437: Sibelius 2 and 3 on Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)

Sibelius is fully compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). However, due to an undocumented change made by Microsoft in SP2, you will encounter an error message when double-clicking a score's icon on your desktop or from Windows Explorer to open it in Sibelius 2 or Sibelius 3.

This problem is cosmetic only, and does not affect your existing files in any way. It also has a simple fix -- read on for more details.

Symptoms of the problem

The precise symptoms depend on whether or not Sibelius is already running.

If Sibelius is already running

If Sibelius is already running when you double-click the score's icon, Sibelius will give you an error message Sibelius cannot find the file (in Sibelius 2, the error will say This file does not exist anymore. Perhaps you deleted it.). Click OK to dismiss the error message, and the file will then open in any case.

If Sibelius is not already running

If Sibelius is not already running when you double-click the score's icon, Sibelius will launch. It will then give you an error message Sibelius cannot find the file C:\Path\To\File.sib (showing the full path of the file that cannot be found), and the file will not open. (In Sibelius 2, the error will say This file does not exist anymore. Perhaps you deleted it. C:\Path\To\File.) You should then open the file yourself from within Sibelius using File > Open.

Solution

We have provided a fix for Microsoft's undocumented change of behaviour in the form of a simple script which needs to be run once on your computer.

Note: If you are using Sibelius on a Japanese version of Windows XP, we do not recommend that you download and apply this fix.

Applying the fix

• Download the script here: xp_sp2_fix.zip (Zip archive, 4K)
• Unzip the archive, which contains a single file, Sibelius XP SP2 File Association Fix.js
• Double-click the file to apply the fix.
• Certain anti-virus programs (e.g. McAfee VirusScan) may pop up a warning message informing you of apparently suspicious script activity. In this case, you definitely want to run this script, so you should choose whichever option allows this script to run this time.
• A dialog will appear with three buttons, Yes, No, and Cancel. Click Yes to apply the fix.
• A moment or two later you will be told that the fix has been successfully applied.

To uninstall the fix at a later date, simply run the script again and click No; you will be told that the fix has been correctly removed.

Possible problems with the script

• You should only this script if you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2. To check that you are running SP2, hold down the Windows key and hit Break to bring up the System Properties dialog. Where the version number of your copy of Windows is given, it will explicitly say Service Pack 2 if you are running that version.
• If you are running the localized Japanese version of Windows XP Service Pack 2, you may find that after running this script, when double-clicking a score to open it when Sibelius is running, Sibelius does not restore from the taskbar correctly; if this occurs, simply right-click the Sibelius button on the taskbar and choose Restore.
• If you use any Explorer-replacement utilities, such as GP Software's Directory Opus, the fix may not work in these applications. The fix only applies to Sibelius scores launched directly from the Windows shell.
• If your computer has the .js file association set to open in a program such as Notepad or DreamWeaver or similar then the script won't run but the program will open the file instead of running the script.
  If this is the case hold down shift and right click on the .js file. Go to Open with... and from the list select Microsoft (r) Windows Based Script Host and click OK. If Microsft (r) Windows Based Script Host is not there then click the Browse button. Go to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 and select wscript.exe (this may be called wsh.exe on some systems). Click Open and then the OK button when Microsft (r) Windows Based Script Host is now selected. This will run the script and you should follow the on screen instructions.