Christopher, At 07:10 AM 6/10/99 -0800, thus did you send forth: >I have had 3 yrs experience with dealing with the Quadras, and the Power >Mac with different operating systems on the FACSCAN and FACSTAR plus >instruments and work stations. >I struggled with the crashing problems you mentioned for many months, but >never used the crash gaurd program you use. If you mean Fileguard, that is for restricting who may use the computers and keeping track of instrument usage (for billing and security purposes). For system maintenance and troubleshooting purposes, I use both Norton Utilities and Tech Tools Pro. Tech Tools is the more powerful program, and has far more detailed diagnostics than Norton Utilities. BD service engineers use this program. >My best defense for solving nearly every crash problem is using Norton >Utilities for the Mac. >I routinely defrag the hard drive, evalute the system files, and repeat, >using the NU as the startup disk. >Also, I found it important to disable all extensions and "rebuild the >desktop" every month or so. I rebuild the desktops once a week, with extensions disabled (or if a situation calls for it). I defragment the hard drives once a month or if the fragmentation exceeds a few percent, whichever comes first. >Peripheral devices like zip drives can sometimes cause problems -during- >acquisitions. But are ok to use if just transfering files. Network >connections during acquisitions are usually troublesome, so don't sign on. We and our users acquire data *only* to the hard drive (on which CellQuest is located). The Macs have file sharing turned off. The network is used only to stash a copy of the data (in a folder with the acquisition date) into the user's own folder on the server. If a user has an acquisition or analysis setup stored on the server, that setup is copied to the Mac's local hard drive (again, the one on which CellQuest is located), and *then* opened. The same rules apply to Zip disks. >If you have to sign on to use your computer, get your IS administrator to >change it because of the problems with the specialty software. Sometimes Fortunately, I don't have to worry about getting a recalcitrant IS administrator to cooperate on such things, because I am said (hopefully not too recalcitrant) IS administrator. :) There is no required network logon to acquire (or analyze) data. The network and server are there for data backup and to make it easy for users to transfer their data back to their own labs. They are expected to archive their own data (even though I do burn backup CD's regularly). >getting a better printer with a higher memory buffer will alleviate >crashing during printing. Sometimes you can just buy the RAM and put it in >the printer yourself. Our printers are LaserWriter 16/600's, and all have 16MB of memory, which you would think would be enough, but maybe not. I have been considering buying more memory for them; I (and my boss) will have to peruse our budget. >Finally, I have also found that CellQuest does not >like certain "key or mouse" strokes, particularly if there are many plots >open, or you are acquiring data in setup. I have learned to be slower and >more deliberate, opening and closing plots etc, using one function at time >until I am completed, and the move onto the next. I can't say exactly what >the operations are, but CellQuest seems to be picky. Good Luck I have come to exactly the same conclusions about certain "key or mouse" strokes, being slower and more deliberate, and using one function at a time! Using Save As on a window setup when the cytometer is connected seems often (but not always) to be especially offensive to CellQuest. As a side note, we've found that even if CellQuest crashes in the middle of acquiring data, all the data collected up to that moment has already been saved on the hard disk in a *usable* format (i.e., CellQuest or another analysis program can open the FCS file normally). Much positive reinforcement to whoever designed that feature! --Janet ---------------------------------------- Janet E. Lewis UWCCC Flow Cytometry Facility Clinical Sciences Center, K4/535 600 Highland Ave. Madison, WI 53792-0001 (608)263-0313 jelewis1@facstaff.wisc.edu ----------------------------------------
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