New version freezes when editing

I have Windows 10 and Audacity 3.0.2

I made the mistake of updating to the new version of Audacity in the middle of my audiobook. When I pull up a file to edit, the program freezes for 15-30 seconds or more and I get the “Not Responding” prompt in the top left. Most of the time it unfreezes on its own eventually. I can record (in mono) just fine. The problem starts when I go to edit and each command causes it to freeze up. I thought this was just affecting audio files recorded using the old version that I had, however I just found out today that it is also affecting files that were recorded using the new version.

I found a similar topic while searching here and the suggested fix included deleting 3 specific hidden files that were obsolete with the new version. Once removed, Audacity stopped freezing up. First of all, I have no idea how to do that because I am not very tech savvy with Audacity (or in general) and secondly, I don’t know if that suggestion will fix my problem.

Thanks in advance for keeping it simple.
Kelly

I would recommend that you go back to Audacity 2.4.2 until you finish the audiobook. By then, Audacity 3.0.3 will probably have been released.
Audacity 2.4.2 will not be able to open the new .AUP3 project, so you will need to go back to the last saved version that was a “.AUP” file and “_data” folder.

If you need a new copy of Audacity 2.4.2, you can get it here: Old Audacity versions download

Thanks. I was thinking this would be what I needed to do. I have a couple follow-up questions:

By then, Audacity 3.0.3 will probably have been released

Will the 3.0.3 version fix the freezing problem? Will it be worth downloading for my new book?


so you will need to go back to the last saved version that was a “.AUP” file and “_data” folder

If the 2.4.2 version won’t open the newer files, which are .aup3, will I need to re-record those files with 2.4.2 so they are .aup files? Is there an easier way?

Maybe.

We have identified one cause of freezing / crashing that affects Windows users with Japanese keyboard settings. This is caused by a bug in a Windows update. Microsoft claim to have fixed this now.

A small minority of other users have reported freezing / extreme slowness which we have not been able to reproduce. There have been some fixes for 3.0.3 that “may” be cause / related, but as we can’t reproduce the problem we will not know for sure until Audacity 3.0.3 is released and has a lot of people using it. I would certainly recommend that you try 3.0.3 when it is available, but not until you finish your current book, and not on anything important until you have used it enough to be confident that the problem isn’t going to come back.


Any work that you did in 2.4.2 will still be on your computer unless you deleted it. Opening an old AUP project in Audacity 3.x does not “convert” the project, it makes a copy of the project and saves as AUP3. The original AUP project is unaffected.

If you recorded in Audacity 3.0.2, try opening in Audacity 3.0.2 and see if you can export the new recordings as WAV files. Ideally, export as “32-bit float” WAV for a perfect copy of the audio (a standard 16-bit WAV is an “almost” perfect copy, whereas 32-bit float is absolutely perfect). You will then be able to import the WAV files into Audacity 2.4.2.

Glad I found this thread as this bug has been driving me crazy. At least I’ve now got a work around.

Will the 3.0.3 version fix the freezing problem? Will it be worth downloading for my new book?

I have a couple of Obsessive Engineer comments.

If you have something that works, hold onto it with white knuckles.

If you’re starting to generate significant bucks from your reading, you have gracefully flipped to Company Rules.

It’s time to have an Audiobook Computer and an Everything Else Computer. The Audiobook Computer has its own backup drive, doesn’t do every fifteen minute upgrades, and doesn’t connect to the internet. Posts to ACX (or whoever is doing your publishing) can be transferred to the Everything Else Computer with thumb drives which also form one layer of off-line backups.

I jest not.

FrancesAndBackup-500H.jpg
The Everything Else Computer is the one that does the rapid upgrades, software battles, virus struggles, email, surfing your brains out, Zoom, cloud drives, and Facebook.


You probably already figured out that it’s best to export all your raw readings, fluffs and all, to a Perfect Quality WAV file right after you read. That way, if something messy happens to Audacity, you won’t have to read it all again.

A note about 3.0.2. The more modern Audacity versions have Audacity > File > Save Project > Save Backup Project. That one will give you a stand-alone Project file independent of the current show. Super handy and long overdue. Earlier Audacity versions couldn’t do that.

The one-line Project version:

3.0.0 and later produce aup3 Projects—exclusively—and will open older Projects.

That’s pretty much it. You can fudge that backwards with Exported WAV files and other work-arounds.

You are producing a Perfect Quality WAV Edit Master for your archive and only then produce the MP3 that ACX needs, right? You can’t open up and edit an MP3 without sound damage.

Koz

Thank you for your suggestions. I am planning to eventually get my own “audiobook laptop” to help with fan noises in my room-tone. And yes, I am working with the WAV file and not the MP3.

Like I first stated, I made the mistake of upgrading Audacity in the middle of my project. I thought it was going to help me solve a leveling problem I was having, but it obviously created a much larger problem. I am in the process of going back to my original version so I can get back to work on this book.