Frustrating PowerDirector 10 Ultra 64 upgrade works when installed then... doesn't until reinstalled

Hi there Jim, Geoff, Loomis, Laura et al -

In using PD since PD7, I've had to uninstall & re-install PowerDirector many times... while other software has just trundled away without any dramas. It is true that there have been many installation issues reported through the forum, but I've fortunately never experienced them.

Often, the CLCleaner tool is suggested as a way of facilitating the new installation. As Dafydd says, it "fools" your PC without actually uninstalling anything.

I always use (whether it's recommended or not) an uninstaller tool called Revo Uninstaller (the free version) to make the process clean. It actually uninstalls the software (through Windows) & removes registry entries. Using it has always (for me) resulted in a successful clean install of the software. Maybe this is what's required in your case(s).

The steps I take:
1. Open RevoUninstaller
2. Select the software I want & click "Uninstall" (* for PD10, you'd need to separastely do this for PowerDirector, WaveEditor, SmartSound, Content Pack I & II)
3. Select (at least) the moderate level for registry cleaning
4. After all that's done, reboot the PC.
--------------------------------------------------
5. Reinstall ALL the software listed above *
6. Open PD & apply your activation code
7. Install any update patches.

I understand you've been through a frustrating process & you might not enjoy seeing yet another uninstall in front of you. I'm just letting you know what invariably works for me.

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 07/02/2012 15:23:42

Hi Tony,

You know, I will give it a try. The only part I can't do is uninstall Content Packs I and II since it would not let me install them in the first place, even though with the first initial install of PDR10 upgrade they DID install. Hey, got nothing to lose and I guess I can stand one more uninstall.

I have heard of RevoUninstaller and may have use it on another machine in the past.

Since my version of PDR10 Ultimate 64 is an upgrade version, I assume I have to reinstall PDR9 before trying the reinstal lof PDR 10 and the content pasks.

Thanks for taking the time to chime in here, maybe it will do the trick.

Take care,

Jim

Jim -

1. In Control Panel > Programs & Features, is there a listing for CyberLink PowerDirector ContentPack I & II?
2. Are they present in C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\templates\PowerDirector Content Pack 10?

You're right about the upgrade version... after your complete uninstall, you'd need to reinstall PD9, activate it, then install the PD10 upgrade. No doubt, you have all your installer files saved to a safe location.

I hope it works for you Jim, & I'm fairly confident.

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 07/02/2012 17:16:27

Well, here is what happened:
I couldn't uninstall the content packs because they did not show up. So.....
1) Removed PDR 10 using RevoUninstaller
2) Installed PDR9 (from retail disk) and PDR9 Content Pack
3) Installed PDR9 upgrade to latest build (3305)
4) reinstalled PDR10 upgrade, the 1129b which is the upgrade file I downloaded from Cyberlink

So far, it was O.K. installed fine.
5) Attempted to install Content Pack I for PDR10 and received error message (attached) and didn't let me install. It was looking for the path of c:\users\Jimbo\AppData\Local\Temp\RarSFX10\1033.mst. Sure enough, in the Temp folder in that path, RarSFX folders up to RarSFX9. Hmmmm the numbers stopped one short of the necessary folder.

I decided to look using regedit to see if there were any references to the Content Pack I and even though the Content Packs were missing from the control panel and RevoUninstall didn't see it, there were several references to a Content Pack I for PDR10 in the registry. Go figure. And the reference to Content Pack I had a different filename than the one I downloaded from Cyberlink.

So, I am going to try one more thing and see if it helps. With the way things are going, I doubt it will but you never know. With all the installing and uninstalling Cyberlink had me do, who knows what got screwed up.

Take care, Tony

Jim

Hi Tony,
Did remove the references from the registry to Content Pack I for PDR10 and didn't make any difference, the Content Pack I did not install, same error.

I could be wrong (most probably) but I thought that PDR10 upgrade was looking for that same folder, the temp one, and didn't get any errors when installing. Oh well, thanks for all your time.

Take care, all....

Jim

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 07/02/2012 18:33:30

Just a ballpark question Jim, did you delete the temp files? Maybe it won't overwrite them..

Dave

Just my opinion, and from what I can see you have been very patient....

I think you should get a FULL version download link of PowerDirector 10 offered to you by Cyberlink for all of your trouble at no charge. Maybe that would get you on to video editing which is what you want to do in the first place. I would ask Technical support to see if they could provide you with a Full Download link.

Maybe there is some problem from trying to upgrade that has now caused a problem on your system. It is entirely possible that the Full version won't help you either. One of lifes mysteries. But what the heck....you paid Cyberlink for the upgrade. Maybe someone can help you get that link to the Full version to get you out of this mess. If it doesn't work...well at least it was a try. I am not an expert, just an observer.

I hope it works out for you, it really is great software. Just my humble opinion. But I bet if the full download version worked out for you, you would tell other people that Cyberlink did the right thing to help one of its customers(you!). And you would tell five people and they would each tell five people and so on and so on.

Best,

Kevin

Okay, here is the latest update Tony, Kevin, Dafydd, Loomis, Geoff, John, Laura and anyone I forgot...

Received an email from Tech Support directing me to download 2 programs... A cleaner program for Content Pack I and a cleaner program for Content Pack II. Run them in order (I then II) reboot, resinstall the content packs.

The cleaner programs must have done their job in successfully fooling the software because each content pack installed completely.

So now, I have a fully functional (to the best of my knowledge, who knows what lurks ahead) version of PDR10 and its content packs. I say who knows, because originally, everything installed okay when I first got the upgrade software. Then, it stopped working. Then reinstalled. Then worked. Then stopped working, then wouldn't even load.

So you can see that while I am happy that everything seems to be back at what it should be, only time will tell if the program will continue to load and function. So I'll keep an eye on it for the next couple of weeks and ... we'll see.

I am still convinced something is not right with the software. Since it was an upgrade from PDR9, is it only the upgrade file? I don't think so after reading the other posts. IS it a problem with the installation program? Is its code being overwritten by some other code? Why doesn't the uninstaller for the program FULLY uninstall it rather than having to rely on "cleaner" programs to get the job done (3...on each for program and content packs)?

Since we are aware of others having the same problems, Cyberlink techs really need to analyze what about PDR10 isn't right. Install issues will kill the use of their software by others who undergo the frustration we all have and don't have our patience. There ARE other programs out there.

And Kevin, you are so right. Word of mouth is the best ...or worse...source of advertising. Could I in good conscience recommend the software to others? That will take some thought and only because when it works, I believe it is probably the best consumer video editing program out there. But is it worth the hassle? Consider this: When the problem originally came up, at one time, after waiting 2 weeks to hear from tech support, I had to write to THEM to find out what was going on. That's just ridiculous.

In any event, a real THANK YOU to all on the forum who has followed this and have tried to help. To my other friends I wish them success in getting their PDR10 to work.

Now to see how long it works.....

Take care,

Jim

As I stated I would do yesterday I have moved onto another program. Thanks to everyone who offered their assistance with my install issues. I have a deadline looming and cannot wait for tech support to get back to me, the trouble is I have to learn a new software while this deadline looms. I was a software trainer for many years and literally have done thousands of installs, never have I had such a difficult time simply installing software. Good Luck!

Jim -

It looks like Dafydd's request paid off http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/15/21180.page#115149

You're right. The necessity for special/separate cleaner tools does beg the question you've put.

You've done well to persist & work your way through the problem with tech support. Lots of folks would have given up on the software, evidenced above.

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 08/02/2012 15:01:15

Had same problem as you with content pack one would not install as PD keep insisting it was already install , and I had removed it with normal windows installer after a install failure.

But when I ran Revo Uninstaller it found files from this content pack that I now removed with Revo Uninstaller and then content packs installed just fine.

Look very carefully with Revo Uninstaller running and see if you can find PD 10 content files if you do you got it made.

Thanks, Dafydd... I guess what Tony said is true. You said you would request cleaners for the content packs and, sure enough, tech support provided them. And they worked.

It's too bad they had to lose at least one customer because of this issue (Loomis), who knows how many more will do the same who don't communicate via the forum that Cyberlink will never know about.

In any event, thanks all for all the help and caring

Take care,

Jim

jimgansett,

I've had similar issues with PD9 (so far non with PD10) and another application (non-Cyberlink). Using CCleaner to find and clean out the registry solved the problems very quickly. And YES ! Your suspicion is correct: CCleaner found several registry entries from PD9 that had to be removed in order for re-installation to work properly.

House keeping has never been a strength of PD. PD10 however has been much improved.

I am at my wits end. Sent a trouble report - no reply. Got a disk mailed to me - doesn't do anything that I can see - have been running the upgrade now from disk ab out 30 minutes. Previously downloaded upgrade (PowerDirector 10 Ultra) and it took 4 tries - then it worked and now it doesn't. What the H!!! is going on. Seems like Cyberlink wants more $ from us - wants us to pay for support of installing a new installation. How do I get this program to install and actually work consistently. - Window 7 user that was using PowerDirector 8. Can anyone tell me how the upgrade4 disk installation is suppose to work , how long it is suppose to take, etc. etc. Anyone --- please.

Just a quick update,

After PDR10 and content packs finally installed....and it took a lot, as those of you who have been following this thread know...... I fired it up to do a little editing.

Well, you can guess the rest. When working with keyframes, attempting to adjust a pip object, I got the dreaded "PDR10 has stopped working". I was able to restart the program and do editing but how can I trust the software to do anything important when it has been so unstable. I may just forget it and use my other video software, which, by the way, has performed flawlessly from day 1.

Take care all,

Jim

Well, this is my official goodbye to PDR. AFTER NUMEROUS INSTALLS/UNINSTALL COVERING ALMOST 2 MONTHS, AFTER RUNNING 3 DIFFERENT CLEANERS, ENDLESS COMMUNICATION (OR SO IT SEEMS) TO CYBERLINK TECH SUPPORT, I AM DONE WITH PDR.

Again, PDR10 will not load. Again it happens even after it DID load after all the cleanings and installs. Again the dreaded PDR10.exe has stopped working message.

Cyberlink, I just cannot trust your software for any important project. PLEASE do something to remedy this horribly buggy installation issue, if not for me, then for other present and future customers.

I am going to contact customer support (sales) and ask for a refund of the PDR 10 upgrade. There's no monopoly here, there are other video editors, including my other one that actually install and work consistantly.

To all who have tried to help on this forum, again my thanks to you. You know who you are.

Jim