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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Who said "about time too!"?
Ever since I first got BB I have used it on XP and its been rock steady so have been loath to change.
However, as everybody seems to be giving up Support for XP, I'm going for Win7. I dont want Win10.
SO - I am buying a brand new 2TB hard drive for Win7 and the local Techie will make my PC a "duel boot" (sic) so IF I WANT I can run some of my old and loved software programs in XP but run Win7 for day to day activities and BB.
Is there an easy way of getting my full 2017 Ultra BB copy and pasted to my Win7 drive out of my XP drive? Currently it looks like I'll have to copy it all onto an external drive and then paste it from there into Win7. At 100gb plus, thats quite a Task.
Is it better to do this or go for a full Install from my PG account?
Will it see the new drive as an EXTRA computer - AFAIK I'm only allowed 3, and I already have one on my laptop.
All info and tips appreciated.
Ian
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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You can install the new OS on the new hard disk, than it should easy see the old hard disk. Why are you going on with obsolete Operating systems? Windows 10 in my own opinion is far better than W 7 that anyway will be discontinued as XP in a some years.
Sergino
Bandinabox 2024 standard (2020 Audiophile)
VST3 plugins on Studio One Pro 6.1
Windows 11(SSD) - AMD Radeon R9 5950X - 32GB RAM
MOTU: 2408 MkIII - 24i - Traveler - MIDI Express XT
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I too run XP Pro 32. It's rock solid and I have no plan to upgrade. If I were to upgrade I would have to get new versions of all my plugin software since it's 32 and the new system would be 64.....
So yeah, if you're going to upgrade, go all the way to the top with Win 10..... get everything updated and be done with it for a while.
I will have to upgrade when my computer dies and I can't get it running again... so at that time I will bite the proverbial bullet and upgrade to the latest greatest MSOS at that time.
BTW: Who's still supporting XP? I thought everyone had stopped supporting it. I know when I bought the XP OS for my custom build, at that time, it was already off MS's support list.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 03/06/17 06:01 AM.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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IME, dissing Win10 is just self-inflicting excruciating pain on oneself for no reason.
HTH,
Last edited by LtKojak; 03/06/17 08:47 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Unfortunately, Win10 does not work well necessarily on older computers. Win10 worked great until The anniversary update came along. The Win10 anniversary update completely black screened my HP laptop and refused tho boot. Googling found that I was not the only one. So I reverted back to Win7 (I had an Acronis image of my Win7 configuration.
However, Win10 works like a champ on my HP desktop with no problems so far.
It really depends on the machine.
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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Thanks
My PC is quite elderly - see spec below - but it does what I want.
Firefox still supports XP but only for another couple of months. I LOVE my old software - if it does what I want then why not use it? Win7 can work with them but Win10 not.
I want to be in a position to be able to use any more modern software I fancy, surf the net without the fear of lack of support so this seems a good idea.
We still didnt tackle the question though - - -
Ian
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I've stayed with Windows 7 for the simple reason that the last working driver for my DAW controller was issued for that operating system.
Keith
2026 Audiophile Windows 11 RYZEN THREADRIPPER 3960X 4.5GHZ 128 GB RAM 2 Nvidia RTX 3090s, Vegas,Acid,SoundForge,Izotope Production,Melodyne Studio,SONAR,3 Raven Mtis
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Thanks
My PC is quite elderly - see spec below - but it does what I want. The specs below say absolutely nothing about your computer. The best upgrade for an old computer is a SSD drive. I have a laptop with an old, dual-core 2.16MHZ processor, only 4M of RAM but a 256GB SSD that acts and feels a lot faster than another i7 2.5Mhz, 8M RAM but with a 500GB 5400RPM HD laptop. Both have been upgraded to Win10 and both run flawlessly. HTH,
Last edited by LtKojak; 03/06/17 08:45 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks
My PC is quite elderly - see spec below - but it does what I want.
Firefox still supports XP but only for another couple of months. I LOVE my old software - if it does what I want then why not use it? Win7 can work with them but Win10 not.
I want to be in a position to be able to use any more modern software I fancy, surf the net without the fear of lack of support so this seems a good idea.
We still didnt tackle the question though - - -
Ian
You can't have both. In other words, you can't always keep the old software you know and love and upgrade to the latest OS.... often, they just don't work together. I had that happen when I went from Win 95 to whatever came after that. My sound card driver didn't work and the company said they weren't supporting that driver/soundcard, that I'd have to buy a new card. You either have to stay where you are or upgrade and do everything that that entails and requires, including buying new and different software. AND..... just because someone or something no longer supports an OS, doesn't mean it's going to stop working. It just means that if you have problems, they will not help you regarding tech support assistance. Essentially you are gaining very little by doing the upgrade. Personally, I would keep the existing OS and if you want a faster, more modern OS, get a new machine but keep the old one like it is. I had to come to terms with the same issue. If I keep the old XP OS DAW, there would come a day when the software for sale was no longer compatible with the old XP32 OS.... and for many of the vendors out there now, that point has been reached and passed. So, occasionally, if I want to buy something new, I have to research and ask their tech support if it works with XP32. And quite often the answer is "No sir it doesn't... or at least we don't support it, so if you buy this you're on your own if you have problems." But I'm willing to accept that to keep from spending time and money on upgrades at this point in time. When this computer dies and is not repairable, I will buy what I need at that time to get up and running. By then, I'm thinking it will be Windows 20 with a 128bit OS.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 03/06/17 09:13 AM.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Missing in the discussion seems a bit lacking which Win7 to install. I changed fron WinXP to Win7 Ultimate 64bit about 3 years ago. First made a dual boot configuration with XP to be sure. Of course you'll run into some issues, but i must say 7 is pretty stable. Running 64bit and BIAB also works OK. Running 64bit DAW applications like Cubase 7 and up you will need Jbridge, currently 1.75, if you have older 32bit VST plugins. 64bit seems recommendable these days, software vendors abandon 32bit stuff more and more it seems, f.i. Cubase 9 is 64bit only. But what's most important if you want to go for 64bit is that a lot of older hardware needs 64bit drivers. So if you have an older computer Mainboard better check this first, or maybe stick to 32bit. F.i. check your Mainboard's BIOS version and especially the chipset drivers available too before you start. TIP: using something like Acronis True image to make occasional backups during the installation procedures of your boot sector. This can save your day timewise if something goes wrong and you can revert to a healthy version. Sixchannel, please note this: move your BIAB off the boot partition: i installed my programs on a separate partition, especially BIAB. You can address it f.i from XP and Win7 in your case there. Windows Repair (free tool) can also save the day with Win7. Most problems with Win7 i had was the frigging permissions thing, "Take Ownership" can be a tremendous time and annoyance saver too. Stay clear of al those registry editors and cleaners unless you know what you do. CCleaner is a great help there, never had problems with that. - F a PS: [quote=sixchannel] .... I had that happen when I went from Win 95 to whatever came after that. My sound card driver didn't work and the company said they weren't supporting that driver/soundcard, that I'd have to buy a new card .... I have 64bit non official drivers for my beloved but now abandoned (no PCI on my new Mainboard) and thus for sale Soundblaster Audigy ZS with breakoutbox, Programmable GM synth, Headphone Jack, Optical DIGI. Drivers were not available from Creative Labs. And call me biassed, but i never regretted buying M-Audio stuff, and RME now. They keep their older hardware driverwise supported and updated a lot longer than companies like MOTU, Steinberg and too many others. Also provide quick support if you need help. PS 2: Windows 10, if you don't like Big Brother spying too much on you, Windows 7 is better for ptivacy. Unless you switch off all sorts of pre-activated spyware-like functions. There are tools to do that for you ...
Last edited by fiddler2007; 03/07/17 01:58 AM. Reason: added information
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Ian, This might have already been mentioned, just in case, though.... Did you check that drivers are available for your soundcard to run in Windows 7? This was a stumbling block for me when I upgraded. Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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I just don't understand why would someone go to all the hassle of starting from scratch with an old OS on old hardware. Makes no sense to me. Win 10 is way better than 7 and even 8.1 for that matter. It has a great compatibility mode that runs old apps perfectly plus the security is lightyears ahead of the old systems. Read what our IT guy at the office said about that in the Tech S.O.S forum.
32 bit music apps run fine in a 64 bit OS but if your favorite music software has switched to 64 bit only then you must have a 64 bit OS. It's true the older but still good 32 bit plugins won't run on a 64 bit system if they haven't been rewritten for 64 bit.
Don't confuse 32 bit software with a 32 bit OS. Pretty much all 32 bit software will run on a 64 bit system. Also don't confuse music DAW software with music plugins. Plugins are not standalone software, they have to run in a host. 64 bit plugs won't run in a 32 bit host without bridging software. JBridge costs 10-20 bucks depending on sales and it allows 64 bit plugs to run perfectly inside Biab or RB which are 32 bit programs. Biab and RB run perfectly in my 64 bit Win 10 system.
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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... Win 10 is way better than 7 and even 8.1 for that matter... Small correction. Everything is better than 8.1  Whatever were Microsoft thinking?
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I have windows 8.1 running on a Dell laptop, it boots really fast and runs very stable. It had Windows 8 when i bought it, i wouldn't recommend this older version though. Benchmarks: http://www.techspot.com/review/1042-windows-10-vs-windows-8-vs-windows-7/General conclusion here is that the 3 tested behave about the same. I tend to think that XP is outdated, but i know a ICT guy who still prefers some older Windows 2000 version, rigged for his Cubase based system in a studio. But he uses that computer especially set up for audio only. No internet on that one .... And boy, it's an old computer too but runs quite fast. If you come from a Windows XP platform, "classic shell" might be a handy tool if you need to install windows 8.1 or 10. -F
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That's interesting but this is a music forum. There's an article around written by a Cakewalk software engineer comparing the performance of Win 10 vs 7 using Sonar. He measured audio rendering times, number of tracks and plugins without glitching and other parameters. Win 10 was faster and more stable.
Plus many folks are concerned about security. Again 10 is much more secure than older OS's. You can patch 7 all you want, it doesn't have the level of security that's built into 10.
Unless there's a ton of negative press about a new OS, when you want to upgrade just go to the latest and greatest and don't worry about it.
There's always a few who have problems. Reading about that on forums doesn't help much because who knows what the true details of whatever problems are. I'm not some expert either but I've managed to upgrade my stuff myself for over 20 years now with zero real issues.
There are always little things like when I did the free upgrade to Win 10 last year. I had Avast on the system and even though I disabled it the upgrade kept failing. I finally read somewhere that Avast needs to be completely uninstalled. I did that and voila! Whose fault was that? Microsoft's? Don't think so. Everybody knows AV software can cause issues sometimes which was why I disabled it in the first place but I didn't go far enough.
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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Ian, I recommend you try Windows 10 to see if it works before going back to 7. Windows 10 may work fine, as the Home version has a smaller footprint than does 7 (or 8.1).
FYI, Adobe Audition 1.5 still works just fine on Windows 10 Pro. I use it every day. I have no knowledge about Guitar Pro; don't have that.
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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Hi folks
Thanks for the input. I am going to Win7 quite simply because I HAVE it already.
So far, unless I misread the replies which are mostly about whether or not I should go Win7 or 10, no-one answered my prime question.
So, I think I'll go for the ball ache of a full DL from PG and see where that gets me.
Cheers
ian
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Ian, This might have already been mentioned, just in case, though.... Did you check that drivers are available for your soundcard to run in Windows 7? This was a stumbling block for me when I upgraded. Regards, Noel Hi Noel Sorry for the delay. Yes, the driver is available for Win7. Ian
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Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
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