I am pleased to share that my BIAB 2018 is running much much better now. My earlier posts contained tech complaints and pleas for help with my Windows 10 PC and BIAB 2018 UltraPlus pak, on an external USB drive. Here is a brief update. Hopefully my success will last. Maybe my experience will help other users.
Now BIAB is installed on my internal, secondary hard drive. There was something about my specific computer and the BIAB external USB drive that conflicted, and caused my PG Music drive to be completely erased. As BIAB became corrupted there were more and more errors and failures. We never could nail down the exact culprit but it always ended with ruined BIAB drives and frustration.
PG Music maintained that their drives weren't the issue. Dell verified that my PC was virus-free, spyware-free, clean and running efficiently. Each vendor's product seemed fine by itself. Somehow my lone computer had these problems.
As a trial run, I agreed to download the program onto my PC, taking the USB hard drive out of the equation. So far BIAB is running perfectly! There are no errors or freezes. It's still early days but I am really enjoying the program now. What a difference!
Has anyone else had problems with external PG Music hard drives getting erased? I ask simply from a troubleshooting perspective.
I'm grateful for your kind assistance here in the forum, and for quality time with PG Music's tech support & and customer service. I'm waiting to (hopefully) either verify continued success or document new complications when I follow up with tech support.
Meanwhile BIAB is playing music and making me happy. What a cool program!
I'm glad to read that all is up and running for you! I've never heard of and experience like yours before other than Norton Antivirus deleting BIAB files because it incorrectly determined that they were viral.
Out of curiosity, what antivirus software do you use?
Just to follow on from what Noel says above about Norton AV. Do you run any other cleaning routines on your pc like pc clean, clean sweep etc etc Anti mall ware ? That try to also clean attached drives . You can normally make exceptions on a program basis and some times at a drive level. Just a thought Mike
No trouble with PG Music drives ever, except a few years ago the drives they were using could become partially disconnected inside where the controller plugs in. It would apparently become loose in shipping. This caused the drive not to work at all until the connection was tightened. After that, all was fine.
But your problem, where a working drive erases data, has not been reported here to my knowledge. My money would be on malware rather than the drive.
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; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
I'm glad to read that all is up and running for you! I've never heard of and experience like yours before other than Norton Antivirus deleting BIAB files because it incorrectly determined that they were viral.
Out of curiosity, what antivirus software do you use?
Regards, Noel
Originally Posted By: Mike Head
Hi
Just to follow on from what Noel says above about Norton AV. Do you run any other cleaning routines on your pc like pc clean, clean sweep etc etc Anti mall ware ? That try to also clean attached drives . You can normally make exceptions on a program basis and some times at a drive level. Just a thought Mike
Hi Noel and Mike,
Everyone I've spoken with says the same thing: they just haven't heard of this situation before.
I do have Norton Antivirus, but we have been through all of my settings, history and quarantine sections. There are no hints of any BIAB or PG Music actions. I've used three additional antivirus / anti spyware programs to verify that my PC is clean. Dell used an online scanner, and combed through my computer searching for clues. No explanations were found. All devices and programs are pristine except BIAB.
Adding to the quandary, and making a diagnosis more elusive, is the fact that every other USB hard drive and flash drive I use works seamlessly. Only the PG Music drives had this happen. We've used multiple USB ports and multiple USB devices.
It defies logic, yet something about my computer is causing this problem, and no one has reported it before. The only issue my #$%&#$ computer has is with BIAB on a PG Music external drive. We all agree it's my PC but here we are: no explanation.
So far running the software right off my hard drive is working. I wanted to leave it on the USB drive and save my internal drive space, but so far all is running very well without the USB drive. Again, just to be clear, I have other USB drives that work beautifully and never encountered this behavior.
Hopefully I haven't jumped the gun and declared victory too soon. I'm just really happy to have everything functioning as it should be. My fingers and toes are crossed, praying for continued success.
Thank you both for your messages and suggestions. I appreciate your offers of help.
No trouble with PG Music drives ever, except a few years ago the drives they were using could become partially disconnected inside where the controller plugs in. It would apparently become loose in shipping. This caused the drive not to work at all until the connection was tightened. After that, all was fine.
But your problem, where a working drive erases data, has not been reported here to my knowledge. My money would be on malware rather than the drive.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for writing. I agree, my first thought was malware. It's the logical first place to look. However four programs and Dell show that my PC is clean. There is no other damage found.
With the exception of my BIAB drives (we've tried three) there are no other incidents. I'm not blaming PG Music, just reporting my experience and wondering if any one else has a similar tale.
Thank you for writing. I appreciate your continued responses and offers of help.
....few years ago the drives they were using could become partially disconnected inside where the controller plugs in. It would apparently become loose in shipping. This caused the drive not to work at all until the connection was tightened. After that, all was fine....
Hi Matt,
With direction from tech support, and troubleshooting instructions on PG Music's site, I unplugged and re-seated the cable to each USB drive, after opening the drive cover. It made no difference.
How about checking the cable itself? Try another. And try the drive on another port, and maybe another computer. In other words, isolate the problem as best you can.
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; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
How about checking the cable itself? Try another. And try the drive on another port, and maybe another computer. In other words, isolate the problem as best you can.
Hi again,
All good ideas. I tried each one multiple times, trying to isolate the problem as you suggest. Different cables, different USB ports, alternate computer. I tried everything I could think of. Rebooting, powering down completely. Unplugging the drive and re-attaching after each try. Switching ports and drives. Plugging the drive into another computer. Sadly none of these ideas solved my problem.
Connecting the BIAB drive to another computer didn't help either. It verified that each drive had become corrupted, as opposed to my primary PC having an issue reading and displaying files from a healthy USB drive.
We're all baffled. Although I've been posting here in the Beginner's Forum, I have many years' experience using computers and fixing problems. I've done computer support at work and for family & friends. I'm not saying I haven't made mistakes along the way, but normally I can solve most of my computer problems.
I've also learned the lesson of asking for help when I need it. I don't know what quirk my PC has that nobody else has reported. In the past I've run other versions of BIAB without any complications, on other computers.
While I never had a problem with my external BIAB USB Drive being erased, it did frequently disappear. I often would unplug it, and plug it back in and then it would show up. As this was annoying, I finally got around to figuring out what the problem was.
As it turns out the problem is in the power & sleep settings on Windows 10. There is a setting in the "advanced" settings for USB - USB Selective Suspend. What this setting does is shut down USB devices when the computer goes to sleep. When this happens, Windows can lose track of your USB external hard drive. Just set it to disabled and the problem goes away.
Jeff
BIAB 2019 for Windows Audiophile - user since 2011
Good call. Changing the Windows power settings is the first thing I do on a computer. Also, Windows updates tend to overwrite the custom choices you make, so you have to revisit it frequently. That USB Selective Suspend should be off, as well as any power saving scheme.
If that doesn't fix your problem, I'm stumped. If it were my computer, I would probably buy a different brand USB drive, test it, and ship it to PG Music asking them to load BIAB on it.
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; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
While I never had a problem with my external BIAB USB Drive being erased, it did frequently disappear. I often would unplug it, and plug it back in and then it would show up. As this was annoying, I finally got around to figuring out what the problem was.
As it turns out the problem is in the power & sleep settings on Windows 10. There is a setting in the "advanced" settings for USB - USB Selective Suspend. What this setting does is shut down USB devices when the computer goes to sleep. When this happens, Windows can lose track of your USB external hard drive. Just set it to disabled and the problem goes away.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
That's an option I did not know about. Following your suggestion, I adjusted my USB power setting. I don't think that was my issue, as other USB drives were fine, and the BIAB drives were powered on and spinning. The drives would have had to be powered on and connected in order for their contents to display, and for changes to be made.
I am taking your advice though, and made the change for future USB drive use.
.... If that doesn't fix your problem, I'm stumped. If it were my computer, I would probably buy a different brand USB drive, test it, and ship it to PG Music asking them to load BIAB on it.
Hmmm now that is something I hadn't considered. If / when my PC continues to run smoothly I might do that. Thanks Matt!
XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
The XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs special offers are now available until August 31st at 11:59pm PDT!
Ready to take your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 experience to the next level? Now’s the perfect time! Expand your style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs—packed with a wide variety of genres to inspire your next musical creation.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-9 includes 900 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). With over 3,500 styles (and 35 MIDI styles) included in Xtra Styles PAKs 1-20, the possibilities are endless!
Get the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Get Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 19 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
Mac 2025 Special Upgrade Offers Extended Until August 15th!
It's not too late to upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® and save! We've extended our special until August 15, 2025!
We've added many major new features to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, including advanced AI tools like the amazing BB Stem Splitter and AI Lyrics Generator, as well as VST3 plugin support, and Equalize Temp. Plus, there’s a new one-stop MIDI Patches Picker with over 1,100 MIDI patches to choose from, all neatly categorized by GM numbers. The MultiPicker Library is enhanced with tabs for the SongPicker, MIDI Patch Picker, Chord Builder, AI Lyrics Generator, and Song Titles Browser, and the tabs are organized into logical groups. The Audiophile Edition is enhanced with FLAC files , which are 60% smaller than AIFF files while maintaining identical audio quality, and now ships on a fast 1TB SSD, and much more!
Check out all the new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® here:
Purchase your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac during our special to save up to 50% off your upgrade purchase and receive a FREE BONUS PAK of amazing new Add-ons. These include the 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK, Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana, Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes, MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano, Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7, Playable RealTracks Set 4, RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark, and more!
Upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and add 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and 20 RealStyles, FLAC Files for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks, Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster, MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster, Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8, and RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe.
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs!
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
Playable RealTracks Set 4
RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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