Any way to run PT11 on Windows 7?

[jeremyseanbell]

The company I work for asked me to check our plug-ins in ProTools 11 on windows 7. Unfortunately I'm not even able to run ProTools in this setup because every time I launch PT, it says "Impossible to record audio because the Audio Input is not active. Open the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Setup dialog... etc." Then when I get into a session and try to start playback, it just shows "Pause" and the play button flashes and it won't play.

The computer is a Dell Precision, 8 gigs, a few years old... PT runs fine on the Win8 and Win10 partitions, so I don't think the hardware specs are the issue anyway. It's just Win7 that's the problem. I know Win7 isn't exactly the best OS for running DAWs, but there's gotta be a way to make this work, right?

I don't think that weird "Full duplex" message is appropriate to my setup, but I did manage to find that app, which is apparently a Steinberg thing, and I tried every possible setting with no luck. I've also gone through every playback engine listed in the Playback Engine dropdown, I've uninstalled ASIO, I've tried several different audio interfaces including the built in headphone jack, and I've reinstalled the drivers for the audio interfaces. It still won't play when I press Play.

On my last couple dozen attempts, it's given me this error message: "Your audio device is configured with an unsupported audio buffer size. Please select... etc etc." This is also not an appropriate warning, as my buffer is set to 1024. It usually crashes or hardlocks after giving this prompt, but when I do manage to get to the Playback Engine, there is no dropdown list where the H/W buffer list should be.

This has been such an ordeal, even by Windows standards

[amagras]

What audio interface are you using? The onboard? Install Asio4all and select that in Setup/Playback Engine

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by jeremyseanbell

It's just Win7 that's the problem. I know Win7 isn't exactly the best OS for running DAWs, but there's gotta be a way to make this work, right?

Nothing wrong with Win7 for daws.

Compatibility charts shows it’s cool
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...tibility-Chart


Have you done these?
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare...-optimization/


How about this?
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare...s-preferences/


As andrei said you have to install the driver for your interface and if your not using an interface then it’s ASIO or nothing


Set windows sounds in the control panel to use your computers speakers and not the interface (if your using one)

[Wizzoboy]

As YYR123 says, nothing wrong with Win7. I too have a Dell Precision workstation and have run all PT versions from 11 up to 2018.4 under Win7. So I would also suspect your interface setup.
As to the play button flashing without playback, is PT set to wait for a midi note, or is the Online button in the transport bar set to on, so it is waiting for incoming timecode?

[albee1952]

If Windows is trying to use the same IO as Pro Tools, that can be an issue. Set Windows to not use anything as its "Default Playback Device" and see if that helps Pro Tools to work. While its SUPPOSED to fine to run PT without a separate interface, the reality is, your life will be much easier if you do run a dedicated interface for Pro Tools(and leave the on-board sound card to be the "Default Playback Device" for Windows audio

And yes, Windows 7 is fine with PT11

[Southsidemusic]

When you say you installed "ASIO" do you mean www.asio4all.com or something else? You need the asio4all free driver if you aren't using a dedicated interface.