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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 23
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OP
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 23 |
lately when i startup BB i get the following 'Tip: you should move the BB folder outside of the Program Files...'
i don't know why this is suddenly an issue (i don't get complaints from Windows 7), but i'll bet if i just physically move c:\Program Files\bb\ to somewhere else (e.g. c:\program data\bb) this will break something; so i assume there's a preference i can set somewhere?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2006
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I get that. I run good old-fashioned XP.
So far everything on "BIAB2013 Everything" works as it should.
What danger is it trying to tell us?
Ian
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944 |
The reason that we don't recommend to put BB in the Program Files folder, is that Windows has special rules and restrictions for the Program Files folder. And those rules have changed with different OS versions, and possibly with different UAC settings on the same PC, or running a program as an admin getting different treatment than running without admin privileges.
One issue is 'virtualization', where files that get written into that Program Files folder might not be visible to other users. That can make for some for some confusing, squirrelly issues where a file was there, but then is not there, because the user has changed.
Windows doesn't want Programs writing config and other files into the Program Files folder, and BiaB does like to write to its home folder.
Please note that this isn't a Windows issue, it is BiaB issue - Biab is not following the recommended guidelines for the Program Files folder. Windows rules for that folder make sense, especially for multiple users etc. that might want their own custom settings. It is just that in the BB folder, things are normal, and programs and users can read and write files without needing to understand/follow these special rules.
I'm glad we've stuck with c:\bb, as that directory has been available since the early days of BiaB (1988). The Program Files directory has gone through various names, and currently there are 2 of them Program Files (x86) and Program Files.
If you want to ignore all that, yes, you can run it from the Program Files folder. And if you want to not see that startup tip, you can disable 'tips' from the Edit-Prefs main panel.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
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And, if you want to move your bb folder from Program Files to just C: bb, you can do that without messing anything up as bbw.exe does not write to the Windows registry. Just highlight the bb folder icon, choose Copy, navigate to the C root and choose Paste.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
And, if you want to move your bb folder from Program Files to just C: bb, you can do that without messing anything up as bbw.exe does not write to the Windows registry. Just highlight the bb folder icon, choose Copy, navigate to the C root and choose Paste.
--Mac
AND retell the program the path to the RTs & RDs.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2012
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Quote:
And, if you want to move your bb folder from Program Files to just C: bb, you can do that without messing anything up as bbw.exe does not write to the Windows registry. Just highlight the bb folder icon, choose Copy, navigate to the C root and choose Paste.
I think the better option would be to highlight the bb folder icon, right-click on the folder icon, choose CUT, navigate to the C root, right-click and choose Paste. (Copy would make a copy and you would have 2 Band In A Box file sets on the same computer. Cut and Paste are the better options.)
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Personally, I always find it better to copy rather than cut (when I have enough room on my hard drive). That way if something unexpected happens (like a power failure), the risk of losing files is reduced. I don't trust computers at all. Once I'm satisfied that all has copied ok and everything is up and running, then I delete the old directory.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Noel once again caught my drift.
I used the "Copy" command intentionally, for prevention of data loss as Noel describes.
Retain the bb folder inside Program Files until after you have ascertained that the new copy is functional, at which time you can then go back to the Program Files folder and Delete the bb folder from there.
The only people that may not be able to do that are those who don't have enough room left on their C: drives for two complete copies of bb -- which, in these days of 1/2 to 1 terabyte drives being rather common, should be few and far between -- and if your hard drive is smaller and it is so packed with data that there would not be enough room on it to do the Copy routine, you've got other problems as well, time to upgrade to either a larger C: drive, new computer altogether, or at the least the installation of a second hard drive.
Band in a Box can run just fine from a second hard drive as well. Good idea to install the bbw.exe plus the Fonts and DXi to the c: drive anyway, though, small footprint really, leaving the Realtracks/Realdrums files stored on the second hard drive for fastest operation, but as we've see with the pgmusic supplied USB drives, the entire shebang can also be run from a second drive.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 928
Expert
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Expert
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Don't you all just run BiaB from the hard drive?
It's already there and it works.
Why move it?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 126
Apprentice
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Apprentice
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Posts: 126 |
Just another 2 cents worth...a much quicker method is to use the "Move" command (available in Windows Explorer/Edit. One has to just "Move the bb and realband folders) to C: root (if that is the desired target). In either case, no data verification is done with windows explorer (i.e., copy/cut and paste, or move), but there is a lot less data manipulation with the "Move" command since only pointers are modified (that is, the files themselves are not physically moved).
If a data verification is desired, then a file utility such as "Robocopy" or the GUI version "Richcopy", (both free from Microsoft) can be used.
Richard
Just a quick update...I should point out that the "Move" command as stated above will work faster if on the same hard drive (and partition).
Last edited by rich in ca; 12/14/12 10:10 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2003
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Quote:
Don't you all just run BiaB from the hard drive?
It's already there and it works.
Why move it?
I not run it from the hard drive. I install/copy everything to my internal hard drive and save PGMusic’s hard drive as a backup.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,114
Expert
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Expert
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Quote:
Quote:
Why move it?
I do not run it from the hard drive. I save PGMusic’s hard drive as a backup.
What he said. Always nice to have a backup in case a drive breaks down. I also like to get my files on an internal drive. Things just seem to go slower on a usb drive.
Keith
2026 Audiophile Windows 11 RYZEN THREADRIPPER 3960X 4.5GHZ 128 GB RAM 2 Nvidia RTX 3090s, Vegas,Acid,SoundForge,Izotope Production,Melodyne Studio,SONAR,3 Raven Mtis
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 126
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 126 |
I should have clarified my suggestion. It was only meant for the scenario where someone may have installed BB to a program or other directory/folder on the main (C:) drive (in the case of a Windows box). I also always install to an internal drive for BB, but also make a complete backup of the PG distribution drive (just in case).
Richard
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Here's the thing - As you may know from earlier posts elsewhere I had the misfortune to have my hard drive totally crash. I was running Biab2008 at the time and had a "copy" on an external hard drive.
Now, when I got the new drive installed, I made a NEW program file in the new drive and called it c\program files\BIAB and copied over everything in that external file to it.
Since then I have bought Biab2013 Everything Pak and all that has gone into it too. Oh Boy!! It all works OK though.
If I look in that new file (c\program files\BIAB) I can see a folder called c\bb. In there are a few Real Tracks, a few drum tracks and precious all else, probably from the old 2008 but who knows!
It says my c\program files\BIAB has 80.9gb of "stuff",4241 folders and 83386 files.Of all that lot what the heck am I supposed to move to c\bb and have a hope that it will all still work???!!!
I'm no computer boffin so please keep it simple.
Thanks
ian
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Posts: 27,452
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The necessary steps for your fix have been given above. If that advice understandably doesn't feel comfortable for you to try, then the most simple I can recommend is for you to call PG Music Support and describe what you have. They can talk you through it step by step. They can even take over your computer.
[I'm a comp. sci. prof with 35 years manipulating files, but I would not presume to give the precise steps for you here, because I might leave one out.]
Yes, your /bb folder is left over. This is the default location for BIAB and is still a good choice. You really should get BIAB off the /Program Files folder.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Creating a "Program Files" folder on another drive does not make it the same as the "C:\Program Files" folder, because Microsoft has tagged the one on the C: drive as the "real" Program Files. On any other drive, it's just a regular folder and would behave the same as if you had put it in "C:\BB".
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Just to clarify on the Move vs Cut option. The term 'Move' seems to indicate that files are physically moved from one location to another by copying to a new location then deleting from the old location.
In actual fact, this is not so. Providing the source and destination are on the same logical drive (e.g. C: drive), the Move option simply creates a new directory entry that points to the locations of the existing files. No files are moved at all, only the directory entry pointers to the files location is re-established. Moving is very safe, and minimizes opportunity for disk fragmentation to occur. My 2 cents.
Either way, the bottom line is as Peter G mentioned, it is undesirable to use the Windows Program Files folder(s) for the BB location.
Cheers
Trevor
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2010
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OP
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whew...what a lot of advice (which i'm embarrassed to say i didn't read all of). what i'd hoped was that there would be a Opt. > Preferences path i could follow to set the preferred folder location. i HAVE put my songs in a directory over which i have control, but it seems there are (lots?) of other folders BiaB needs that i should also worry about?
and: is there a way to be notified when a post (or its replies, etc) gets replied to? i forgot about this post and then had to search for it.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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Team PG
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