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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Apr 2010 : 23:23:57
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I branched this from Ed's 2010 Scroll so as not to derail that scroll further... but the topic caught my attention, so...
quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
Dangit! I forgot to check my DragonDex before posting before...
Aye, Hoondatha is right, their were more than just the two I mentioned before. Ed's Wizards Three articles also appeared in Dragon #196 (p82), #200 (p20), #211 (p82), #238 (p42), #242 (p48) and #246 (p86). All of them are available on the Dragon Magazine Archive (which is also available on eBay) is NOT cheap, but is well-worth the price. Heck, I'd say that TSR's selling this in 1999 was probably one of their greatest ideas. The interface it came with to read the PDFs on the disc is pretty crappy, but the magazines are all in PDF format, so you just need to open them with Acrobat Reader.
I've had some issues with my archive; some of the pages say "not enough data for an image"... any idea what's causing that? When I try to copy the PDFs, some of them don't, but I assume that's just greedy capitalist copy-protection without regard for the integrity of the data that the customers have paid their good money to have access to. 
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Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2010 : 23:50:20
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| I haven't had that, so I have to guess it's data corruption or more likely a bad interaction between software and drivers and operating system. I'd try different versions of Acrobat or Adobe Reader or the third-party readers available. |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2010 : 00:08:50
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Thanks! My hope is software and drivers... given how old the archive product is, it could also be data corruption/media failure... 
Fortunately, my hard-copy collection goes back unbroken to #51... but only #274 up is with me at the moment; others are in storage out of town. |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2010 : 01:22:43
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Faraer has the right of it.
Alternatively, I'd suggest first uninstalling, and then erasing whatever remnants remain in the archive, before attempting to reinstall the files themselves. Sometimes, during an initial install, certain files and/or folders can become corrupted during a bad disc reading, but will ultimately still end up being installed on your HD.
If this method fails, contact me privately, as I have a more "aggressive" option available that might prove useful to you. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2010 : 02:03:48
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I actually haven't installed the Archive software in several years -- the files are all pdfs, so I simply copied them to my HD, and I consult The DragonDex as needed. 
...And I once more feel compelled to add that I got the Archive software and the FR Interactive Atlas software for half-price, back in the day, when the TSR Mail Order Hobby Shop was basicly dumping them. Those programs have seen many, many installations since then. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 08 Apr 2010 02:12:52 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2010 : 02:46:39
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And I just never purchased a copy. It was never sold in great numbers down here, so it was kinda hard to find even during its initial release.
I suppose I should haunt second-hand sites or eBay for it, but it's just never really been a "must-have" for me. Since I already possess most of the printed copies of old DRAGON issues anyway, the only real advantage I can see by having PDFs of the older issues, is the benefits that come from the search function of Adobe Reader.
But I tend to like digging through old printed issues when I'm looking for something specific. More often than not, I'll come across something else that piques my interest, and settle on that for a while.  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3240 Posts |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2010 : 05:26:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I actually haven't installed the Archive software in several years -- the files are all pdfs, so I simply copied them to my HD, and I consult The DragonDex as needed.
...And I once more feel compelled to add that I got the Archive software and the FR Interactive Atlas software for half-price, back in the day, when the TSR Mail Order Hobby Shop was basicly dumping them. Those programs have seen many, many installations since then.
And you had no issues (pun intended) with copying the PDFs? I tried copying the PDFs to my hard drive, and some files just wouldn't copy. I had attributed it to copy protection, but if you didn't have the same problem, then to me, that suggests bad media... or simply a problem with my computer's DVD drive. I've had a few problems with it in the last while, which a lens cleaning run or three didn't solve, and recently just pulled the drive out completely; I have a couple of spares (of sorts), but I have to remove them from other computers, so I haven't had the energy to bother yet. I'll try to get to it this weekend and let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the ideas!
Edit:
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
And I just never purchased a copy. It was never sold in great numbers down here, so it was kinda hard to find even during its initial release.
I suppose I should haunt second-hand sites or eBay for it, but it's just never really been a "must-have" for me. Since I already possess most of the printed copies of old DRAGON issues anyway, the only real advantage I can see by having PDFs of the older issues, is the benefits that come from the search function of Adobe Reader.
But I tend to like digging through old printed issues when I'm looking for something specific. More often than not, I'll come across something else that piques my interest, and settle on that for a while.
I tend to agree with you on the printed issues thing... that's why I continued to collect the old printed issues after getting the CD archive. Re: the bit I bolded for emphasis: How many issues of Dragon do you have in hardcopy? I stopped looking for issues before #51 for a variety of reasons: (a) they were starting to get expensive; (b) they were rapidly becoming difficult to find; and (c) #51 was also Volume VI, Number 1, and that just seemed to be a nice "starting point" for my collection. |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 10 Apr 2010 05:34:30 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2010 : 05:47:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I actually haven't installed the Archive software in several years -- the files are all pdfs, so I simply copied them to my HD, and I consult The DragonDex as needed.
...And I once more feel compelled to add that I got the Archive software and the FR Interactive Atlas software for half-price, back in the day, when the TSR Mail Order Hobby Shop was basicly dumping them. Those programs have seen many, many installations since then.
And you had no issues (pun intended) with copying the PDFs? I tried copying the PDFs to my hard drive, and some files just wouldn't copy. I had attributed it to copy protection, but if you didn't have the same problem, then to me, that suggests bad media... or simply a problem with my computer's DVD drive. I've had a few problems with it in the last while, which a lens cleaning run or three didn't solve, and recently just pulled the drive out completely; I have a couple of spares (of sorts), but I have to remove them from other computers, so I haven't had the energy to bother yet. I'll try to get to it this weekend and let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the ideas!
Nope, it was just a straight copy and paste... I've done it twice. Once was the first time I did it (and those files have been copied to newer, larger hard drives multiple times), and the other time I copied the CDs, took them to work, and popped them on my external HD (at the time, I didn't have a thumb drive big enough for all the pdfs -- now I do). The pdfs take up 2.63 GB on my HD.
I did use the software for a long time, until I one day actually browsed the CDs and saw it was just pdfs. Once I had enough HD space for the pdfs (my first PC had only a single 20GB drive), I copied them over and never bothered with the software again. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2010 : 08:44:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
And you had no issues (pun intended) with copying the PDFs? I tried copying the PDFs to my hard drive, and some files just wouldn't copy. I had attributed it to copy protection, but if you didn't have the same problem, then to me, that suggests bad media... or simply a problem with my computer's DVD drive. I've had a few problems with it in the last while, which a lens cleaning run or three didn't solve, and recently just pulled the drive out completely; I have a couple of spares (of sorts), but I have to remove them from other computers, so I haven't had the energy to bother yet. I'll try to get to it this weekend and let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the ideas!
Have you tried utilising the disc on another computer? And if so, did the same problems occur?
quote:
Re: the bit I bolded for emphasis: How many issues of Dragon do you have in hardcopy? I stopped looking for issues before #51 for a variety of reasons: (a) they were starting to get expensive; (b) they were rapidly becoming difficult to find; and (c) #51 was also Volume VI, Number 1, and that just seemed to be a nice "starting point" for my collection.
I'm proud to say that I own, in printed format, every single issue of DRAGON from #1 [when it was just, The Dragon] straight through to the early #100's. I'm missing about 10 issues, complete, between #107 and #359. But I'm slowly finding local and/or international sites where I'm able to pick them up second-hand for reasonable prices.
I won't say how much I've spent, in total, on those early DRAGON issues. It's a little embarrassing sometimes. Nor the amount of time I've probably wasted travelling from one side of the country to the other in the hope of finding those old issues. But then, when I think about how much this magazine has meant to both myself and my gaming table, I still feel the amount of gold pieces I've handed over to second-hand dealers over the years has been fair enough. It's definitely money well spent. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2010 : 20:07:59
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Update: Better late than never... I finally got around to replacing the optical drive in my system, and the Dragon pdfs copied over with no errors. I became almost certain it was a drive issue about a week after my original post, after I tried to rip some new audio CDs with similar results. Ripping those CDs is next on my list. I'm on day #4 of a 4-day weekend, and I've cleaned the kitchen and bathroom (day #1), replaced my hard drive and reinstalled all my software (days #2 and #3), and now I'm looking outside at grey, stormy weather after a sunny weekend that I didn't get outside for.
I haven't looked at any pdfs to see if all the page images are fine, but I think that everything should be okay now that the copying glitches have been sorted out. Thanks to Sage and all other scribes who helped out and offered advice on this.
Edit: Sage: Which issues exactly are you missing? I have a couple of duplicates in the late 200's. |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 03 May 2010 20:14:36 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 04 May 2010 : 01:08:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
Edit: Sage: Which issues exactly are you missing? I have a couple of duplicates in the late 200's.
Hmmm. I'll have to check my storage "piles." I'll get back to you. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Dragon Magazine Archive (From Ed's 2010 Scroll)
