Finale v25 or v26 hangs on launch (Windows)

If Finale runs into a conflict with one of your computer's devices (including, but not limited to, audio devices and printers) it can hang while attempting to launch. In most cases this will happen on first launch right after the MIDI Setup dialog box is dismissed; however, it could fail at other points during startup.

If you are experiencing this behavior, please follow the steps below.* These steps are designed to test for possible conflicts of common devices that could cause Finale to fail.

*Note: Work relating to this issue was done in the Finale v27.1 release, and users on v27.1 or later should no longer encounter this issue. If you are using Finale v27.1 or later and still need to turn off the print spooler for Finale to launch without hanging, please use the Submit a Request option above to contact technical support. 

Testing for conflicts with printers

1. Close any open programs (including Finale).
2. Hold down the Windows key and press the letter R at the same time to open the Run dialog box.
3. Type "services.msc" (without quotes) into the Run dialog box.
4. Click OK.
5. In the Services window that appears, locate the service named Print Spooler.
6. Right-click the Print Spooler service and choose Stop.
7. Close the Services window and relaunch Finale.

If Finale launches successfully after this change, please refer to this knowledge base article for more information on this type of issue. There is no need to test audio device conflicts if these steps allow Finale to launch.

If this change did not have any effect and Finale is still hanging on launch, please reactivate the Print Spooler service by right-clicking Print Spooler in the Services window and clicking Start (otherwise your computer cannot print). After restarting Print Spooler, please move on to the next steps.

As an alternative troubleshooting measure, you can install the Finale v27 free trial to see if that launches successfully, which can be downloaded at the link below:

• https://www.finalemusic.com/free-trial/

Testing audio devices

1. Close any open programs.
2. Hold down the Windows key and press the letter R at the same time to open the Run dialog box.
3. Type "services.msc" (without quotes) into the Run dialog box.
4. Click OK.
5. In the Services window that appears, locate the service named Windows Audio.
6. Right-click the Windows Audio service and choose Stop.
7. Launch Finale.

If Finale launches successfully after this change, then you most likely have a conflict with one of the audio devices on your computer and Finale.

Deactivating the Windows Audio service will prevent playback from your computer and Finale's audio engine will fail to load. Please restart the Windows Audio service again by right-clicking the service and choosing Start before proceeding with troubleshooting your individual audio devices.

You can find and manage a list of the audio devices on your computer from the Windows Device Manager. Please see this article for more information on troubleshooting conflicts with Finale's audio engine.

Please keep in mind that, in the most extreme cases, Finale could conflict with both printing devices and audio devices on launch. With this in mind, if following each set of steps in succession does not help, try deactivating both the Print Spooler and Windows Audio services at the same time and then launching Finale. If this helps, you can use both the Printing Device conflicts article and the Audio Device conflicts article to troubleshoot these issues with Finale.