Complete Failure of Corel Technical Support

Complete Failure of Corel Technical Support

The attached transcripts show the complete and utter failure of Corel
Graphics Suite X3 technical support. There seems to be a problem
reading and understanding the English language.

I have attempted to resolve this by email, and by talking with "the
only John in Technical Support" who says that he can't do anything
about the failure of free technical support, but If I want to pay . .
.

I will send hard copies of this to Kevin Thornton, Senior Vice
President for Sales & Marketing, and to David C. Dobson, CEO since
they do not seem to have any accessible email addresses.

It's time to toss out Corel on all my systems and get Adobe
Illustrator instead. In the meantime, it's also time for Corel to fire
some of their incompetent technical support representatives.

Jim Winer
Firebird-JMW_REMOVE_@Comcast_DELETE_.net



Dear Jeremy,

Please refer this matter to your supervisor. I feel that your answers
are unresponsive as indicated below.


>Response (Jeremy) 04/18/2008 01:42 AM
>Dear Mr/ Ms Winer

Apparently you are unaware that "Jim" is a male name. Apparently you
did not grow up in the United States.

>Please refer to this link for the error 1606
>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315352

From my 4/17 answer:

"Your suggestion that I try removing Corel Graphics Suite X3 manually
with faqid=759671&p resulted in error 1606. Attempting to fix 1606
according to the instructions in your KB article resulted in nothing.

"To recover, I had to reload my system from backups made on 4/12."

I followed the instructions your web site suggested for error 1606 and
it hosed my entire system. I recovered the system from backup. I no
longer have need of solving the 1606 problem and I stated it pretty
clearly, but you seem to have missed it.

>A file of that size will only bounce back because
>our email system does not support big attachments.

Here's what I sent. Compare that to what you responded:

"I have the following files available if you tell me how to send them
to you.

"Application Event Log.evt from before install to after fail
"System Event Log.evt from before install to after fail
"MSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer log
"MSI42986.LOG MS Installer log
"1306a3e.mst Corel data base
"carm1.log Corel failure report

"MSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer log is 11 MB. The others are short.

"How should I send them to you?"

In short, I told you that one file was long, but that the others were
short. These files might be useful, but instead of telling me how to
send them to you, you decided that because one file was too big, none
were valuable? In particular, the CARM.LOG file gives complete
information on what the program was doing at the time of failure and
it is fairly short.

>I noticed that you are using an Nvidia Video adapter.
>Sometimes conflicts with this video card's drivers may
>arise between the software.

I mentioned to you on 4/16, Item 2b, that I have the latest available
Nvidia drivers installed. Did you miss this?

>Computers with dual core processors and newer nVidia GeForce Graphic >cards could conflict with certain versions of Corel Draw. The problem >lies with

the video driver version that is currently installed.
>
>To resolve this problem download and install the latest driver offered >from nVidia. See the following nVidia web pages for more information >and to

obtain the latest driver.

<additional information from you telling me how to get the latest
Nvidia drivers omitted>

>This solution was designed for Paint Shop Pro but may also
>apply with Corel Draw.

Paint Shop Pro X runs fine on this machine.

>Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.
>
>Kind regards,
>
>Jeremy
>Corel Customer Support

Please refer this matter to your supervisor. I feel that your answers
are unresponsive as indicated above. If you reply unresponsively
again, I will find it necessary to post this discussion in every
available public forum, and will start sending copies to executives at
Corel.

Thank you.

Jim Winer
 
 Response (Jeremy)     04/18/2008 01:42 AM
Dear Mr/ Ms Winer

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

Please refer to this link for the error 1606

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315352

A file of that size will only bounce back because our email system
does not support big attachments.

I noticed that you are using an Nvidia Video adapter.
Sometimes conflicts with this video card's drivers may arise between
the software.

Computers with dual core processors and newer nVidia GeForce Graphic
cards could conflict with certain versions of Corel Draw. The problem
lies with the video driver version that is currently installed.

To resolve this problem download and install the latest driver offered
from nVidia. See the following nVidia web pages for more information
and to obtain the latest driver.

Driver download and information - NOTE: Make sure to download the new
driver to your Windows Desktop (or location of your choice, making
sure that you know where to locate the downloaded file) before you
remove the existing driver.
Click the following link.
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
Choose Graphics Driver in the START HERE list.
In the second list/box, choose your specific video card. For example,
if you have a Geforce 6150LE, choose GeForce 6 Series. To determine
your specific video card model, open Display Properties from the
Control Panel. Click On Settings tab. You will see the specific video
card model listed under the Display field.
In the third list/box, choose the version of Windows you are using.
Typically this will be the Windows XP/2000
Click the Go! button.
Click one of the download buttons to begin the download (Primary
Download Site should be fine). Make sure to choose to save the file.
We recommend saving the file to your desktop.

The Driver page will also have the following in the left pane, these
are of interest and should be viewed:
Important! see Driver Installation Hints (Nvidias install
instructions).
Products Supported (a list of supported video cards).

At the bottom of this page click the Release Notes (vXX.XX) link for
detailed information on the latest driver.

When updating video card drivers, uninstalling your current drivers
before installing new drivers is a critical step.

Driver Un-installation instructions.
Click the following link.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/driver_installation_hints.html
NOTE: in addition to Nvidia's supplied instructions from the above
link, make sure you do the following:
Download the new drivers installation file, saving it to your compuer
before removing your existing driver. See the links below for
downloads. We recommend saving the driver to your computer Desktop (or
a download location of your choice).
In Add or Remove Programs NVIDIA Drivers will be listed. Left click on
Change/Remove and the Remove NVIDIA Components window will appear.
Choose to Remove only the following option.
Place a checkmark in NVIDIA Display Driver (this will only remove the
display driver and not other drivers).
After removing the existing driver, restart the computer.
The Windows Hardware Wizard will install a generic windows driver to
run your video card. After this your screen resolution will be set to
the default 800 x 600.
Double click on the installation file you downloaded from Nvidia and
choose Run to install the latest software for your video card.

This solution was designed for Paint Shop Pro but may also apply with
Corel Draw.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.

Kind regards,

Jeremy
Corel Customer Support
 
 Customer (James Winer)     04/17/2008 08:15 PM
Hello Jeremy,

I have the following files available if you tell me how to send them
to you.

Application Event Log.evt from before install to after fail
System Event Log.evt from before install to after fail
MSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer log
MSI42986.LOG MS Installer log
1306a3e.mst Corel data base
carm1.log Corel failure report

MSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer log is 11 MB. The others are short.

How should I send them to you?

Thanks.

Jim Winer
 
 Customer (James Winer)     04/17/2008 04:41 PM
Hey Jeremy,

Your suggestion that I try removing Corel Graphics Suite X3 manually
with faqid=759671&p resulted in error 1606. Attempting to fix 1606
according to the instructions in your KB article resulted in nothing.

To recover, I had to reload my system from backups made on 4/12.

So now I'm back to having CorelDRAW installed and it won't write to a
file.

Do you any other suggestions?

If you will notice, I have already tried almost everything you
requested, and did it twice since you asked for it after I had already
done it, so I tried it again.

It would be nice if you would review the information I have already
provided before making another suggestion.

If it would be any use, I can provide the MS Installer logs (I can
uninstall and reinstall again to get them) since I have them turned on
-- I just don't know how to make sense of any of the data.

Thank you.

Jim Winer
 
 Response (Jeremy)     04/16/2008 11:25 PM
Dear Mr/ Ms Winer

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

If the given solutions failed to correct the problem, try a clean
reinstall.

Title: Manually Removing CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3 from Systems
Running Windows® 2000 or XP
URL:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759671&p_created=001149780398

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.

Kind regards,

Jeremy
Corel Customer Support
 
 Customer (James Winer)     04/16/2008 11:25 AM
Thank you for your response.

1. I have already tried resetting the workspace to factory default.
This had no effect on the problem. (Damaged or Corrupt Workspace in
CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3, faqid=758989&p)

2. I have already tried the following: (Troubleshooting CorelDRAW®
Stability and Performance Issues on Microsoft® Windows® 2000 or XP,
faqid=753659&p)

a. Logged in as administrator.

b. Most current video drivers.

c. Minimum number of fonts.

d. Delete temporary files.

e. Default printer = networked HP8150 worked fine on CorelDRAW from
the old machine. Latest driver.

f. Virtual memory: real memory is 4GB, virtual memory is 2GB.

g. XP themes: running classic windows with all interface cycle wasters
turned off.

h. Other peripherals: all drivers latest version.

i. All patches up to date.

j. Scan for viruses: Latest version of Zone Alarm Security Suite says
no viruses or spy ware. Latest version of Spybot says no spy ware.

k. Application workspace reset.

l. Corel memory setting: 25% = 1GB

m. Backup options: auto

n. Reinstall the application: doesn't help.

o. File: Sequence is as follows: New, draw square, save, fails.

I have searched both the Microsoft knowledge base and the Corel
knowledge base. The only thing applicable is the problem with ISUP not
registering correctly. I get two warnings in Application Event Log
whenever I start a Corel product.

Detection of product '{1A15507A-8551-4626-915D-3D5FA095CC1B}', feature
'_ISUS', component '{ACD935F6-53F3-469B-842F-2CE17B80840C}' failed.
The resource 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Corel\Auto
Update\{1A15507A-8551-4626-915D-3D5FA095CC1B}\Interval' does not
exist.

Detection of product '{1A15507A-8551-4626-915D-3D5FA095CC1B}', feature
'_ISUS' failed during request for component
'{D2D7B4BF-6CCA-11D5-8B3F-00105A9846E9}'


I also get error 1642 from MsInstall indicating that

Product: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 - Update
'{1C7E5871-8BCD-42D8-A0C2-B440A7AD7B63}' could not be installed. Error
code 1642. Windows Installer can create logs to help troubleshoot
issues with installing software packages. Use the following link for
instructions on turning on logging support:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=23127

I have not yet turned on the logs.

Nothing interesting in any of the other Event Logs.

Thank you.

Jim Winer
 
 Response (Jeremy)     04/16/2008 02:36 AM
Dear Mr/ Ms Winer

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

Try to reset the workspace as it must have gotten corrupted.

Title: Damaged or Corrupt Workspace in CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3
URL:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=758989&p_created=001136833127

Likewise, you might as well check this out.

Title: Troubleshooting CorelDRAW® Stability and Performance Issues on
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 or XP
URL:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=753659&p_created=001068163834

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.

Kind regards,

Jeremy
Corel Customer Support
 
 Auto-Response (Jeremy)     04/16/2008 12:50 AM
Title: 'Error 1304' or 'Error 1305' error message when you try to
install your software
Link:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759260&p_created=1138746606

Title: Why do I get a blank page when trying to activate a trial
version?
Link:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759509&p_created=1143063403

Title: Release Notes For CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Service Pack 2
Link:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=760233&p_created=1169818542

Title: Corel Graphics Suite X3 SP1 Full/Upgrade - Release Notes
Link:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759911&p_created=1152889172

Title: Creating Transparent Bitmaps in CorelDRAW® and Corel
PHOTO-PAINT®
Link:
http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=756152&p_created=1084823419
 
 Customer (James Winer)     04/16/2008 12:50 AM
I have just upgraded from an 800 MHz PIII to a Quad Q6600 2.4 gHz, and
from Win2K SP4 to WinXP SP2. geForce 8800GT graphics card.

I reinstalled Corel X3 from the original CDs and did the online
updates. SP1 does not install. SP2 installs even though it says
it needs SP1 first. However, the problem happens immediately even
when no SPs are installed. (I've been through this more than once.)
Some of the Corel KB articles say there are problems with multi-core
and nVidia graphics cards. All drivers and updates to XP have been
applied.

When I open Corel Draw X3, everything works until I attempt to save or
export. Then I get the Corel A.R.M. failure report thing and no
output. (This happens with 10.00 as well as 10.02.)

I've already tried to repair with the original CDs.

I've made sure permissions are okay and files are not read-only (when
using an existing .CDR file).

1. New (blank page).
2. Put a square on it.
3. Save - CARM again.

So makes no difference whether old files or new.

I have also tried Photo-Paint and the same thing happens, so it looks
like a common dll may be missing.

Paint Shop Pro (also Corel, formerly Jasc) works. fine.

There does not seem to be a problem with any other program.

Nvidia drivers are the latest available.
All Microsoft updates to XP have been applied.

I have already completely uninstalled and reinstall.

I've done a lot more experimenting, and its only the two Corel
applications, CorelDRAW and Corel Photo-Paint that have the problem,
and it's the same problem -- no write to a file -- causes a program
exception with the all zeros data in the Application Event Log.

I have some strange symptoms of file locking when moving or erasing
files over a gigabyte or so, but I don't think it's related.

I'll go back to the KB at corel.com and see if I can't think up some
other way to search for an appropriate article. I finally found one
that told me the InstallShield Update Program doesn't register
correctly so you get error messages in the Application Event Log every
time, but they don't hurt anything. (Just annoying.)


TIA

Jim