Swarm of Finale 25/26 Bugs: At this point, Unusable

[Piano Pete]

Wondering if anyone else has been having issues with Finale 26 on Windows 10.

When I upgraded from 25 to 26, I started getting all sorts of strange bugs:

1) Shortcut keys for speedy entry do not work. (Most of the menu shortcuts will also randomly stop working).
2) When copying and pasting, notes will randomly be transposed +/- octaves.
3) Tuplet Defaults will not stick, no matter how many times I set them.
4) Text vanishes whenever I type, move the screen, or do anything.
5) FinaleScript and LUA Plugins randomly work and break.
6) Finale print to PDF causing print options to vanish unless default printer is changed.
7) Project Expression Categories and individual expression settings will be deleted if I access their edit tabs.

The list goes on.

I have tried reinstalling Finale probably 5 times over the past few months. I have remade my templates, all my scripts, and double checked my AHK macros with a fine tooth comb, and still I have yet to get it running to a usable state. I have tried contacting MakeMusic to no avail, and I have had to decrease the number of gigs I can currently take on as my productivity has plummeted.

Is this becoming the norm from MakeMusic, or have I been visited upon by some vengeful ill will?

What else can I do to fix this past clean installs?

[ttw]

I haven't had any of those. (I have had others I discussed here and sent to Make Music who cannot reproduce them.)

This probably isn't your problem but I have had problems with McAfee and other real-time virus checkers play havoc with the timing of some of my programs (took me two years to figure this out.) Some other problems with CCleaner running rather than just daily use. The other thing I found back in Finale 19xx or the like was continual editing on a file without doing a Data Check File Maintenance.

[motet]

#2 is probably Preferences/Edit/Respect instrument ranges when copying. Uncheck that--it's a dumb thing that shouldn't be the default.

Other than that, something is definitely amiss. As a troubleshooting exercise, try turning off other software, like Auto Hotkey.

[Piano Pete]

Thanks Motet, at least one of my problems is caused by a setting (when did this become default?)

I'll definitely be tearing everything apart again, but the issues still occur when I only run Finale, without any additional software.

Also, Finale keeps throwing an Error Code: 7 every single time, or if I have had another DAW simultaneously, I start having tons of issues with Rewire.

Another weird thing that has been popping up is that whenever I click on a tuplet or articulation in a measure that has a tempo marking in it, it will randomly offset it left or right. Additionally, the cursor for placing expression data does not line up with where Finale shows it, which makes placing things manually a bit of a pain.

The Plugins that I have installed are JW's and TGtools. I cant imagine these being the cause, as I have had them for awhile. I guess the only questionable plugins that I have are JW's Test Plugins, but those have not been updated since 2016, and it is hard to live without change pitch, staff polyphony, or Copy Part Layout.

[BuonTempi]

I have tried reinstalling Finale probably 5 times over the past few months

After one re-install, it's safe to rule out problems with the application's installation itself. Doing it again isn't going to make it install harder or better.

Problems of this sort are likely to be caused by incompatibility with some other software, particularly 'helper' apps or background tasks, like AV software, as motet says.

[Piano Pete]

Just wiped my preferences. Looks like it solved the shortcut issues. Before the speedy entry context menu was showing C++ for enharmonic rest (measure), now it is back to Ctrl+9.

I guess it's going to take some more tinkering to fix the other ones.

[Piano Pete]

Is there a way to completely disable Rewire? Between the different DAWs I have to open and close, it appears to throw a lot of tantrums.

[Djard]

I too experienced a myriad of problems after upgrading from 32-bit v2012 to 64-bit v26, including frequent lock-ups and inability to extract parts: I had to extract one instrument at a time. The techs at ZenDesk recommended a fresh download and clean install, meaning I had to manually remove all residual files and purge the registry of the software before setup. This I did.

Fortunately, I made a note of the steps, having noticed each re-installation was a little different. It took six re-installations before the steps were consistent. All of the issues I was experiencing no longer occur. Maybe a clean install will help you.