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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 64
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OP
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 64 |
Ok so after a period of time I have accumilated 4 pre 2020 hard drives containing Band in a Box. I'm thinking of chucking them but maybe there might be an alternative use for them. I've tried to open one of the older versions to see if I could delete the BiaB program and use it as a hard drive back up somewhere but that didn't go so well for some reason.
Any Ideas?
BinaB 2023 for Mac all updates current.
Focusrite Saffire pro 40
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944 |
They are regular hard drives, nothing special. So it should be fine to delete the files and use it for whatever you want.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Dec 2002
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Reformat is what I do. That cleans them good.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jan 2010
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For my $.02 they are basically worthless.
who really needs another backup drive especially with limited capacity.
I can't even give them to my friends.
I wish PG Music could come up with some alternative product delivery system.
A "smart" download perhaps that only updates what is new on your target drive.
Seems like that could be done.
biab2025(Mac) Latest Build
Mac OS (Latest)
Apple Mac Mini M2 pro 32GB Ram
Logic Pro 11.2.2
Irwin Vice Grip Fencing Pliers
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Aug 2018
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You need to find some poorer friends. A 2TB thumb drive is almost 50 dollars on Amazon. I don't know if read/write speeds are faster on old BB USB drives or not, but I use one permanently plugged in. It's larger than either of my internal drives. And I reformatted and gave one away to a local kid (middle-school age) who was very appreciative and likes it because it's harder to lose. Thanks, Peter.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jun 2012
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They are definitely not worthless. They can and should be re-purposed for backups, even if it's only to make a copy of the children's photo album. Don't even think of 'chucking them', create backups of all of your critical / treasured files files.
My rule: everyone will suffer a catastrophic disk failure one day. Be prepared.
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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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jul 2000
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If you still plan on chucking them, send them to me  Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 64
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 64 |
I'll most likely reformat and keep them on hand for a while. I have a bunch of Mac devices and I'm sure that I could use backups for a few of them.
Thanks for the advise.
BinaB 2023 for Mac all updates current.
Focusrite Saffire pro 40
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: May 2020
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A 2TB thumb drive is almost 50 dollars on Amazon. A 50-dollar 2tb flash drive is likely a fake - scammers modify the drive's table of contents so that it looks bigger than it is, but it won't actually store 2tb of data. "Real" 2tb flash drives cost hundreds if not thousands more. They are definitely not worthless. They can and should be re-purposed for backups, even if it's only to make a copy of the children's photo album. Don't even think of 'chucking them', create backups of all of your critical / treasured files files.
My rule: everyone will suffer a catastrophic disk failure one day. Be prepared. I was taught in college that, as a professional, if you don't have 5 copies of your file you don't have any. Backup backup backup!
I work here
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I had not thought about reformatting them and using them as backup drives.... I have a bunch of them. I think I just found my new source of free SSD backup drives.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I had not thought about reformatting them and using them as backup drives.... I have a bunch of them. I think I just found my new source of free SSD backup drives. We don't use SSD's in our drives, so if they came from us they're probably normal 2.5" hard drives. Still useful, of course.
I work here
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I was taught in college that, as a professional, if you don't have 5 copies of your file you don't have any. Backup backup backup! Not quite in college - that was 50 years ago - but since then I taught my students in college something much the same. As important as how many you make, though, is where they are. Keep a copy off-site. Maybe one in the car etc. And especially not all connected to the same PC at the same time. But you knew that.
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; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: May 2020
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I was taught in college that, as a professional, if you don't have 5 copies of your file you don't have any. Backup backup backup! Not quite in college - that was 50 years ago - but since then I taught my students in college something much the same. As important as how many you make, though, is where they are. Keep a copy off-site. Maybe one in the car etc. And especially not all connected to the same PC at the same time. But you knew that. Absolutely! Where they are is probably more important than how many. If your house floods, and your computer and all your backup hard drives are ruined by the water, how many backups do you have left? Scary!
Last edited by Simon - PG Music; 05/21/21 08:48 AM.
I work here
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jun 2012
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At any one time we are running multi-terrabyte backups to a minimum of 6 separate incremental disks and separately the same number of imaged disks.
At least three of each of them are always stored off site, all in different locations, and all continually updated - with the offsite copies both verified and rotated.
As a programmer and developer with software that has involved more years than I wish to mention, and several millions of lines of code, I can't start again.
Years ago, a friend placed all of the photos of her baby on her computer hard drive - from the time he was born until he was about two years old. 'All the eggs in one basket'. The hard drive had a head-crash and the platters were destroyed and unrecoverable.
Whatever you do, backup, you need to. My motto: 'Be prepared - everyone will have a turn'
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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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Oct 2017
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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A friend of mine had one of those Tascam recorders with the internal hard drive. He used it for years.
A little over a year ago, the hard drive crashed hard.
Not sure if he was able to recover any of the data or not.
...Deb
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Everyone should know this by now.
There are 2 kinds of computer users:
1) Those who have had a hard drive crash
2) Those who haven't had a hard drive crash yet
If you don't want to lose your data, back it up.
Apps can be replaced, data cannot.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jan 2010
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Like the outdated minimal capacity spinning hard drives many of us longtime BIAB users have stacked in the closet, the backup approaches suggested by some on this thread seem so totally last century.
There is a better way.
First and foremost ditch any spinning drives. They are dinosaurs. Give them to relatives you hate and sell them on your existing backup stratedgerie.
Cloud Backup and perhaps an additional quarterly local snapshot on some SSD gives you all you really need to feel comfortable. Do it more often if you don't trust the cloud. Big brother is really watching, especially if you've given him reason.
Trust, but verify. And do it on SSD.
If you really have TB's worth of you are far from the average user, even a music user.
In which case you need a real backup system and the BIAB drives are pretty much useless.
More likely you probably have a poorly managed file system with your user data strewn over every application folder on the drive. That is your fault and not really corrected by a bunch of tiny hard drives. Clean that mess up and it all fits nicely on an SSD.
I know many of us (Myself included) are aging tech people but there's no reason we need antiquated hardware coupled with outdated methods to preserve our most precious data.
As always do what you want. For now, Its a free country.
biab2025(Mac) Latest Build
Mac OS (Latest)
Apple Mac Mini M2 pro 32GB Ram
Logic Pro 11.2.2
Irwin Vice Grip Fencing Pliers
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I can sort of see some of the point you are making, but this one: In which case you need a real backup system and the BIAB drives are pretty much useless.
There are many disk based backup systems available, but I wonder could you explain why BIAB drives are pretty much useless? Are they not capable of being used for backup purposes? Why would that be?
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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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jan 2010
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capacity.
if you need multiple TB you dont get that from a biab drive
biab2025(Mac) Latest Build
Mac OS (Latest)
Apple Mac Mini M2 pro 32GB Ram
Logic Pro 11.2.2
Irwin Vice Grip Fencing Pliers
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
We've added many major new features and new content in a redesigned Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. There’s also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.
Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.
Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!
Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
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You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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- Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
- Playable RealTracks Set 5
- RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
- SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
- Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
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- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
- FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
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- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
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- SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
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