Windows Vista, 7 and 8 feature a new protection scheme which can limit the
writing rights of not certified programs if they reside within the system's
protected area which includes the program files folder and the windows folder in general. This new protection
system is part of the newly conceived "windows user account control" or short windows UAC.
So if your vst host has no so called "trustinfo manifest" and its vst plugins
reside within the system's program files folder which unfortunately in most cases
is the default location of the shared plugins folder, windows can limit the writing
rights and general functionality of plugins.
If the plugin tries to write data to the protected area then windows redirects the writing to a save
mirrored place called "virtual store" instead of writing it to the place it's
conceived to. In most cases it then automatically also redirects reading to this place,
but unfortunately this doesn't always work correctly.
These "virtual store" places can be found here:
Files (activate hidden file view):
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files
Registry Keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE
This mirroring to virtual store is also called "virtualization".
So far the theory.
What does it mean to OP-X PRO-II?
If OP-X PRO-II resides within the system's program files folder and the used vst
host has no trustinfo manifest and no administrator running rights, then windows
could affect the plugin's functionality in the following ways:
- prevent the registration window from showing up when you try to launch it
- say it can't create the license file after clicking on "enter key"
- write the license data to the wrong place so that the plugin doesn't find it
- force the plugin to write presets and banks to virtual store instead into the conceived folder
Since windows then internally redirects all tasks to the virtual store you won't
even get aware of it except for the not functional licensing window. But when you
should try to locate your banks and presets for a backup copy then you won't find
them in the folder where they should be, although the plugin itself sees them. But
don't panic: You'll find all files in this place instead. You need to activate hidden
file view to see it:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files
Regarding licensing it either could write the license to the mirrored virtual store
place and also read it from there (then you wouldn't notice it at all) or, if this
re-direction doesn't work, then it would refuse to write the license and say "can't
create license file". In OP-X it could effect that the plugin again is unlicensed
after re-launching and showing the frozen license data when clicking into the blue
window with no option to enter it again.
How to get rid of this behaviour?
There are three ways:
- set the default running mode of your vst host to "administrator"
- change the writing rights of the "SonicProjects" folder to allow writing
- have the plugin's place somewhere else than in the program files folder
Setting the default running mode to "administrator" is the easiest way to fix it and gives back the program
full writing rights. It won't affect functionality. The host providers often even recommend to do this.
It can be done like this: Right-click on the host application shortcut. Here choose "properties->compatibility"
and check "run as administrator" and confirm. Done!
Alternatively (method 2) you can change the rights of the "SonicProjects" folder (make
sure all subfolders are included too) to allow writing. This folder can be found in your
vst plugins folder. So right-click on the "SonicProjects" folder, choose properties->security,
and here choose the "user" line. Click on the "edit" button to change the rights.
In the popup-list check "write" to allow for writing to this folder as user and save.
Alternatively it also suffices to do this only with the "OP-X PRO-II" folder which can
be found within the SonicProjects folder. But if you do it for the whole SonicProjects
folder then normally all subfolders will be included.
Another method (method 3) would simply be to install OP-X PRO-II to a different place
which is not protected, e.g. to your documents or music folder. You only have to add
this path then in the vst plugin properties of your sequencer.
