PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows Can't get file associations to work properly in BB 2019 with windows explorer

Is anyone having trouble with file associations from within Windows Explorer? I have installed 2019 twice on a Windows 10 machine - 64 bit to try and overcome the problem with no improvement. With 2018 ( and many previous releases) I had no trouble clicking on a file in Explorer to open it in BB. If BB was not open it opened and loaded the file. If a file was already loaded the clicked file would load and replace the previous file. If that file had been changed there would be a message asking if it should be saved.

In both installs there was a message asking if BB files should be associated with the program. I said yes.

First install with 607 updated: Once installation was complete the files displayed in Explorer were not associated with 2019 in the same way as previously, there was no association at all. The BB icons were not adjacent to the file names. Clicking on a file gave a Windows error message saying cannot access specified device........... I used the utilities option in BB to try and overcome this problem with no success. I used Windows itself to do the association for the BB files and that resulted in the icons appearing. Double clicking a file opened BB and loaded the file. Ok so far. Clicking another file in Explorer did not load and replace the original file as it had in previous versions and presumably should now. It looks as though it is "trying" to. The BB logo appears in the centre of the screen for a very short time (flickers) and then nothing. The original file remains. If the right mouse button is used and the play or open options used they offer no improvement. If the multiple instances option is enabled then a second instance is opened with the "new" file.

Second install with 608 updated: Same outcome apart from the icons being there but this may be a hangover from the first install.

Seems to be the same for the 64 and 32 bit versions.

The files can be opened from within the program and perform in the way expected in terms of loading but this is not as convenient (for me) as using Explorer which remains open throughout and can display more files with various viewing options.

File associations work fine for all other programs on the machine.

Any ideas?

Make sure you're running BIAB as administrator and disable User Account Control in Windows, then try again.

Does that work?

Hi Cerio
Thanks for the quick response. I have administrator rights and have disabled Account Control as you suggested.

The problem remains.

This problem has been reported many times, and it seems there's no single solution that works for everybody. I recommend using the search function and try different options:

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=498038
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=100269
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=30467
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=228309
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=203232

Oh, yes...Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the welcome. I have dipped into the forum as an observer over the years but have never really had a problem before. I can now see that associations has been a continuing problem throughout new releases and operating systems. Thanks for the links. Quickly looking at them it seems I have tried most of the suggestions but will continue trying. I will post if I find a solution.

There is a small .exe in the bb folder you can run:
bb\data\installers\fileassoc.exe

Alternatively you can do it from within Band-in-a-Box - there is an option under the file menu (this requires that you run Band-in-a-Box 'as an administrator' (right-click on the .exe / shortcut) because it needs to change a registry setting.

The "default app" setting in Windows 10 doesn't seem to work for some people, not sure why ... and it's not just with Band-in-a-Box, but other files like text files for example.

emstrjg,

This thread could also be a useful read...

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=509629#Post509629

regards,
Noel

Thanks to Cerio, Andrew and Noel for your replies.

I have tried all suggestions both here and in the other links suggested. I even deleted the relevant association keys in the registry manually to make sure they did not exist and then re-associated again. The problems are still there exactly as described in my first mail. Interestingly in the first mail I said the BB logo appeared very briefly (flickered) when attempting to load in a second file from explorer. It was that quick I could not actually see if it was 32 or 64 bit. I removed the allow fast bootup option in preferences and tried the second loading again. As expected this was not as speedy and the logo remained on the screen for a few second before disappearing. It was trying to open the file in the 64 bit version which was the one I had associated and was using.

I have spent far too much time on this. More time than actually playing my saxophone so I will open files from within BB until maybe an update will solve the problem.

Thanks again

As Andrew says, the issue of file association and default apps is not only with Band In A Box but also occurs with other applications such as media players. I was trying to associate midi files with XMPlay but have had no success.

The issue is Microsoft's fault and occurred after an upgrade to Windows 10 sometime this year. Searches online recommend varying method of righting this but do not help. I think Microsoft is aggressively pushing their own apps and resetting the default apps to suit.


Kevin

So true. Why i won't let Windows Updates take control in Windows 10 especially. Every time i switched it on for some reason i regretted doing so. I know others here don't agree .... F