Need Alternative to Roxio Mulitmedia

[RayB1]

I am looking for a software package that can access the BlackBerry and not be based on the Roxio engine. More specifially, I need a package that does not use Macromedia InstallShield Update Service Program Module (ISUSPM.exe).

We currently have a fleet of HP computers with Vongo pre-installed. Anyone who owns an HP computer with Vongo preinstalled knows about this cancer. Vongo enters a Windows Installer loop during various executions on a computer. One of the triggers is the ISUSPM.exe. Trust me when I say that Vongo cannot be uninstalled. There is no solution that actually works. This is a blackmark on HP, Vongo, Starz (owns Vongo), Verizon (just bought Starz), InstallShield, Macromedia (owns InstallShield), Roxio (they share the code with Vongo), and Microsoft (They did not demand successful uninstallation protocals). Each participant points the finger at each other. Anyway..enough venting.

Only about 5% of commercially available software on the market employs the InstallShield-Macromedia Update Service module. So most programs do not have this module

Part of the BlackBerry setup includes an option to NOT install Roxio lite. So, that part of the puzzle is solved.

Now I need a different program than Roxio that easily accesses the multimedia and other folders on the computer allowing for the files to be transferred back and forth.

Roxio Creator is the full version of Roxio lite, and while it does access the BlackBerry, it also employs the InstallShield Update Service module--so it fails to pass the test too.

Any suggestions?

[Cobra302]

just set up the phone to use the mass media storage mode, and all you have to do is plug the phone in and explore it like any other hard drive. i dont even use roxio at all!

[JeffH]

Here is a full suite of Roxio replacements, put together by Forums Moderator Pete6:
AUDIO
use MP3 format and get Audacity: Windows and Audacity: How do I download and install the LAME MP3 encoder?

PICTURES
Get Image resizing, do it with PIXresizer which will resize any/all your pics for the BlackBerry

VIDEOS
Get Blackberry Video Converter from Seabyrd Technologies - Blackberry Video Converter

[Cobra302]

those programs work as alternatives to converting media, but i thought he was looking for a way to access the information on the phone without roxio.

[RayB1]

yes...i am hunting for a software or software suite solution. The SD card slot on two of our pearls broke within the first 6 months. So there is no SD. I am hoping there is an alternative to all that Roxio offers. Or......is there a way to simply use Windows explorer to access the Blackberry and then use copy and paste functions??

[Cobra302]

The way I described above should allow you to access the phone via explorer

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[RayB1]

Thanx for the quick response. I guess I am a little baffled. My research shows that the Mass Storage Mode requires a Micro SD. Is this not correct. The Pearl Micro SD holder did not last on two phones. Do you have any more ideas to help?

[JeffH]

You are correct. Mass Storage Mode only works with a Micro SD Card. It can't see the device's memory. What are you trying to accomplish? If you don't have a Media card, what are you trying to access?

[RayB1]

I am tying to access the device memory itself. Without the Micro SD, the phone (Pearl) has its own memory. Mostly these are lots of work photos....and they are all on the Device Mmeory. Thanx

[JeffH]

Ok, I understand now. I only know three ways to get photos out of device memory. Media Manager on the device, which could move pix to the Media Card you don't have; Roxio on your PC, which you don't want to use; or emailing them to yourself.

Is emailing an option?

[RayB1]

Well I was afraid you were goin to suggest the email route. I get how emailing allows you to get photos of the phones. However I do not get how one puts media on the phone.

Sitting at a computer gets you to a level of efficiency, downloading, categorizing and filing. And then realizing a photo needs to be put back on the phone. I am not a music afficionado, but others are, so we have that issue as well.

Thus my urgent need to find some other software firm that can tap the Blackberry. I guess I am surprised that Roxio is the only game in town and nobody else has their hand in this market.

[JeffH]

I think the reason there are no 3rd party alternatives to Roxio Media Manager is that memory is so constrained that very few people keep pictures in device memory. They use Media Cards and Mass Storage Mode. Most people only need Roxio Media Manager when they first buy their Media cards, for the one-time act of getting files out of device memory and onto the card. After that, they use Mass Storage Mode. Mass Storage Mode works so well it kills the market for 3rd party Media Manager replacements.

It may be possible to use Media Synch in Desktop Manager 4.7 to solve your music problem. I haven't tried it. Again, music in a device without a Media Card isn't commonly done.

I assume one way to get pix back in the phone's memory would be to email them to yourself.

[RayB1]

Hey, I appreciate your thoughtful and insightful responses. I guess I am going to have to do work arounds until we get new computers (not HP).

Keep up the good work

[JeffH]

I'm sorry this one didn't end well. Depending on how many computers you have, it might be cheaper to just get new BlackBerries with working Media Card slots.

I have to admit I don't completely understand your original problem. All my PC's are HP. I'm typing this response on an nc4400 laptop. Since my 8830 doesn't have a camera, I never had any pictures in the device memory. I tried to use Roxio Media Manager once, found how much easier it was to use Mass Storage Mode, and downloaded the version of DM that doesn't include the Roxio component. So I can't test to see if I'd have the same problem you describe.

[RayB1]

Well, I am pretty much jealous that you have been spared this cancerous scourge that has consumed months of poductivity.

Those of us that are infected with the Vongo cancer from H**L can tell you it is very destructive. In pursuit of the solution, you end up wasting so many hours, that had we known how much energy we would spend on the prolem, we would have all gone out and purchased new computers. We have all capitulated.

Basically the problem arises from the preinstalled Vongo. HP apparently allowed Vongo to weave the code into the Windows operating system itself. The add-remove program does not clean it. Windows Install Clean Up does not remove it nor does third
party programs like PC-Decrapifier. The program enters a Windows installer loop periodically based on certain triggers The most famous trigger is the creation of a new user. Another trigger is certain applications of the InstallShield Update Serevice Program Module (C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\ISUSPM.exe. Another program I have had to replace include Scansoft/Nuance PDF Converter.

A search on the web for subjects like "uninstall VONGO from HP" and similar variations to the search will get you thousands of results.

Each of the different parties blame the other parties and each say it is not their problem. There are even press releases on this. But nobody wants to 'fix' the problem. All the solutions offered merely put a bandaid on the situation. As I posted earlier, they are all guilty...since none made a stink big enough to force the others to perform. The biggest failure is that of HP....They are the captains of the ship, and they did nothing but promote a bandaid.

HP gets placement licensing fees from Vongo to place Vongo on the system. HP does not want to mess with the revenue stream.

So, if you know a programmer that wants to get rich, and write code that fixes this cancer...they could get rich.

Anyway, I when the equipment gets replaced, it will not be HP...and we have been exclusive HP customers since the beginning and we currently have 8...