R
Robbie Hatley
Oh, my. Windows 2000 never ceases to surprise me with some of
the unusual, unexpected bugs that can crop up. Like just this
morning. I was attempting to recombine a multipart file.
That's basically a file that's been chopped into parts exactly
500000 bytes long, except for the first part, which is only
a few bytes and acts as an index, and the last part, which
is the "remainder" of dividing the file size by 500000.
The reason for spliting files into parts like this is so you
can feed them through an Internet channel which balks at
larger file sizes. Examples are gmail and Usenet.
To recombine these files, I double-click the ".000" file,
which launches program "JAS" ("Just Another Splitter"),
which recombines the file.
Simple, right?
Wrong!
Scenario: File Sprat.mp3 (1234567 bytes) has been split into
the following parts:
Sprat.mp3.000 42 bytes (index)
Sprat.mp3.001 500000 bytes (part 1 of 3)
Sprat.mp3.002 500000 bytes (part 2 of 3)
Sprat.mp3.003 234567 bytes (part 3 of 3)
DESIRED behavior on clicking "Sprat.mp3.000":
1. Lauch JAS, which recombines the file.
ACTUAL behavior on clicking "Sprat.mp3.000":
1. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
2. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
3. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
4. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
5. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
6. Lauch JAS, which recombines the file.
WTF??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Ok, can someone explain to me why my Windows 2000 insists
on making 5 attempts to reinstall Microsoft Word before
it finally just lauches JAS and recombines the file?
Ironically, Word itself works fine, and doesn't attempt
to reinstall itself when I use it. It's only JAS that
causes the 5 Word reinstall attempts.
I get the same thing if I click the "JAS" icon on my
toolbar or start menu, or use Start/Run to launch "JAS.exe":
5 word-reinstall attempts, followed by finally running
the program, even though there is no connection between JAS
and Word.
OK, so I finally got fed up and rummaged through my CDs
till I found the "Word 2000 SR-1" and stuck it in my drive.
Windows played with the CD, did something (what, I don't
know), and the problem went away.
But the question remains: Why did Windows need to alter
my Word installation in order to use JAS (a completely
unrelated non-Microsoft program)???????????????????????
--
Puzzled,
Robbie Hatley
lonewolf at well dot com
www dot well dot com slant tilde lonewolf slant
the unusual, unexpected bugs that can crop up. Like just this
morning. I was attempting to recombine a multipart file.
That's basically a file that's been chopped into parts exactly
500000 bytes long, except for the first part, which is only
a few bytes and acts as an index, and the last part, which
is the "remainder" of dividing the file size by 500000.
The reason for spliting files into parts like this is so you
can feed them through an Internet channel which balks at
larger file sizes. Examples are gmail and Usenet.
To recombine these files, I double-click the ".000" file,
which launches program "JAS" ("Just Another Splitter"),
which recombines the file.
Simple, right?
Wrong!
Scenario: File Sprat.mp3 (1234567 bytes) has been split into
the following parts:
Sprat.mp3.000 42 bytes (index)
Sprat.mp3.001 500000 bytes (part 1 of 3)
Sprat.mp3.002 500000 bytes (part 2 of 3)
Sprat.mp3.003 234567 bytes (part 3 of 3)
DESIRED behavior on clicking "Sprat.mp3.000":
1. Lauch JAS, which recombines the file.
ACTUAL behavior on clicking "Sprat.mp3.000":
1. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
2. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
3. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
4. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
5. Attempt to re-install Microsoft Word.
6. Lauch JAS, which recombines the file.
WTF??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Ok, can someone explain to me why my Windows 2000 insists
on making 5 attempts to reinstall Microsoft Word before
it finally just lauches JAS and recombines the file?
Ironically, Word itself works fine, and doesn't attempt
to reinstall itself when I use it. It's only JAS that
causes the 5 Word reinstall attempts.
I get the same thing if I click the "JAS" icon on my
toolbar or start menu, or use Start/Run to launch "JAS.exe":
5 word-reinstall attempts, followed by finally running
the program, even though there is no connection between JAS
and Word.
OK, so I finally got fed up and rummaged through my CDs
till I found the "Word 2000 SR-1" and stuck it in my drive.
Windows played with the CD, did something (what, I don't
know), and the problem went away.
But the question remains: Why did Windows need to alter
my Word installation in order to use JAS (a completely
unrelated non-Microsoft program)???????????????????????
--
Puzzled,
Robbie Hatley
lonewolf at well dot com
www dot well dot com slant tilde lonewolf slant
