VST3 & .EXE Apps Don't Run On New Windows 11 Install

First time posting here so take it easy on me.

I have 20 years tech experience. So I only post here as a last resort. Has something like this ever happened to anyone. Its a real odd one.

Thank you to anyone who posts.

I just did a new Windows 11 install along with all music plugins and appps.

All of my music apps (many apps from Spectrasonic, Toontrack, iZotope, and many more) work fine as expected. The .exe's work and both vst2 and vst3 work in Studio One 7.

After spending days re-installing my vast Native Instrument Library. the problem started when I tried run some of the instruments. I found that none of the .exe instruments (standalone) , vst3 work. Nothing happens. I tried running inside Native Access, Studio One 7 and standalone. The only app that worked was Guitar Rig 5. I have versions 5,6,7 only 5 runs. Everything I own in Native Access is fine zero flags but none of them run or work.

I created a ticket with support but they have not responded. So now any song I have created/mixed using Native Instrument is totally dead in the water until I get this resolved. This really sucks.

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Accepted answers

Vocalpoint

OneDrive can easily be of value and tamed all at the same time.

Simply do this (under Sync and Backup):

And of course - make sure you are never installing any actual executables to the Documents folder.

I use OneDrive extensively here - and as soon as you decouple it as above and simply use the OneDrive main folder as a master sync point - OD will completely and forever stay out of your way.

All comments

mykejb

Do you get any error messages when you try to run the apps, or do they just flash up and close? Do apps like Massive/Kontakt crash? Are there any errors in the Application or System event logs?

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/47483/vst3-exe-apps-dont-run-on-new-windows-11-install

I just did a new Windows 11 install along with all music plugins and appps.

A basic problem here is that despite this is a new installation then this does not mean that something can not already have been screwed up , especially in a high activity environment.

Did you try the obvious thing to do ? E.g. did you uninstall /remove Kontakt (8 ?) completely , reboot computer and then try re-installing it as an Admin ? - eventually using a download from Account downloads . Then run stand alone version of app.

Else immediately I would start by checking for user access problems , verify Windows system files . and check the MS VC++ dependencies…

Also then are you using latest version of Native Access for your OS ? and what are the exact names and versions of apps that do not work ? (Ref. : your '.exe instruments' reference )

Are your app and plugin installation path the default ?

Vocalpoint

My vote is on the Visual C++ libraries from Microsoft.

None of these are installed to a fresh install of Windows 11. As of this writing - these are the versions you should have installed:

I would also make sure the Windows Defender is not poking it's nose into your activities either.

Event Log in Windows 11 should record each instance of a non-firing EXE and hopefully - tell you why.

Also did tell us what audio interface you are running either - this is critical especially for Studio One.

JAGSr

Thanks so much for the comments.

I was up until 2AM last night trying to figure this out and something happened with a pop-up that mentioned OneDrive. This popup was not related to the install of Native Instruments.

This got me thinking about my actions for the past 3 days re-installing all of my DAW and music apps. Whenever I do a new install of windows, I usually get rid of OneDrive ASAP but I did not do it before starting the 2-day install of Native Instruments (I don’t like how NI system works…the worst of all my apps).

I decided to reinstall OneDrive and as soon as I did, I saw a popup that disappeared quickly. I saw the name Native Instruments and something about 2 conflicting files. It happened so fast I could not read it in its entirety. There and gone.

So, I ran Guitar Rig 7 and what do you know it started. I installed some of the other instruments and they worked. I had my entire NI library already installed and when the issue’s started I uninstalled/deleted everything for NI. Now I am going once again through the process of re-installing.

OneDrive was the issue.

Thanks again to anyone who responded but I figured it out and this story is hopefully a warning to others on how Microsoft is so invasive an OS.

Vocalpoint

OneDrive can easily be of value and tamed all at the same time.

Simply do this (under Sync and Backup):

And of course - make sure you are never installing any actual executables to the Documents folder.

I use OneDrive extensively here - and as soon as you decouple it as above and simply use the OneDrive main folder as a master sync point - OD will completely and forever stay out of your way.

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