QUESTION??? Riffworks related...

[MwRoberts3]

Okay, I have an extended question here. Very long story as short as possible, I bought the very first version of Riffworks for my Windows XP (32-bit) computer back in 2005. Used it; loved it. My computer crashed recently. It had a few unfinished tracks on there and I want to go about retrieving them. I bought a new computer, Windows Vista (64-bit). I also bought the more up-to-date Sanoma Wireworks Riffworks Standard and installed it on my Vista 64 computer, and it works just fine. I got it to where I don't even have to worry about latency.

Anyhoo, my question is this: If I go about retrieving those unfinished files from my old computer (XP 32) and spend a big chunk of money in doing so, and they are hypothetically able to get those files (which are also .rws files, correct?), will I be able to open them with my new RW on my new Vista 64, and continue to work on them and finish them?

I really need some expert advice here, because it is very important. I really want/need these to work, but before I go spending a lot of money, I need the assurance that it can/will work out.

Please and thank you greatly.
MwR

[ShredRex]

The short answer is yes.......lol

Although it has not been confirmed, well not completely that i can find documented evidence of. There is more on the topic here:

http://www.sonomawireworks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=440

My personal experience was it did work for older song files, but i had some issues with drummers not opening correctly in the old song files once I converted over to Riffworks Standard. Hopefully some more users can chime in here with their experiences.

[Stymie]

Have you tried hooking the old hard drive up to your new computer as a slave and searching for the files yet? A lot of times older drives will let you get data from them even when they won't work as a boot device. It wouldn't cost anything but a little time to try.

[MwRoberts3]

1. ShredRex, I actually don't use the drum riffs. We record our own drum parts through a PA, and line it directly through to the software, and they record like regular layers.

2. Stymie, I did not know that.

Thanks for your help and advice guys. I appreciate it.

[ShredRex]

Here is hoping it works for ya!

[Rotund]

Stymie has a good suggestion that could save some bucks. If the new computer has the correct interface and drivers for your old drive and and first will recognize it you can find software on the internet that will retrieve data from drives. Knowing the format of the drive is important because the software capabilities vary. The cost of the software does too. But if you are technical enough you could save yourself hundreds of $$. I have had this happen with my entire collection of MP3 and was able to recover them in this manner. The recovery can be tedious in time so it boils down to your time vs. budget analysis.

[Stymie]

If the drive shows up, you can browse for your files with no software required. It's the same as plugging in a flash drive.

Edit: I thought I'd add that I've done this succesfully 2 times in the past to recover pictures and such.

[ShredRex]

I have done that in the past as well.........retrieved my files from the old drive and then formatted it to use a slave, or back up storage drive.

[mickeymix]

I did that (Slaving the hard drive) yesterday to recover my jobs business files and it worked like a charm.....give it a go ....you should be able to save your music files.

[Muddhole]

As long as 64 bit is backward compaitble with 32 bit you should be fine by doing the slave thing. If you dont know how to do it just ask.