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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 824
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This question is the same as one posted by Notes Norton way back in February. I don't know if all the folks who were struggling back then eventually solved their problems, but I have not! And neither have a couple of my band mates. We are all a bit frustrated because we used to swap a lot of files amongst ourselves for pre-rehearsal purpose.
Here are the circumstances:
Band-in-a-Box 2012.5 Audiophile on external drive
My BB files stored on main drive of laptop in Libraries/Music Library/My Music/BAND-IN-A-BOX FILES/(One of about 40 sub headings and then the full tune name.
Windows 7
64 bit laptop computer
When you select a tune from within BB, it works fine.
I would prefer my normal setting to be: Opt, Preferences, At Program Boot up..., Open previous song. And also the box ticked "Boot up in the directory of the last session", otherwise it all takes too long to run BB from the external drive.
As I said in the topic heading, I cannot open a BB tune directly from Explorer, Search in Explorer, from an email, or from another website. I used to be able to do that with no problems whatsoever. But I think the problem started somewhere around 2011, maybe earlier. I have just been copying and pasting but sheeesh!
I printed out the first four pages of the previous question and have tried all the suggested solutions, namely:
File, File Utilities, Associate File types. (I also tried removing the previous file associations before I associated them)
I also got a message first saying with Windows 7 you had to change the User Account Control Setting. I did that but I would prefer the setting to be the way it was, i.e. Always notify. But changing did allow me to remove and associate. The BB message said something about "true", which did not make sense to me.
Tried changing the startup preference to "Do not open song or style."
I thought once that I had solved the problem but it turned out to be a one-off fluke.
I (we!) do not know what else to try and it is very frustrating.
Maybe the problem has been solved, or I did not persevere long enough with the original question, but it’s too long ago to now go back.
Any suggestions anyone?
Grah Jive Talk
"Don't worry baby, they'll swing their arses off."
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,610
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I can play files and e-mail them from Win 7 Explorer with no problems. I just click on the file in Explorer and BIAB opens up and plays the file. Maybe you need to return to factory settings or re-install BIAB. Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Graham,
Just so I can get a clearer picture, what happens when you double-click on a BIAB file? Does BIAB start up?
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I don't have a need for that but I just tried it. From Explorer clicking on a Biab song opens Biab but not the song itself. Biab opens with a new blank project and this is not using my external drive, I have everything loaded on my C drive. Hmmm, I see there's only three options on startup, Open previous style, Open previous song and Don't open style or song. Right below that is a checkbox for Open in directory of last session. I don't see any way for someone to click on a Biab song in any directory and have Biab open with that exact song. The program opens fine but you still have to navigate to your song in question.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Yes, I would like to know the answer to Noel's question too.
Wild guess: I know you run from an external drive, but what folder did you install the BIAB system files to on your hard drive?
The Open Previous Song works for me unless the computer froze when running BIAB. That hasn't happened in a long time, but if it does, the name of the current song may not get written, so you wind up with the second-to-last song opened. Once you shake your head and remember what happened, you load the song you want (assuming you saved it at least once).
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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try this:
FILE > FILE UTILITIES > REMOVE FILE ASSOCIATIONS
then
FILE > FILE UTILITIES > ASSOCIATE FILE TYPES
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Pat, that's a good idea but I think he said he tried that already.
This is an odd case since we know it can and does work for some of us. Perhaps the problem requires assistance from PG Music Support?
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 824
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Quote:
Graham,
Just so I can get a clearer picture, what happens when you double-click on a BIAB file? Does BIAB start up?
Regards,
Noel
Yep, what Bob said. BIAB opens up, but with the previous file, or style, depending on the setting you have for "At Program bootup...". The tune you have double clicked does not open. There looks to be a flicker, as though it is trying, but it does not happen. 
Re Matt's question, "but what folder did you install the BIAB system files to on your hard drive?" BIAB did that automatically but the answer is "C:bb". It has the following subfiles: BB2Go, BBHelper, Real Tracks Demo, and Uninstall, then lots of styles are listed.
Last time I tried to fix this, I did return to factory settings. That did not help and it takes an age to get everything back the way I want it.
I can't believe this problem is only happening to three Aussies. There must be more people out there suffering the same annoyance. Unless they found the answer and we missed it.
Grah Jive Talk
"Don't worry baby, they'll swing their arses off."
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,514
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Yes, I have seen that. The flicker is the song you want being loaded, very quickly followed by the song you saved last in BIAB. I'm guessing your laptop is pretty fast, because on a slower machine like mine, you can see this happen.
Still, I don't see that effect much because most of the time, I do want to see the song I last worked on. However, I think there should be some sort of option to accommodate this so the "previous song" option still works without interfering with a "direct load' request from Windows. You can see how these two requests are in conflict. Perhaps it should be something like this, assuming it can be done:
PREFERENCES
At Program Bootup:
Open the style last used
Open the last song that BIAB saved
Open the last song that BIAB saved unless another song is directly requested via Windows
Open BIAB without a song or style
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,495
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Graham, Try the following and see if it helps. Before you do it, though, turn off User Account Control (UAC) under Control Panel. UAC can be re-engaged once you've finished the process. Please note that the below process was performed on Vista but I'd imagine that it's very similar on Win 7. 1. Have your USB drive plugged in and operational. 2. Navigate to a folder containing a BIAB file. SGU and MGU will need to be treated separately. Just pick one of them to begin with. (I chose a file with an MGU extension for this example.) 3. Right click on the file and select "Properties".  4. Now click on the "Change" button.  5. Irrespective of what it says under the "Recommended Programs" heading, click on the "Browse" button at the bottom of the pop-up window.  6. Now navigate to the BBW.EXE file on your USB drive. Select that file by left-clicking. Now "OK" your way through the menus to exit the process. 7. Repeat the process for the SGU file-type (assuming you started with MGU like I did). 8. Now re-activate UAC. One potential issue that may arise is that because you are associating a file with a program that's on a removable drive, it's possible that the drive could be assigned a different letter each time it's plugged in. Should a different drive letter be assigned to the USB drive, then the file association will not find the BBW.EXE program. (This could happen is, say, a USB stick (or thumb-drive) is plugged into a USB port before the USB drive containing BIAB.) BIAB files open fine for me when I double-click. I've just found myself wondering if it's tied up with "Open multiple instances of BIAB". Anyway, for reference, the below image shows my "Preference Settings".  Hope this helps, Noel P.S. Please let me know how it goes. I'm curious to see if it works.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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