt but a handful know AS2 as well as I do. I make my living with it.
>
> I bought both AS5 and AS7. Sold both on ebay for half price. It may very well be time to try AS9, but reading the manual for AS9 I’m not seeing the features I require. Guessing I’m not alone in that department. I make 95K a year with AS2, and not about to jeopardize my income. If that means finding ways to get newer hardware to work with it, then fine, that’s what we do. If it means using older hardware, then fine. We wait and hope someone some day will match what AS2 is capable of doing. AS5 and AS7 are not the answer. Not even close to what AS2 is capable of.
>
> And that Harvey is why so many of us old horse’s are still running around. You don’t abandoned what works for something that does not work for you.
>
> You made a statement AS9 will not import AS2 files. Do you know for a fact that is true? That makes little to no since to me. AS5 was capable of importing AS2, so why would they drop that feature. I will admit I did not try it with AS7. Once I saw multiple sheets and pages were not supported I boxed it up and sold it.
>
> It truly is a crime that such a great program was butchered so badly with so called updated versions. From my point of view AS went down hill major after version 2.1 and obviously many others besides me feel the same. So we try our best to make it work on newer hardware. AS2 is not ready for the pasture just yet. Not until someone can match its capabilities.
>
> Back to real subject to help others with “GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT� errors. This is a good indication that the memory of the hardware is using memory AS2 wants to use also. Another thing to check is your RAM. Bad memory can cause this error also.
Message 20 of 42
robin.oram5
in reply to: robin.oram5

The only solution I have found to this colour printing problem is to forgo the colour when it comes time to print, and set the printer properties to Black. Of course, the colour is still handy when making the drawing. But I have found that the problem only arises when trying to use a v. 2 drawing in v. 7, and that if I start and complete a drawing in v. 2, then the problem doesn't arise. Long live v. 2!
Robin Oram

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