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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2005
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OP
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I hate to be the voice of paranoia, but... I currently have BIAB 2009.5 (and Real Band) on a 500GB, 7200RPM drive that I use exclusively for my audio programs. What's been the general experience with you folks as far as the responsiveness of the drive that the programs are shipped on? And what if the drive fails?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 92
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mine just did.
I was having problems from the start and dl'd everything to my c drive. Then biab went corrupt for a reason and I plugged in my hd and it wont load.
I need to send it back.
6 strings. 24 frets. An infinite amount of possibilities.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2007
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My BIAB 2009 HDD was bad out of the box. I contacted PG Music by email. They shipped a replacement upon receipt of the UPS tracking number for the bad drive. I believe I received the replacement in two days from the time I gave to package to the shipper. The replacement drive is still going strong.
Richard
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Here's the deal, and I hope that maybe I'm not misreading... When Biab, or anybody for that matter, sends something on a hard drive, it's merely a convenience for storage space, as opposed to sending out 20 DVDs of stuff... You get the hard drive.. You use it to install the program on the hard drives that you are using for your programs presently, from the hard drive you got from pgmusic... Once you install the program, you put the hard drive away that you got from pgmusic... that's the equivalent of in the past receiving 20 dvd's... Do not use the hard drive as another hard drive to use wiht your programs...
My experience with the hard drive has been very good... I received it, I installed the new program, there were some, files that I realized I hadn't copied over so I took it out of it's leather pouch again, and afterwards, it's been sitting in a drawer now...
However, as another suggestion, because I had this problem and it had nothing to do with the hard drive, after you install the new 2010, download the upgrades cause they're going to fix some bugs that are with the program right out of the box... But this is not unusual with any new release so it's par for the course...
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I received the USB drive in Australia in 5 days and all worked excellently. I did not try the drive to see how it performed over usb, I simply used it as an installation drive and put all the programs on C: Rightly or wrongly, I reasoned that since it's quicker to copy files from one location to another on the hard drive than it is to copy from flash disk to hard drive (or hard drive to flash disk), my 7200 rpm hard drive would be faster at running BIAB.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2002
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Tradivoro,
You CAN run BIAB from the external hard drives, and from what I've heard, it isn't that bad. In fact, I'll be setting my laptop up to do that, instead of installing it to the hard drive.
However, I would agree that you should probably install it on your main computer.
As always, read the licensing agreement.
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2003
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Here's what I do.
I received 2009 on an 80G drive, 2009.5 on a 160G Drive & 2010 on a 160 G Drive. I installed 2009 on the C and put the drive in the drawer. I installed 2009 to the C and put it in the drawer. I erased the 80G and use it as a backup for my songs. I installed 2010 to the C AND updated the older 2009.5 drive to 2010 put them both in the drawer. I now have TWO copies for backup and they just sit in the drawer.
Next update I will do the same. Erase one of the 160G drives and update one to the next. This way I'll always have two backups and I'll accumilate drives for son storage and backup as well.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 157
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The hard drive version (particularly this year at 80 odd gig) has been a treat. I also managed to get about 5 years of updates deleted from my C: drive, and just run BiaB and RealBand from the USB drive - great idea by PG!!
Roy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I ran 2009, 2009.5 and now am running 2010 from the PGMusic supplied hard drives with no problems I couldn't solve.
Of course, the first thing I did was make a complete backup of every folder and file on the drive to another drive, just in case. All you need do is copy and paste Select All from one drive to another.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Like Mac the first thing I did was to back up the PGMusic HD to another external USB drive. Then I loaded BB and RB onto my computers C drive. I kept the RTs and RDs on the PGMusic HD and use them from there.
All HDs will eventually fail so it is very important to back them up IMHO.
It takes courage for a man to admit his wife was wrong.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
All HDs will eventually fail so it is very important to back them up IMHO.
That's not exactly true.
The only time the HD will fail is when the user has not backed up the data.
That is one of those "Murphy's Law" situations, of course.
if you back up the data properly, the drive will then last forever.
It will still be running fine long after the format is no longer supported by any current OS, long after any files on the thing are no longer needed, it will run *forever*.
But -- If you attemp;t to run that same drive only one time without backup, it will crash and burn on ya.
Of course.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 122
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<<Tradivoro,
You CAN run BIAB from the external hard drives, and from what I've heard, it isn't that bad. >>
Oh, there's no question about it that you can, that's not the point I was trying to make... The point is, that's your backup, that's what you bought and if in the future you get a new machine, you install the biab from this drive to your new drive, or if you present system fails and you have to reinstall all your programs, you use the hard drive you bought from pgmusic to reinstall the program, just like in the old days, you would use floppies and now CDs...
I would never use a program delivered on hard drive and use that hard drive as a drive... If it dies due to use, you just lost the entire program and you gotta go out and buy it again... I have various orchestral libraries that I've bought that came in hard drive and they're still in their hard drives, however, I transferred them to the hard drive that I use to store musical instruments... What I bought from the manufacturer, that stays as the backup for always.. Just like CDs and floppies..
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 193
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Apprentice
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My BIAB HD wouldn't always get recognized via my hub so I decided to install it on another USB HD that seems to work fine.
I like having the original HD stored safely away just in case.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Thank you all for your input. I'm embarrassed to admit I never thought about actually transferring all the files from the HDD to my computer and using the USB drive as backup instead of ordering the discs to do the same thing. DUH! Happy holidays!
Last edited by doremus; 12/26/09 05:10 PM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
Quote:
All HDs will eventually fail so it is very important to back them up IMHO.
That's not exactly true.
The only time the HD will fail is when the user has not backed up the data.
That is one of those "Murphy's Law" situations, of course.
if you back up the data properly, the drive will then last forever.
It will still be running fine long after the format is no longer supported by any current OS, long after any files on the thing are no longer needed, it will run *forever*.
But -- If you attemp;t to run that same drive only one time without backup, it will crash and burn on ya.
Of course.
--Mac
Maybe, just maybe, my last laugh from the forum in 2009.
Very funny Mac!
Later,
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 23,992
Veteran
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Veteran
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Posts: 23,992 |
Quote:
Quote:
All HDs will eventually fail so it is very important to back them up IMHO.
That's not exactly true.
The only time the HD will fail is when the user has not backed up the data.
That is one of those "Murphy's Law" situations, of course.
if you back up the data properly, the drive will then last forever.
It will still be running fine long after the format is no longer supported by any current OS, long after any files on the thing are no longer needed, it will run *forever*.
But -- If you attemp;t to run that same drive only one time without backup, it will crash and burn on ya.
Of course.
--Mac
 This is so true 
It takes courage for a man to admit his wife was wrong.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 579
Journeyman
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Journeyman
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Posts: 579 |
My views are exactly like doremus. Now, I see how the external hard drive is used----or at least the purpose most are using it for. Guess I'll go that route next time instead of the DVD discs. Since I use BIAB for live play, I just saw the external drive as another piece of gear to keep up with, to plug in, etc.., and I didn't want to go that route. Less is more for me.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2009
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Newbie
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I love this forum.
I'm picking up my HD tommorow, and will now take everyone's advise and load BIAB onto my computer, keeping the HD safely put away in case I need it down the road or for upgrades, etc.
If I hadn't of read this post, I probably would have just used it from the HD.
It's better to keep quiet and appear stupid, rather than speak and remove all doubt.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
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You have options.
I like using the USB drive and have been doing so for the last several versions of BB that have shipped on the USB drive. This way, I can work on songs on my desktop computer and transfer everythng over to the laptop for performances or travel very easily. Of course, the first thing I did was copy a complete backup of the shipped USB drive to another drive, for archival purposes, just in case.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 5
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Nov 2009
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Thanks for that post Mac.
I was thinking that my best bet would have been to load BB onto my laptop since it's newer and faster. But, I see that if I work from the portable hard drive, it doesn't use much space after all.
The other reason for putting it on my laptop is that I'm using it for practicing the upright bass. There's no way that the bass will fit into my computer room. Good idea of transfering what I want onto the laptop though.
Thanks again. As I mentioned, I'm learning so much just from reading the posts online here.
Scotty
It's better to keep quiet and appear stupid, rather than speak and remove all doubt.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Video: New User Interface (GUI)
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
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Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 10 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!
Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 21.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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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!
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Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
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