Hi. Usually exporting a PDF from the Lead Sheet window was a piece of cake .... But now BIAB keeps telling me the PDF995 driver is missing, and it won't install when you click on YES (see below); after reboot it's still missing. Any ideas?
PS i don't have Adobe Reader installed, but Foxit Reader, Thnx, F

Have you looked at Windows Printers and Devices tho see whether it is installed or not? If you need to reinstall it, it should be on your USB hard drive as a standalone installer. I would run it "as administrator" to make sure it installs properly into Windows.

I just found that it wasn't active in Windows (10) features, and might work since i activated it there, but after a reboot ..
BUT it still doesn't work, although present in Windows. On my BIAB USB drive i couldn't find it BTW. PS i'll look into it tomorrow, got the Windows Blues once again ...

It doesn’t look like it’s installed. If it is, then you choose it where you would choose your regular printer.

PDF995 is one of many such utilities. I happen to use Cute PDF.

Well, i downloaded some PDF995 installer, oh boy, it wants to access the internet for ads unless i pay $10. What happened to BIAB's standard PDF function, which always worked?
Is there a way to get Foxit Reader or another (Cute PDF) involved? can't find options for that in Preferences ... F

Hi

Yes I use cute pdf writer
Just download and click and it will add to your list of available printers.

So when you go to print from BIAB chose it there, instead of your default printer that will be offered,
This will save your print as a pdf file to the folder of your choice,

Regards
Mike

If you downloaded PDF995 from the PDF995 site, you have received the commercial version (which is free with ads or without ads for $10). My understanding is that the PDF995 you receive from PGMusic is a licensed version. If you have a USB drive, I would do a file search for "*995*.*" and look for the installation file. I would uninstall the ad version and re-install the PGMusic provided version. I'm not at my music computer, so I can't tell you exactly where on the hard drive it is located.

But I believe any PDF print driver should do the same thing.

I have been a long time user of PDF-995 (from back in the day where there weren't a bunch of free ones and you had do buy Adobe Pro to get one). Now they are all over the place. I believe Foxit Reader comes with a PDF print driver as well (and that's the one I generally use, although I actually own Foxit PhantomPDF - their full-featured PDF utility).

Maybe someone from PGMusic will see this post and indicate where on the USB drive the installation file is located. And there is no problem having multiple PDF drivers installed. They just each present themselves as a virtual printer. You choose the one you want.

My Man !: it's in D:\bb\Data\Installers.
However running the installers, rebooting Windows (and BIAB) doesn't show them, other then that there's a new (was there already) folder on my boot disk: C:\pdf995.

Alas BIAB still shows the error message (see above, OP) when you press 'Print to PDF'. It won't install ... Thnx, F

There does seem to be a problem here.

I don't use PDF995, but I was able to verify that it doesn't seem to work. In BIAB, File, Print, when you click on Print to PDF, it says that the driver is not installed and offers to do so. I did that. I rebooted and it still is reporting the driver is not installed. The regular print choices do not include PDF995 either.

I am reporting this to the developers to check.

In the meantime, just install Cute PDF and use it through the Setup Printer button.

I've never installed PGMusic's version, but to successfully use PDF995, you have to install both the PDF995 Print Driver and the PDF995 Print Converter. Then, if you want to manage your settings, you should also download PDFEdit995. I would have to look closer to see exactly what PGMusic provides in their PDF995 package, but if you get it from the PDF995 web site, you should get all three files.

Hi Fiddler,

To install PDF995, go to the BB\BBHelper\PDF995 Installer\, right-click on Autosetup, and select Run as Administrator. That'll install it automatically, and the "Print to PDF" button really should just work.

I do get ads if I select PDF995 as my printer in another application and use its regular Print function, but I don't get ads if I do the same in Band-in-a-Box, or if I click Print to PDF in Band-in-a-Box's Print Options window.

Regarding the ads, if you download PDF995 from their website, you will always get ads unless you pay for it. I'm not 100% sure if the version we provide should have ads when used with other programs, but will find out and let you know.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Kent, I ran Autosetup as Administrator and it did not do anything. The second file, pdf995s, did work.

Please check the content of that autosetup file.

Hi Matt,

I uninstalled PDF995 through the Control Panel, then reinstalled it using Autosetup, and it worked perfectly. You just don't see an installer window appear, it installs in the background instantly.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Alas, the BIAB installer, as Matt said (hey, i'm not crazy after all!) no go my system .... tried, autosetup, them 2 other .exes, admin, reboot and all. Foxit can be accessed through 'print setup' as mentioned by Matt on CutePDF. - Biabs' PD955, no F actually, see OP above, won't install. F

Hi Fiddler,

Are you assuming that Autosetup didn't work because you didn't see the installer window appear? This installer runs in the background, and it will look like nothing happened, but it should be installed now if you've followed my instructions.

Try hitting Print, then Print to PDF in Band-in-a-Box, let's see what happens.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Nope, just ran all three again, admin, reboot etc. The second .exe only shows an installer screen, tried 'print to pdf'. Nada, riente, nakko, niks, nichts ...... just the screen looping as posted on my OP ... actually on my USB AP drive the folder is in D:\bb\Data\Installers, maybe there's the problem ??

Hi Fiddler,

The folder is likely in both locations, and it shouldn't matter where you run it from (I just tested it from both). Autosetup.exe is the only one you need to run, by the way. You don't need to run any of the others. I never have, and this has always worked for me, and everyone I've walked through this.

Is PDF995 listed in the Control Panel's Programs and Features list? If so, please uninstall it from there, then run Autosetup.exe once more by running as administrator like I described. Reboot the machine, launch Band-in-a-Box by right-clicking on its icon and selecting Run as Administrator, then try Print to PDF once more.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

No. I suspected the autosetup might have worked in the background, so I checked to see if PDF995 was available as a print driver. It wasn't.

I then had to load the second exe file, pdf995s, to get it to install. After that, it worked fine (and I don't understand why it didn't when Fiddler2007 tried the same thing).

Hi Matt,

Weird, I've never seen this not work before. Did you run Autosetup as administrator, and did you happen to check for it in the "Programs and Features" list? I've uninstalled and reinstalled it four times today, and it shows up within seconds (though I have to close and reopen Programs and Features to see it).

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Run as Administrator, yes.

Check in Programs and Features, or in Programs in Control Panel, no.

Check by trying to print in another app, yes, and it wasn't there.

I wonder if it's an Operating System related issue.

For example, perhaps it works on Windows 7 but not on Windows 10?

nope ... alas, and just ran regedit, no PD955 (Biab message) or PDF955 entries there

I removed windows 7 about 6 months ago ... tried to install from a different location in Win7 compatibility mode .. same issue -F

The reason I asked is because it's apparently worked for Kent, but not others.

I'm not sure how much W7 'compatibility mode' might restrict a driver installation.

I GIVE UP .... was checking (Tweaking Com's Windows repair) all windows basic installer functions and more, SFC found errors, all repaired, switched off firewalls and antivirus .... No Go, only a PDF955 shows up in Control Panel. As Kent suggested to install it from there it seemed not to be installed .... F

BUMPETY BUMP ......

So PDF995 is showing up in the Control Panel, but Band-in-a-Box doesn't see it? It seems like it's partially installed then. At least part of it must be on your computer, which may be blocking reinstallations from working.

I'd try running CCleaner, and see if it still shows up in the Programs and Features list after that. This could just be a registry issue, and this could fix it.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Perhaps disengage a malware checker when installing?

Done all that, also shop-lifted (edited) the registry for pdf955 (or PD955 as the BIAB pop-up, see OP above) entries. Even used the paid CCleaner (pro version). I guess it has to do with some missing windows (permissions?) setting. BTW i used Tweaking.com's Windows Repair on all sorts of possible installer issues. Afraid though to turn it loose on permissions.

BUT EUREKA: Thanks Kent, you made me re-think: got it working. Switched to my Administrator account. Installed from there, running as administrator probably wasn't enough LoL. F

Great, glad to hear you got it working!

I've never used a non-admin account on my own computer, so that didn't even occur to me. You'll definitely want to be logged in as an administrator when installing and troubleshooting installations.

Cheers
Kent
PG Music

I'm pretty sure that "running as administrator" is only going to give you as many privileges as your user account allows. If your account has administrator equivalence, then running as administrator gives you full administrative access. If your account has anything less than that, you'll only get up to the max of what your account allows (just short of full administrative privilege).

I've always made my account administrator equivalent, as I'm the only one that uses the computer anyway, and I'm the guy installing all the software and updates. Perhaps a security risk, but I also have my firewall, anti-virus, and anti-malware running to help in that regard.

In the earlier days of Windows the standard advice was to create an administrator account but also a ‘normal/limited’ account for your everyday use, and I’m talking about the situation John just mentioned where only one person uses that computer. More recently, and especially in the case of BIAB, I’ve found I might as well just log in as an administrator-level account all the time.

Was always warned against doing that, and subsequently had to use 'take ownership' assigning my 'adapted' user account and even use edited security settings on specific installations and editing options. Kind of habit since i started using windows (89,XP).

Now this is important (for me): do you all think i should switch to a full administrator account from now on? Never had such problems before, especially with PG stuff, 'running as administrator' was often the advice here in this forum LoL. One won't needing that anymore i understand then. My user account has been always 'set' for administrator privileges .... F

Just remember, being an administrator and running as administrator are two different things. The first is the rights you have on the computer; the second is the rights the application has on the computer. I think as long as you are prudent about how you use your computer, you should not have a problem having your regular account as administrator equivalent. I just make sure I keep anti-virus up to date, firewall on, do regular data backs, and do regular boot drive images to easily recover in the event of catastrophe.

What John said.

Exactly, I run as admin at all times, but I'm also careful about where I click and what I install. When I use a limited account, my computer sometimes doesn't do what I tell it to, which I don't want when trying to work on tunes. I also keep User Account Control turned off on my home computer, but that might not be the safest thing for all users.

At the very least, I'd make sure I'm using an admin account when troubleshooting installations.

By the way, I found out about the ads in PDF995. It runs as a fully licensed version, but only when used with PG Music programs. If you use it as a PDF writer in other applications, you'll see ads and that's normal, so might want to keep another PDF writer installed for those situations.

Cheers
Kent
PG Music