Hello everyone.
I was a little confused how to go about installing the latest version of Audacity 2…0.5 since I have a very OLD version of Audacity ( 1.3 beta ) on my Windows 7 - 64 bit Professional machine.
My question is do I need to “uninstall” the older version first or will it automatically write over it, being the much newer version?
Will it keep any previous podcast settings and retain the podcasts done before? I am guessing so.
Also wasn’t completely sure what files I need to download from the page below. It was still a bit confusing.
http://audacityteam.org/download/windows
I see the following but not sure what I should be choosing?
Audacity 2.0.5 installer (.exe file, 21.2 MB, including help files) for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8
Audacity 2.0.5 zip file (8.2 MB) for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8 - Use this if you want a smaller download (without help files), or cannot run the installer because of restricted permissions.
Any help you could provide would be most appreciated. 
Please see this Frequently Asked Question: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_installation_and_plug_ins.html#exe .
Projects created in 1.3 Beta should open in 2.0.x.
You need administrative permissions to install Audacity (or any other programs). If you know the admin password then you can right-click over the Audacity installer (EXE) and choose “Run as administrator”, even if you are not logged in as administrator.
If you do not have the password and cannot contact the administrator (or you are working in a company) then you may have to use the zip.
Gale
So Gayle are you saying it will just install over it, as the newer version? I already have admin authority.
If this be the case I imagine the link I want to use is this, correct?
Audacity 2.0.5 installer (.exe file, 21.2 MB, including help files) for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8
I get the impression based on link you pointed me to about installing Audacity if I have another version previously installed, that since it was 1.3 Beta I would need to UNinstall this first, correct? Just want to be absolutely sure. They also mention upgrading to the latest LAME MP3 encoding library which I get the impression I must also do?
It looks like the beta version of Audacity I have is 1.3.14 unicode when I got to uninstall it.
The article mentions if the previous version was 1.3.x it needs to be uninstalled first before installing the latest version. So I am guessing the above WOULD need to be uninstalled?
I just uninstalled the old verson and installed the new one… everything went smooth, no glitches so far.
I’m guessing I really don’t need to install LAME if I don’t plan to create MP3’s.
Up to now I’ve only been creating WAV files, but thinking perhaps MP3s might be a better way to go.
I think all you need to do is read the information that you’ve been given about installation. It sounds as if it went OK.
Gale
Please see this if you want to install LAME: Audacity Manual .
WAV files are perfect quality. MP3 files are much smaller but lose quality. If you are uploading your podcasts to a web site then you will probably want MP3 so that people can download or stream them easily.
Gale
Good advice. Makes sense Gale.
What I was thinking too.
I imagine I can still go back and forth, create an mp3 and a wav if I wanted to anyhow with this software.