I cannot record anything in Audacity in Windows 7 Pro, SP1. I keep getting error messages saying that the “plugins.cfg” configuration file is missing and that I "Can’t write to file “OwnerAudacityAutoSaveNewProject.” Yet when I imported a previously-recorded file, it played back perfectly. How do I fix this problem?
UPDATE: I ran a complete system driver update on my Dell Precision 690 computer (which I had bought used and refurbished). I even ran a lost files restoration. I ultimately ran an update of the computer’s audio files. Yet, despite all that, I STILL cannot record anything on Audacity. The culprit appears to be the “Line In” portion of my computer’s audio system. I cannot for the life of me get the damn thing to receive audio signals. I cannot even reconfigure it, as the “configure” button is greyed out.There has to be a solution to this problem!
Posts moved to new topic. Please do not post on the end of a topic someone else started. it makes it much more difficult to help with your particular issues.
Probably not related, but try quitting Audacity then resetting Audacity preferences following these instructions .
Try rebooting the computer. Don’t run Audacity as anyone other than your own account.
Gale
Assuming you are in the “Recording” tab of “Sound” in the Windows Control Panel, “Configure” is for Speech Recognition so only applies to microphones.
Try right-click over the line-in > “Enable”, and then “Set as Default Device”. See http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer_Toolbar_Issues#vistacp .
Gale
I tried that, too and it didn’t work. I ultimately found out that the version of Windows 7 that’s loaded on my new computer (Professional, Service Pack 1) does not support “Stereo Mix,” rendering Audacity (and Adobe Audition as well) useless for recording – and I’m not willing to downgrade to the XP version, especially since Microsoft is phasing out XP.
But I did find a way to get around the problem: I downloaded Freecorder and it worked perfectly. So now I use Freecorder to record, import the resulting MP3 file into Audacity, edit the file according to my preferences, then save the edited file to my hard drive.
It is absolutely nothing to do with the version of Windows, but everything to do with the audio decisions made by the computer manufacturer, the motherboard manufacturer or the maker of the sound chip for the motherboard. Some web pages I have seen claim there may be some kind of informal pressure from Microsoft to leave stereo mix out of computers (for technical reasons) but I am not very convinced. I think computer or motherboard manufacturers may receive pressure from copyright holders to remove stereo mix.
Freecorder is a good choice if you want to record to lossy MP3 and you don’t mind the browser toolbars it installs.
Gale