Simmo's Computer problem

[simmo123]

Hi all, any advice on this subject would be most welcome, I have an old computer which looks like it has given up the ghost but unfortunately it is the one where I have all of my music stuff, midifiles, mp3's, Wav files, etc, plus all of my edited tracks I have stored over many years,the computer is running on XP WHICH HAS BEEN GREAT FOR EDITING ETC.the problem is when I go to press the on button to start the computer up it does not respond even though it has the red light indicating that it is getting the power ok, the screen is ok as it is a fairly new one,I have tried everything including changing leads etc,any help welcome..Simmo
my worry is that I do not want to lose everything.

[frankie]

Can you hear the fan when you switch tower on.If you can then poss monitor probs.If not poss faulty on off switch on tower......https://www.geeks2u.com.au/computer-repairs-perth/baldivis-6171/

[Sequenzzer]

Simmo,

As long as you do not have any issues concerning the hard drive,I highly recommend you buying an external hard drive or using an offsite online backup solution to back up all your music files and such...Cannot stress how important that is that you do that asap...When you least expect it,it will take a dive,and you will lose EVERYTHING unless you backup...you state you are getting the screen is ok,what exactly is the problem? are you getting to the desktop? any programs not opening,or computer is crashing/shutting down?

Take Care

Mike

[simmo123]

Hi Mike, sorry mate I must have mislead you ( senior moment) unfortunately the screen does not respond either, but there is a flashing light in the corner of the screen but I have not had the screen long so I don't think that is the problem I am taking the computer in today to see what can be done, will keep you posted. ps I do have a couple of cd's with a lot of my midi's on but not recent ones. will keep you posted, many thanks for your imput.
Terry

[simmo123]

Hi members, latest on the computer problem, We am lucky to have some great neighbours ie two lovely girls to whom we get on great with, they live as couple & have two young kids who are also a real pleasure to have around. I often help them out with various problems, garden reticulation etc & a bit of manual stuff as well. Fortunately they are fairly up with computers & are taking my old (music only) computer to a good friend of there's who works in a computer store so hopefully I may be back in business again with my midi's etc. On checking they informed me it is a 2007 model. I am not on the internet with it just purely for my editing etc. They seemed hopeful that I will not lose any of my files
Will keep you posted....Simmo

[simmo123]

Hi again members, re, my computer problem, well it has certainly given up the ghost, the hard drive was buggered plus a couple of other problems, also the software I have on it dated back to 2007 (Sonar Cakewalk),I did not have internet on it,so I have decided to try & use our home computer to do all of my music stuff as well as the normal internet use. Owing to also using a couple of other music editing programmes ie, "sound forge" for editing the wav files plus my very outdated Roland Sonic cell module ( not sure if it is still useful for getting a better quality sound) I will try to get some input from other members as to which is the best way to set up my computer. I would like to keep it as simple as possible but hopefully get a reasonable sound. I would prefer to have the finished tracks in Mp3 format as well.
Because I have been using these programmes for many years add to the fact that at 77 years the old grey matter is slowing down as well, but I intend to keep gigging at the oldie's venue as long as I can.

Best wishes to all members from the Ole fella down under ( pity I didn't live a little closer, Frankie is the nearest only a few thousand km away )

[simmo123]

Hi members, just touching base to see if any of the forum members can advise me on what is the best way to go in the making reasonable backing tracks, its been a long time since I first started into midi etc,& I am sure that the technology has gone forward in leaps & bounds.I want something that is reasonably simple if possible but I would like to finish up having the final product in mp3 format,I already have a programme that turns wav into mp3 format. If there is anything out there that might be suitable for me I would be grateful with your input. If the only way to get these results where midi is part of the process that would be ok ,but my recent loss of everything on my music computer gives me the opportunity to get up to speed with the latest advances in backing track technology. Looking forward to the members imput. What you are using etc

Simmo...ps cost is not so important as quality...Gigging & keeping the old grey matter working is also on top of the list.

[simmo123]

Hi again ,i'm still unsure of which midi editing programme would be suitable for me, I forgot to mention that I am now running windows 7 on our home computer to do all my editing etc, after years on the older versions xp etc,I have been having a look at various editing programmes, including Sonar but it is a bit of mine field as to which one would be best suited for a relatively none technical ole fella like myself,I had up to now been using a 2007 version of cakewalk on an old computer up until it gave up on me but this programme is out of date for my more up to date home computers, the newer versions look quite daunting. The other query I have is whether my sonic cell module which is also quite old could be used with the later sonar programmes or are there any other sound enhancing gadgets that are available.
I am feeling my way around for my best option.
All advice would be most welcome, or any other options which might be available to me.
many thanks, Simmo

[Sequenzzer]

Hey Simmo,

Are you sure that your 2007 older version of Cakewalk is NOT compatible with your new computer? It may take some time to read up and maybe try some different driver installations but you may not have to upgrade or change your version of software...Reason I'm asking is that I bought a windows 10 laptop some time ago,and was really agitated when I realized that the version of Cakewalk that I use and am very comfortable with in editing is Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. I really didn't want to learn new software,when Pro Audio 9 was everything I needed and I knew it so well....I was thinking for sure that it would not run on windows 10...

Well to my surprise,it runs fine on windows 10,I just had to mess around with some different sound card drivers in order for it to work,but it did...Loads fine,and works with windows 10 no problem...(Keep in mind Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 came out in 1999!!!) So if you haven't tried to see if you can make it compatible,I would give that a shot...

Just trying to help...

Take Care

Mike

[simmo123]

Hi Mike ,many thanks for your feedback re computer crash, I did have a go at downloading on my home computer () which I have never used for any of my music) a sonar3 disc I found it was dated back to 2003,I also managed somehow to load it on but on trying to edit a midi but with no success. I am exploring all of my options at the moment. I am so familiar with my previous setup which also included another programme called Sound Forge which I used for fine tuning the various volumes on a wav file before I turned into mp3 format. As I believe I mentioned in a previous post the old computer had served me well but it looks like a new computer is the way to go. Our home computer also didn't seem to want to load on my old sound module (Sonic Cell )or any other programmes I use which used to give me some nice quality sounds, once again I guess this sort of sound module is well & truly out of date. My ideal solution would be to be able to have another late model computer separate from our home computer with on which I can keep all of my music stuff together, also to have a similar setup to which I am used to. It would be great to be able to retrieve most of my files etc.I'm not sure if this will be possible but I am in the process of looking around for the right person.
Will keep you updated as I progress. Simmo,....no gigs this week but 3 next week. PS all of my gigging music files are ok, I keep them separate.

[frankie]

Sonicell driver updates..........https://www.roland.com/global/support/by_product/soniccell/updates_drivers/

[simmo123]

Hi Frankie, thanks for your latest suggestion re the sonic cell updates it sounds good,I did check it out which gives me another option, I am waiting at the moment for a techo to see if my old music computer can be made serviceable again keeping all of my files programmes etc in there original format which would be a good outcome for me, will keep you posted.
Ps how is the weather your side of the country ?? we are having some great autumn weather, chilly in the morning but fine & sunny ( no rain to be seen ) with temps around 25c most days, we are now in winter mode for our garden watering, (twice a week,) plus we are still mowing our lawns about every 2 weeks. Still considering taking up an offer from our nephew on the gold coast ( your part of the country ) to pay him another visit),I have no gigs this week but 3 next week.....Simmo

[frankie]

Jun 2, 2017 1:30:58 GMT simmo123 said:

Hi Frankie, thanks for your latest suggestion re the sonic cell updates it sounds good,I did check it out which gives me another option, I am waiting at the moment for a techo to see if my old music computer can be made serviceable again keeping all of my files programmes etc in there original format which would be a good outcome for me, will keep you posted.
Ps how is the weather your side of the country ?? we are having some great autumn weather, chilly in the morning but fine & sunny ( no rain to be seen ) with temps around 25c most days, we are now in winter mode for our garden watering, (twice a week,) plus we are still mowing our lawns about every 2 weeks. Still considering taking up an offer from our nephew on the gold coast ( your part of the country ) to pay him another visit),I have no gigs this week but 3 next week.....Simmo

Hi,we survived the last floods missed us completely due to them not having to release the dam.We have moved closer to Brisbane the house we are in was covered with 9 meters of water over the top in the 2011 floods.Weather chilly here also 26c in daytime dropping to 11c .Lucky I still had some New Zealand summer clothes left to wear LOL ! We are building above ground veggie garden.Gotta figure out how to keep the bush turkeys out !! We have a big reserve and park next to and behind us. We have foxes,deer and other 4 legged thingy's in it plus heaps of different parrots......Frank

[simmo123]

Hi Frankie, looks like you have got a pretty big project happening, I've just about got our backyard sorted, couple of small jobs but nothing major, we did rip everything up when we moved in here 9 years ago & started afresh, having one of our boys as a landscaper certainly made a difference, we now have a pretty good setup with a flourishing veggie garden, plus at the moment we are getting plenty of fruit from our citrus trees that we also put in at the time, this year is our biggest crop of oranges, mandarins, etc since moving in, the lemon tree fruits for most of the year. We have recently invested in a lime tree, mango tree, pecan nut tree plus a few more exotic fruits as well. We also had a bumper year with our out of control grape vines. Our back yard is not as big as our last house where we had around an acre but it is surprising what you can fit into a small back yard. The other thing is we have to net a lot of our soft fruit trees owing to the hordes of pink & grey cockatoo's which are a bit of a pest. not only distructive but very noisy with it. On our trip to the UK last year we were amazed to see these birds for sale in pet shops along with our other pest the big white cockatoo's which also play havock with the plants,fruit etc.
Latest update on stuffed computer, I took it in to a bloke who has got a thriving business in he's big back shed & he tested it & confirmed that it was well & truly stuffed ( buggered)he is going to sell me a new tower plus transfer all of my stuff on to the new computer so hopefully I can pick up where I left off with getting more new tracks for my gigs.I have been a bit of a lost soul since it stuffed up.

Best wishes to all..Simmo

[simmo123]

Hi all, re computer stuffed, had a call again from our repair man this morning & on further examination he found that the damaged power board had not affected any thing else & it could be replaced without any further work required on the rest of the computer as every thing checked out ok, for myself a total cost of $120.00 against hundred's of dollars to rebuild or replace it was a real bonus, picking it up tomorrow, how good was that. Public holiday, but he works from home.
one very happy Simmo