At 01:29 PM 6/14/99 -0500, thus did you send forth: >While I can't say that my experience with Cellquest has been without faults, I >can say that when I have called BD in San Jose, they have been more than >helpful in helping me to solve problems. My experience goes back now at least >7 years and includes LysisII and the old network software that went with it, >as well as early Cellquest through Cellquest version 3.1f I have also had good experience with BD's software support people, which is where many of the excellent suggestions for stabilizing the whole thing (such as not letting MS Office install OBDC) come from. >Many casual and some not so casual users of MAC's fail to do the routine >computer maintenance that the MAC users manual calls for. Things like >rebuilding the desktop for instance, or using a software package like Norton >Disc Doctor to optimize (defrag) the hard drive and fix faulty icons and >extensions, etc can in the long run save a great deal of time. I agree that keeping the system well-tuned saves much grief in the long run. I and all of the very helpful people (including yourself) who sent email to me suggesting solutions do indeed regularly rebuild the desktop, defragment the hard drive, etc. A few of the crashing problems nonetheless persist for a number of people, and it is not due to "poor computer hygiene," ignorance, carelessness, or laziness on their parts. >I would hope my collegues give BD a call about their software problems before >they jump on the internet. I know that if I really think I've got one I can't >solve, I call them first. > >Dennis Broud I, and I suspect most if not all of the people on this thread, have been speaking with the tech support people at BD for years, as is appropriate. BD tech support, naturally and appropriately, is my first source of help with instrument problems, both software and hardware. But, alas, no software is perfect, including CellQuest, FileGuard, *and* the various versions of the Mac OS. What's more, nobody, not even BD, can replicate *every* possible combination of computer, software, and style of usage in the world, so problems can come up which they cannot replicate at their support site. There may be solutions that they haven't come up with yet. This is *not* a criticism; it is simply a fact of life in the world of modern software. And this is where a mailing list like this is singularly useful; in fact, this is one of the reasons such lists exist. One nice thing I've noticed about the BD software support people I've dealt with is that they keep their eyes and ears open (including on such lists as this, I imagine) for problems and solutions that other users have come across and pass this information along when you call in with a similar problem. Finally, this whole thread came up because of questions about FileGuard's compatibility with CellQuest, not because people were having difficulty with CellQuest and decided to "jump on the internet" before consulting the appropriate people. Indeed, most of the people on this thread seem to have already solved quite a few problems. What's more, all of them were willing to share their insights, which is one of the reasons I like the cytometry list, and the flow community in general, so much. My excessive two cents' worth, --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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