Using MultitrackStudio in Windows Vista - Important:
Be sure to set the program compatibility properties of the MtStudio.exe to "Run as administrator" for the current user and for all other users if probably too. If you do this, then MultitrackStudio will have the ability to do some things that it needs to do, such as add patches to the Patch folder.
If you don't do this, then your patches (and perhaps other data files) could end up somewhere in the hidden folder c:\Users\YourName\AppData\VirtualStore or someplace like that.
Essentially, Windows Vista keeps program data in this kind of place when a program tries to save information somewhere that it's not allowed to.
This wouldn't be such a pain if the folder wasn't invisible.
Don't blame Giel or MultitrackStudio for this, this is a security "feature" of Windows Vista.
Using the command prompt run as administrator (right click, run as administrator) you can use DOS-like commands to navigate to the VirtualStore folder and see what's in there. You really shouldn't modify any of it because then your programs may fail. I think Windows Vista stores virtual registries in there too.
Important - Using MultitrackStudio in Windows Vista
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NystagmusE
You guys are wise to turn off UAC, but I read somewhere that turning off UAC disables registry virtualization which might be needed for some programs designed for earlier operating systems such as Windows 9x. I'm not absolutely sure about that, but I do have a lot of Windows 98 SE programs installed and running and so I don't want to mess with UAC now. I'm not against other people turning off UAC though.
Enabling admin rights allows programs to attempt to write to the registry unhindered from what I remember, even if it's the wrong type of registry entry. The elevated rights is what some registry-writing VST plugins need to function. Also the ability to create/write to any data files they might create within a protected directory such as C:\Program Files\ or C:\Windows\.
I could be wrong about some of this; I have trouble remembering. But I tried to read as much as possible about Vista before I installed anything onto it. So far things are going pretty smoothly although I've had to hack the registry to kill off Windows Media Player's hijacking of AIFF and WAV filetypes. I've also had to restore the C: partition a few times using Acronis True Image Home. A few Windows XP program installations messed up the Acronis backup program. So I had to go back and fix that so I'd have a functioning backup solution.
One thing I have NOT done is run any registry cleaners besides RegDefrag. I used to get a lot of crashes and errors on my old system until I stopped using registry tools on it. So I pretty much continued the new tradition on this newer system. I think it's kind of a myth that registries need to get cleaned out.
I think the real trouble with registry corruption is wrong or missing entries instead of extra or blank entries. It's been my experience that a lot of programs create entries that they need that look like blank or wrong entries, so removing them makes the programs crash or complain.
Probably malware creates the most corruptions in registries, but then again, if you've got malware, you really need a clean install or clean partition restore instead of a registry tweak.
Well I'm ramblin' again,
happy computing everyone.
Enabling admin rights allows programs to attempt to write to the registry unhindered from what I remember, even if it's the wrong type of registry entry. The elevated rights is what some registry-writing VST plugins need to function. Also the ability to create/write to any data files they might create within a protected directory such as C:\Program Files\ or C:\Windows\.
I could be wrong about some of this; I have trouble remembering. But I tried to read as much as possible about Vista before I installed anything onto it. So far things are going pretty smoothly although I've had to hack the registry to kill off Windows Media Player's hijacking of AIFF and WAV filetypes. I've also had to restore the C: partition a few times using Acronis True Image Home. A few Windows XP program installations messed up the Acronis backup program. So I had to go back and fix that so I'd have a functioning backup solution.
One thing I have NOT done is run any registry cleaners besides RegDefrag. I used to get a lot of crashes and errors on my old system until I stopped using registry tools on it. So I pretty much continued the new tradition on this newer system. I think it's kind of a myth that registries need to get cleaned out.
I think the real trouble with registry corruption is wrong or missing entries instead of extra or blank entries. It's been my experience that a lot of programs create entries that they need that look like blank or wrong entries, so removing them makes the programs crash or complain.
Probably malware creates the most corruptions in registries, but then again, if you've got malware, you really need a clean install or clean partition restore instead of a registry tweak.
Well I'm ramblin' again,
happy computing everyone.@MrHope:
The sampler patches folder defaults to C:\Program Files\MtStudio\Patches. All other things like settings and user presets have been moved outside the C:\Program Files folder in order to comply with UAC. The patches folder hasn't moved (for some reason which I can't remember right now).
If you're using the default C:\Program Files\MtStudio\Patches folder any imported patches end up in the "virtual store" folder. MrHope is right: this isn't a problem in itself, but it's really hard to find the files if you want to delete some of them.
The best solution would be to set up a patches folder outside C:\Program Files yourself, like C:\Sampler Patches\. You can specify the folder in the Preferences window. The only drawback would be that all your existing songs will say something like "can't find the samples, do you want browse for them?" when you load them.
But if you'd rather run MultitrackStudio as administrator that's fine with me.
@Mac:
Many people have internet on their "DAW", so trying to keep UAC on might be a good idea for security reasons. If you run fairly up-to-date software UAC shouldn't be much of a problem. This might be different if you're using a lot of old programs.
FWIW: I have UAC on, and it doesn't bother me.
@drnick:
Don't know what the Arturia issue is. If it's file related moving the VST folder outside the C:\Program Files might solve the problem.
@MrHope: If you turn off UAC things work more or less like they did on older windows versions, ie. there's no need for virtualization, but there's no security improvement either.
Giel Bremmers
The sampler patches folder defaults to C:\Program Files\MtStudio\Patches. All other things like settings and user presets have been moved outside the C:\Program Files folder in order to comply with UAC. The patches folder hasn't moved (for some reason which I can't remember right now).
If you're using the default C:\Program Files\MtStudio\Patches folder any imported patches end up in the "virtual store" folder. MrHope is right: this isn't a problem in itself, but it's really hard to find the files if you want to delete some of them.
The best solution would be to set up a patches folder outside C:\Program Files yourself, like C:\Sampler Patches\. You can specify the folder in the Preferences window. The only drawback would be that all your existing songs will say something like "can't find the samples, do you want browse for them?" when you load them.
But if you'd rather run MultitrackStudio as administrator that's fine with me.
@Mac:
Many people have internet on their "DAW", so trying to keep UAC on might be a good idea for security reasons. If you run fairly up-to-date software UAC shouldn't be much of a problem. This might be different if you're using a lot of old programs.
FWIW: I have UAC on, and it doesn't bother me.
@drnick:
Don't know what the Arturia issue is. If it's file related moving the VST folder outside the C:\Program Files might solve the problem.
@MrHope: If you turn off UAC things work more or less like they did on older windows versions, ie. there's no need for virtualization, but there's no security improvement either.
Giel Bremmers
Hi Giel
"Don't know what the Arturia issue is. If it's file related moving the VST folder outside the C:\Program Files might solve the problem."
We tried that with no success. It seems this is a issue that occurs with Arturia stuff and VISTA only. Switching off the User Account is no issue here since we dedicate a computer to running MTS 4.31 and relevent VST instruments only, with no internet access, etc. We don't bother using any other DAW nowadays. Life is too short to spend hours wading through windows and reading manuals and HELP files
"Don't know what the Arturia issue is. If it's file related moving the VST folder outside the C:\Program Files might solve the problem."
We tried that with no success. It seems this is a issue that occurs with Arturia stuff and VISTA only. Switching off the User Account is no issue here since we dedicate a computer to running MTS 4.31 and relevent VST instruments only, with no internet access, etc. We don't bother using any other DAW nowadays. Life is too short to spend hours wading through windows and reading manuals and HELP files
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NystagmusE
MrHope,
Here's a trick to make Windows Explorer show the "Compatibility Files" button if you browse to the C:\Program File\MtStudio\Patches\ folder:
- start MultitrackStudio (NOT as administrator)
- open a midi file in a track.
- save this file in the C:\Program Files\MtStudio\Patches\ folder using the track's Save As option.
Now the "Compatibility Files" button will appear because of the MIDI file. This button will take you to the folders and files in the virtual store.
Giel Bremmers
Here's a trick to make Windows Explorer show the "Compatibility Files" button if you browse to the C:\Program File\MtStudio\Patches\ folder:
- start MultitrackStudio (NOT as administrator)
- open a midi file in a track.
- save this file in the C:\Program Files\MtStudio\Patches\ folder using the track's Save As option.
Now the "Compatibility Files" button will appear because of the MIDI file. This button will take you to the folders and files in the virtual store.
Giel Bremmers
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ravenmusic
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Thu May 18, 2006 9:44 pm
Mr Hope,
Good point about registry cleaners. While researching Vista I came across many references on the microsoft forum about the use of reg cleaners and few had good things to say about them. On my old computer a registry cleaner was used often, but on this Vista machine I never use one.
MTS on my computer has been set to Run as Administrator, so far so good.
Good point about registry cleaners. While researching Vista I came across many references on the microsoft forum about the use of reg cleaners and few had good things to say about them. On my old computer a registry cleaner was used often, but on this Vista machine I never use one.
MTS on my computer has been set to Run as Administrator, so far so good.