Windows crashed, lost my whole setup

[Granada]

To cut a long story short, I've had to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows due to a corrupt Windows file that was installed in the latest round of Windows updates so now all the software and tweaks I've made over the past little while have disappeared. Backup isn't really an option for me for various reasons, but certainly would've been useful in this instance.

Question for other users: does anyone have any tips/advice on how to simplify the entire astrophotography computing setup? I'm currently using a bunch of software, drivers, add-ons etc but would really love to be able to just plug in my scope and start taking photos without fiddling around too much on the laptop. I prefer free software but will invest money into something that makes my life a lot easier.

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Sorry to hear about your mishap with the OS update. It's a very typical scenario that some updates just don't make things work any better. If fact, quite often it makes things worse and in your case, a disaster. Very unusual that an Update will do the damage you've described to your computer, maybe there was some Malware in there as well.

I'm like you, I just want to take my scope outside and take some pictures with my camera. An observatory is out of the question at my home so I have to keep things simple. I'm even reluctant to drag out my Laptop to do guiding because of all the extra gear and cables required. Just a DSLR or Mirroless camera keeps it pretty simple. Image centering, focusing and viewing on the camera's screen is what I like about it. Also, writing the data to the camera's memory card keeps everything to one device. Free software such as DSS, Registax, AutoStakkert and Pipp is all I need. I do all my final work in Photoshop, a version of which, is nearly 30 years old!

[Granada]

Thanks Michael. To provide a bit more detail, I run Win 10 on my Mac using BootCamp and use it exclusively for astro purposes. The latest update added a corrupted hiberfil.sys file to the installation package which basically puts Win into an infinite loop on startup after it's gone into hibernation (mine did after a few hours or inactivity). So because I couldn't boot my Win the usual way, I tried mounting it through a native Mac app for NTSF (Disk Utility) and when that didn't work I tried a few others. Essentially what I needed to do was to mount the drive, to allow myself read/write access (as opposed to just read access) and delete the corrupted hiberfil.sys. But for whatever reason that just wasn't going to happen, so I decided to cut my losses and just reinstall a fresh copy.

I'm in the same position as you - observatory is not an option, and dragging equipment out is a chore so I like to keep it simple too

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Yeah that is frustrating, I'm looking at changing my windows laptop over to linux for astro capture purposes (most of my processing has switched over already), need to do some research/testing to make sure it all works first with my gear (for planetary and deep sky).

[JA]

Originally Posted by Granada

Question for other users: does anyone have any tips/advice on how to simplify the entire astrophotography computing setup?

Yes: an ASI Air thingy.

Best
JA

[By.Jove (Jove)]

If you're going Linux you might as well buy an ASIAir. Easier.


After dabbling on and off I'm on the brink of buying one, maybe for Xmas.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Granada

To cut a long story short, I've had to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows due to a corrupt Windows file that was installed in the latest round of Windows updates so now all the software and tweaks I've made over the past little while have disappeared. Backup isn't really an option for me for various reasons, but certainly would've been useful in this instance.

Question for other users: does anyone have any tips/advice on how to simplify the entire astrophotography computing setup? I'm currently using a bunch of software, drivers, add-ons etc but would really love to be able to just plug in my scope and start taking photos without fiddling around too much on the laptop. I prefer free software but will invest money into something that makes my life a lot easier.

It's too late now, but should something happen again with corrupt Windows files, this video shows how to fix them using Microsoft's downloadable Image File of the operating system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acxCueZ2dVQ

That said, I have something corrupt stuffing up the running of one of my Windows computers, and this procedure didn't fix it.
Regards,
Renato

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Originally Posted by By.Jove

If you're going Linux you might as well buy an ASIAir. Easier.


After dabbling on and off I'm on the brink of buying one, maybe for Xmas.

I've got one also, they're good but I want something compatible with my moonlight focuser - tried the zwo focuser but that will be relegated to a pairing with a lighter camera/telescope.

[By.Jove (Jove)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

this video shows how to fix them using Microsoft's downloadable Image File

The snag with that idea is if it's crashed, it can't download. Unless you have another one.

[Startrek (Martin)]

I’ve ran Windows 10 with “updates switched off” and no connection to the internet for all my Astro software since 2018 and have not had one glitch at all.

My Astro laptop is dedicated to Astro only

Stellarium
EQMOD
APT
BYEOS
PHD2
DSS
ASTAP
Autostakkert 3
Registax 6
Startools
and so on ……

I only connect to the internet to load new Astro versions , then disconnect again.
I periodically update my time manually as well

Old school , dumb , ignorant, maybe ? but no issues in 6 years

Admittedly some Astro software requires the internet but none of mine do for the purpose I use them for.

Cheers
Martin

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by By.Jove

The snag with that idea is if it's crashed, it can't download. Unless you have another one.

Yes, you'd have to download the Image file on another computer, tablet or phone, and hope that Windows isn't so stuffed that you can still get into it in Safe Mode.
Regards,
Renato