I obtained a device that came with a small audacity disk that installed a beta copy of the audacity software.
This was installed on one of my windows 10 computers, and it does work, on another windows 10 computer the disk would not accept the disk so i downloaded the latest copy of audacity software on this system, for some reason it takes longer to load when i click on it and i have to do some things like keep restarting the music file i am trying to use, i am not sure if my problem is that my computer is just taking more time to start running the music file.
My question is should i download the latest audacity program to the computer now running the beta copy, and if so should i remove the beta program first or just let the new program over write the beta copy.
Maybe i am just not fully understanding everything about the program, i will say when they are running they are working well.
We used to have “beta releases” many years ago with the 1.3.x series. All of those versions have been obsolete for many years.
Because the 1.3 beta versions are so old, I would recommend completely removing it before installing the current 2.3.2 version.
During the installation of Audacity 2.3.2, there is an option to “reset preferences”. Select that option, and then on first run you will be asked to confirm that you wish to reset preferences. Confirm when prompted.
To ensure that you get a legit version of Audacity, always download via the links on the Audacity website (which will take you to Audacity’s content delivery partner “FossHub”) https://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/
Thank you for the quick reply i did get my download from the correct place, and thanks for the information about installing new software.
I did as you said is there a reason to reset preferences? the program still loads slow and is running my music file but there is no sound, i have to mess with speakers changing them a few time then the sound starts.
Resetting preferences is a precautionary step. When upgrading from very old versions of Audacity, there could be compatibility problems with the old Audacity “preferences” settings, which could cause strange problems.
You mean, when you launch Audacity, it is slow to appear? How slow (approximately) in hh:mm:ss?
What sort of speakers do you have, and how are they connected to the computer?
Thank you again for your replies, since my first try at using the software i have found that the computers are not really as slow to loading as i first thought, any slowness might be that two of my systems are pretty old computers one is a newer one.
Now about the sound problem, i needed to set input to Microsoft sound Mapper input, i did not notice the default was to the computer mike.
To give you a better idea as to how i am using the Audacity software, i have a SKEVONO record player the software came with it this is where the older Beta file came from, and am using it to obtain digital files of old LP Albums, that i can use on computer to hear the music files.
I guess that’s a USB record player?
For USB recording devices, ensure that the device (the USB turntable) is connected before you launch Audacity. You should then see a USB option in the recording devices in the “Device Toolbar”. It is generally best to select the USB option rather than the “Sound Mapper” option.
The “Sound Mapper” isn’t a real audio device - it is a kind of “virtual” device that represents whichever (real) device Windows is currently using.
You may find these tutorials useful: Tutorial - Copying tapes, LPs or MiniDiscs to CD - Audacity Manual
I thank you for your reply and direction as to the usb input,another problem i have with one computer is i don’t have any control of level of sound the speaker icon on screen won’t allow changing.
Have you tried using the Windows sound controls?
I tried using your input on my newest computer recording of files went correctly, in playing the file back using my computer speakers and then my head phones, sound was correct and did have control of level of sound from speaker icon on screen.
Is there a simple to switch the recorded tracks i play?
Again i thank you for your time in giving me direction.
The tracks have “Solo” and “Mute” buttons (Track Control Panel and Vertical Scale - Audacity Manual)
Is that what you meant?
Yes that was very helpful, will takeme some time to fully understand it’s use.
And again thank you for the quick replies and your deep understanding of how the software works.