I have had the same, or similar problem with this software. When I start Play it trips over the first few notes, kinda hesitates then catches up, and then plays the rest of the score OK. It plays the first measure OK on the repeat. This is the same when I use the playback controls or the space bar and click. My score is a simple piano arrangement. Oh, and when I hit Stop, it repeats the last few notes before stopping.
Oh boy, that was cute. I opened an old score (Written with Songwriter). It did not play at all, then when I closed the file, a second after it closed, it played one note from that score. It is driving me crazy. I am trying to work here.
The Finale gurus told me to re-install the program as follows:
(Don't try this at home, kiddies)
1. You will need to be logged in to this computer on a user account that has full administrative rights.
2. Close PrintMusic 2009.
3. Click your Windows Start button and choose Control Panel.
4. In the Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs.
5. In your program list, select Finale PrintMusic2009, and then click the Remove button.
6. Click your Windows Start button again and choose My Computer.
7. In your My Computer folder, navigate to your C:\Program Files folder, find your Finale PrintMusic 2009 folder and delete it. If you have any personal files saved here, be sure to move them elsewhere first.
8. Click your Windows Start button again and choose Run.
9. In the Run window type "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter.
10. At this point, you will need to make adjustments to your computer's registry, which contains important data that controls your computer's operation. If you're not familiar or not comfortable modifying registry keys, you may want someone to assist you in person.
11. Carefully navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MakeMusic\Finale PrintMusic 2009\ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\MakeMusic\Finale PrintMusic 2009\
12. Delete the entire folder key and its subkeys.
13. Close the Registry Editor.
14. Type Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up the Task Manager.
15. Under the Processes tab, click on "User Name" to sort the running processes by user ID name.
16. Under the User Name column, find the processes (under the "Image Name" column) that have your account name next to them. Click on each one, then click "End Process," then select OK. Do this for every process with your user name next to it, except taskmgr.exe, explorer.exe, and System Idle Process.
17. Check your system tray (lower-right corner of the screen) and disable any antivirus software you find here, which can interfere with program installations.
18. Reinstall PrintMusic from the installation media or download (
http://www.finalemusic.com/store/download.aspx?id=413).
OK so I did all that and it worked. For a few weeks. Then the same problem came up. This morning I did it all again. It was OK for a few hours.
I/we need a better solution.