Microstudio 2.013 is Win2000 Compatible

[Steve]

No problems with my old set up (v2.001) running Win 98. However, my computer has been upgraded to Win. 2000. (Not my idea!) Anyway, now the new 2.013 is pretty useless. Hopefully this program is compatible with Win. 2000. (Basically Win NT).

There are basically 5 main things I'm supposed to configure according to your e-mail instructions. Two I could figure out how to do, three I could not. Unfortunately the instructions pertain to Win 95, 98 and Win 2000 is set up different. So hopefully I'm missing something that you can set me straight on. (I would imagine anyone upgrading to Win. 2000 would also appreciate a new set of instructions specific to that OS.)

1. Change the VCACHE settings. No problem. Although nothing was there it was easy enough to add this to the SYSTEM.INI tab.

2. Turn off Auto Insert Notification. Problem. The Device Manager Tab is now totally different and those check box options are no longer available. Perhaps they are located somewhere else?

3. Turn off Write Behind Caching for all drives. Problem. Couldn't find this as per instructions.

4. Change Virtual Memory Settings. Problem. Couldn't find this as per instructions.

5. Power Management. No problem. I found this under "Power Options" and changed both monitor & hard drive to "Never".

So there it is. Hope you can straighten this out for me. Again, I'm sure it's an OS problem as I bought both the burner & software from you and they have worked perfectly until now.

Thanks for your time. Steve.

[admin]

Steve, let me encourage you first. Microstudio 2.013 was developed under Win2000, so it will run. The three modifications you could not make were not made on our development system. Specifically, these are: 1) Auto-insert notify, 2) Write Behind Caching, and 3) Virtual Memory Settings.

We don't recommend our Karaoke clients move up to Win2000 because of its operational complexities; i.e. it is not for "general" users. I have included below what Microsoft gives to disable the Auto-Insert Notify operation. After reading the warnings below, it should scare off all but the most seasoned system integrators!

[font color=red]MTU does not recommend making the following changes to Windows 2000 for Microstudio. They are not required.[/font]

[font color=red]From Microsoft:[/font]
SUMMARY: If there is a CD-ROM changer attached to your computer, you may want to disable the Autorun (the automatic running of a compact disc or the automatic playing of an audio compact disc) feature. If the Autorun feature is enabled with a CD-ROM changer, each time a new compact disc is inserted into one of the trays, Windows will cycle through every tray in the changer.

There is no user interface option to enable or disable the Autorun feature. To enable or disable the feature, you must edit the registry. To do so, follow the steps below.

IMPORTANT: This article (from the Microsoft MSDN support site) describes how to disable the Autorun feature in Windows 2000 by editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe. [font color=red]WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.[/font]

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

Change the Autorun value in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom
To disable the Autorun feature, change the Autorun value to 0. To enable the Autorun feature, change the Autorun value to 1.
Restart the computer.

NOTE: The above method disables the Autorun feature completely. If you want to disable the feature on a per compact disc basis, you can hold down one of the SHIFT keys while inserting the compact disc.

Additional Information: There are two other keys that can affect this functionality:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer - For NoDriveTypeAutoRun = 0x00000095
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer - For NoDriveTypeAutoRun = 0x00000095
The correct value for each is 0x00000095 to disable AutoRun.

[Steve]

Was I correct in at least adding the VCACHE settings? Or should I have left that alone too. (By the way, you said MS was developed with Win 2000, but has anyone back there successfully run the app on that platform?)
Thanks again. Steve.

[admin]

Changing VCACHE is OK. Yes, Microstudio has been run on Win2000. To develop a product under an operating system, it must run to be able to test it.

[jay]

It appears that no changes are required to run MicroStudio on Win2000. (I do not have a CD changer, just a SCSI PlexWriter 8/20). I have downloaded a number of CDG files, but when I try to play them directly from the hard drive, they just sound like screeching noises. I previously sent 2 emails to you on this subject, but have not yet seen a response. Also, the demo period is over so I cannot evaluate this product. I would love to purchase it, assuming I can get the demo to work. Please help.

[Steve]

Hi Jay. I (usually) reply to any non-spam e-mail I get so if I missed yours I'm sorry. I'm just an end user and not a tech. I finally gave up on Win 2000 and have loaded Win Me instead. I have yet to try MicroStudio with that OS but I'm hoping it will work ok. MicroStudio rocked with Win 98! This probably doesn't help you much. Good luck. Steve.

[admin]

Jay, we have been incredibly swamped with business, adding e-Commerce and the flu and just have not had time to answer all demo "problem" requests. I apologize for this. We will have a new Microstudio V2.100 demo and full release out within several weeks. It has a number of upgrades. The demo we now have is 2.001 which is, regretfully, a rather back version.

I don't have an answer why you are hearing bad audio. My guess is there is some configuration on your computer or your audio card that might be causing this. We have a large number of users who are running the full (2.013) version on Win2000. However, I will admit our V2.001 demo might have problems we are not aware of. We are advancing so fast that we didn't do a lot of testing on V2.001.

Watch our website for an announcement. Also, if you properly filled out our Form when you downloaded the Microstudio demo code, we will notify you automatically. Thanks for trying.

[jay]

Thanks for the reply. I'll be anxiously awaiting your new demo version to try with Win2000. Will I be able to install the new demo without it saying that it's expired?

[GordonF]

While Microstudio appears to work for me, the installer seems to have disabled auto-insert notification (not the same as the Autorun feature) for my entire system, including for my LS-120 disk drive and for my DVD-ROM. I don't know how to re-enable it. I posted other annoyances in another thread in "Feature request for Karaoke products" or whatever that forum was named.

The Autorun feature in Win2K does allow you to set specific drive models as "Autoplay incompatible." In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CdRom there is a multiple string value named "AutoRunAlwaysDisable" which lets you specify manufacturers and models of CD devices you want to turn off autorun for. So you could insert your CD Writer into the list if you wanted without turning off the autorun capability of your other devices. Use REGEDT32 and not REGEDIT to manipulate this setting, since REGEDIT doesn't understand REG_MULTI_SZ values.

In my own experience, adding my HP 9210e to this list seemed to cripple Microstudio completely - it wouldn't write to any disks, immediately spitting them out even though it would pass the test phase.

MTU should consider redeveloping their software for Win2K and then test on Win9x / ME, rather than the other way around. Many of the fancy switches for tweaking Win9x just aren't available in Win2K for security and stability reasons. Work with the OS, not against it, for future compatibility.

[admin]

GordonF - when the entire world has converted to Win2000, MTU will consider only supporting this OS. I still have many clients demanding we also support NT4.0.

We actually develop Microstudio and Karaoke Home Producer on Win2000 systems. That, however, does not dictate the client base we design for. It would be MUCH easier to only suppot Win2000. As can be seen elsewhere, you don't have to do any of the "tricks" when installing Microstudio to get the CDs to burn safely when running with Win2000.

Just this weekend we have had to go back and add extra coding in when our beta testers (not all are on Win2000) reported problems that we had not observed.

[GordonF]

Originally posted by admin
GordonF - when the entire world has converted to Win2000, MTU will consider only supporting this OS. I still have many clients demanding we also support NT4.0.

Didn't mean to say Win2K is the be-all and end-all, but rather the reference where you should start from. I've seen excellent software for Win9x that really should have been able to run on NT4 but didn't for stupid reasons (not like it needed DirectX 7 or anything, but just because of stupid programming mistakes.)
Learning that you're developing the latest releases under Win2K is great news. I can't see any issues preventing these from running under 9x/ME as long as you're not using NT specific stuff.
When you see a client demanding NT4 support, you're probably seeing someone who's fed up with Win9x crashing because of some stupid app or another, or who is fed up with its abysmal uptime. Hell, even M$ admits it - ever see their latest print ads for Win2K?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/16139.html

[jay]

At the end of last year you you said a new Microstudio V2.100 demo and full release will be out in a few weeks. Do you have a definite release date?

[MTUSUPPORT]

The new version of Microstudio has been released. Read the following link please: http://www.mtu.com/vbulletin/showthr...p?threadid=198

Thanks,

[jay]

Now that you released 2.103, when will you have an evaluation copy of this version available?

[admin]

Today!