David Priest

Perhaps I should have mentioned this before... I am in the UK Does this make any difference to advice so far? The link on A440s last post is for US and Canada only.... I am still struggling David

Yes I did download,unzip, and install the drivers on Rich's link... Did not know about Sony Customer Support, will give it a go, thanx. David

Hi A440, no it's not a Sony machine, its a new Gateway desktop supplied with Vista Home Premium installed.... I was so full of hope when I read your message, went through the whole procedure of uninstall, registry, remove directories..... I downloaded the full installer from Rich's link..... installed it without incident, as in previous attempts, it told me that SS4.3 was installed and did I want to reboot now? I did and it failed to start again..... Thanx for trying... it's a complete mystery.... David

OK Rich, so here is a step by step account:- 1) Control Panel to uninstall SS4.2 and one of the OpenMG Secure Modules. 2) OpenMG Secure Module4.5.01 uninstall attempted but fails. 3) OpenMG Secure Module3.4.01 uninstall failed with following message - "An installation support file could not be installed. The system cannot find the file specified." 4) Run regedit to remove following:- a) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT - All keys commencing with "omg" and "Sony" and "OpenMG" HKEY_CURRENT_USER - SOFTWARE - Sony Corporation C) HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE - SOFTWARE - Sony Corporation 5) Used Windows Explorer to remove C;\Program Files\Sony which contained 3 folders. 6) Rebooted 7) Downloaded SS4.3 from http://support.sony-europe.com/DNA/sonicstage/sstage_dl.asp 8) Turned Off McAfee Security Centre. 9) Re-installed SS4.3 10) Machine failed to Start and Launched Startup Repair. Took 5-10 mins then prompted for Restoe from earlier point when it worked correctly. 10) Finally restarted. 11) Unable to start SS program files missing...... Suggestions please... David

Rich, I am running out of ideas... I have now given up on trying to install all versions prior to SS4.3... I just tried SS4.2 and changed exe files to XP compatibilty but it doesn't want to know. Just wish there was a non Sony product available. I have also repeatedly done what you suggest with SS4.3, have done all of A440's suggestions, have run the Backup Tool but as soon as I exit SS and restart, I get error message that "system information has been changed" and I then run Backup but it doesn't work..... I am then permanently locked out of SS and have to re-install. There is without doubt something seriously wrong with the program, thanx for everyones help, I guess that I will revisit the problem at a future date and hope that Sony get it all sorted out and come out with a version that really does work on ALL Vista machines. David

Thanx Bob, I tried V3.4 on my Vista machine and tried changing the Omgjbox.exe properties to Windows XP compatibilitity, shame that doesn't work either... Will give V3.4 a go on my XP machine.... must admit that from the glimpses that I have seen on V4, it doesn't seem to do anything different than V2... Does anybody know of ANY programs that will allow you to copy tracks from a CD onto a Sony Hi-MD, and will work on a Vista machine??????? David

OK so having un-installed, deleted registry entries, re-installed, done backup with Backup Tool, tried and failed to copy files to my Library, got locked out of the program again, tried the System Restore tool but it still fails... I have come to the conclusion that this program is an absolute disaster, I would love to know if anyone has managed to get it working? or is because I am the first person to try and use this software? version updates are supposed to seamlessly update an existing program and simply work. For the moment I have reverted back to using V2.0 on my old XP machine, it works perfect and has all the same features that are on V4. Think I will have a look back in a few months to see if Sony have resolved all the issues and made a program that does work properly.... such a shame because the Hi-MD is a nice product and if Sony can't support it properly, then it's the kiss of death ( David

I havn't got a clue what the Backup Tool is or where to find it... I have never managed to get anything into my library on the new machine... so have never had anything to backup. I will now start all over again, delate SS registry items and re-install, and then look for the Backup tool. Thanx David

Things get worse.... So I closed SonicStage, then reopened it, I now get the following message every time I start SS:- The selected music file cannot be played back because the system information has been changed. Click OK to automatically close SonicStage and open the SonicStage System Information Restore Tool. (Error Code: 00004e2e) The tool does not work.... I am really struggling now... David

Hi bobt, thanx for your help, I installed the program that came on CD with my Hi-MD, never knew there were newer versions till I got new pc with Vista. Anyway, followed your instructions, and made a little bit of progress, installed new version, looks much the same as version 2.0, when I click on the red arrow to import a CD into my library, it counts up to 99%, then I get the following message:- An error has occured while preparing to import the CD. Please try again. (00000415) I click OK then get An error has occured while preparing to import the CD. Please try again. (00000307) Anyone got any ideas on how to resolve this one please.... David

I am falling over at the first hurdle.... I go to Control Panel, Programs and Features, highlight SonicStage 2.0.06 then click on uninstall..... I then get a SonicStage messagebox that says "An installation support file could not be installed. The system could not find the file specified." So I am unable to get rid of the earlier version of the program More ideas please David

Hi, I have been using my MZ-NH900 and SonicStage 2.0 on my XP machine without problems. I have just purchased a new Gateway machine with Visa home premium, Microsoft Office and McAfee Security Suite. When installing SonicStage 4.3 it first informs me that one of the installation files is missing, it then goes on to complete the installation and asks me to re-start the machine. It then starts a lengthy Startup Repair routine and finally restarts. When I then open SonicStage, it says "Cannot start SonicStage because the database is being used by another program or the databaes cannot be accessed for some other reason" You click OK and it then says "Cannot initialize OpenMG Import Manager" I have tried several attempts to uninstall. redownload and re-install but still have the same problem. Has anyone got any ideas please? Or is it perhaps that Sony are not going to update the software to enable it to work with Vista? Many thanks, David