Hi guys. I like this program a lot, however it continualy having weird starting problems. After it worked flawlessly, now it just won’t start. I did not changed anything (okay, maybe Win XP SP3 reinstall, but that it is) and suddently it just refuse to start.
I looked at some guides, but I cannot find and temp files, any audacity.cfg file, nothing like that. I plan on erasing 2 register entry about audacity, but after that, I’m open to suggestions! 
Please be careful with XP. It is a security risk given Microsoft no longer supports XP with patches. See audacity not saving - #3 by Gale_Andrews
Have you tried: Audacity Manual?
If that does not help please describe exactly what happens when you launch Audacity, including the complete text of any error message that appears.
Gale
About WinXP SP3 - that is my choice, I not going to upgrade to system, that lock me in my own computer. No way. I rather take the possible risc, being behing HW firewall and NOT INTALLING weird programs = no problemo. I don’t buy the M$ BS anyway. Win7 and Win8 proven to be hackable as well…
The error is simply “Error executing program (5)” in Total Commander.
Starting from Windows is says in czech, that the configuration of the application is wrong. And that I should reinstall the app… witch is why I LOVE Audacity, that it does NOT need to be reinstalled. Looks like the new version SUXX in this regard and I go to back to the older ones that do NOT need to be reinstalled with each Windows change/reinstall…
So I downloaded the latest INSTALL and run it… I choosed the reset prefs and it DID work. Sadly, that redefine the whole purpose of using Audacity, because the NO INSTALL issue is key issue for me… So, could you please tell me, witch version back do work W/O REINSTALL? Thanks!
Sure it is, but it would be irresponsible of us to not point out that there are risks to using an obsolete operating system. Also, there will inevitably be an increasing number of compatibility problems with modern software. The Audacity developers decided that they would continue to build Audacity so that it is compatible with XP SP3, but that will not be the case forever - at some point it will become impractical to do so.
I understand your point of view, and that was a major reason why I switched to Linux several years ago. I now run a modern, secure and up to date open source operating system that has no tie-ins to commercial software vendors. Since making the change I’ve not looked back. Note that “Ubuntu” is not the only option for Linux - there are many “flavours” to choose from according to the users needs. Most are free (legally free - not pirate), and all are very secure. One that I like on older computers is “Mint” with the “Mate Desktop” - I’ve upgraded several XP boxes to this system and the users have all been delighted. Of course there is always a bit of a learning curve when moving to a new OS, but the Mate Desktop shares many of the best features of XP and many users find that it has a familiar feel.
You don’t actually need to “install” Audacity. If you know how to “unzip” a ZIP archive, you can download the ZIP version, extract it somewhere convenient, create a Desktop shortcut to the “audacity.exe” file and you’re ready to go. Optionally, (and I’d recommend this for the latest version), create an empty folder in the same location as the audacity.exe file and name it (exactly) “Portable Settings”. This will make the “installation” self contained with factory-fresh default settings.