Lost Ms. Photo Editor

Has anyone ever managed completely to lose Photo Editor, as I have just done?

Can anyone please tell me where it lives in the system and, more importantly, what I can do to get it back. My wife will kill me, if she finds out that she cannot view her photos (though I realise that I can get at them, using my expanded Send To)

Photo Editor has always worked perfectly and was doing so, when I last used it 2 weeks ago. I cannot imagine what I could have done to lose it.

Clicking the Desktop icon produces this error message:-

"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\Microsoft Photo Editor.Ink

The Managed Software Installer failed to install the program
associated with this file. Please contact your system administrator "

Photo Editor has vanished from the Start > Programs list and it is neither in the Add/Remove Programs nor in any other list that I can find.

Using Start > Find produces just "C\WINDOWS\Desktop" and "C\WINDOWS\Send To ". Clicking on either of these produces just the error message mentioned above.

Re-installing Win 98 has not helped.

 

Photo Editor is something that comes with MS Office 97and the stand-alone versions of MS Word 97 and PowerPoint 97.

Put the Office (or Word or Power Point, whichever you have) 97 CD in the drive and after it starts the setup program, there should be a "Repair current installation" (or something along those lines) option, which is the one you want. See if it puts Photo Editor back where it belongs.

If that doesn't work, I found the following instructions for a new installation of Photo Editor on Microsoft's Knowledge Base :

1. Run Setup and click Custom.
2. In the list of components, click Office Tools. Click Change Option.
3. Click to select the check box next to Microsoft Photo Editor.
4. Click OK and continue running the Setup program.

Post back and let us know if any of that worked.

 

Lost MS Photo Editor

Thank you, Miz, for your prompt advice but, unfortunately, I am not yet out of trouble.

I now run Office 2000, but started with Office 97 (both are the Small Business Edition) and kept the old CD. However, when this is inserted, it opens with a window with buttons for the separate installation of Word, Excel, the Valupack (mentioned in the KB), and other applications, but Photo Editor is not included. There is no general Setup nor one for Repair nor, apparently, anything else.

Photo Editor is not included under Office Tools in Office 2000 (at least not in my SBE) but, according to KB Q292124, it is in Office XP.

Is it possible that Gateway installed Photo Editor, but provided no means of getting it back, if lost, to customers with the Small Business Edition of Office 97?

Do you (or does anyone else) have any other ideas, short of approaching Gateway or Microsoft (difficult to say which I would least prefer!)

 

Masochist wrote:

This will help:

#1) Break the bad news to her in a steady and confident voice whilst maintaining eye contact at all times. Note: both eye contact and tone of voice are very important. Women are like wolves and are able smell fear and weakness. If either is detected, they'll pounce;

#2) Confuse the issue. Blame her for what has happened;

#3) Further confuse the issue. Deny having used the computer;

It's going well. You've wrong footed-her. You've denied responsibility. She smells no fear. So maybe you're telling the truth ...

#4) Say, "See whether you can fix it ", sit her in front of the computer and power it up;

Now it's important to move quickly ...

#5) Run like hell. Now. As fast as you can. Whilst she's watching the screen. And whilst the whirring of the boot process may (hopefully) mask the sounds of your exit;

#6) Return to the house no earlier than 5 hours after the time of your escape.

Preparation:

Prior to attempting #1) above -

a) Apply aftershave. Liberally (see the Note to #1) above);

b) Check your intended escape route - remove any obstacles which could impede your retreat - ensure that the door hinges are well lubricated (and apply WD40 if not);

c) Ensure that your wallet contains sufficient cash to allow you to spend at least 5 or 6 hours in the pub (which should be sufficient time to allow for the dissipation of your wife's homicidal urges);

d) Go through a warm-up/stretching routine approximately 5 minutes prior to her ETA (this will lessen the chance of being slowed or, even worse, felled by a strain injury during the sprint to the door.

Photo Editor did not ship with the SBE of Office which is why you cannot find it on the Office CD. However, AFAIK, Gateway always supply CD's from which you should be apply to reinstall whatever software shipped with the computer. Try hunting through your CD collection (look in particular for something labelled "Application CD" - it might be on that). If you can't track it down, then I'm afraid that you have little choice but to approach Gateway (cap-in-hand).

Good luck!

 

You've been quaffing the fish juice again haven't you dear friend?

Daizy

 

Masochist

http://www.irfanview.com/ gets you a free photo viewer.

Start/Find/photoed.exe gets what return? Mine is in C:\program Files\Common files\Microsoft Shared\Photo Ed.

My Start/Run/Regedit/edit/find/photo editor finds about 10-15 references to MS Photo Editor. Does yours?

 

Lost MS Photo Editor

Brett -
I have only just stopped laughing at your post. If you do not already write professionally, you should certainly consider doing so.

More seriously, all that I can find of what came originally from Gateway is the System and Application CDs. Neither of these contained Photo Editor and I have therefore written to Gateway. If I receive any useful advice, I will post it.

Hard as I try not to face facts, I must now accept that the inexplicable loss of Picture Editor is just the latest in a long history of "instability" with Win98FE - frequent freezing; occasional loss of Autorun and the weirdest happenings with Word, to name but a few. I propose to abandon Win 98 and, as I have read adverse reports of ME and am terrified at the prospect of XP, I have it in mind to have a clean installation of Win 2000. At my age, I want a quiet life and am not interested in "bells and Whistles ".

Daizy -
Have we been introduced?

Bill-
First and most important, thanks for the irfanview link. I have downloaded this and, though it looks as though it will take some getting used to, I think it may well be as good if not better than my lost Picture Editor.

Secondly, to answer your questions:-

1. Nothing returned. As I said before, searching against Photo Editor returned just "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop" and "C:\WINDOWS\Send To ".
My >>>Microsoft Shared does not have a Photo Ed.

2. This returned a single entry:-
"Name Data
ab(Default) Microsoft Photo Editor 3.0 Photo "

but I have no idea of the significance (if any) of this.

 

This is really strange...Someone had to uninstall.

I personally would not put it past the lady of the house

Having been married to 6 of them and divorced 7 times (One of them got me twice just to make sure), I find them to be a little passive-aggressive at times.

I'm sure that with a little practice the viewer will actually be better than MS Photo Ed. I think I will uninstall Photo Ed and see what is left over...

 

Bill wrote:

Gads, Bill! You must be completely immune to all known forms of Skinnerian and Pavlovian conditioning. And to think that you're not yet 21

Masochist wrote:

Good luck!

It's not aesthetically pleasing, but it is an excellent viewer and I'm sure that it'll grow on you!

 

Lost MS Photo Editor

Gateway replied (very promptly - I have been slow in reporting back) advising that I should format the hard drive and re-install Windows.

As I am totally sick of problems with Win 98FE, I will ask someone more experienced to format and to install Win 2000 instead.

Two points to mention. Gateway said:-

1. Re-installing Windows over Windows (which I did in my frantic
attempts to solve my problems) had made my problems worse!
I did not know that.

2. Formatting and re-installing would solve my problems,
particularly the (still unexplained) loss of Picture Editor. This
seems to indicate that Picture Editor is part of Win 98FE, not
part of Office 97, or am I misguided?

Thanks to all

 

I could be mistaken, but I don't think that this will get Photo Editor back. Before following through with Gateway's suggestion, ask 'em to confirm which CD contains Photo Editor.

BTW - glad to see that your still with us. I was beginning to think that Mrs Masochist may have "Bobbited" you

 

Masochist - you wrote "Daizy - Have we been introduced? "

That question is trickier than it seems. Look to the bottom of This thread for the reason.

And I agree with Brett about photo editor. Microsoft product and only as part of some of their Office suites. Unless Gateway had some special arrangement to use it as a solo program and include it with their load. Not likely but possible.

BTW - I have it but prefer IrfanView anyway. Great viewer and now with the newer versions, does some editing as well and IMO better than the M$ product.

 

Lost MS Photo Editor

Gateway eventually confirmed (as you all thought and as common sense suggested) that formatting and reinstalling Win 98 would NOT, magically, restore Photo Editor; that it was NOT part of the package sold to me and that, if I wanted it, I would need to purchase it separately.

I asked how, if it was not part of my package and as I had not purchased it separately, I had managed happily to use it for the last 3 years and why (inter alia) its distinctive icon is still on my desktop. I can but quote the reply:

"I cannot explain why you had Photo Editor installed. My only guess is that it was installed on your system by mistake, this would explain why you do not have a CD for it ".

The likely answer is a hitherto undisclosed sub-contracting arrangement between the then Dublin-based Gateway and the "little people ", which the EU refused to sanction. I wonder how many others have been deprived of programs, which Gateway did not know they had.

As to the Hydra-like Daizy (thanks for the info., Newt) my post clearly attracted the attention of one of its heads addicted more to alcohol than caffeine but (I add hastily) that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

So Masochist?
How now brown cow? Are you in search of a different Photo Editor?
Perhaps give Irfanview a shot, as the Newt-ness and Bmoore have?

Daizy

 

Daizy slurred:

The complete lyrics can be found here, Daizy.

Masochist:

The cads! But, to look on the bright side, at least you escaped without a needless format. That said ... maybe you could tell Gateway that you did neddlessly format? And ask for compensation? Maybe a copy of Photo Editor?

 

Geeeeeez thanks Brett!
I'm not so fond of the saying now! Smelly Jelly? Surely it's a Manx version?

Daizy