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27 Apr 06 - 10:39 AM (#1728779) Subject: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: GUEST,leeneia I have just found a nice new tool on my Windows XP. If you know me, you know that like to download, edit and share music using Noteworthy Composer. Noteworthy uses MIDI to process and play music. After a fierce battle to get Noteworthy to play sounds using XP, everthing was going swimmingly. Then I visited two sites and tried to listen to music. The sites were the Wilders' site and eFolkmusic. Right after that, Noteworthy MIDI stopped making sounds. I did the usual stuff - restarted, shut down completely, checked cables. Nothing worked. I checked my records, and none of the settings recommended by Noteworthy had changed. I am convinced that the webmaster for one of those sites had written code that went into my computer and changed something, something that I could not find. In desperation I went into Windows Help, and under "Pick a Task" it offers to "undo changes to your computer with System Restore." I read what they had to say and decided to try it. I told it to restore my computer to what it was on April 24th, when Noteworthy was working. Windows XP went off and did it, and lo! when the computer restarted, Noteworthy was working again. Thank goodness, because I'm trying to get music ready for my nephew's wedding, only two weeks away. I'm never going to try an mp3 again; I don't care how sincere and folkmusicky a site seems to be. Magic words: System Restore. |
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27 Apr 06 - 10:57 AM (#1728795) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: GUEST,leeneia Just to be fair, the villain could have been the Classical Music Archives, but I have been downloading from that site for years without a problem. |
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27 Apr 06 - 12:48 PM (#1728876) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: Grab In Control Panel, dig out the "Sounds and Audio Devices" option, check the "Audio" tab, and make a note of what the "MIDI music playback" option is set to. Try those sites one at time, check MIDI playback after each, and see what this option is set to if MIDI playback stops again. Chances are it's changing this, so change it back and things should work again. Then write a nice little email explaining what they've done and how it would be very nice if they stopped doing it. Alternatively you could write a thoroughly abusive email, bcos they'll deserve it... Graham. PS. Note that I only suggest intentionally breaking this because you've already demonstrated that you can revert to a working version! :-) |
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28 Apr 06 - 10:36 AM (#1729169) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: GUEST,leeneia I did that after the breakdown, Grab. The problem is not anywhere obvious. And no, I am not going to repeat the steps that interfered with my music-making. I have been editing music files for years - so many years, in fact, then when I started, I had to have a sound card installed specially because sound cards were not normal computer equipment. Computers and software are still not really ready to handle sound. For example, the technicians that serviced my computer last time admitted that none of them understood how to play a MIDI. And their firm was supposed to be one of the best in town. Another example - my computer can download, edit and play MIDI files, yet HELP doesn't even know that MIDI exists. My files are played by the Microsoft MIDImapper, yet Help says there is no such thing. In other words, the people at Microsoft don't know what they're doing when it comes to MIDI. Music sites that offer contemporary pop mp3's are notorious trouble-makers. I wouldn't go near them. So, if you are happy with your computer, do not fool around with sound. And if you have XP, remember the System Restore feature. |
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28 Apr 06 - 10:46 AM (#1729170) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: Grab Sorry - I know I was stating the bleedin' obvious! Just that for some folks it isn't. If you know what you're doing I'll shut me mouf... :-) Graham. |
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28 Apr 06 - 02:47 PM (#1729375) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: Tootler Are you aware of the Noteworthy forum and newsgroup? If you get problems you can send your queries there for further help. Go to www.noteworthysoftware.com/composer/support.htm and there are a set of links. The forum seems to have changed and you have to register now. |
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29 Apr 06 - 01:36 PM (#1730042) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: GUEST,leeneia The first time I lot my MIDI, I sent a query to Noteworthy. They replied with things I knew already. As I said, when Noteworthy was working, I wrote down all the settings I could find. Nothing had changed, yet my piano keyboard could not make a sound, and the Play function was silent. No, the change was somewhere hidden. I'm glad I have that System Restore tool now. |
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29 Apr 06 - 03:18 PM (#1730082) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: JohnInKansas System restore is a really good utility, but it's necessary to recognize a couple of limitations. System restore makes a copy of your system settings each time your computer is restarted. If it's turned on, it may invisibly use one of its backup copies of your system to repair something that's found, mainly by the PlugAndPlay (PNP) scan at the next startup. You won't normally even know that this has happened. If a complete restore is needed, it should ask if you want to go back to a prior version, and allow you to choose which one. If you have a problem, like the one described, you can manually initiate a system restore. That's when you actually see that it really does something. Problem #1 is that the utility only keeps the most recent few configurations. Each new backup pushes the oldest backup out. If you restart a few times during your efforts to fix something yourself, all of the few configurations saved in system restore may be "buggered" by the changes you've made recently, and no version remaining in the utility's records may go back far enough to get to "when everything was working." The solution to Problem #1 is to make your own manual backup occasionally, especially any time you change hardware or install a new program, and save the .reg file someplace where it will not be automatically "updated." Problem #2 comes up only if you've been infected by a virus, or had a worm or other malware on your machine. Your antivirus program, or other antimalware utilities cannot access the backup registry copies made by System restore. A malware program can write an instruction into your registry that "installs" itself. If the backup(s) of your registry made by System Restore are made after the instruction appears, you may remove the malware, but when you reboot System Restore may see changes to the registry, and may automatically pick up "missing instructions" from a backup. The malware gets "reinstalled" each time you reboot. The partial solution for Problem #2 is to turn off System Restore before you remove the malware. When you turn off System Restore all the backup copies of your system setting that System Restore has made are instantly deleted. Unfortunately, frontal attempts to remove some malware may completely disable your computer, and if the System Restore backups are all you had, and they've been deleted, you could arrive at that condition known technically as USCWOAP. (Up Sh*t Creek Without A Paddle). It's not a terminal condition, but it does mean you're going to have to get "into the muck" to get out of it. You normally should turn of System Restore, and delete all the existing backups it's made, ONLY when you've identified a specific piece of malware for which removal instructions tell you to do so. The instructions should tell you to create a manual backup of your registry, and should tell you how or direct you to instructions. With this backup, which will NOT AUTOMATICALLY be restored, you can at least go back to "operable but infected" if the malware removal breaks something. If you have a recent manual backup that you've already made for yourself (see Problem #1) you can of course use it if necessary. Quiz on Tuesday. John |
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29 Apr 06 - 05:47 PM (#1730183) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: GUEST,leeneia "The solution to Problem #1 is to make your own manual backup occasionally" John dear, would you please tell me exactly how to do that? I can put in on a CD or a floppy. |
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29 Apr 06 - 07:03 PM (#1730216) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: JohnInKansas leenia - I knew you were gonna say that... The official "how to" for general use is at: How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, Article ID : 322756, Last Review : April 6, 2006, Revision : 6.9. For those who do "manual manipulations" there are instructions for how to backup individual subkeys. This probably isn't something you need to be too concerned with. You are told that you need to "Back up the whole Registry," and there are links in this article to separate detailed instructions for using the "Backup utility" to do a complete backup of the whole "system state," with separate links for WinXP Pro, WinXP Home, and Server 2003. The links (clickies) in the article, which I've disconnected in the paste below, are local links so they only work if you're already at the above page. The "http://…" addresses should work from anywhere. Back up the whole registry To back up the whole registry, use the Backup utility to back up the system state. The system state includes the registry, the COM+ Class Registration Database, and your boot files. For additional information about using the Backup utility to back up the system state, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 308422 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308422/) How to use Backup to back up files and folders on your computer in Windows XP 320820 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320820/) How to use the Backup utility to back up files and folders in Windows XP Home Edition 326216 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326216/) How to use the Backup feature to back up and restore data in Windows Server 2003 The linked articles assume that you want to backup your entire computer, or at least an entire hard drive, so in order to use the Backup utility as the articles describe you need someplace with enough space to hold a whole lot of stuff. This usually means another hard drive or one-or-more CDs. IF you have a place to put it all, this isn't a bad idea, although those with space for the backups can also just "mirror" a drive. If you don't intend to use the Backup utility on a regular basis, I'll note that I don't use it, and that Microsoft has a "less than sterling" reputation with respect to the "Restore from Backup" function, which no one at Microsoft appears ever to have used. For a simple backup of only the Registry you can use the instructions given for how to backup individual registry keys: Click: Start|Run Type "regedit.exe" (without the quotes) and hit Enter Make sure that the top level (My Computer) is selected on the left. Click File|Export Put an identifiable name for the file in the box (I use date: YYMMDD_Export) and do not change the ".REG" file extension. Choose a place to save the file. Hit Enter. When finished, click File|Exit. (Note: if you made any changes it should ask if you want to save changes. If you didn't change something on purpose DO NOT SAVE CHANGES.) For my WinXP the file is on the order of 45 MB or so, so an ordinary floppy probably won't work. I'd suggest making a "REG_Backup" folder on your hard drive and save it there. Note that a .reg file is effectively an executable file. If you double–click on it, whether on purpose or by accident, all of its content will be written back into your registry. That's what it's supposed to do, but you don't want to do it by accident. To use the exported .reg file to best advantage, you need to open regedit, open the .reg file in regedit, export the individual keys you need to fix things, and then "execute" only the exported keys. If you want a backup that you can use to simply "replace everything," you probably should use the full Backup utility process. Also note that the Regedit export is NOT Microsoft's recommended procedure, although it usually saves enough to get you turned back on if there's a major problem, if you use it carefully. John |
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30 Apr 06 - 08:15 AM (#1730462) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: GUEST,leeneia Thanks, John. I'm going to print this out and save it. You answered my next question by explaining that it's an executable file. My computer has hundreds of pieces of music on it, so this backup file is going to take up some room. |
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30 Apr 06 - 04:52 PM (#1730773) Subject: RE: Tech: MIDI playback lost & restored From: JohnInKansas Technically, leenia, the .reg is just data, but since it's "registered" to run in regedit.exe, double-clicking on it opens regedit and the default "run" is to copy everything in the .reg data file into your registry. It isn't an "executable" in the strict sense, but it runs automatically if you double click. One of the hazards with this is that "running" the .reg file in its normal exported form can add things to the registry, but won't delete anything already there. A "key" that exists in the registry and in the .reg backup will be reset to the "key value" from the .reg file, but a key that isn't in the .reg backup won't be removed. A key that's been removed in the registry, perhaps by a new program installation or old program removal, will be replaced from a .reg backup, even if it no longer "does anyting." If you do this more than a very few times, you can end up with a few "redundant" entries in the registry. I've avoided using Microsoft's (or anyone else's) "Backup Utilities" because of difficulties with older versions that I don't see as "corrected" in the new ones, so I suppose I really should try out the "Machine State Backup" described at the links to see for sure what it does. It won't happen soon, though. It may actually be the safest method for you, and I can't really say how much is contained in the backup if you follow the instructions. Any Registry backup from WinXP can be expected to be at least 40 - 50 MB though, so CD or a hard drive seem the only good options. A 100 MB Zip disk (or 250 MB Zip) might hold it, but I've found those even worse than the old floppies for safely storing info. John |