Concern: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Cubase 5
This article relates to possible occuring issues after changing
the system from an older system to Windows Vista, 7 or 8, or after updating sequencers like Cubase to a
newer version. In most cases these issues are related to windows user account control.
On this page you can find a lot of background infos on this:
Windows uac virtualization - what you need to know about it - click here to read
First of all the fastest fix for most of these issues:
Simply set the default running mode of your VST host to "administrator". To do this
right-click on the application shortcut, choose "properties->compatibility" and here check
"run as administrator" and save the settings.
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This won't affect the functionality of your host at all, it just gives it back full
writing rights which have been restricted by windows protection.
You may need to re-license or even uninstall/re-install the plugin once more then, but the issues should
be gone now.
In most cases the problem should be solved now.
Also be sure to use the newest version installers which are optimized.
You can find the newest version numbers listed here.
Still not solved yet?
If the issues still are there, then uninstall the plugin again and clean up these two
places. To see the first one you need to activate hidden file view before
(Start->Control Panel->Folder Options->View -> activate "Show hidden files and folders".).
1. Clean up virtual file store:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files
Here goto the application folder/place where your VST plugins folder is, for cubase
e.g. VirtualStore\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugIns, and delete the whole
"SonicProjects" folder.
2. Clean up virtual registry store:
Goto Start->All Programs->Accessoires->"Run" (blue icon), which will open the registry
Here open this location:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE
Here delete those two folders:
DHsem,
Sdhsem
Before you re-install OP-X PRO again be sure that the default running mode of
your VST host is set to "administrator" (see above).
Background informations
What's the reason for these issues?
Since Windows Vista and Windows 7 Microsoft has implemented a new protection
system which restricts the writing rights of applications if they reside within
the system's program files folder and have no so called "trustinfo manifest" which
means they're officially certified by Microsoft.
In that case the applications are forced to write their files and registry keys
to isolated "save" places called "virtual store" instead to the place they want
to write the data actually. This re-direction is called "virtualization". The
redirection places are:
Files and data:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files
To see this folder you need to activate hidden file view before
(Start->Control Panel->Folder Options->View -> activate "Show hidden files and folders")
Registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE
In most cases the application does not get aware of this re-direction since windows
makes those virtual store places look like the real places to the program.
But it can get problematic then when the foregoing installation has not taken place
with virtualization active, and virtualization suddenly gets active, e.g. after updating
a sequencer. In that case the program or plugin won't find its data or keys anymore.
This unwanted behaviour can get relevant for OP-X PRO if your shared VST plugins
folder resides within the system's program files folder, which e.g. is the default
place in Cubase (Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugIns). If the host software loses
trustinfo on an update then the reading and writing streams of its plugins are
immediatly redericted to the virtual store places. This means for the plugin: it
can't find again its modules and registry keys. This can lead to multiple "missing
module" errors, or the unability to find again the licensing data, even if it has
been licensed before.
The error scenario often is this one: OP-X PRO is being installed into the "right"
place. On first loading it's conceived to extract a bunch of necessary modules
into a folder called "OP-X PRO" next to the dll. If windows virtualization is active,
then windows prevents it to write the modules there because its a potentially unsafe
action of a not trusted program winthin the system area. So it redirects the writing
out to the mirrored virtual store place in the user area. OP-X PRO however will always
look in the same and conceived relative place (the OP-X PRO folder) for its modules,
and since they are not there, there are a lot of "missing module" errors on loading.
The same for registry keys: On unlocking the plugin OP-X PRO tries to write the user
data to a dedicated place in the registry. If protection is active, then windows
automatically redirects those keys to the virtual store place in the registry. But
OP-X PRO of course still will look in the "old" and conceived place for the license
data, and since it's not there it can't find it and says its not licensed, although
you've successfully licensed it before.
The very easy fix for all this is to set the default running mode of the used VST
host to "administrator" as described above. this makes virtualization inactive and
gives back the program and its plugins full writing rights.
Sometimes it may be needed to clean up the virtual store places so that the redirected
files are not there anymore. You'll also find missing files there.
If you set up a new system or install a new sequencer it's always recommended to
place your shared vst plugins folder in a different place that the default one, which
unfortunately often is in the program files folder. Cubase lets you place it to anywhere, even to
a different drive (e.g. the "samples" drive) which is cleaner anyway.
Windows 7 64 and 64bit hosts
OP-X PRO will run without a problem within 32bit hosts in Windows 7 64bit. Most
32bit vst hosts and sequencers run without a problem in Windows Vista 64.
Cubase: If you don't work with massive sample libraries (Orchestras etc.) then
the 32bit version of Cubase will do it. The 32bit version is included in the
package and can be installed and used in Windows 7 64bit. The main advantage of
a 64bit sequencer is that it can access more ram, which only gets relevant when
using huge sampling libraries. For normal applications, the 32bit version will do.
If you want to use OP-X PRO in a 64bit host, then you need to use a bit-bridge.
Some 64Bit hosts (e.g. Reaper, Cubase, Sonar) already have a one built in by
themselves and so you don't need to care about it. Simply install OP-X PRO to
the 32Bit plugins folder and make sure this plugin path is added in the program's
plugin preferences. Then the bridging will be applied automatically once OP-X PRO
is loaded. If the host doesn't offer a built in bit-bridge or the included bit-bridge
doesn' work well then you have to use a 3rd party bit-bridge like JStuff JBridge:
http://jstuff.wordpress.com/jbridge/
If you should have issues with JBridge (e.g. a Dispatcher opcode error) then use the
"separated GUI mode" option instead of the integrated mode.
