A well articulated response, MusicStudent! You're right that there are several editing features that are in the main Band-in-a-Box that are not in the plugin version due to the assumption that many editing features are already in the DAW.

LeoK, what version/ year of Band-in-a-Box do you have? Please make sure you have the latest build update for your version installed from here: https://www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm

Typically the plugin needs to generate first in order for there to be sound/data to play.

What Style are you using?

For the crashing issue, make sure that your Reaper is accessing the latest version of the Band-in-a-Box plugin that you have. You can add/change the VST folder paths in Reaper under Options | Preferences | VST. If you need to change the folder paths here, please click the Re-scan and Apply buttons afterwards. Then close Reaper and try opening it as an administrator.
If you do not need to change the folder paths, opening Reaper as an administrator can still help the crashing issue as well.


Best,
Chantelle