Hey all!
So, I've been using FL for many years now (tho' purely as a hobbyist), and I thought it now would be a good time to go legal - partly because of the holiday sale (living in an almost-3rd-world-country, so I gotta watch my wallet), and partly 'cos those lifetime free updates are so nice, and I kinda wanna take advantage of that.

I'm going straight with the All Plugins Edition, however, I'm a bit concerned how I should approach this. I'm currently using 20.6.2 (build 1549), and I tried to install 20.9.2 (2963) "Rev 2" that was floating around on the interwebz, aaand it kinda messed up the whole FL ecosystem on my pc. I was constantly getting a failed verification popup, and - while my older version is still usable - it reset all my premade stuff, settings, mixer chains, sample / vst presets, you name it. So the 20.9.2 version did some f'ed up things in the background.

My question is - how can I be sure to get rid of all the traces of these previous cracked versions? Like, what keys do I delete in the registry, or are there any sneaky, hiddens folders in appdata, or should I delete some addresses in my host file, etc. Or should just a simple Uninstall do the trick? I kinda doubt it... Not only asking this for legal reasons, but also to avoid any file conflicts or licence errors or such...

Thanks in advance!
Peace

 

How much are you considering spending on this program? There are different purchase prices for the different packages. I am curious to know what you are considering spending on FL. Of course, personally I would leave that machine alone and spend the money on a Mac M1 Mini and be clean as a whistle. You'd have something tangible for your money, and get to run Logic. A relative No- Brainer to me, because I did exactly the same move and I would never go back to FL. Never, ever ever. But if not...

If I was purchasing a new DAW software, I would format the HDD. Install the operating system, drivers, and then FL only. Test drive it a few days and begin reinstalling your other stuff. Waves next after your DAW, if you are so inclined. Put your plugins back only as you need them.

This way you a) clean up your system but also b) There is no existing software on the system when you install the DAW. This is as "clean" as you can get this install and then any problems later on are almost never your DAW software. c) you will see how many plugins you do not use but keep around taking up space.

 

Last edited: Dec 20, 2022

I would just reinstall Windows, simply for the fresh experience and guarantee that nothing is amiss. I always keep most of my files off my C drive so that I can do quick reinstalls.

Though you might be fine if you delete any custom stuff from hosts file, and delete everything in this registry folder:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Image-Line\

Delete all Image-Line stuff in Program Files and Program Files/Common Files, Program Files/Vstplugins etc.

Perhaps some stuff in Documents, %AppData%\Image-Line. Other than that, I don't know of any other locations.

 

All Plugins Edition - €399.00 (Valid until 01st Jan 2023) is a good price for Full version if he want to go legit

 

Yes, he mentioned a good sale price. Sometimes the biggest option they have, with all the plugins and extras; can be around 1000$.

I'd still wipe it. I think it is important to build your House of Plugins on a good well-installed core DAW. (even if you use others later, the #1 daw is the important one).

 

Last edited: Dec 20, 2022

Rather than reinstall windows, just go with a quick registry clean. Save time.

 

It's a habit holdover from Cubase, FL, and Waves. Also it's just nice and clean chance to have everything installed perfectly, no extra junk files floating around, and so on. "best practice".

 

Last edited: Dec 21, 2022

If you're going to spend 400 euroes, you don't want to trigger any potential trap that would get the account blacklisted. It could be that IL does absolutely nothing and you don't have to remove anything, but why risk that if you're putting up the cash? And not everyone knows how to deal with/search the registry for leftover stuff.

 

A few days ago I bought Fl studio All Plugins Edition, the main reason is its lifetime updates and because nowadays it has become more difficult to crack it and you miss out on Image Line news (it takes a century for new updates to be cracked).

 

I would spend the money on hardware synths and go dawless. That's what real men do.

 

Well, the thing is, this is my everyday-PC with a bunch of work related software and stuff, and I really wouldn't like to go through the hassle of downloading, installing and setting up everything all over again. Next summer I'm (hopefully) updating the hardware, which means a Win reinstall will be mandatory, but by that time this sale will be over.

So, as of right now, I'm only looking for proper but quick solutions for safely installing a legal FL studio. Guess I'll just uninstall, search the registry by hand, and maybe do a CCleaner mopping to clean up any leftovers.

 

I mean, I wouldn't say you are wrong

 

I only mentioned cleaning up/wiping and re-installing for sake of stability and performance. Software you are currently buying is not when they are going to spring the trap. That ship has long sailed.

 

I would agree with a full reinstall, if its been a while since you did one it really doesn't hurt to start fresh. Sure, you need to spend a couple days getting stuff back to how you had it, but you are guaranteed to get rid of all the random bloat from years of using and uninstalling stuff, having leftovers not deleted or random folders in C:\ drive that doesn't get deleted when you uninstall something.

Also I think some people would be surprised by the amount of malware/spyware nowadays that is able to hide itself from Antiviruses like malwarebytes and even hide its processes from task manager, etc..

Of course if you really don't want to do a full reinstall, I would suggest Bulk Crap Uninstaller (BC uninstaller), its excellent at finding basically everything on your pc and giving you uninstall options for stuff that doesn't even have uninstallers. Lots of ways to customize it, and at the end it gives you the option to also search the Registry for any keys associated with the stuff you removed.

Edit: for the love of wares, please don't use CCcleaner! your mother taught you better than that!

 

Last edited: Dec 21, 2022