Producer and Windows 8.1

Hi Keith,
 
Did you search the forum? There are several threads with possible solutions listed. I ended up having to download and install a Visual C++ redistributable file from Microsoft as posted here http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/2923138   I too never heard back from cakewalk. ??
 
Once installed, X2 and X3 worked fine.
 
 
All the best!
 
 
 

Hi Jim
Thanks for your help, I downloaded the file as you suggested and X2 now works fine .
I was beginning to get withdrawal systems from not being able to work on my music :-(
Regards
Keith 

Hi Keith,
 
That was David Miller with the advice.  
Great tip!

That's an interesting point though, when does X2 support officially expire?

robert_e_bone
It's important to realize that we (the users) have some responsibility in the update/upgrade process, in terms of making sure what we have will run on our computers, in other words meeting minimum requirements is OUR responsibility.
 
There have been cautionary posts in the forum already, concerning some things not running properly or even at all in Windows 8.1, and for something as important to the whole environment as the operating system, we should all make sure we do our homework prior to doing things like expecting it all to simply work on the newest OS release (8.1).
 
Some drivers will simply not work in Windows 8.1, and some do not even work in Windows 8, and some do not even work in Windows 7.
 
I am quite happy you got it to work with that simple of a fix, and hopefully you will remember to check out your drivers and applications ahead of time, next time you contemplate upgrading your operating system.  
 
Please understand I am not trying to bust on you - simply trying to reinforce checking things out ahead of time, so that these kinds of problems do not even occur, and so that Cakewalk does not get blamed for things they did not cause.
 
Bob Bone
 

 
Hey Bob,
 
All good common sense daw advice. However, Win 8.1 Preview allowed X2 / X3 to install and run properly. It should certainly sound reasonable that 8.1 official release would do the same. It didn't though and I initially thought that X3c might have the solution for 8.1. I waited for the "C" patch and was met with the same results. No go. I never thought this was a Cakewalk problem and didn't blame them. As it turned out, it appears to be a win 8.1 problem. I did think that cake might have an answer. They didn't contact me back but it ended up not mattering. 

Hey Alex, You may be right. Going from my memory it seems that X3 did trigger a C++ library, but I think it was older like 2005 version. Of course I'm not going to re install in order to verify that. As we're finding out, it took the 2012 C++ library to get some of us going.

Hi Mike sure, but that is just your (probably fair) assumption.

Normally software companies (i.e. Microsoft and Windows XP) have a product end of life date set way in advance, so it would be interesting to know what the Cake official stance is here.

I just had a look at the Cakewalk Support pages for info on something and realised:

You can look up documented support information on software as far back as the first Sonar version. The documentation, updates and other resources are quite surprising in their extent. I was looking for something in connection with Sonar 3 and with VC-64.

The problem with Windows 8.1 is that the Visual C++ update has to be applied (or possibly reapplied) after upgrading from Windows 8 or the Windows 8.1 "Preview" version.  I had that problem with both X2 and X3 in Windows 8.1. 
 
It should be noted that it isn't just Sonar that has the problem with 8.1.  I found the fix on another forum and people with Photoshop were having the exact same problem and the Visual C++ update had to be applied to fix the Photoshop problem.  Could be other software too that is affected.
 
Another issue, not related to Sonar, is that some older hardware that was supported in Windows 8 and the 8.1 "Preview" version is no longer supported in the final Windows 8.1 version. 

Perhaps that's it. Because I was installing on a brand new system there were no other c++ redistributable installations to confuse matters and let Sonar install the one it comes with.

Hi Bob Bone.
Thanks for the message
Can I just say that I'm not a computer whizkid, I'm just an old retired old git, who likes to pass the time creating silly tunes that are only heard by myself, friends, and family.
 
I installed Windows 8, as I was told it would run a lot faster than Windows 7 (which it does).
As you probably know before installing Window 8, Microsoft runs a check to find out which of the software, and hardware, on the computer are compatible with the new OS.
I was very lucky as there was only a couple of old software programs, and my ten year old printer that wasn't compatible, my Producer X2 was OK and ran fine.
 
 
When Windows 8.1 came out there was no such compatibility check so I wrongly assumed that my software would run, everything else was fine apart from my Producer X2.
I contacted Microsoft first about the problem, they told me to download a piece of software from their site, that could check individual programs to see if the are compatible with Windows 8.1. Producer X2 came out as not being compatible, and I was told to contact the manufacturer for an updated driver.
 
 
As you can see from my other posts I contacted Cakewalk three times over a two week period, and apart from computer generated reply's, telling me that they would contact me shortly , I received no further correspondence.
Because I'm a retired old git (who's definitely not a computer whizkid!) , I've contacted Cakewalk on a few occasions asking for support, and I have got to say that they have been absolutely fantastic, and gone the extra mile to help me.
 
However I am still disappointed with Cakewalk for not replying to the many emails I know they received, from customers who had the same problem as I was having.
 
I do try and sort out any problems I have with my computer/software, and I am very successful usually.  I even got my ten year old printer to work by convincing the computer it was a later model.
 
Regards
Keith
 
 
 

Tom, don't confuse the current Windows 8.1 from previous versions.  The "RTM" (Release to Manufacturing) 8.1 is NOT a Beta release.  It is the "final" version.  There were several Beta releases of Windows 8.1 and a "public preview" version.  But the version available now is the "final" version.  
 
Keith, I'm a 75 year old "Florida Retiree". 

When you have upgraded your drivers run this:http://windows.microsoft....nt-download-online-faq

And then run windows update.