Quick Question for Omnisphere Users

I hated it when I got my new DAW, all those softsynth installations to contend with. I have omnisphere and it comes on several DVD disks and was never released as a download.
 
Please don't take this wrong way but one tip I invested in a small server and copied all my softsynth installations to that unit. I then set up a text file and recorded all the soft synth serials into this one document, which I also backed up to the cloud. Although still painful installing all the stuff it did make it a tad less painful.
 

Yeh, I have most of my stuff backed up to an external USB drive, which has helped a lot. But not Omnisphere. I recall that it was pretty big, which is probably why I didn't copy it.
 
So it's back to the closet to continue my hunt...wonder what other lost goodies I'll find in there. I've already found a string-less Mandola I bought in Spain in 1971, I'm hoping the neck isn't warped too badly. It'll be a wild guess as to what string gauges to put on it. 
 
New O/S is 8.1. I am running XP-32 in a virtual machine, but that's for legacy dev tools, not SONAR. For DAW-ing I'm trying to go 64-bit only for most stuff, to keep the installation simple (not because of Freddie's assertion that 64-bit plugins sound better). But that means re-downloading some plugins, which unfortunately is not an option for some older stuff. I may be out of luck with Ozone 4, for example. 

I found it. It wasn't a box, which I'd long ago tossed away, saving only the envelope the disks came in. A plain white envelope that doesn't say Omnisphere on it. Got my marker out and wrote "Omnisphere" in big letters for the next time.
 
Another question...these installation disks predate the 64-bit version, which came along in a subsequent update. Anyone know if it's OK to uninstall the 32-bit version after updating, or will the uninstall trash my libraries too?

I'm sure you all don't need a suggestion, but I keep all my DAW software in a big plastic box. It's a mess but I know where everything is.

Yup...it's just a plain white envelope...I guess they should just send it to you in a brown paper sack. You'd think for the price you would at least get a nice box with a multi DVD booklet thingy. I did the same thing...took a sharpie and wrote OMNISPHERE on it. Sheesh.

U need iLok :). - Diablo advocatus

Acronis, etc for the future?  Might save your behind should your new DAW take a "vacation" as well.

I finally wound up using iLok though I'd been avoiding it. It's doesn't appear to be as bad as it has as reputations for, I've had no problems other than the $40 'tax' for the key itself.

On passwords - I've filled out so many 'lost' password forms that I broke down and downloaded a password manager. I'm using KeePass, which is available on SourceForge. It's quite a nice place to store all your password and associated web data.

But you still have to remember to update the database, whatever form it may be in. 
 
I have a Word document (encrypted - and password-protected, of course) that I keep everything in: passwords, auth codes, account numbers. I started this file in the 70's on an Apple ][ and have been carrying it forward all these years. I routinely replicate it to every computer in the office and house.
 
But if I neglect to put something in it, the scheme fails.
 
Today I have a new problem...I cannot get into the BIOS on this new computer. It boots so fast that even holding down or rapidly pressing the Del key doesn't get me in. Windows 8.1 has a way to force booting into the BIOS on a restart, but my BIOS doesn't support it. My next step is to unplug the boot drive and thus force it to open the BIOS.
 
It's been just one damn thing after another...
 
On the positive side, Omnisphere works really well with the extra RAM and faster CPU. As does Superior Drummer and Kontakt. I can finally use the OTS Rickenbacker library as it was intended, with all 24 round-robins enabled. I can now have multiple sampled instruments loaded at once without freezing each one individually. I could even run Diva now, if I could afford it.

I think I'm going to do just that, GB. Plus I've offered a paying job to my budding computer guru grandson to catalog all the disks and put them into a spreadsheet for me. I'll show him just how tedious computers can be, and maybe he'll re-think his career objectives. He's 13, so there's still time for him to become a brain surgeon instead.

This may sound silly but I have actually tried to take a video of the boot process, then taken the video and watched it frame by frame to see if I captured the magic screen shot containing the bios key...
 
Sometimes I was lucky first time other times not...

LOL, I actually considered videoing the boot screen so I could see what it says. I was sure it was Del to open the BIOS because I'd successfully done it a time or two before, when I first set it up.
 
Turned out to be the USB keyboard. Apparently the USB port was not being initialized fast enough. I dug out an old broken keyboard that had a PS/2 connector and that worked. So now my virtualization features are enabled in the BIOS and VirtualBox is once again working and I have XP installed there and it works just great. Thanks again to Bill for suggesting that!
 
Mike, I actually have a Variac around here somewhere. I should try to find it...it's in one of these boxes...along with my tape demagnetizer.

I even tried disconnecting the boot drive, hoping that would force it into the setup, but it didn't. It just hung on a prompt telling me to insert a bootable disk and press Enter. That's dumb. What if the boot disk was bad? I'd have no way to change the boot sequence.
 
It's about as sensible as the old "no keyboard connected, press any key to continue" message we used to see. You'd think BIOS's would have made more progress in the last 30 years.
 
Here's a trick I've used many times: when at the grocery store trying to read 4-point ingredient listings on products, I often take a photo so I can zoom it. I have to avoid high fructose corn syrup, so I read a lot of labels. Try to find a brand of barbecue sauce that doesn't have it. All because of government price-fixing on sugar to guarantee our domestic sugar industry makes a consistent profit. That's why everything uses HFCS, which in turn is a big part of the reason for the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country. And don't get me started on peanut policies...I'd have to ban myself for talking politics.

Depends on the BIOS vendor which key you press to enter the setup. I've seen F2, F1, F10 and ESCape used.
 
And yes, I would indeed have a lot of useless photos on my phone if I didn't routinely delete them all. Who knows how many pictures I've taken that accidentally included conclusive proof of alien visitation in the background?
 

wrote a song about it:
 
http://harmoniccycle.com/hc/sounds/mp3/singles/CornSyrupBlues_20090801a.mp3
 
:-)