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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2011
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lets imagine i had a PC meltdown (it's happened before.you too.huh?) and lost EVERYTHING.....
last month i bought the BIAB 2011 discs from a store in England.lets just say for a moment that i have, sometime in the future, upgraded to BIAB 2012 and then the meltdown hits....what happens now?
i reinstall my discs?
but those are the BIAB 2011 pre upgrades......
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Vishnu,
I keep back-ups of all my installation files for exactly that reason. My motto is, "Never trust a computer".
When you upgrade, if you choose the "download" option, you receive a number of files which can very easily be burnt to DVD. My experience is that downloads are ONLY the files needed for the upgrade. In this scenario, you'd need to reinstall the original disks and then run the upgrade files.
Alternative, you could simply save a back-up copy of your entire BB directory. (I bought a USB hard drive expressly for that purpose.) Then, if you need to reinstall, you simply copy over the entire BB directory and then run the latest version of the BIAB/RB installation file (usually around 250 MB).
Every once in a while, I buy the USB hard drive version of BIAB because that gives me the entire, up-to-date program and makes it easier to keep track of everything because the USB purchase installs directly from that drive.
Hope these thoughts give you ideas.
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Backup, backup, backup! And not just your user created data, but your program installation files and disks.
I have found there are very few programs that have to be installed from hard media (CD or DVD); so I have copied all my applications, updates, upgrades, add-ons, etc, to an external USB hard drive, categorized by type of application, with each application in its own folder. I include any license codes in the folder name, so it's easy to copy/paste when asked for them. I create text files with notes about the application, and I have an index spreadsheet that lists everything, including web links to the application. For applications that want to be installed from media, I just create an ISO image and then use a virtual CD utility to mount the image as if I had the original disk.
I synchronize this USB disk drive to another every so often to keep things up to date and to have a complete backup. So far it's worked very well for me, and it makes re-installs go much quicker.
But it takes time and diligence to do that; once done, however, maintenance is pretty simple.
And of course, I backup my own data to a different external hard drive. In general, if I crash, I might lose at most a little bit of recent email.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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If you did not have backups, PG Music could probably help you out. If you purchased directly from them, they keep good records of what you bought, and could supply replacements. I recall a few times when this has been done for the cost of the media and shipping (although there are no promises that would still be the case).
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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Any time I add something major, and by "major" I mean software that cost me a lot of money, I do an image of the hard drive on to another hard drive.
And this is where I get on my "experience" soapbox and say NEVER NEVER NEVER buy through download only. ALWAYS get media. I bought a piece of hardware from a company called Dacal like 8 years ago that stores 150 CDs with a software interface where all my CDs and DVDs are. Everything I have ever purchased is in that library, down to drivers for NIC cards. When I need something, I load "CDLIB", find it, click it, and the box spits out the CD that holds what I need.
Also, as was mentioned, backup backup backup. I wrote a small batch file I called back2thumb.bat that is little more than
copy C:\documents\*.* h:\documents /Y
copy C:\songs\*.* h:\songs /Y
and so forth, where h: is an 8 gig thumb drive. That copies everything in those directories to my backup drive and overwrites existing files automatically. If you prefer to not automatically overwrite and be prompted every time, make the switch /-Y and it will ask if you want to overwrite. I use the switch because I know I want to, but that is your call. Just make sure you label your thumb drive if you have more than one that looks the same.. LOL!!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
Any time I add something major, and by "major" I mean software that cost me a lot of money, I do an image of the hard drive on to another hard drive.
And this is where I get on my "experience" soapbox and say ALWAYS get media. I bought a piece of hardware from a company called Dacal like 8 years ago that stores 150 CDs with a software interface where all my CDs and DVDs are. Everything I have ever purchased is in that library, down to drivers for NIC cards. When I need something, I load "CDLIB", find it, click it, and the box spits out the CD that holds what I need.
Also, as was mentioned, backup backup backup. I wrote a small batch file I called back2thumb.bat that is little more than
copy C:\documents\*.* h:\documents /Y
copy C:\songs\*.* h:\songs /Y
and so forth, where h: is an 8 gig thumb drive. That copies everything in those directories to my backup drive and overwrites existing files automatically. If you prefer to not automatically overwrite and be prompted every time, make the switch /-Y and it will ask if you want to overwrite. I use the switch because I know I want to, but that is your call. Just make sure you label your thumb drive if you have more than one that looks the same.. LOL!!
am i not right in thinking that REAPER is available as download only?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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i would need to have someone do this for me.......is it a straightforward enough job for someone with the PC skills?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2011
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Quote:
Hi Vishnu,
I keep back-ups of all my installation files for exactly that reason. My motto is, "Never trust a computer".
When you upgrade, if you choose the "download" option, you receive a number of files which can very easily be burnt to DVD. My experience is that downloads are ONLY the files needed for the upgrade. In this scenario, you'd need to reinstall the original disks and then run the upgrade files.
Alternative, you could simply save a back-up copy of your entire BB directory. (I bought a USB hard drive expressly for that purpose.) Then, if you need to reinstall, you simply copy over the entire BB directory and then run the latest version of the BIAB/RB installation file (usually around 250 MB).
Every once in a while, I buy the USB hard drive version of BIAB because that gives me the entire, up-to-date program and makes it easier to keep track of everything because the USB purchase installs directly from that drive.
Hope these thoughts give you ideas.
Noel
i would need to have someone do this for me.......is it a straightforward enough job for someone with the PC skills?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 886
Expert
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Quote:
If you did not have backups, PG Music could probably help you out.
I can testify to this, they went WAY above what was required to get me back up & running just a week or so ago...great company! 
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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jcspro40, thanks for the confirmation. It is indeed a great company!
vishnu, I realize managing computer files is not everyone's strength, but in my opinion, nothing mentioned here is at all difficult for those of us who are practiced in file management.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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vishnu, Let me put it this way . . . my name would never be spoken about when people talk about the really PC savvy members on this forum. With that said even I was able to backup any and all files I deem worthy of saving (and BIAB tops the list) simply by purchasing an external hard drive and backing up to same. Therefore even a monkey can do it, as I peel a banana for lunch.  Later,
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Vishnu, yes, anybody with basic PC skills can show you how to do this. Then YOU will have the skills for next time. Teach a man to fish....
Just remember that you are just copying files and don't let it overwhelm your thought process. Sure you are copying a LOT of files, but still you are just copying files.
At the very least, wherever your BIAB songs are, back that up often. For the example I typed in earlier, I created a folder on the root of the C: drive called "songs". Thus the path to those songs is C:\songs and to copy them you could copy and paste to a thumb drive. I backup more than one folder, thus the command line option of using a batch file. And that batch file actually copies 5 different folders so it is slightly bigger, but each line in the file I execute copies one folder on the computer to another location. Just think of it as taking a picture of a file drawer and saving it elsewhere.
You'll be fine.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Many of the hard drives you buy as 'external' backup come with software to manage the whole thing. I'd suggest that approach if you are not savvy in such stuff.
I presently use google's gmail and the storage you get for files to store important documents AND dropbox so I can use them on all my systems.
I sort of have system overload lol.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I use Dropbox as well, John. Copies of my songs are there so I can listen from anywhere. I use Google Docs for sharing. I like the security of it where you have to specifically email an invitation to people.
The external drive is great if you need 2tb of storage. If you are only backing up docs and such..... just a matter of each person's application and what they want to back up. Varying degrees of familiarity will end up with varying methids.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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It's always good to back up your software programs. However, if you are a registered user with PG Music, they will assist you in getting back up and running. They have helped me a few times.
I would recommend buying directly from them for this very reason. No iffs ands or butts when it comes time to reinstall and you don't have the disk.;)
PG & Team have THE BEST customer support of any business I have done pleasure with. Their products are amazing, even for geetar players :P
Trax
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I would also like to add something because the original poster appears to be a little new to computers. You need to be very aware of what the term "backup" really means. You can "back up " files, which makes a copy of the files. You can't "back up" a program by copying the folder from the hard drive to a backup device. There are supporting files in other directories that are necessary to run a program.
For example, if you install "Bob's Program" onto your hard drive, Bob's Program will install to C:\Program Files\Bob's Program, as well as create Windows registry entries that are not exactly the same on every computer. Also it will call up something known as .dll files that are located in the C:\Windows\system32 folder. (That means "dynamic link library".) If you were to copy C:\Program Files\Bob's Program to an external device, reformat your computer, copy Bob's Program to C:\Program Files\Bob's Program on the newly loaded hard drive, Bob's Program will not run because the supporting files and registry entries are not there.
DATA (files that a program reads and interprets) can be copied. PROGRAMS (the executable program that reads and interprets data) must be installed.
As an analogy, if you have a photo of you called mypicture.jpg, that is a DATA file and will not do anything by itself. A PROGRAM like Irfanview, Paint, Photoshop, Windows Image Viewer.... will INTERPRET that data and display the image. However it is important to understand that the PROGRAM is what runs and just reads and interpret data. I see a lot of customers who don't understand the difference between an executable program and a data file. Note, one is a program, the other is a file.
Hope this was not interpreted as speaking down to you, but as i said, I see a lot of people who don't understand the difference.
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Eddie is right on, and if someone wants to "backup" the programs and files they need to explore the world of hard drive cloning.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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And hard drive cloning should NOT scare anybody away. Just follow the directions and know the difference between "source" and "destination" and it is a stroll in the park. You can download programs for free from the web. They will create a bootable CD, then you connect that second drive, and boot from the CD. Tell it to clone (or it might use the term "mirror") the source to the destination, and it will make a byte by byte "snapshot" of your original hard drive so if there is ever catastrophic failure, you can pop your clone into your machine and run it.
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Seagate, Western Digital, and a few other HDD manufactures usually come with some kind of back-up utility, mostly based around Acronis. I have tried a ton of software over the last few years ( Norton Ghost, etc} both free & pay-for, and none were as easy to use as Acronis. Once set up it is a 4 click process. And after you make the image & you have problems, you just place the startup CD in your drive, reboot, and re-image the drive. After 2 years of using Acronis I have never had any problems re-imaging the drive back to a working state. I do a lot of software testing, so I have at times trashed my system beyond repair... And the good thing about this software is that it was one of 3 that kept ALL licensing information, so I don't even have to re-install codes or go online to re-activate. Like I mention, check your Hard Drive Manufactures web site to see if the offer a download of the software. I ended up buying Acronis when it was on sale, so it was not too much &&. Next to BiaB & Reaper I feel that this was one of the best investments I have made for my system!
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
none were as easy to use as Acronis
Don't know what I would do without my Acronis True Image. I know over time, some folks have had some problems, but I've never had a problem with it. I always backup/image using the bootable disk (even though you can do it from within Windows), and that has always worked for me. Re-installing complete configurations to new/different hard drives (to include resizing) has always worked great.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
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