Downloads Freezing

We need help! We are trying to download the program for a Sony digital camera. We have the disk, but part of the way into the download, the computer freezes up. We have also tried downloading from Sony's site and the same thing happens. It always freezes in the same spot. We have turned off our anti virus program and most other things that run in the background. How can we get this to download? Can it be downloaded in safe mode and if so, how do we do that? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

One point of confusion... when you say you have the "disk" do you mean a commercial CD with the needed software from Sony?

"Downloading" doesn't mean installing, but rather actually getting something via a "download" process, i.e. transferring a file via the internet.

If the original CD is exhibiting this problem, the first thing to try is calling the Sony tech support line for the product.

If you're having a download "freeze" while in progress, you may be having a PC problem BEYOND this one piece of software.

Try turning off ALL unnecessary programs. The only stuff you NEED to have running are: Explorer and Systray. All other stuff can be temporarily disabled until you finish with the install.

One final thought, is this a USB camera or what is the interface? The software may be trying to find the device during installation, and failing to make the connection needed...

;)

Turn off everything running in the back ground, except Explorer and Systray, and make sure the CD is clean.
If they're ok, then try extracting the file from the CD on another computer. If the same problem happens, then the CD is corrupt. If it loads ok, then disable DMA for your CD-ROM drive. If still no good, then the drive may be bad(Had this same problem when trying to install a game. Replaced the drive and the program installed just fine).

It's also possible that d/l file may be corrupt at the website.
I do not believe that the modem's drivers are loaded in Safe mode. If that's the case, then you will not be able to d/l the program form the Sony site in that mode.

Thanks for the replies. Guess my post was confusing. We tried to download from the sony website and the computer freezes befor edownload complete. We got the disk and tried to "install" and it freezes at the same spot as the one from the sony website did. We are trying to install the usb program to look at the photes from a memory stick. We connect the camera as instructed and followthe directions, but both the disk and the download from Sony freeze in the exact same spot. Did that explain it better? Not real sure how to say what I mean so you understand what I am trying to do. We did not disable everything, so maybe we will try that and see what happens. Thanks

Our camera software required the camera not only to be plugged into the computer and turned on, as well. However, the default "auto off" was set too low...and the camera shut down before the install was complete and we ran into the same problem.

Check the instructions and see if the camera has to be turned on during the install process...and if it's shutting itself off before the install is complete.

Ok, we have disabled everything but systray, it did not show explorer or netscape and we run both. We tried to install from the cd, froze up, tried to install from a floppy froze up in the exact same spot. The camera goes into pc mode when it is connected and does not shut down. So what could it be with our pc that is causing this not to install? Thanks.

Ok the camera situation has been put on hold. We have BIGGER problems. Decided we wanted to reformat the hard drive and re-install everything. I knew we had some problems with WIN 98 and we were fine when we first deleted everything. Then the modem went out and we got a new one. Got an error message that said Win 98 was corrupted and we needed to re-install Win98. Ok, so we tried and now we are stuck on a screen with a c prompt. I am guessing we need a command but everything we try does not work. One of the messages says "bad win.com file". We have no clue and no computer. We are not in DOS (I do not think). I know this may not be enough info for any help, but not sure what else I need to add here. Please can someone tell us how to "fix" this or what other info I can provide? Having to check from work, so my response back may be slower. Or do we need to just take it in and have "them" fix it? Thanks!

To reinstall Windows over itself:
-Insert the Windows boot floppy(if you use Win 95, then borrow or create a Win 98 boot floppy if possible since it will most likely have DOS drivers for your CD-ROM drive, where a Win 95 boot floppy will not).
-Start the computer.
-Select 'Start Windows with CD-ROM support' using the arrow keys.
-Insert the Windows installation CD.
-Press Enter.
-Type X:
(where X is your CD-ROM drive's letter, usually D or E).
-Press Enter.
-Type setup.
-Press Enter.
-Follow the instructions to reinstall Windows.

However, installing Windows over itself does not usually solve major problems, like the ones you seem to be having.
So if the above fails to solve the problems, then you will have to reformat the hard drive and do a 'clean' install of Windows.
But beware that this will wipe out the contents of the hard drive, and any files that were not backed up will be lost:
-Insert the Windows boot floppy.
-Start the computer.
-Select 'Start Windows without CD-ROM support'.
-Press Enter.
-Type format c:
-Press Y at the warning about losing all data.
-Press Enter at the volume label message.
-Your hard drive will now be reformatted.

After the HD is finished being formatted:
-Leave the Windows boot floppy inserted.
-Restart the computer.
-Select 'Start Windows with CD-ROM support'.
-Press Enter.
-Look for your CD-ROM drive's letter(usually either D or E).
-Insert the Windows installation CD.
-Type X:\setup (where X is your CD-ROM drive's letter as noted above).
-Press Enter.
-Press Enter again when the next message says to do so.
-Follow the instructions to install Windows.

After Windows is installed, you will then have to reinstall the drivers for any hardware components(video card, sound card, printer, etc.) that came with software CD's or floppies.
And of course, all other programs, ISP software, etc., will also have to be reinstalled.

Thanks Ski. We were trying to do a clean install because it would not install over the old win98. Told us there was an "anti virus" running, but we had truned everything off. We totally wiped the hard drive clean the first time and then re-installed the win98, then we installed a new modem and that is when it told us the files were corrupted. We will try your suggestion and see if we can get it to work. There has got to be an easier way to format the hard drive....when we click on the menu to format hard drive, it tells us "windows is using the files and cannot be formated". So we uninstalled everything we could and deleted the rest. If we buy a new hard drive (which we wanted to upgrade anyway) would that make it easier to get it up and running? Thanks.

The HD cannot be formatted in Windows. It has to be done in DOS with the boot floppy.

Also, check in BIOS to see if an antivirus program is enabled. If so, then disable it.

Forgot to reply to your last question.

A new hard drive will take even more time to configure since it has to be partitioned first, and then formatted.
Plus, either your BIOS may have to be upgraded or 3rd party software may have to be installed in order for the entire size of the HD to be recognized.

Thanks. As soon as we get home from work will try this and see what happens. Will post back and let you know tomorrow.

Ok Ski. We followed your instructions and got win98 loaded (thanks) however when we tried to install the program for the new modem with the cd from the manufacturer, we get this error message in a pop up box: (The cd is in the cd rom)

Error Starting Program. The HXFSETUP.EXE File Is Linked to
Missing Export MFC42.DLL:6874

So any ideas on how we can fix this? We thought we were home free until this happened. Thanks for all your help.

-Go to System Information/Tools/System File Checker
-Check 'Extract one file....'
-Type mfc42.dll in the box
-Click Start
-Type D:\WIN98 in the 'Restore from:' box
-Type C:\Windows\System in the 'Save file in' box
-Insert your Windows installation CD
-Click OK
-Say yes if it asks if you want to overwrite the existing mfc42.dll file
-Click OK
-Remove the CD

And you're welcome.