Sunday, July 31, 2011

Well I am up and running

After my various computer woes, I now have a brand new hard drive (to which I have been re-installing all the software) and so far so good. However, a bizarre thing happened when I was loading some new photos. As is usual with Windows 7 (or maybe not, but usual in my experience), photos that were taken in the vertical (portrait) format must be rotated manually. I have done this many, many times and the application says "saving" and then it appears in my pictures folder as a vertical photo. Well, after doing this a couple of times I started to realize that the pictures were disappearing! Yikes! However, when I would do a search under the file name, it would say it was saved in the folder. Huh?? After various futile attempts at understanding this and doing tests I decided to ask Microsoft for help. They indicated via their website that I would need to contact the computer manufacturer. On no! Not again!

I plaintively cried out loud "I just want my system back to the way it was...".

Then I saw they had a site where kind souls help others with their problems and I keyed in "rotating pictures" and astonishingly, several people were writing in to say that every time they would rotate a picture it would disappear! One poor woman was distraught because she had taken pictures of her daughter saying good-bye to her father (the woman's husband) for some unknown destination (possibly Afganistan?!) and now her pictures were gone.

Well, thanks to some really smart people, they figured it out that the latest version of McAfee virus protection (which I guess I now have) is responsible. How discernible is that?! I would never have thought of it.

And two solutions were proposed: return to an earlier version of the virus protection until the company corrects it or unhide files. (For some reason, the virus protection program labels a rotated file as a file to be hidden.)

I chose the second option and so far, all is well. This of course, took until 1:00 am this morning to do! I am rather stubborn sometimes and stick with things to the bitter end.

Anyway, I am now in a position to share a couple of new photos with you so here they are:



Grasshopper


Viceroy butterfly (a mimic of the Monarch butterfly)


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6 comments:

  1. AnvilcloudJuly 31, 2011 at 9:45 PM

    What a slog for you. How about trying to rotate in a photo program rather than Windows? What program do you use? I do everything photo related within the Photoshop environment and don't really bother with files in Windows per se. If you are looking for a photo manager, I have heard good things about Google's Picassa, which is free. Once upon a time, I heard something about not rotating in Windows as it forces a re-save, and every save deteriorates a jpeg. That was a while ago and I don't know if it's still true -- or ever was true for that matter.

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  2. DorisAugust 1, 2011 at 8:54 AM

    My program of choice is Paint Shop Pro and if I rotate using it there is no problem. I would always rotate in Windows 7 (I’m pretty sure Windows XP did the rotating automatically) so as to see whether the photo was worth keeping but since you mention that re-saving can lead to deterioration, I think I will only do it in PSP – just to be on the safe side.
    Thanks!

    Another curiosity is with blogs. I can’t leave a comment on my own blog with my home computer (I am doing this from my work computer). I can’t leave a comment on Flighty’s blog from home either but I can on yours AC. Go figure.

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  3. AnonymousAugust 1, 2011 at 11:29 AM

    That's good news even allowing for the hiccups!
    I like the photos, especially the butterfly. Flighty xx

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  4. DorisAugust 1, 2011 at 4:36 PM

    Thanks Flighty. I was thrilled that the butterfly rested long enough for me to get this photo.

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  5. Bea ElliottAugust 2, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    Hi Doris... With the exception of one continuous post, I've commented very little on your site. Just wanted you to know though, scanning through all your wonderful photos of herons, turtles, butterflies, squirrels and so on that I really need to check in more often for a "lift".

    It is one thing to battle the animal rights "wars" and another entirely different to just take in how very lovely and deserving these creatures are.

    Glad your computer is repaired - It would be a shame to loose the opportunity to see nature as you present it. Many thanks. ;)

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  6. AnonymousAugust 2, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    Dear Bea: I am so honoured that you visit my blog (whenever the spirit moves you) because the work you are doing in the animal rights movement is so valuable. I do the action alerts and letter writing but need to balance myself with seeking Nature's beauty. It seems to be the only thing that helps to counteract the pain of living in this world of violence and cruelty. I feel it is like pulling down a veil to blur my vision of the atrocities. I think you face these things head on and I applaud you for it. Thanks so much for your kind words. Doris (can only comment as "anonymous" for some reason).

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