Creative: worst software known to mankind?

0ubliette

[RANT]
Let me start by saying that im not some ipod loving creative hater or something. Ive owned creative products since my first ever mp3 player, a 64mb creative usb key mp3 player! Then i move donto a 20 gig nomad, and now have a 20 gig zen sleek.
One thing thats dogged me throught my creative owning days tho: the absolutely baffling, mind ****ing bogglingly GOD AWFUL software they release.
Ive been trying to install this zen sleek for 2 days now on my PC in work.
At first it took me an entire day of ****ing around at home trying to set it up, until after hours of trawling the web i found out that the zen sleek will ONLY install on win xp SP2. Thats not on the box. :rolleyes:
So i try to set it up on my xp sp2 machine in work. I dont have a CD anymore so i download the drivers and creative mediasource from the creative site.
CMS wont install, it cant find any devices. The MP3 player is hooked up and windows has recognised it, so why wont creatives OWN ****ING SOFTWARE see it? At this stage ive literally, and i mean literally, downloaded every single driver, application and firmware from the creative site and not one of them will work.
I had the same issues setting up a zen vision M for a friend. It took hours and still never worked 100% properly, then stopped working altogether! My sisters zen vision M had similar installation issues, and when it eventually did work, the screen glitched completely about a month later and is almost unreadable. :rolleyes:
Im an IT admin so i know my stuff when it comest to things like this, i feel sorry for ayone getting their first ever mp3 palyer and being saddled with this crap. Your average joe public who only knows how to use a pc to read email and whatnot would have a whale of a time trying to get this stuff to work im sure. I honestly think next time, i wont be going near anything branded creative. Sorry about the massive rant but im just annoyed as all hell by this.
So, anyone else ever had any issues with creative software/hardware?
[/RANT]

seamus

You can't download the software you need, it's only available on the CD you get. I've never understood the reasoning behind it. You can get everything except the drivers for the player, so you have CMS, but it doesn't realise that the player exists.

A quick google however will get you the correct drivers, as plenty of helpful people have uploaded them.

From what I've seen of Apple's offerings, their software is atrocious too.

All it would take is some company to build a program with a media player, media organiser and support for multiple players and they'd make a killing. The UIs on most of these software packages are generally useless too - they focus on trying to get people to download music instead of supplying tools for simplifying the use of the hardware. I tend to end up just using Windows Explorer to transfer files.

0ubliette

seamus wrote: »

You can't download the software you need, it's only available on the CD you get. I've never understood the reasoning behind it. You can get everything except the drivers for the player, so you have CMS, but it doesn't realise that the player exists.

A quick google however will get you the correct drivers, as plenty of helpful people have uploaded them.

From what I've seen of Apple's offerings, their software is atrocious too.

All it would take is some company to build a program with a media player, media organiser and support for multiple players and they'd make a killing. The UIs on most of these software packages are generally useless too - they focus on trying to get people to download music instead of supplying tools for simplifying the use of the hardware. I tend to end up just using Windows Explorer to transfer files.

Yeah too true, a 20 or 30gb mp3 player you can just plug in, drag and drop album folders into as you would any removable disk, and that will arrange your albums and hey presto, youd make a fortune.
Thanks for the info anyway, ill see if i can find a CD anywhere or if i can download the software

grimm2005

I've never had such trouble with creative devices. had a nomad zen nx and then a zen vision m. all i had to do was plug in device, install software off disc and it worked a charm.

Stepherunie

If you're ranting about Creative software you've obviously never tried sonic stage :rolleyes:

I don't even have my creative software installed since my last os reinstall and i work away just fine with my zen vision m.

rc28

Can't you use media player 11 with creatives? mp11 isn't *that* bad.

D.....

Have to say that I'v had 4 creative players and have never had a hassle with the software, friends of mine have Ipods and hate the software.

Zen Nx
Zen Vision M
Zen Touch
Muvo

Gran Hermano

You don't have to use any software (well apart from Windows)
to use a Creative. I'm using a Zen M, Stone and Stone Plus
and don't have to use any Creative software to transfer music
onto my players (music or video).

Creative supports 'drag and drop', sure you not mixing it up with Apple/iTunes?

0ubliette

Gran Hermano wrote: »

You don't have to use any software (well apart from Windows)
to use a Creative. I'm using a Zen M, Stone and Stone Plus
and don't have to use any Creative software to transfer music
onto my players (music or video).

Creative supports 'drag and drop', sure you not mixing it up with Apple/iTunes?

the zen stone is seen as a removeable disk by windows like any USB stick, so it doesnt need software or drivers, the larger mp3 players do tho. I dont know if its my mp3 player or what but i borrowed a CD from a friend and reinstalled the software (its the zen vision m setup cd, but it worked for me before as it installs the drivers for the zen sleek aswell) but plugging it into the PC the MP3 used to dock itself but now it just does nothing. Ive ****ing had it with creative :rolleyes:

oh and yeah i have tried sonic stage...sweet merciful christ its bad

Gran Hermano

As mentioned in my post above, I've used the Zen M (several units)
on several PCs/laptops without having to install any additional drivers
or Creative software. As long as you're using the latest version of
Win XP SP2 you will not need any extra software.
The Zen M and Stone work the same way.

Have you tried it on a different PC?

Not sure what you're doing installing Zen Sleek drivers.

Gang of Gin

Hey there. I'm hoping some of you folks might be able to help me out. It's regarding the zen software. I own an vision m 30g. Great device, works perfectly, but I'm having difficulty with the disc and registration. I have an inkling as to what the problem is. I bought my zen off a friend which was registered on her laptop at the time. Since then I've bought my own laptop and have began to register the accompanying software on it. So far so good. All details have been entered etc but now I'm getting this "gentle reminder" from creative telling me to "register my creative products to get a host of benefits". It's starting to be a pain, this reminder, and far from 'gentle'. It's more of an insistent reminder at this stage. I can't x out of it and if I okay it, it goes through the whole registration process again(which I've already done). I will send an e-mail to creative about it, but I was wondering if anyone may know how to fix this problem

Macspower

never had a problem with any creative software.... it's installed but i rarely use it as creatives are just drag and drop with windows..

i tunes.. now there is a life tilting program!

BostonB

I've never had a problem with iTunes, SonicStage or Creative for that matter. I liked Creative software the least of them all though. But I'll use iTune and SonicStage still, but I switch between different apps to get what I want done though.

Why not use something like MediaMonkey as it works with iPods and Creatives units, and you drag and drop or sync. Works with tags and filtetree. I use MediaMonkey a lot myself. Not perfect, but what is.

Nurse95

Gang of Gin wrote: »

Hey there. I'm hoping some of you folks might be able to help me out. It's regarding the zen software. I own an vision m 30g. Great device, works perfectly, but I'm having difficulty with the disc and registration. I have an inkling as to what the problem is. I bought my zen off a friend which was registered on her laptop at the time. Since then I've bought my own laptop and have began to register the accompanying software on it. So far so good. All details have been entered etc but now I'm getting this "gentle reminder" from creative telling me to "register my creative products to get a host of benefits". It's starting to be a pain, this reminder, and far from 'gentle'. It's more of an insistent reminder at this stage. I can't x out of it and if I okay it, it goes through the whole registration process again(which I've already done). I will send an e-mail to creative about it, but I was wondering if anyone may know how to fix this problem

I am having the same problem. I've even tried deleting the Registration part of the program, but it just gives me an error message that won't go away. Does anyone know how this can be resolved???

Gran Hermano

Nurse95 wrote: »

I am having the same problem. I've even tried deleting the Registration part of the program, but it just gives me an error message that won't go away. Does anyone know how this can be resolved???

Do you have a security program running in the background (something like
Spybot) which is preventing the program writing to the registry?

As already mentioned you do not need the Creative software, it's not like
using an ipod or Zune, as you can just drag and drop files onto the player
using Windows explorer.

Sierra Oscar

Its not only on their Media Player front, I have had numerous issues with Creative Sound Cards and dodge drivers.

Gang of Gin

Nurse95 wrote: »

I am having the same problem. I've even tried deleting the Registration part of the program, but it just gives me an error message that won't go away. Does anyone know how this can be resolved???

Hey. I sent an email to Creative labs about this problem and they got back to me straight away. They were really helpful and apologetic and hence to say, the information they gave me sorted it right out. This was the email they sent me and I'd say it should work for you too:


I understand from your email that you are experiencing issues with the
Product Registration Wizard. You mentioned that you are unable to make
it go away. I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused
you. Let's see what we can do to resolve this.

For your issue, please refer to our knowledge base article on
"Registration Wizard continually opens upon bootup" by following this
link:
http://uk.europe.creative.com/support/kb/article.asp?l=3&sid=7391
Please follow the steps provided and these should resolve your issue.

Again, I apologize for the issue encountered and I hope I had given you

enough information to resolve your issue. If you still require
assistance, please reply to this email with any previous correspondence

to ensure the quickest and most accurate service.

Thank you again for contacting Creative's Customer Support Services and

I hope you have a pleasant day ahead.

Best Regards
Albert
Creative Customer Support Services
Creative Labs Europe

Gang of Gin

What I found out was that it was only to do with the default settings that are on your computer for the creative software. It entails omitting a few ticks from boxes, the "registration wizard", if I remember correctly. A nuisance but pretty easy to rectify.

catho_monster

Does anyone know if the zen v is drag and drop enabled?
I bought one from the creative refurb store but it didnt come with an installation cd and i'm driving myself demented trying to find the software online...

corcaigh07

i feel your pain, i had a vision M for over 2 years(screen now fecked) and some of the compatibility issues were absolutely awful. think im getting an ipod classic for christmas so ill see how that goes.