Backing up Sound Byte Data

You should always have backup copies of Sound Byte, as well as your racks, playlists, and other files. This page briefly explains what data Sound Byte uses, as well as how to back it up.

If you are upgrading to a new version of Sound Byte (especially a beta version) you should make backup copies of your existing version, as well as your racks and playlists first. It is possible that the new version (especially if it is a beta) may have a bug, and you want to go back to the older version. The formats of rack and playlist files may change with a newer version, causing them to no longer work with an older version. We do not keep older versions of Sound Byte available for download, it is up to you to keep backup copies

The first thing to keep a backup of is the Sound Byte application itself. If you have a Mac, this could be in your Applications folder, or it could be elsewhere on your hard drive, depending on where you put it when you downloaded your copy. You can make a zipped archive of Sound Byte by right clicking on the program icon, and selecting "Compress SoundByte.app". Then store the zipped file somewhere for later use if needed.

If you have a Windows machine, you have two options. The easiest is to make a backup copy of the Sound Byte Installer program (EXE), which you can then use any time to re-install that version of Sound Byte. The other option is to locate the Sound Byte folder in your Program Files folder, and make a backup copy or ZIP archive of it.

Next, you want to make a backup copy of your Sound Byte Racks and playlists. One the Mac, there are two folders located in the Documents folder for your user account: SoundByteRacks and SoundBytePlayLists. Make copies or ZIP archives of these two folders. They contain the information used to specify what sound files appear in your racks and playlists (but not the actual sound files themselves).

On a Windows machine, these folders are located in the Documents and Settings folder for your user account.

If you have a very old version of Sound Byte, these folders may instead be located in the same folder as the Sound Byte application itself.

Next, you may wish to make backup copies of your sound files. Zipping them may be the easiest option.

Finally, be sure to put your backups in a safe place!

Send your comments and questions to info@blackcatsystems.com

Last modified June 24, 2009