A MasterCook Problem

[Beth]

I wanted to try to get some promised bread recipes typed up to post, but I can't get into my MasterCook. When I try to open it, I get about 8 or 9 error messages saying that it is unable to open image. As I close those, it appears that the program is opening, but all I get is an empty shell....no cookbooks, no recipes, no searches.

I have gone to Sierra's website, and I hope to get some help from them tomorrow, but I wondered if anyone else has ever had this type of problem. We've run all sorts of diagnostics on the computer, and it seems to be something in the program.

[Ohioan]

Beth, try uninstalling and reinstalling the program, in case some program file has gotten corrupted. BUT BEFORE YOU DO (note emergency caps http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif ), back up any cookbooks and ingredient files (.ing files in the My Tools folder) that you've changed or added to after your original installation, because the new installation will overwrite them. Also, disable your anti-virus program and any other background programs before you begin the installation.

Once you've reinstalled and everything is working, you can copy your cookbooks and ingredient files back to your MasterCook folders. Of course, if you've reinstalled and everything ISN'T working, the problem may be elsewhere. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/confused.gif Let us know what Sierra has to say and what finally worked for you.

Phoebe

[lindrusso]

Seems like I remember something similar happening to me when I had many programs,including Mastercook, open at one time. I think all I did was close all the programs and restart the computer and that seemed to "fix" the Mastercook problem. I guess you probably already tried that, but figured I'd mention it anyway!!

[Beth]

Thanks for the tips. I have tried restarting the computer, no fix. I am holding off on unistalling/reinstalling because I still hope to recover my personal recipes. I have most of them elsewhere, and since I'm just starting, it's not a HUGE loss, but still...... Will let you know how I fare. Sorry no one had the control-fix command. Oh well.....

[Ohioan]

Beth, you don't have to lose your recipes when you un/reinstall. Go to your "My Collection" folder, and you'll see a file named something like "My Cookbook.mc2" (or .mcf or .mcx if you have a version of Mastercook earlier than 5.0). Copy it to another folder and/or to a floppy so you can copy it back to the "My Collection" folder after you've reinstalled. All your recipes will still be there. Do the same for your ingredient file in the "My Tools" folder, except that here you'll probably have to copy to a Zip disk or use a WinZip or similar compression program to copy the file to a floppy, because it's huge. The ingredient file ends in the extension .ing.

Still, I know what you mean about the agony of uninstalling and reinstalling. It's time consuming and sometimes scary. Do keep us posted on what happens and what finally works.

Phoebe

[Beth]

So far, all I have gotten from Sierra is instructions on how to unistall and reinstall. Everything appears to be there, but it can't be opened or loaded. I guess I can try to copy the recipes I've added, but, at the risk of sounding like an idiot, what's the ingredient list? Is this adding ingredients that it will recognize and shortcut and/or give nutritional info for? If so, I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm a little slow about some things these days.

[Ohioan]

Yes, the ingredient list contains all the nutritional information for (supposedly) every possible ingredient you might use. I've had to add a few specialty items, but if you haven't added any ingredients or links, don't worry about it. The new install will just put the file back in its original state.

By the way, which version of MasterCook do you have? And exactly what do you get when you start the program? Just an empty Windows window? The MC shell with all the words lined up at the bottom (cookbooks, search, etc. -- and this will be in version 5.0, not in earlier versions) but no recipes? If you have the shell with the words at the bottom, try clicking on "Cookbooks" and see whether you do get a list of the available cookbooks. If so, the problem may be in your default cookbook rather than in the MC program.

If all else fails, try calling Sierra tech support. As you've discovered, using the online help request just gets you a canned response. Or try the MasterCook BBS at www.mastercook.com (http://www.mastercook.com) (I don't remember the exact URL for the message board, but you'll find the link on the homepage). Oh, and feel free to e-mail me as well, although I'm not a real expert, just a devout user. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

Phoebe

[Beth]

Thanks again. I went to the Mastercook BB, but it didn't sound like they would be the place to find help with a program error, but since I still have no further answer, just the canned response, from tech support, I'll try there. Can't hurt. I
m not doing anything until I've exhausted my resources.

When I double click on the icon on my desktop, I get a little window that says "Unable to load image" All you can do is click "OK". Then it opens up, but with about 8 more of that same little window layered on top of each other in the center of the screen. When you click on each of those to close them, you then have the opening screen for MC, but you can't do anything with it.

I also went in through my program files and tried to access a cookbook. The folders are all still there, but I get the same little window saying "unable to load image".