I've read that people have had success with using VDL in a 64 bit Vista (even though it's not supported), however, when I install the VDL program, I lose all sound on my computer.  I've searched this and the Finale forum and haven't seen this problem.  When I open the Kontakt player it says that 'cannot find MME device' and Finale says drivers are missing.  Luckily, I was able to system restore and got sound back, but would still like help with this if anyone else has run into this problem.  It's my fault for not researching all the way before I bought a new computer.  Thanks.


VDL 2.5, Kontakt 2, Finale 2009
Vista 64, 4 GB Ram, Intel Duo Core Processor

Ficvirth - thanks for taking the time to report your findings here. I'm sure this will be helpful for someone in the future as we all get a little more up on how to work around some of Vista's quirks.

Thanks for being so patient, and I'm glad to hear you're up and running! :)

Just in case, I did one more uninstall of VDL and the service center.  I then installed both programs operating in Windows XP compatibility mode as an administrator and, so far (keep fingers crossed) all sounds from VDL and regular computer sounds work fine.  I opened some old scores and they loaded fine. 

So if anyone has a similar problem, install in Windows XP compatibility mode! Now that I spent all day on that, maybe I can get a few measures written haha!

I followed your steps and nothing changed.  The problems started after I installed VDL, I couldn't even get sound from a normal mp3 in windows media player or from the normal clicks and beeps of windows. 

...I ran the player in standalone mode and nothing happened with it either.  I matched all the midi settings I have from another computer that was running the player fine in XP. 

...I uninstalled VDL and the service center and did a system restore and sound went back to normal.

After, or during, the install is where something went weird.  The program did install without any problems, so I'm really not sure where it went wrong.  I also updated my sound card drivers and that didn't change anything.

Here's a few things to check:

1) Open Finale
2) Press 'Default Document' on the Welcome Screen (or go to File -> New -> Default Document)
3) Enter some notes in the first measure
4) Press play on the Playback Controls

Do you get the same error message?

If so, go to MIDI/Audio Menu -> Device Setup-> Audio Setup.  What is selected as your Audio Driver?  If it has anything other than DirectSound selected, change it back to DirectSound and try the above steps again.

You said when you install VDL you lose all sound?  Do you lose sound immediately after install, or after you open Finale/VDL for the first time?  Did this happen after opening the Kontakt 2 Player in standalone, or after opening Finale and trying to load KP2?

If you could detail exactly what steps you took from install to losing sound, we might be able to troubleshoot this a bit deeper for you.