|
|
| Look before you install |
By Terry Lawrence, program director
MacWest Computer Society,
Vancouver. British Columbia
I read an item on the MacInTouch website recently regarding UMAX scanners that may explain some of the problems people are having with them.. It noted that the Adobe Photo Deluxe software installer on the UMAX software install disk installs an older version of Adobe Type Manager incompatible with OS 9, and also installs the extension "Object Support Lib". Both of these can cause lots of trouble. The UMAX “energy saver” also appears to conflict with Epson printer drivers, and if installed, can cause crashes or freezes if it kicks in while printing.
This applies not only to UMAX scanner install disks, but also to various other hardware driver installers, and the free software which is often bundled with them. For example, the Epson (and several other) printer drivers installers will install older versions of ColorSync if you let them, and the Iomega Zip 250 installer disk has an out of date “iMac Updater” that can cost you a lot of time and/or money if you install it.
Before you install anything, click the “Custom Install” option button (if there is one) and see what, exactly, is being installed. Check the version numbers, and then compare it to the versions already on your computer. Watch out for older versions of software that may delete or replace your current versions with out of date extensions that may conflict with your operating system. This is expecially true with the free bundled software included with most printers and scanners, which is often older versions of programs that are being tossed in as extras.
Object Support Lib (or library) is an extension which was deleted from all Mac operating systems from 8.1 on, as it's functions were taken over by other components of the operating system. If it is present in OS 8.1, 8.5, 8.5.1, 8.6, or 9 it can cause all sorts of problems. If you are running OS 8.1 or later, check in your Extensions Folder in the System Folder for an extension named Object Support Lib. If it is present, drag it to the trash, restart, and empty the trash. You should always check for this troublesome extension after installing any new software, as there are a number of programs that will reinstall it.
If you are running OS 9, check to see if there is a copy of Adobe Type Manager (~ATM) in your Control Panels. If it is ATM version 4.5.2 or later, it is OK, but if it is an earlier version than 4.5.2, it will crash your computer, usually during start-up, and must be trashed. Click once on the ATM control panel in the Control Panels folder to select it, and then use the Get Information command from the File Menu to find out the version number. OS 9 replaces that font management function, and disables the ATM control panel during installation. However, some third party application programs will reinstall the older ATM control panel as part of an Easy or Recommended install, and apparently Adobe Photo Deluxe is one of them. As it can crash your computer during start-up, you may have to start with extensions off, or from another disk, before you can trash it. You can download the OS 9 compatible version 4.5.2 from the Adobe website.
|
|
