So I changed (I won't call it an "upgrade") from Windows XP to Windows 10, and I need to reinstall BIAB 2016. I see that the Windows 10 installation has left my bb and realband directories intact in the C directory. So I'm confused as to what exactly will be overwritten when I reinstall BIAB. I would like to save my preferences so I don't have to start over from scratch. How should I reinstall so I don't lose my customizations? Do I need to copy the bb and realband directories to an external drive, completely reinstall BIAB (RealCombos and everything?), and then copy the directories back to the C drive?
You should run the Band-in-a-Box installer again - just the main installation file, it will be named something like "band-in-a-box_realband_201x.exe". Install right into that same folder. Your preferences will not be affected.
Last edited by Andrew - PG Music; 11/14/1706:58 PM.
Well that didn't go well. I ran the installer, selecting only BIAB and Realband to install, and unchecking all of the other boxes. After the installer completed I tried to run BIAB and I got one application error after another. It won't even let me exit- more application errors pop up. BIAB is now sitting there laughing at me.
It won't even let me exit- more application errors pop up. BIAB is now sitting there laughing at me.
I'll try to be lighthearted, it's not laughing at you, you're crying at it
However, give us some more information so we can help:
1: Is this reinstall in the same folder that BiaB was installed in and worked correctly previously?
2: Can you tell us more about the application errors? What do they state? Are they Access Violations, messages about missing files? How many messages?
3: Can you try running the Installer again but this time as Administrator? (Right-click the exe file and select Run as Administrator)
4: What was the exact name of the installer program that you selected?
5: Windows 10 has strong protection when running programs, that's why Run as Administrator might be required.
6: Also, have you got BiaB set to Run as Administrator always?
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.
Thanks for the replies. For item number 2, this does appear to be a privilege or access error.
Try this:
Log in to your computer as the Administrator account.
Using Windows Explorer, right-click on your BiaB folder (e.g. C:\bb ).
Select Properties from the Context Menu.
Uncheck Read Only and press Apply.
The try running BiaB as Administrator (right-click the desktop icon and select from there).
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.
...I ran the installer, selecting only BIAB and Realband to install, and unchecking all of the other boxes...
To clarify, run that single installer bandinabox_realband_2016.exe, but do check all of the boxes.
However that would be unrelated to the permissions problem you are having with the bb folder. Take the Band-in-a-Box program out of the equation for a moment, and simply go in the bb folder and try creating a text file (right-click | New | text document), or making any other change for that matter. What happens? What about somewhere else on your C: drive? It doesn't sound like you have any permissions in that folder - perhaps this is somehow caused by upgrading from XP to 10, I'm not sure.
Thanks everyone. You guys had the right idea with the permissions. I spent quite a while trying to uncheck the "read only" box for the C:\bb folder, only to have it revert back to read only. Googling the issue, it seems this is a common problem when upgrading to Windows 10 and there's some debate as to the significance of the read only designation. (The theory being that if you have all the permissions the "read only" doesn't matter). Anyway, long story short, after another reinstall or two and giving myself all of the permissions I could find for C:\bb, running BIAB AS ADMINISTRATOR did the trick. BIAB now seems to run and look exactly the way it did before the upgrade.
Great. Excellent outcome, and thanks for the feedback that you resolved OK.
On my systems, I always set the User Account Control to the lowest setting. This is a personal choice, but I know how to use it - and have excellent A/V protection also.
The UAC will stop the O/S asking questions like 'Are you sure you want to run this program?', etc).
User Account Control is available from the Control Panel.
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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