The levels of frustration I’ve experienced trying to install LeapFrog applications on my computer have been UNRIVALED. …Well, perhaps the levels of frustration I felt when a baby cried jusssst as I was dropping off to sleep after the third feeding of the night, MAYBE that rivaled it.
I am not kidding when I say I have spent TWO SOLID HOURS trying to set up the Leapster 2 we got Henry for his birthday. I installed Connect, and it informed me that I need to install Adobe Flash Player, and then when I said “okay” it got those two installations tangled so that they were rapidly flickering between two error messages and I had to force the computer to shut down.
Then, when I tried installing the flash player FIRST and THEN doing the Leapfrog thing, it has told me that another user is running Connect, and I need to have that user log in and close the application. THERE ARE NO OTHER USERS ON MY COMPUTER. Okay, actually there are two other users, so that my dad and Paul can get into the computer if they need to—but neither of them DO get into my computer, and certainly neither of them has tried to install Connect, and I couldn’t have accidentally installed Connect as them because I don’t know their passwords.
I searched the error message and found instructions for fixing it—but the things I am supposed to remove from a folder are NOT THERE. Neither is the folder. I did a system-wide search for the folder and the items; not there.
I tried deleting ALL Leapfrog stuff from my computer and starting over. TO NO AVAIL.
The Leapster 2 told me I needed to click Eject to disconnect it, but there is no Eject until Connect is installed, which it will not do because another user is supposedly using it. AIIEEEEEEEEEEE.
It lost my tabs and re-sized my browser window. Meanwhile, Henry is crying because I told him he could play his new birthday Leapster, and he is now 4 years old so he is a very big boy and very patient, but even a very big and patient 4-year-old can only wait SO MANY HOURS.
I’ve done ZERO work this morning: no baby name post, and it’s lucky I already wrote my Milk and Cookies post but I do still need to proof it and post it [edit: okay, posted it, so now you can tell me what face moisturizer to try]. The children are not dressed. The dishes are on the table. Because I have spent ALL MORNING on this, and it is still not even CLOSE to being done. I am about ready to kill someone with my bare hands. Perhaps the Application Installing Please Wait lady:
(photo from Leapfrog.com)Her hands are in NO WAY at the correct angle to be typing on that keyboard, and she would NOT be smiling if she was installing that Leapster 2.
Edited to add: FOLLOW-UP. Holy dice on a cracker. Okay, the key turned out to be this help page, which contained this information in case you can’t see it or the link no longer works or whatever:
I’d been searching for these documents and couldn’t find them. Then I noticed my search settings were on “this Mac” instead of “[name of my Mac],” or possibly the other way around, but anyway it was like I had two entire computer systems, and one of them had this set of documents and the other didn’t, and so I deleted them and everything worked fine—if by “fine” you mean “it still took another hour of sweating, swearing, and entering wayyyyyy too much personal information.”
I’d decided to just have him play with it WITHOUT doing the initial connecting to the computer (it’s not that it needs to be connected every time—just the first time to set it up), but then it nagged him every time he turned it on, and two of the four functions couldn’t be used. So I guess I’m glad I persevered but JEREMY PIVEN that was an ordeal.
Oh, man, this is brutal. I am so sorry. Have you considered throwing away your computer and buying an entirely new one?
I hate it when stuff like this happens. It is so incredibly frustrating. Especially when you have a child eagerly awaiting completion. I hope you get it set up soon. :(
My issue with Leapfrog stuff? All the stupid cords you have to keep up with in order to hook them back up to the computer and change something. I know it’s necessary, but still! TOO MANY CORDS.
OMG. This would make me go into a BLIND RAGE. I HATE computer hassles, and this one is extra-maddening because it is for a TOY that a child should just be able to PLAY WITH without this ridiculous, sisyphean task standing in his (and your) way. Blergh!
That photo did make me laugh, though, because NO. She looks like she’s soaking her hands in Palmolive. She is certainly NOT TYPING.
GRRRRR
I am totally sympathetic. I went through a similar cycle of installing, uninstalling, and swearing when I did it. My daughter got two Tag Junior books. One came with the reader thing with the book already on it, but I had to install connect, register, and load the other book onto the reader.
Thankfully, she always wants to “help” me on the computer, so I waited until she was in bed. Yeah, the instructions made it sound sooo easy, but it did take about two hours. She loves it, but I’m not sure I want to let her have any more of those books because downloading that one book was. a. nightmare.
Leapfrog stuff is NOTORIOUSLY terrible, yes? We have that reader pen thing, & I want to cry everytime Liam gets a new book b/c I know I’m going to have to fight to download it.
Hmm. I know you’re already spent enough time on this, but do they have a number you can call? What a hassle. Sorry, Henry :(
OMG that sounds horrendous. Horrendous. I wish I had a magical solution, but I do not so I am going over to Milk and Cookies to talk about soothing moisturizer.
Wow, the hands/keyboard angle is baaad. I hope you figure something out soon! Good luck! Poor little Henry (and Mommy)!
Hate the Leapfrog stuff. HATE. 1 day after you have finally gotten the whole damn thing loaded and done, it comes back and says, “There are updates. Would you like to start the f–k over?”
Grrrr. Why do we keep buying this crap?
I just want technology to work, and work without hardly any effort, and any deviation from that sends me into a rage. So I know how you feel.
Can he play the Leapster without it being installed? Our Leapster is the old version and they just play on the hand-held console… But our games are cartridges, and maybe you need to download games for him?
Grah. HOw frustrating!
Sounds horrible! My daughter has a Leapster 2 and we’ve never installed any software and she is none the wiser! Her older brother got a Leapster Didj and we couldn’t manage that software, so we didn’t even try hers. Henry should still be able to have fun and play with a cartridge game. BTW – if you have any second hand stores, those are great sources for used games in great quality for very few dollars.
Just reading your post made my BP increase. I cannot stand computer issues. I have no patience at all with that stuff and get so wound up my husband worries I’m going to throw the computer out the window and steps in usually to fix things. If there was a disappointed child involved, my rage would be complete. Stupid stupid computer programs and toys that require things that are not possible. ARGH. My teeth are grinding for you!
OMG. I had the same types of problems installing the Tag Jr. we bought our son for Christmas. Their trouble shooting stuff is a joke. After finally getting the damn thing working, I swore I would never buy another Leapfrog product EVER.
I don’t even remember how I finally got it to work, so I’m not really any help. Just thought I would commiserate with you.
The same thing happened when my husband bought me an iPad2 for my birthday a while ago – he wanted me to get to open the box and all that, but it won’t even turn on till it’s been plugged into iTunes and had ALL the updates downloaded and installed. It was an hours-long process as well. I can’t imagine having a little one standing by trying to wait patiently. Poor Henry!
I have never had a Leapfrog product and now I may never. But as a computer techie person, here is what I would do:
-Clean reboot of your computer to kill any remaining processes
-go to the Adobe site and install Flash from there.
-if you can hard reset any of the leapster stuff do that before reconnecting it.
-then try to install the Connect program.
Hope that helps, I’m up on google IM if you want to chat.
I become very easily enraged in situations such as this. We bought Bart a basketball net for his birthday Saturday and we are facing night #3 of trying to put the (giant) thing together. I was in tears last night, looking up to the sky asking “why is every step of this process so hard?” Meanwhile, a very patient 8-year-old checks in every once in awhile asking “what step are you on now?”
this sounds terribly frustrating, but using Jeremy Piven as a curse word made me giggle.
Favorite part of this post:
“but JEREMY PIVEN that was an ordeal.”
Not sure why Jeremy Piven’s name makes such a good swear word, but it does!
Jeremy Piven is my new favorite expletive.
I was annoyed annoyed annoyed reading this whole godforsaken thing and then I got to JEREMY PIVEN and I laughed all over myself. Love. It.
Sidenote: I saw Jeremy Piven in a restaurant one time.
Doublesidenote: He seems like a super dick, right? Or is that just me? I heard an interview with him on NPR once and I was like “who the hell does this guy think he is?” and then “John Cusack is FRIENDS WITH THIS DUDE?”
(I was annoyed WITH you, by the way – in the way you intended. Not annoyed AT you, like I thought the post sucked or something. I may hate Jeremy Piven but I do love me some Swistle.)
My favorite part about this post is the non-swear swears.
Holy Dice on a Cracker! You’re awesome.
Everyone else already said what I wanted to! :) I second Sarah…
Whenever I feel that my husband is completely useless (except in terms of sperm donation), I read something like this. Since he does all technology-related junk, I keep him around. And to have someone to complain about.
Oh my holy freaking heck…I had the SAME issue with the same thing. You have my sympathies. (BTW, you have to hook it up several times to do the “updates” and they are somewhat better but still, at least half an hour.)
i have never, ever, not once installed one freaked thing on a computer and had it work like it was supposed to. my son knows that if i have to connect his psp to the wireless it will not work, if he tries to buy a game for his psp, there will be a problem.. if he wants to connect the wii to the internet, something will screw up. i hate computers…
Katie broke my heart with that information about John Cusack.
Plus the installation? I am a fairly patient fortysomething and still — head.go.boom.
I had similar troubles with our Tag Jr. It was shockingly frustrating. I sympathize!
Just came across your blog and the story of the Leapfrog episode from last year! I am beyond OVER Leapfrong. My day, today pretty much mirrored what you went through. Software and downloads used to work fine on my MacBook Pro, but now, for some reason, (on the SAME computer and internet connection) DON’T. It’s absolutely maddening!