81. Error message when loading the program: "System cannot find file specified at..."

This is a Windows error that occurs when RealBand asks Windows to search for DirectX plugins on your computer. The problem is most likely related to an incorrectly installed DirectX Plugin.

The first thing you should do is a fresh reinstall of RealBand. Here is one way of doing this:

  1. Rename your existing RealBand folder to "RealBandOLD" (This will be a backup of your old RealBand folder).
  2. Reinstall the program (using the original CD, or the installer that you downloaded) to the default RealBand folder, for example C:\RealBand. Proceed with the DirectX Plugins installation which will launch after the main program installation. Install the plugins to the default folder.
  3. Install the latest update patch for your version of RealBand. Updates are available for download from here.

If you follow these steps, you will accomplish three main things: You will reinstall the PG Music DirectX plugins included with RealBand, you will ensure that there wasn't something wrong with one of the configuration files in your 'old' RealBand folder, and you will update RealBand to the latest build available. Once you have done this, launch the program to check if the error still occurs. If you still get the same error message, here are some other things that may help:

  • Band-in-a-Box® 2005 and higher also include a some PG Music DirectX plugins, and these should be reinstalled as well. One way to do this would be to reinstall Band-in-a-Box®. However, you can also do it without reinstalling the whole program:

    1. Open your Band-in-a-Box® folder, usually C:\bb.

    2. Search for a file that starts with "bbxxxx_dx_plug", where xxxx is your version of Band-in-a-Box® (for example, 2005).

    3. Double-click on this file, and follow the prompts to install the DirectX Plugins. Install to the default location.

  • Download and install the latest version of DirectX from Microsoft's website.

  • Check your hard disk for errors. Right Click on your hard drive and select Properties. On the Tools tab - Error Checking, click the Check Now button. Check both boxes (Fix File System Errors and Scan/attempt recovery of bad sectors). You will need to reboot the computer to run this scan.

  • If none of these suggestions have fixed the problem, there is most likely a third party (non-PG Music) DirectX plugin on your computer which was moved or deleted, or there is a problem with the plugin's registry entry. If you have recently installed any third party DirectX plugins (or software that might have included DX plugins), try uninstalling/reinstalling this software. It is possible that just one corrupt DX plugin file somewhere on your computer is causing the problem, and the next step would be to track down and uninstall all of your plugins. You may be able to find a utility that will check the registry and flag any DX plugin that has a registry entry which no longer points to a valid file.


Alyssa - PG Music