I have to finally upgrade to WIN10 from WIN7, and as I am not very adept, I have some questions for you Gurus.

Can I run a WIN7 emulation after the upgrade? I have a laptop with WIN10, and I can't find my way around it.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Bob

Bob, this question is a bit old now that Windows 11 is here. May I first ask why you would like to run a Windows 7 emulation that will cost you performance? The only reason I can think of is older audio equipment for which there are no Windows 10 drivers. But even that may run in Windows 10. I found Windows 10 to be more stable and leaner than 7.

If you must have Windows 7 to make a particular program run, you can try the emulation on an individual program basis once the program fails.

If your concern is drivers, which ones?

Thanks for responding, Matt. The only reason for going to 10 is certain WAVES plugins that won't run in 7. I'm just timid, because I am not proficient in computers.

I'm concerned about lost files, and if I will even be able to find them on WIN10.

I guess I'll just gave to install WIN10 and take my chances.


Regards,

Bob

I don't think upgrading from 7 to 10 will change the location of any of your files, certainly not the Windows standard of a Documents folder.

OK, so the reason for your OS upgrade is that you use WAVES plugins and they are no longer working in Windows 7, and you can get them in a format that requires Windows 10? I haven't used any Waves products since I bought Ozone, so I don't know.

Bob,

You can still use legacy version of Waves, including versions 9 and 10. There is a simple process.

If you call them at Waves tech support they will walk you through it. They are very nice.

https://www.waves.com/downloads/v10

Only the very latest Waves plugins won't run in 7. You have to check the list.

Windows 10 will not relocate any personal type files stored on your system (by this I mean files you have stored on your hard drive in specific folders etc.) You should already be doing backups, if not I recommend backing up your important files before the update, as that is always prudent. But in 99.9% of the cases you should have no issues doing the update.

There are numerous videos, websites etc. that can show you anything you need to know about Windows 10.

I recommend you follow David Snyder's advice and get the plugins working if you don't want to upgrade.

Be aware that at some point you are just going to have to because not all vendors will support the older systems.

Good luck.

I run Windows 7 in VirtualBox on Linux and most things run just fine(*).

I have a friend who's environment is based on Windows 10 and hew uses VirtualBox to run older Windows versions and too run Linux.


Why I run old Windows version:

I personally run numerous older versions of Windows, because some of my work is on physical machines that use embedded software. Some of those products still have to work with Win95, and one that still has to run with Win3.11-embedded. I have to ensure that changes I make don't break operation with those OSs.

That can be a bit of a pain in the nether regions.


(*)For anyone interested about issues with Windows inside a VirtualBox on Linux, some later versions of DirectX weren't supported the last time I tried it, and there are some areas with USB devices that are nuisance ... notably, sadly, MIDI keyboards. Audio into and out of VirtualBox generally works fine.

windows 10 wasn't that different to windows 7 and windows 11 isn't that different to windows 10.............

the changes seem mostly cosmetic and no files get moved to a different place. takes only a few minutes to work out the changes although as you go along you'll find one or two other differences but working out the change is quite easy.

if you can get your waves plugins working windows 10 and 11 are quite simple upgrades.

Matt,

Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Bob

Does USB pass through not work with MIDI keyboards? I've tried it with a ton of USB devices without fail, but not MIDI keyboards.

I certainly had a few issues setting it up with MIDI keyboards. I may just have become bored trying to set it up. Perhaps I should try again, then at least I can be more specific about whether it works and/or how to make it work.

Just for the record, the DirectX was with a CAD system I use, not with BiaB.

David,

Thanks for the info.


Regards,

Bob

Thanks man. I'm just really nervous when dealing with Tech stuff. Since my stroke, half my brain doesn't work.


Regards,

Bob

Well, I've installed WIN10. Everything looks fine, but I can't get any sound. Not in Sonar, Reaper, Windows Media, nothing. Also, the space bar doesn't start/stop BIAB or any of the other programs!


Any help?


Regards,

Bob

check your sound settings in windows control panel. upgrades are notorious for changing them. i'll bet that's what it has done. are you using on board sound or a sound card?

i find control panel easier to use than the settings gear wheel in windows 10.

bottom left in the search box enter control panel. open the control panel and click the sound icon (a loudspeaker). then select the playback tag and see if your default device has changed or been disabled.

Bob,

I'm using a Focusrite interface, and it is selected "active".

Did you download and install the drivers from Focusrite or just use the ones Windows provided? The Windows ones don't work well.

mmmmmmmm do you have any alternative sound source? select that - onboard sound, internal soundcard etc and see if you can hear anything. if you can then the problem is the focusrite in the new windows 10 environment and that should be easily solvable

Finally got sound working. WIN10 still not finding my WAVES plugs. This is a bloody nightmare.

Regards,

Bob

Don’t Waves plugins require a USB dongle that stores the license?

No, they have this idiotic Waves Central app, and this is my offline studio computer, so I have to DL the licences to a flash drive.

Tomorrow.

Regards,

Bob

One can save Waves' licenses on a USB dongle, in the cloud, or on your computer.