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.
I guess it's just me. I rebooted the computer and searching in Index stops to program from responding. I'm forced to use Task Manager to close down BIAB.
Search works fine, it's just Index that has this issue.
Dave, you might try a reinstall in case you have a corrupt Help file
Also, consider reporting this to PGM Support, maybe they have a record of such a problem.
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.
I received an e-mail today from Kent and followed his suggestions.
If you want to reinstall, you can get the links by logging into your account on our website and going to "My Products".
The program used to read Help files is part of Windows, not Band-in-a-Box though so I'd recommend making sure that you can search for words in other programs' Help files before trying the reinstall.
Another thing to try first would be to reinstall the build 414 patch (even if you already have that build). This is because the update patches include a copy of the Help file so if it's corrupted at all, installing the patch has a good chance of fixing it.
The first thing I did was download and reinstall the 414 patch. I still had the issue in Help \ Index \ Index. I should add that searching in other Windows programs do not have the issue I described in previous posts (in this thread).
I then downloaded and installed BIAB 15 with the same results. I then went back and reinstalled the 414 patch. I have the same issue, nothing as changed.
I didn't uninstall BIAB, I simply reinstalled over previous installs.
I'm willing to try more suggestions ... and I am also willing not to use Help \ Index \ Index to look up anything; I'll just use Help \ Index \ Search.
If BIAB doesn't work correctly, rather than reinstall, the first thing you should do is Opt., Return to Factory Settings. Then reboot the PC.
If that doesn't fix it, are you Running as Administrator (right-click on BBW.EXE to try this). And you didn't install to either of the C:/Program Files folders, did you?
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Matt's recommendation to run as Administrator is quite important.
If opening the Help file internally requires privileges, and BiaB doesn't have them, then this might cause the issue.
I right-click on the BiaB icon on the desktop, select Properties and permanently set to run as Administrator:
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.
I tried resetting to Factory Settings, and also run as Administrator. It still doesn't solve the problem for me.
I installed BIAB to a separate hard drive (and folder name).
I have notified pgmusic of this bug, and told them that the .chm help file can be used if I open it directly from File Explorer (or a shortcut icon). I also let them know that it was installed to a non-default location, in case that's an issue.
Having the same problem on BIAB 2011. It just started happening out of nowhere. Except I have a new computer running Windows 8.1 and probably haven't tried help on it until now. Has there been an update or is it 8.1? Also I have just started to use BB2go so I can use on my tablet which is why I need the help!
I can confirm, this just happened to me. I typed one letter in the Help, Index and got the freeze. Had to exit via Task manager, which took down all of BIAB.
I also wrote to Support.
Jonjo, welcome to the forum. First post after so long? I think you may be on to something with Windows 8.1. That's what I have. I'm pretty sure Help, Index has been working until recently, so the problem here might be caused by a Windows 8.1 update. I called that to the attention of Support.
Johnny Badsinger, are you also running Windows 8.1?
Last edited by Matt Finley; 03/30/1509:53 AM.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
This problem was confirmed by PG Music. It affects Windows 8 and will be fixed by an update.
Matt Thanks for the feedback. I'm steering clear of 8.1 for BiaB (although I do have 8.1 systems for other work). Actually, I'm hoping Windows 10 might make everyone a little happier.
Best 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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