Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Page 3 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
B
bowlesj Offline OP
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
B
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
Originally Posted By: jcspro40
Again, IMHO, there is really no need to update unless you have a piece of software you need for work or some other critical reason.


Someone who thinks like me...lol. It is the "if it ain't broke don't fix it approach which is guaranteed to work". Of course if you are online constantly as I am in time external junk will come in to change that but you just restore your image and you are back to "if it ain't broke don't fix it approach which is guaranteed to work" state and happy once again :-)

Last edited by bowlesj; 06/13/18 12:28 AM.

John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,645
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,645
Originally Posted By: bowlesj
Originally Posted By: jcspro40
Again, IMHO, there is really no need to update unless you have a piece of software you need for work or some other critical reason.


Someone who thinks like me...lol. It is the "if it ain't broke don't fix it approach which is guaranteed to work". Of course if you are online constantly as I am in time external junk will come in to change that but you just restore your image and you are back to "if it ain't broke don't fix it approach which is guaranteed to work" state and happy once again :-)


A word of warning - I didn't update my off-line music computer for about 2 years. Then I had to update to run some new software. Because I was so far behind in updates Win 10 really messed up my system. It would go into update loops, that is it would DL an update, try to install it, then revert back to the previous version. This only took about 3 hours! I finally figured out how to fix this but that took well over a couple of months. Now twice a month I update this computer. So far so good. YMMV


Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up.
Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
B
bowlesj Offline OP
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
B
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
The ideal situation would be to have a fresh install of your windows then apply updates then install software. If they allowed you to download the update the apply it at your convenience this would be possible with a reinstall of windows or an image return to the fresh windows install state. The advantage of this approach is you could collect two or three updates then apply them back to back. They use to do this in that WinXP had 3 service packs. They should have kept it up.


John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,796
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,796
Originally Posted By: bowlesj
The ideal situation would be to have a fresh install of your windows then apply updates then install software. If they allowed you to download the update the apply it at your convenience this would be possible with a reinstall of windows or an image return to the fresh windows install state. The advantage of this approach is you could collect two or three updates then apply them back to back. They use to do this in that WinXP had 3 service packs. They should have kept it up.
What i did when my windows 10 started getting slower. But a lot of work, began 2 weeks ago, even with a fresh install, and still some stuff i forgot about. Hate windows for that.

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
B
bowlesj Offline OP
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
B
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
Its well worth getting an image backup software. AOEMI is free. https://www.backup-utility.com/. It worked well on Win10 for me. I did the restore and it worked. I did it after installing my software. It works for win7 and winxp. There is an issue with Win7 for creating a rescue disk. I have not tried it but the rescue disk created with win10 should work with win7. I have instructions for using it.

On my notebook I have a restore partition as well. It will return a fresh windows (the one that came with your machine) then you have to install your software. Silly part is as far as I know you also have to download all the updates again. That is the slow part.


Last edited by bowlesj; 06/14/18 08:16 AM.

John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,580
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,580
I have used Acronis True Image for many years and it has always worked for me. It is not free, however.

In fact, I recently needed to clone my hard drive (with multiple partitions, including the boot partition) from a 1TB drive to a 2TB drive, and it did it swimmingly; back up and running on the larger drive in no time.

I have also on multiple occasions used it to restore an image to a new drive that replaced one that was either failing or failed, as well as to just backtrack to a previous point in time after installing software the computer didn't like.


John

Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD
Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA

BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK

http://www.sus4chord.com
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,796
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,796
Still use acronis true image. However the recent 2016 version, officially bought BTW, is so user unfriendly and complicated for me, compared to the old 2014 version, that i run the old 2014 version booting from a CD with it's own DOS type interface. Which works fine BTW.

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,580
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,580
I don't actually use the Windows installed version of ATI (where the interface has changed multiple times). I always download the Linux disc image (and burn to DVD) to run ATI from there (where the user interface has remained consistent over many versions.


John

Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD
Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA

BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK

http://www.sus4chord.com
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
B
bowlesj Offline OP
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
B
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
I have used Acronis as well. It worked fine on Win7 and Winxp for years. However with my new drive on the Win7 machine it can't see the drive. A bit surprising.

Last edited by bowlesj; 06/14/18 10:41 PM.

John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,080
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,080
I used to use Norton Ghost until they discontinued it, and then, thanks to the advice on this forum, I moved to Acronis.

I make an image, add a few incremental, and then a new image. I keep 3 at all times.

Whenever I install any software or update at all, I make a fresh image first. This has saved my bottom more than once. The exception is Win10 which comes automatically. But if it doesn't work, I have yesterdays image or image + incremental.

Then once a month, on a separate external HD I do another complete image. ON that HD I have about 6 months of images. Why? If I get hit with malware or worse than that ransom ware, I can go back up to 6 months which gives me great odds to solving the problem.

I use one of those USB external docking stations that hold 2 internal hard drives like bread in a toaster. I can pop them in and out. So the external drive that I do once a month, gets stored in a desk drawer until it's time for it to go to work. Extra security.

Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
B
bowlesj Offline OP
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
B
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
Sounds like one of the best systems I have seen. I am not sure if you have this covered off. If you do not store forever your image after a fresh install of windows immediately followed by all your software then you have lost the one image that is truly clean (free of download installs that you decided to remove that might have messed up your registry of junk, free of all the internet junk that comes in to slow things down, etc). For me I don't mind having to reinstall 5 to 10 apps I might have installed and kept since my last image (this is a very high estimate).

I split data backups out completely. I don't use images for that (no point and I don't fully trust images anyway). I use MS backup and even use CD copies of critical data to an offsite location (safety deposit box is best). This is the really important stuff. If you have a fire without this you are screwed. Now taking your plug in drive offsite would be a great improvement. The next best plan is to have the critical data at your fire escape location so it gets out of the house with you during a fire (throw it out the window if it is a dvd and get yourself out with a chain or something to slide down with). It depends on your data. If it isn't critical don't bother.

Last edited by bowlesj; 06/15/18 04:54 AM.

John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 18,257
Veteran
Online Content
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 18,257
Although this topic has gone slightly off subject, the interesting thing about image backups is that theoretically, one has to prove that the backup has been created successfully and is 100% reliable.

To conclusively prove this, there is really a requirement to successfully restore the system from that backup.

Smart people wouldn't do this by attempting to undertake the restore exercise onto the original media....


BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,580
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,580
I always test my restores to a new hard drive (not back onto the original hard drive). I agree with Trevor; anything otherwise would be foolish. And I use Acronis on my Windows 7 Pro laptop and two Windows 10 Pro Desktops (one purchased from HP; the other one I built myself) with no problems.

And if you are new to using something like Acronis, it's good to go ahead and create and then restore the image just for your own peace of mind that it works. I can say that it has yet to fail me in the past 20 or so years that I've been a satisfied customer.

I only image my C: drive; the other drives (D: for all my VST's and Softsynths; E: for my user data; F: for my MP3 library; and X: for my work drive) are backed up via a batch file utilizing the command line robocopy command embedded in the batch file, which only backs up changed files (so it is extremely fast, since I have about 2 TB of data to back up. My user data is also redundantly synchronized to my other two computers about every other day, but no more than a week's interval. That way, I can always be up and running quickly even if a computer completely dies. I do my computer-to-computer synchronization via a backend 1GB network using the ethernet connections into a switch, but each computer maintains its own wi-fi connection for internet traffic. I'm careful not to accidentally bridge the networks, otherwise I would be throwing network errors all over the place.



John

Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD
Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA

BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK

http://www.sus4chord.com
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
Sheesh jford, sounds like work!

At work we do a weekly backup, daily incremental, then make a copy of the backups (in another location) as they complete. This copy then gets replicated/sync'd to another location.

The backup system is located in a co-hosted location (with backup power, auto generators, multiple tiered INET connections; fiber, cable, satellite you name it, etc). Backups are then verified, with any fails generating an alert to us.

Then these backups get copied to location 2, which uses a mirrored RAID that is replicated/sync'd with another mirrored RAID drive (over VPN) in location 3 .. you can watch the stuff replicate from place to place. It's actually pretty cool.
If even one of these RAIDS fail they can rebuild on the fly, and we still have 2 other copies available.
Keeping a month's worth means keeping three 6TB RAID arrays running .. but we ain't losing no data.

80% of businesses that lose their core data (whether due to failure or intrusion) go out of business within 3 months.


Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
B
bowlesj Offline OP
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
B
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
I did a google search "what is the ransomware infect to attack delay time" and found some interesting hits.

These guys are deep into the ransomware attacks. The lingo is a bit over my head.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/5246do/delayed_ransomware_attacks_are_there_any/
I skimmed it. The max delay seems to be 3 months. It seems that normally it is pretty quick. Lots to learn if you are interested.

Of course there is another approach. Google "how to protect yourself from ransomware"

Regarding how powerful a simple virus can be I had one lock out my anti-virus software, lock out the control panel, lock out the task manager. It basically locked out anything I could use to protect myself. The problem was solved within 12 minutes by returning my acronis image then returning my data from another machine on the network.

Last edited by bowlesj; 06/15/18 02:35 PM.

John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
Ransomeware is serious stuff when it happens.
However
Our techs tell me over 90% of the 'ransomeware' calls they handle are simply hacked browsers telling the user their data is locked (and a phone number to call to unlock it).
Putting a browser in kiosk mode and disabling the mouse click events will scare many users.
Killing the browser (sometimes not so easy to do) results in a normal system, after a scan.
I had to do this once when they got shorthanded.
The user was totally convinced they were locked out of the system.


Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 11,335
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 11,335
Originally Posted By: rharv
Ransomeware is serious stuff when it happens.
However
Our techs tell me over 90% of the 'ransomeware' calls they handle are simply hacked browsers telling the user their data is locked (and a phone number to call to unlock it).


I had this "hacked browser" on an IPAD a while ago. Scary but fixable. So it is just not the PC that is being messed with.


Dan, BIAB2024, SoundCloud Win11, i7(12thGen), 32GB, 1TB SSD(M.2 NVMe SSD), 2TB Libraries, 1 TB(WD-Black), 2TB SSD(M.2 NVMe SSD)Data, Motu Audio Express, Keystation 61, SL88 Studio, Reaper

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,080
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,080
I prefer image to backup because they backup the OS as well as the data.

Years ago I bought a guitar pedal that had an LE version of Cubase as a freebee. I hadn't tried Cubase in years so I was curious.

I made an image and installed. Or tried to. Mid installation the computer locked up. I waited hours, it wasn't just thinking, it was locked. Ctrl+Alt+Del didn't work so I had to hold the power down to do a forced shutdown.

On rebooting it never got to the point where Windows starts, when it asked to put the disk in and complete the install. Locked up again.

Started in the safe mode. Same problem.

Restored the computer from the image. Fixed.

Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
B
bowlesj Offline OP
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
B
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 794
There are times when backing up your data with an image is not possible. If I am programming I take dozens of time stamp backups of my program changes during the day. I use a program that applies the date, time and a comment I enter so it is very easy for me to do this. I ship them off to another two machines within the day. Some data changes I want shipped off to another machine immediately. I keep hundreds of these time stamps back in time and there have been at least 10 times when I have had to search way back as much as 6 months and retrieve one of them. There is no pattern to the reasons I have had to go so far back in time. There have probably been 50+ times I have gone back 2 or 3 revisions. There have been maybe 2 times I wish I had them farther back in time (like a few years).

Last edited by bowlesj; 06/16/18 07:59 AM.

John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
Originally Posted By: bowlesj
If I am programming I take dozens of time stamp backups of my program changes during the day. I use a program that applies the date, time and a comment I enter so it is very easy for me to do this. I ship them off to another two machines within the day. ...


SVN?
I love my Tortoise ..


Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To
Page 3 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.

ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.

PG Music News
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Review: 4.75 out of 5 Stars!

If you're looking for a in-depth review of the newest Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows version, you'll definitely find it with Sound-Guy's latest review, Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows Review: Incredible new capabilities to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs.

A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."

"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."

"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."

Happy Easter! Holiday Hours...

2024 is well underway - it's already Easter Weekend!

Our Customer Service hours this weekend are:

Friday, March 29: 8-4
Saturday, March 30: 8-4
Sunday, March 31: closed

Regular hours resume Monday, April 1st - no joke!

Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!

The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!

There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.

If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.

We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!

Congratulations to the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

We've just announced the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

There are 45 winners, each receiving a Band-in-a-Box 2024 UltraPAK! Read the official announcement to see if you've won.

Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed!

Video: Volume Automation in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created a video to help you learn more about the Volume Automation options in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows.

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Volume Automation

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#volume-automation

Video: Audio Input Monitoring with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created this short video to explain Audio Input Monitoring within Band-in-a-Box® 2024, and included some tips & troubleshooting details too!

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Audio Input Monitoring

3:17: Tips
5:10: Troubleshooting

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#audio-input-monitoring

Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!

We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!

Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.

You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.

See the Melodist in action with our video, Band-in-a-Box® 2024: The Melodist Window.

Learn even more about the enhancements to the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024upgrade/chapter3.htm#enhanced-melodist

Forum Statistics
Forums66
Topics81,399
Posts732,550
Members38,442
Most Online2,537
Jan 19th, 2020
Newest Members
danielsk, Mark Morgan, zagrajbarke, Ernest J, Izzy
38,442 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 199
Al-David 133
DC Ron 115
rsdean 85
dcuny 83
Today's Birthdays
(charlie), WobblyGstring
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5