Affinity won't load

[Novelist]

I just purchased and installed Affinity Publisher.

When I click on the Affinity shortcut link, I get the following message: "Windows Aero is not enabled. This will cause rendering problems and slow performance. Please select an Aero desktop theme for best results."

Then I click on the Affinity direct link on the desktop, and get a choice of either "Repair" or "Uninstall."

My laptop is an HP G72 with a distinctive repetitive-triangles/inverted triangles pattern on the lid, and on the monitor's active
desktop screen. I gather that "Windows Aero" is a Windows proprietary background theme for the desktop.

I've found no way of creating a Windows Aero desktop theme ... so ... what now??!!

Thanks,
R H

Edited December 9, 2020 by Novelist
added a clearer explaination

[firstdefence]

Welcome to the forum @Novelist 

Which Operating System are you on i.e. win7 win 8 win10?

Enabling Aero...

Win7: https://www.mydigitallife.net/how-to-turn-on-and-enable-aero-in-windows-7-enable-aero-peek/

Win 8: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-desktop/why-is-aero-glass-not-included-in-windows-8/59528abe-8808-439d-83b9-236fe7b1db24

Win10: https://silicophilic.com/how-to-enable-aero-in-windows-10/

 

 

[Novelist]

   Windows 7 Professional. I purchased Affinity because my Adobe CS2 products had crashed and were unrecoverable; thus I needed a program that would format and print galley proofs of my current novel-in-progress.

   I write with Electric Pencil (look it up, along with Michael Shrayer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Pencil) on an MS/DOS computer, and have re-programmed certain keys to format InDesign code as I type. I previously was able to transfer the coded text to InDesign on my HP G72, in order to print the galleys on a laser printer.

   Now it seems that both InDesign and Affinity are scuppered. This validates the classic Zen koan, "Life sucks, then you die."

   And, hey, thanks for responding, First Defence (defence? or defense? "We are two nations divided by a common language." W. Churchill ... also do you follow the Storrer parkour team over there?

   rh

[Novelist]

   I'm not a total pillock, by the way. I've been banging away at computers for about 40 years!
   In 1971 I purchased an Itel 1041 automated typing system. This was a re-purposed IBM Selectric that was controlled by dual paper-tape readers and a paper-tape cutter. I wrote my first novel, The Hungarian Game, with that.
   Later, in '78, I joined the Valley Computer Club in Burbank, California, to learn how to build and program an S-100 Buss system. (The club got together on the first Thursday of the month in the second-storey meeting room of a church. First time I arrived, I noticed that the parking lot was filled with cars that had long Ham radio antennas. Turned out that most of the guys ... and they were guys, not a female in the room ... were shortwave-radio licence chaps, and had purchased computer kits which they'd seen advertised in HAM Radio magazines.)
   The first thing the guys told me when I joined up was, "If it works, it's obsolete!" (Sound familiar?!) I also learned that there are just 10 kinds of people in the world: "Those who know binary, and those who don't."
   In order to get my first computer running, I actually had to write my own BIOS and BDOS. I didn't know assembly language, so I ended up composing the BIOS and BDOS in raw hexadecimal. And so ... Bob's your uncle!
   Later, about '83 or so, I put together and partially programmed an Intel P-II computer (the one with MS-DOS and Electric Pencil).
   Twelve years later I assembled a P-III and mounted Windows 95 in it.
   I finally put together a P-4 system as a lunchbox computer running Windows XP.
   So, the HP laptop running Windows 7 is the first and only computer I've actually purchased - the others I assembled from scratch.
   In other words, my struggles with Affinity in Windows 7 ain't 'cause I'm gormless. I'm just getting hammered by the system.
   rh

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, Novelist said:

Now it seems that both InDesign and Affinity are scuppered.

Did you follow the instructions for enabling Aero for Windows 7?

[Novelist]

   Insofar as my monitor screen shows an unremovable  proprietary HP design of /\/\/\/\/\/ crosshatches, and no solid color background, enabling or disabling Aero isn't an option. Also, not sure if such an action would even create a landscape in which Affinity could run.

   I'm next going to try reconfiguring another HP G72, one that didn't come with an HP/Pentium OS, to run Windows 7 in 64-bit, and thus has a plain screen. Will get back to the Forum on my progress with that sometime tomorrow (I'm in Las Vegas, NV, not the U.K.) or perhaps Friday.

   In the meantime, thanks to the chaps at the Forum who've pitched in on this noddle-ache.

   rh

[walt.farrell]

8 hours ago, Novelist said:

Insofar as my monitor screen shows an unremovable  proprietary HP design of /\/\/\/\/\/ crosshatches, and no solid color background, enabling or disabling Aero isn't an option. Also, not sure if such an action would even create a landscape in which Affinity could run.

I'm not sure that's correct. Did you try?

[Novelist]

   Yes, I looked for it, but there is no "Aero" option on my HP laptop that has an HP-proprietary version of Windows 7 Pro. And though I enabled Aero on my newly-configured HP laptop that has a generic (and fully legal) version of Windows 7 Ultimate), Affinity will not under any circumstances load. Even tried disabling Aero, with no better luck.

   I'm guessing that my only option is to request a refund and forget the entire mess. Actually, given that - when I was previously in business - my clients were happy pay $85 an hour for my service, I'm guessing that the value of the time I've invested in this Affinity headache is worth about five times the cost of the actual program. I'll just write it all off to education.

[walt.farrell]

Well, I'm afraid I'm out of ideas, and as I moved on from Windows 7 to 10 a long time ago I can't do any experimenting to try to help. I am surprised that you're not seeing anything on your generic Win 7 installation.

One of the Serif staff may have some more ideas when they have time to get to this thread. You have 14 days from date of purchase to request a refund, if you purchased directly from Serif, so it might be reasonable to wait longer to see if they have any thoughts.

[Novelist]

Ah, well, Walter ... I'm guessing that you're a Brit and, though I'm a Yank, I'm also familiar with "Hobson's Choice." If I wait to see if the Serif chaps respond, I'll have gone beyond the refund deadline; if I ask for a refund, I won't get any help from the wonks at Serif.  I suspect that "Cognitive Dissonance" applies here as well.

   You?

   rh

[walt.farrell]

No, I'm in Michigan

If you email affinityreturns@serif.com you should preserve your right to the refund. Just tell them you'd like the refund if the support team cannot resolve your issue with getting the program working, and see what they say.

[Novelist]

This brings up yet another nightmare. My email system is scuppered. I can read messages, but can't send. My email is via my proprietary website, thelastdaysoflasvegas.com, and I can FTP up to it in order to read the incoming notes. Maybe I'll try to re-mount Thunderbird. It went south a couple of months back, but the good news was that I reverted to writing and posting real letters. I'm a writer, and I hew to a quote by Ernest Hemingway (which might not pass this message-board's nanny): "First drafts are shit."

I'm going to just write this whole experience off to education, and resolve never to purchase anything via the 'net unless the transaction is via PayPal or directly to Amazon or abeBooks.com.

  Thanks for your help, Walt. And ... Michigan? You must be having a high old time reading the local political news. Hope your guv holds up okay. She's a peach!

   Roy

[walt.farrell]

Things have been interesting.

[Alfred]

36 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Things have been interesting.

A bit too interesting for some of your fellow Michiganders, Gretchen Whitmer and Jocelyn Benson in particular!

[Novelist]

   "Things have been interesting," per Walt.

   "May you live in interesting times," ancient Chinese curse.

   I'm going to give this just one more chop, by writing a letter to Serif in Drighlington, near Leeds. Maybe someone there can help. Again, though, if there's no recourse I'll just write it off against my continuing education, all 84 years of it (per this month).

   Roy

[v_kyr]

See also HP related:

• HP Notebook PCs - Using the Aero Graphics Option

• Need an Aero driver for Windows 7

• Aero not working on Windows 7; Glitchy text display and touchpad

Also check the latest HP G72 GPU (graphics card) drivers then, since those are probably essentiell here for Aero support too.

[Novelist]

   All else failing, I'm writing a letter to Serif in Nottingham to see if one of their techies can help solve my problem.
   Before that, however, it might help clarify the situation if I relate how Affinity loaded.
   Previously, in loading programs into Windows, I would click on either the "Setup" or "Auto Run" icon, and a Windows "Wizard" would appear, which guided me through the software loading process.
   With Affinity, however, there are no such Setup or Auto Run options. I simply added the Affinity download to my system and tried to start it. And, of course, got the warning about "Aeros."
   Is my attempt to start Affinity consistent with the experiences of the other chaps at this users' forum? That is, no "Wizard," but simply a straight opening?
   If my experience (except the problem) is consistent with that of everyone else, I'll send off that letter. If you guys have mounted the program via a "Wizard," I'll first try to hack a solution to the headache before contacting Serif in England.
   Thanks for the help so far. I'm truly grateful for your input.
   Roy

 

[walt.farrell]

The Affinity program you downloaded is an installer. When you run it it will verify that your system is acceptable, and prompt you to install, and provide some information such as the install location.

But first, it is telling you that it cannot install as your system does not meet the minimum requirements. As documented, Aero is required if you're on Windows 7, though there is an unsupported command-line switch that may let the program function, albeit with (probably) poor performance and no support for problems.

By the way, the Serif staff monitor this forum, and I believe it is their preferred support mechanism for the Affinity suite of programs. At this point, the company is on holiday, and so the support is somewhat short-staffed until the holiday break is over.