There used to be a way to make an association with Windows Explorer. I know I did that and you were subsequently able to select "Open with Band-in-a-Box Application" and not just the "Band-in-a-Box" choice that I get now and which does not open the file selected. The Band-in-a-Box Application choice disappeared when I installed the 2016 Audiophile upgrade.
It is essential that I can do this because I keep all my song files in Explorer whilst running the program itself from an external drive.
Is there a menu item somewhere? Or was it maybe a general method that you have to know?
I know that I have asked this question in the past and it was always solved and I should have kept a record. BTW, I use Windows 7 on a Toshiba laptop which I use as a desktop and is permanently connected to the internet.
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.
Unfortunately, I cannot get it to work yet because there is an Error message saying:
"Unable to write to the Registry. Usual cause in Windows 7 or Vista is 'User Account Control' set to true in Control Panel - User Accounts."
Frankly, I do not really understand that message. I have changed my User name but I cannot find anything else to change in my Windows 7.
Also, it used to work and I have not made any changes. Except it was not a double click but a right click which said "Open with" and then giving you a choice of "Band-in-a-Box" or "Band-in-a-Box Application". If you selected the 'Application' instruction it loaded the song file. That is what I would like to get back. Double clicking always did and still does open Band-in-a-Box but did not load the song file.
I also get a message saying that BiaB files types are now registered and you can double click. But the first message obviously takes precedence. Because you can't.
1: Run BiaB as Administrator (right-click icon on desktop (1) and select Run as administrator(2) ). On mine I set it to always run as Administrator. This is done through Properties > Advanced (3)
2: Turn UAC to off (lowest settings). This is how I always set my systems. I personally never use UAC. This is done from the control panel. Enter letters UAC (A) then click the Change User Settings (B). Set to Never Notify (C) and press OK (D)
The feature you need to add should then work without any issues (Restart BiaB of course)
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.
Actually I was just coming back to the forum to say I had fixed the problem. Embarrassingly, I do not really know how but I changed my Administrator and Guest names and also moved that slider down on User Account Control Settings to Never Notify. I only changed that a couple of days ago and it would seem that probably was the reason I could not get loading from Windows Explorer to work like it used to.
Anyway, the File/File Utilities/Associate instruction you provided then worked without an Error message. And I do now have the extra instruction of "Load with Band-in-a-Box application" which allows you to load a song file directly from Explorer without having Band-in-a-Box open. That is what I wanted!
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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