I am running Band in a box 2014 on Windows 7. When I click on the B+B desktop icon, nothing happens. I have installed the latest updates, but it is still not working. I am also running Real Band and Sonar X1 and they are both working fine. B+B stopped working very recently. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.
If the forum members cannot help, you should call PG Music Support. They are excellent and should be able to diagnose this, including remote control of your PC if needed.
A few questions in the meantime:
Do you have more than one instance of BBW.EXE running, by any chance? Bring up Windows Task Manager Ctrl_Alt+Del and see if the program is running more than once.
Do you have UAC (User Account Control) set to On?
Try using Windows Explorer to navigate to BBW.EXE, right click and Run as Administrator.
You didn't install /BB under the /Program Files folder, did you?
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Thank you for your reply. I have brought up the windows task manager and deleted the BBE.EXE but it does not help. My user account control is set to on, and I have tried running the programme as administrator. I did not install BB under the files folder.
Thank you for your reply. I have brought up the windows task manager and deleted the BBE.EXE but it does not help. My user account control is set to on, and I have tried running the programme as administrator. I did not install BB under the files folder.
A: Presumably you did not delete BBE.exe as mentioned, but instead stopped the bbe.exe process in Task Manager?
B: Also, try turning UAC to OFF
C: Do you get any form of Splash Screen when you try to start it, or any other message
D: Can you double click on bbw.exe in the C:\bbw\ folder (presuming a default install location of C:\bbw\)
E: If the above don't work, then Matt's idea to call support might be the fastest way to resolve.
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.
Try renaming the file 'intrface.bbw', which you will find in the Band-in-a-Box folder, to 'intrface_old.bbw'. This will return many program settings to defaults, but also saves a backup of the settings (rather than deleting it you just renamed it).
If you're unable to launch the program after that, I suggest running the Band-in-a-Box 2014 installer, and install the program to a different folder like C:\bbtest. You don't need to install all of the components and RealTracks etc., just the Band-in-a-Box program, since the point of this is to see if a fresh install of the program runs on your computer.
Thanks to everyone who replied. I have done a clean install of B+B but it still will not start, obviously there is something on my computer preventing it from starting. B+B opened alright from the 2.5 " USB Drive but it will not open up when I click on the desktop icon.
Did you delete the icon before reinstalling? Could be the icon is pointing to the wrong location (like the external drive). Right click the icon, then click properties and see where the shortcut is actually pointing to. Is it pointing to the current installation location on your computer?
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Good point Bob. That's why I suggested launching the executable itself, but didn't get a response on the outcome of any of the questions I asked. Trev
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.
Did you try renaming the 'intrface.bbw' file as Andrew suggested? I am 99.9% sure that reinstalling BIAB will not overwrite that file if it exists as it has all your preferences which are maintained during all updates and upgrades.
When looking for the file Andrew suggested, note the spelling. There is no "e" in the name. Renaming this file is a great starting place.
The reason Andrew suggested this is because this file can sometimes cause a problem. It's rare but it happens. Renaming it to something like "intrface.old" stops BIAB from seeing it and forces a new version to be created. Renaming also keeps a copy so it can be restored if required.
Thanks to everyone who has replied. I managed to get B+B working again, doing what Andrew suggested, so thanks Andrew. I don't understand how I should have to have renamed that file in the first place, but I will remember this for future reference. Thank you.
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