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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803
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Posts: 803 |
Hi, This problem needs a bit of background explanation.
I am trying to install BIAB 2016 and then install the BIAB 2018 upgrade files. I have the BIAB 2016 ultrapack. I got it on the external drive. I originally installed it to run from the external drive but the installer put some files on the C drive. So later the external drive started acting up so I copied everything to the D drive of the machine where I was running BIAB from. I fiddled around with it and got it to run from that D drive. So I had to reformat my C drive again and I am currently installing all the software (my image return failed). So I went to the D drive folder "D:\BIAB_2016_UltraPlusPAK" and clicked setup.exe. It told me it could not find the installers. There are four of them it complained about. So I did a windows find command on the D:\BIAB_2016_UltraPlusPAK folder and found the installers in the "D:\BIAB_2016_UltraPlusPAK\PGMusic\Installers" folder. I was thinking I would just run them directly from there in the same order that it was complaining about not finding them. However since it is lunch time :-) I though I would see if anyone has any cautions about going ahead with this idea or suggestions.
What I find interesting is if I click on the 'Band-in-a-Box.exe" file within the D:\BIAB_2016_UltraPlusPAK folder it actually runs and if I set up the associations I can click on my C drive BIAB song files and it actually plays them. I guess the association stores where the BIAB .exe file is located. Unfortunately when I close BIAB it aborts so I figure I may as well get it set up correctly. I am guessing it wants some windows registry entries.
Thanks for any help,
John
Last edited by bowlesj; 11/28/19 08:17 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,848
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,848 |
If you bought 2016 from PGMusic, all the installation and content files should be in your account (accessible from the main PGMusic home page screen). If you have trouble installing, you could download the files and install that way. Assuming your RealDrums (Drums folder) and RealTracks (RealTracks folder) are still accessible on the external USB, you wouldn't need to download all that content. Just make sure they are copied to the correct location on your new hard drive. Then you can run the 2018 install to get everything up to date.
Just a thought.
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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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803
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OP
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803 |
Hi John, thanks for your response.
Yes I was informed a while back that after I log in to the PG music website I can navigate to a page that allows me to download my BIAB 2016 files and install. I just found my reminder database notes and I was once again able to do that. However I am trying to avoid that download approach since it takes a long time and I successfully copied all the external USB hard drive files over to my computer's D drive without issue.
Without issue means I did it in single copy which left all the external USB drive files (of the root directory and of the sub-directories) exactly as they were set up. I can not access that external drive now so it is lucky I did the copy when I did. I ran BIAB successfully from that D drive folder for a year or so which seems to confirm that the copy went well.
I was rather surprised when I discovered that executing the setup.exe file from the directory within my D drive did not work. I was surprised because I have downloaded at least 100 softwares over the years and the setup.exe (or equivalent file) was able to install properly 99% of the time. My pattern for executing this process is pretty much always the same. I download to the download directory and install from there. If I like and decide to keep the software I move the zip file to a folder with a long descriptive name so I can find the zip file later. All of these are stored under a common folder so I can find them easily. Inevitably I have to eventually reformat and do these installs again and they work again. So the setup.exe files don't care where they are located. Having done some windows dos scripting and a lot of unix shell scripting I understand basically how they are able to find the install source files. How they find the target locations I don't know. I say this because I always have windows on the C drive but I can't assume everyone does and some of the setup.exe files may be able to handle this.
I am thinking I will email support. They can go directly to the programmer(s) involved and figure out the easiest way to get BIAB and Real band installed from my D drive. I certainly don't want to move those files to the route directory of the D drive (trying to simulate how it was located on that external USB drive) and make it a mess since I have other stuff on that D drive too.
John
Last edited by bowlesj; 11/28/19 11:55 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803
Expert
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OP
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803 |
I went back and did a more thorough review of the problems with installing from a D drive with the files under a folder I created. I was correct it seems. BIAB wants everything in the root directory. As mentioned above this would create a mess on my D drive and I confirmed that because MS-Backup has already claimed the root of that drive. I wish MS-Backup didn't do that. I have had other backup programs that did a great job which did not (the original MS-backup programs before WIn-7 and others too).
So I want to avoid putting it on C (limited space - already huge files going in there).
I want to avoid downloads if I can. Too slow. Internet could be down. Modem often cuts out which could corrupt files.
It is hard to get a 150 GB drive. Makes more sense to use the D drive which has the space available and this avoids using a USB plug (may be faster).
I emailed support asking if they have any setup files that can handle being under a user created directory. I don't think it is exactly that hard to whip up. I am guessing 1 to 3 hours. They may have already done that. Maybe it makes a lot of sense to install all their stuff under a directory on their hard drives or better yet make the setup programs smart enough to figure out where they are. I use to store all my setup programs on a D drive in a special folder but lately have moved them to the C drive under a special folder which is common with my other two machines making it easy to backup small updates during the day. Those setup programs can all figure out what drive they are on and what folder they are in.
Last edited by bowlesj; 11/29/19 01:18 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,128
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,128 |
I emailed support asking if they have any setup files that can handle being under a user created directory. All of my downloaded setup files are stored under a user created directory, which at the present moment is ~200Gb in 823 files in 56 folders. I can find any download I need for any year. As for the actual BiaB install, my understanding is that BiaB does very little to modify/update/interact with the O/S itself, however, there are fonts (at least) that need to be integrated, and the Windows O/S is involved for this. You can install BiaB to C:\bb or D:\bb or X:\bb I've got one system (a laptop) with limited space on C: so I just installed on D: Everything about the installation is vanilla standard, except that the target drive is D: The actual install setup came from the downloaded setup files stored in my user created directory. Have I misunderstood your question?
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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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803
Expert
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OP
Expert
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803 |
Hi Video Track, Thanks for responding and giving me this info. I find your setup interesting. I am not sure I fully understand it.
Anyway, support emailed me with some questions. I started an email to answer them. One of the questions made me decide to try one last time to see if I could get my computer to recognize the external USB drive that 2016 BIAB came on. Luck. This time it worked where as yesterday my computer could not recognize it. So I did a 2016 BIAB minimum reinstall to my C drive off that external USB drive and it worked. So I unplugged that USB drive and I clicked on my old BIAB icon that pointed at the BIAB that is set up on my computer's D drive under the folder "BIAB_2016_UltraPlusPAK" I created. It worked. I am now running under BIAB 2018 from my folder. I get one new error popup which I asked support about. Other than that everything seems to be working fine. I have put that external USB drive in a sealed plastic bag and taken some notes as to how I managed to resolve the issue.
I may never need to do all this again. But maybe PG_Music will redesign their setup.exe files in the future to run from anywhere. That would make things easier I think.
John
Last edited by bowlesj; 11/29/19 08:23 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,930
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,930 |
Glad that you got it working.
We could probably allow it to install from a custom folder in the future, like you say.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 803
Expert
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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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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
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Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
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- RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
- SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
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