Digital Workshop

Hi,

I have a major problem with starting Opus 9.75. The programme has been working just fine for a couple of years on my MSI laptop (Win10, Intel i7-3630QM 2X2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, 64 bit x64).

I shut down the computer normally, but when I restarted my most recent publication would not start, all I got was a black screen where Opus should have been. I tried several restarts and reboots with no change, I tried opening older publications, a fresh publication etc, but could not awaken the program.

I then tried a repair on the program but this did not improve the program. I then completely uninstalled Opus and reinstalled a fresh copy.

Slightly different result, I can get the program to open if I do not call up any publication, however there is no page showing when I click Untitled -> Chapter 1 -> Page 1 there is no page. I can still open the properties dialogue but as there is no page showing I am completely stuck.

This is really serious for me as I rely on Opus for all my presentation work.

The only thing that I can think may have had an effect is that when I strated the machine I was asked to install an update to Flash.

Can anyone offer any help please (apologies if I have used the wrong index).

Kind regards

Martin

Did the complete uninstall include manually checking that all the registry data had been removed?

</mack>

Many thanks for the swift reply.

I just used the Win10 uninstaller and did a simple uninstall.

I did not check that all the registry data had been removed. When I start the program, if I begin with a new blank publication, I can open the program, but without a page showing in the editing window.

I can then try to open an existing publication (from within the Opus file), and it shows up OK in the organiser, but again, no page is displayed in the editing window.

I am ataching a part screen shot showing what happens when I try to open a previous presentation. The organiser opens OK but there is no page shown (as shown in the attachment) and Opus is locked and not responding.

So probably I still have old registry data in the program, not sure how to clear this (I have tried re-booting).

Many thanks again

Kind regards
Martin

WARNINGS:
Editing the registry can damage your Windows Installation.
The following steps work on my Windows 10x64 Professional Version
You will need to reactivate Opus Pro.

Please uninstall Opus before cleaning up the registry.


FIRST:
In Windows run box or the Search Windows bar (W10) enter 'regedit' - no apostrophes and hit return.

THEN:
Expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch and then expand the SOFTWARE branch.
Locate and select the Digital Workshop branch and press delete.

NEXT:
Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch, then expand the SOFTWARE branch and finally expand the WOW6432Node
Locate and select the Digital Workshop branch and press delete.

</mack>

Hi Mackavi,

Huge thanks for your help.

I have gone down this route, but the Digital Workshop node is directly under SOFTWARE node. The Wow6432 node leads just to Microsoft -> Active Setup -> Installed Components then a list of registry values.

I opened the Digital Workshop node and it contains Opus Professional 9 and a plug-in called 'Text Art'. Text Art is a PS plug-in that I use in a program called XARA, I seem to remeber from a distant past that Text Art also works in Opus (might be wrong). I have not added any plug-ins for a long time and certainly Opus has worked successfully many times since I last added a plug-in, so I doubt this is the problem.

I also notice that the Opus Porfessional node is fully populated even after I have uninstalled the program. Not sure that the uninstaller worked properly.

Should I delete the Digital Workshop node (or perhaps just the Opus Professional node)?

Kind regards

Martin

Hi Mackavi,

I took a chance and deleted everything under Digital Workshop and then reinstalled Opus 9.75.

EDIT: I think I misread your instructions and just deleted the HKEY_CURRENT_USER entry, anyway it worked OK - relief!

It now seems to work perfectly. This is a huge relief to me, I have now got an emergency folder on my laptop with the Opus exe file and key ready to repair my machine should I get this issue in a crisis situation. Fortunately this happened when I was at my desk rather than about to start a presentation.

I guess since you knew the solution, this (or something similar) must have happened before.

In the past I have tended to run my presentations directly from Opus (easy to make last minute changes), I think in future I will publish the presentation, as a back-up, and then if the program fails I can revert to the published veersion (a bit belt and braces).

For interest I see that I should have also gone into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and treated this in the same way as HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

Interestingly Text Art is still working in Xara, I notice that Text Art is still in the Digital Workshop registry folder, I need to explore what this means.

Thank you again for your help, hugely indebted, BRILLIANT! .
Martin

I just opened 'Text Art' in Xara and see that it is a Digital Workshop program so it ought to work directly in Opus. Up until now I have been using Text Art in Xara and then exporting it (usually as a png) into Opus. Would be better if I can use it diresctly.

I cannot find any reference to 'Text Art' in the literature, I guess it only works as a PS plug-in.

Perhaps this ought to be a new topic?

M

Glad it worked.

I've never used Xara or text art so with the exception of setting default editors for certain media types (Tools Menu & Options), I'm not sure that third party applications can be linked.

</mack>