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Comcast Constant Guard will block Band in a Box and RealBand silently #194511 02/14/13 07:51 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 22 Denver B Bill Lyons OP Enthusiast
OP Bill Lyons Enthusiast B Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 22 Denver	Hi, Comcast Cable provides free virus checking software for all registered subscribers: Norton 360 and a Comcast Home Grown called "Constant Guard". ConstantGuard is subtle in that it looks like it's just an encrypted password cache. But, buried deep in its configuration is a program blocker. My Band in a Box has been stopping silently at the splash screen for a couple of weeks. I tried removing interface.bbw (listed in another post) and bbw.exe would sometimes start 1 time. When I'd exit and try to start again BiaB would just show the splash and then quit. I tried disabling Norton figuring that that was my only virus blocker, but no Comcast Constant Guard was blocking bbw.exe as well. I finally figured it out when I did a complete uninstall and reinstall of BiaB and RealBand and tried to launch both programs. BiaB was still giving the splash screen and dying. I don't run RealBand much, but when I tried to launch it, I finally got a warning from Constant Guard. Buried deep in Constant Guard's configuration is a way to unblock programs. I'm on Vista64 but I don't think that would affect this problem. If you're a Comcast user and use their free virus/firewall software watch out if BiaB starts misbehaving. Happy Music Making! Last edited by Bill Lyons; 02/14/13 08:32 AM.

Re: Comcast Constant Guard will block Band in a Box and RealBand silently Bill Lyons #194512 02/14/13 10:11 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000 Posts: 15,976 PeterGannon PG Music Staff
PeterGannon PG Music Staff Joined: May 2000 Posts: 15,976	Thanks Bill, We will contact the Constant Guard folks, and send them our exe's, and they should be able to remove that issue in future patches that they make. To be clear, there is no problem with the BiaB software, it is a falss positive. Have Fun! Peter Gannon PG Music Inc.

Re: Comcast Constant Guard will block Band in a Box and RealBand silently PeterGannon #194513 02/14/13 10:36 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000 Posts: 38,502 Chesapeake, Virginia USA M Mac Veteran
Mac Veteran M Joined: May 2000 Posts: 38,502 Chesapeake, Virginia USA	FWIW, Avast! came up with warnings here also when attempting to use the install .exe files for BB. However, Avast! has a routine where the user can select to run it anyway when the splash pops up. You can also tell it to permanently ignore for a particular program name. And that data gets sent to the Avast team automatically, maybe if enough reports come in they will add it to the ignore list someday. But you can't really blame a protection software from at least asking you about ANY .exe program these days. It just makes good security sense for the protection software to do that. I'd rather have it flag a false positive than the alternative... --Mac PGmusic FAQs, Tutorials and Updates! click here You must be Audiominds. www.audiominds.com

Re: Comcast Constant Guard will block Band in a Box and RealBand silently Mac #194514 02/14/13 11:31 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000 Posts: 15,976 PeterGannon PG Music Staff
PeterGannon PG Music Staff Joined: May 2000 Posts: 15,976	Most of the anti-virus programs work by searching for a certain string of bytes in the file. As the number of identified viruses increases, the chances of these false positives goes way up. If you are unsure, you can always check an .exe, using 46 different virus scanners at once, by visiting virustotal.com and submitting the exe for testing. When you do this, you should see that none of the 46 show any positive readings. Have Fun! Peter Gannon PG Music Inc.

Re: Comcast Constant Guard will block Band in a Box and RealBand silently PeterGannon #194515 02/14/13 01:51 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 22 Denver B Bill Lyons OP Enthusiast
OP Bill Lyons Enthusiast B Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 22 Denver	Hello Peter and Mac, Thanks and completely agree. Absolutely nothing wrong with BiaB. This is a Constant Guard problem that needs to get corrected. Thanks again for BiaB. I'll add that virustotal.com to my checks. PS Mac - I don't mind a false positive either, but at least warn me that you blocked my program start! Shame on Comcast! Last edited by Bill Lyons; 02/14/13 01:52 PM.

Re: Comcast Constant Guard will block Band in a Box and RealBand silently Bill Lyons #194516 02/15/13 12:20 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2011 Posts: 280 Milano, Italy LtKojak Apprentice
LtKojak Apprentice Joined: Dec 2011 Posts: 280 Milano, Italy	Quote: PS Mac - I don't mind a false positive either, but at least warn me that you blocked my program start! Shame on Comcast! It most probably blocked the program blocking warning window too. Oh, the irony... Jokes aside, I've been using the Microsoft Security Essentials in all my computers since its inception and I've never ever had any problem with it blocking anything and never ever got any nasty either. HTH, Last edited by LtKojak; 02/15/13 12:25 AM. Pepe aka Lt. Kojak Milano, Italy https://soundcloud.com/theodore-kojak/tracks Hy-Bro Test Sound Files

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May 06, 2026

2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!

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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
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)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App

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FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)

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April 28, 2026

XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!

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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 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!

Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!

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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 as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.

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April 22, 2026

Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos

With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.

Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.

Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!

April 21, 2026

Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac is Here!

Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.

Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!

Special Offers
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2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box^® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.

April 02, 2026

Holiday Weekend Hours

As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:

April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
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Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!

— Team PG

March 24, 2026

Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!

If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.

March 12, 2026

Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!

If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.

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