My initial problem was I couldn’t import m4A files, so I tried to download the FFmpeg file needed to do so. However, even after downloading the older version of it (0.6.2), Audacity would not recognize the file when I tried to locate it. I don’t know if it uses a still older file not available for download anymore?
Well, then I decided I’d just upgrade to the newest version and maybe that would fix everything. Wrong. I downloaded it fine, and it seemed to install, but then I got an error message when I tried to open the program: “The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b). Click OK to close the application.” Does anyone know why I would be getting this error? Is it because I didn’t uninstall the older version first? I’m just afraid to do that in case I still won’t be able to access the newest version and then I wouldn’t have Audacity at all!
The error message is most likely to be because your computer’s version of “Microsoft C++ Redistributable” is out of date. You can get it from Microsoft here:
You need the “x86: vc_redist.x86.exe” version (because Audacity is a 32-bit app).
You should consider updating your operating system as Windows 7 is obsolete and no longer supported. If you don’t want Windows 10, you could consider using some version of Linux. (“Xubuntu” is easy to use and is a good choice for older computers)
Because Audacity 1.3.12 is so massively out of date (it has been obsolete for years), I would highly recommend uninstalling it before installing Audacity 2.3.3.
Also, during the installation of Audacity 2.3.3, ensure that the option to “Reset Preferences” is selected.