Created on - Last updated on

Attention Mac Users
Apple will release macOS 15 (Sequoia) on Monday, September 16, 2024.
Finale v27 is not compatible with Sequoia and will not be updated.

For more information:
macOS 15 Sequoia and Finale Notation Products
Disabling Automatic macOS Updates

You may find that Finale is launching slower than expected on your computer. We’ve found that certain audio driver APIs can cause Finale to open slower than usual and up to several minutes in some cases. Class-compliant interfaces often use DirectSound generic Windows audio driver so disabling the other options can often help speed up your launch times depending on the hardware that you’re working with. You can do that by taking these steps:

  1. Close Finale
  2. Hold down your Windows key (to the left of the spacebar, between the <Ctrl> and <Alt> keys) and type the letter "R" - this will open the 'Run' dialog box
  3. Type "%appdata%" (without quotation marks) and click 'OK'
  4. Navigate to MakeMusic\Finale 27 (*note: for older versions of Finale this folder name will show the version - ex: "Finale 2014.5")
  5. In this folder, double-click the file named "FINMIDI.ini" - this should open the file in a text editor (e.g. Notepad)
  6. Near bottom of the file until you see a section that looks like this:
    • [AUDIOAPIPREFS]
    • EngineLoaded=1
    • ASIOEnabled=1
    • DirectSoundEnabled=1
    • WASAPIEnabled=1
  7. Make sure that the EngineLoaded value is 1, so that line should now read "EngineLoaded=1"
  8. Change the ASIOEnabled value from 1 to 0, so that line should now read "ASIOEnabled=0"
  9. Change the WASAPIEnabled value from 1 to 0, so that line should now read "WASAPIEnabled=0"
  10. Save and close the file, then relaunch Finale to see if the issue has been resolved

You can click the Submit a Request button at the top of this page to reach out to the Customer Support team if you’re still experiencing slow loading on your computer. Please attach the following diagnostic files alongside your request:

--MS Info--

  1. Hold down your Windows key and type the letter "R" to open the 'Run' dialog box
  2. Type or copy/paste "msinfo32" (without quotation marks) and click 'OK'
  3. Click the File Menu and choose Export…
  4. Name this new file “info” and save it to your Desktop
  5. Attach that "info.txt" file to your reply to this email

--DX Diagnostic--

  1. Hold down your Windows key and type the letter "R" to open the 'Run' dialog box
  2. Type or copy/paste "dxdiag" (without quotation marks) and click 'OK'
  3. If you are asked "Do you want DxDiag to check if your drivers are digitally signed?" choose Yes. This will launch the DirectX Diagnostic program.
  4. Once the program has loaded, choose Save All Information
  5. In the Save As dialog box, choose to Save In your Desktop
  6. Click the Save button
  7. Exit the DirectX diagnostic program
  8. Attach that "DxDiag.txt" file (which will be located on your Desktop) to your reply to this email
Follow