Karaoke Forums

Karma 2013.7.26 just released. This version contains some window redesigns, automatic secondary font scaling, larger buttons, and larger available font sizes for ease of use with larger displays and touch screen PCs. See the full version history for a complete list of changes.

https://www.facebook.com/LatshawSystems ... ion=stream

-Chris

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-Chris

I have a touch screen and I love the changes. Does make it easier to use.

Finally, after numerous attempts I was able to download the new updated version without freezing my pc. A blogger posted to temporarily disable the virus protection (avast, same as mine). Not a good idea & I was a bit leery doing so but somehow it worked.

I don’t see much difference from the old version tho’. Maybe it’s just me – I’ll do a closer look later on tonight.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Yeah, I saw they released a new version. I haven't tried it yet though. I'm always leary when they release a new version because I had a bad experience with that. One time I downloaded a new version and it kept crashing like crazy. Tried uninstalling it, re-installing the old version, etc... and nothing worked. I was so worried because I had a show that same night.

Bob Latshaw helped me though. He sent me another version to try and that one worked. It was just in the nick of time too, right before I had to leave for my gig.

Ever since then, when it comes to Karma, I have been operating under the motto, "If it ain't broke..."

I have a gig tonight. Maybe I'll give the new version a try tomorrow. That should give me time to fix things before my Thurs and Fri night gigs, should things go haywire.

Vince, you need to install something that will let your pc go back to a certain time after you install a program you don’t like; pc slow, crashed, etc. , making your pc a virtual time machine. I have Rollback RX, go back an hour ago, yesterday, last week, months, etc. It takes a “snapshot” of the entire system data at restart or at any schedule you select. Roll-back or roll-forward anytime you wish & it will be at the same state as it was, restored to that time & date.

A little pricey @ $69 but they go on sale for $25.95 national holidays, black fridays & cyber mondays. https://www.horizondatasys.com/en/produ ... roductId=1

Disregard if you already have one or a similar program.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Windows comes with a similar program and it's free. It's called Windows Restore.

...provided you're using a version of windows that was made in the last decade.

I’m familiar with windows restore, karaokelan! True that windows built-in restore system will do the same except…. it doesn’t do a more comprehensive restoration of the hard drive; restricted to recovering some, but not all system files. I know this from experience. I was not able to recover my drive from a vicious malware attack from hackers trying to gain access to my pc by using the windows built-in restore program. For one thing I can’t even start my pc after the attack.

The after market rollback program can restore my pc in a matter of seconds from “snapshot”, every single bit on the drive is recovered thus giving me great savings of time, money (repair) & peace of mind protection. Fear no more surfing the net knowing that you can browse everywhere (even porn). (Oops, did I just type that?) Just saying…......that it's a matter of personal preference. If you think windows restore is sufficient enough to do the job, then more power to you.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Thanks for that info Brian!

You know, when I updated Karma that one time with the problem... I don't even remember if I tried System Restore. That probably would have solved the issue. I remember I was panicking at the time because I had to be leaving for a show and I probably wasn't thinking straight.

I'll be sure to have a good updated System Restore point before I download and install the new Karma.

btw, I don't use my show laptop to surf the net. That's a no-no. Auto-update & network connections are disabled. Only go to the net for updates, then off. Unfortunately it was my show laptop that caught that malicious virus while updating a program.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Gotcha Brian and I respect your decision. We all must adhere to what makes us feel comfortable.

Me?

My show laptop LIVES on the net, even during shows. Matter of fact, I am typing to you on it right now.

I'll be running my show, posting on facebook, downloading music, the whole nine yards, all while not missing a beat. I usually have about 6 or 7 programs open at the same time too while I am doing all this. Show runs smooth as pie.

Been doing this for the last 4 years. NEVER had a problem, ever.

Got the new Karma installed. Searched and searched, but can't find anything new except for a "New Show" feature that wipes your rotation list and playlist so you're ready for a new show.

I guess whatever else was changed is behind the scenes or just doesn't pertain to me.

Looks exactly the same.

My machine also lives on the Internet. I do the same things that Vince does except I don't run any more than I need to for what I am doing. Usually Karma running with a browser open. I download requested music via iCroons on the fly. Never had an issue.

It's all about know what you can and can't do. Where you can and should not go.

-Chris

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-Chris

Any time there's an update, there's a list of the changes at the bottom of the help file under "version history". Most of the changes were window redesigns and font scaling for use with touch screen PCs. The bottom secondary controls now autoscale and they removed the sizer buttons, and the "New Show" used to be a button in the lower left of the screen with the sizer buttons which are now all gone and replaced with a single toggle button. Looks much cleaner and now the whole main screen scales proportionately with font size changes, and popup windows used during a show have thicker buttons making it easier to hit with your fingers on touch screens. Definite improvements in my opinion.

I never did post a review of running Karma on a Windows 8 touch based machine because of the sizing issues. I am going to do some additional testing this weekend to see if I can get things working more effectively.

Would love some feedback from anyone else that is currently running Karma with Touch only.

-Chris

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-Chris

Okay, now that I actually counted the programs I have open during my shows, it's only 5 or you can say 6 if you count 1 browser session with 2 open tabs.

Karma
Virtual DJ - for filler music
Microsoft Excel - to keep track of new songs I add that night
Microsoft Word - to take notes of things I may forget
Browser - to purchase and download songs from iCroons - Also a 2nd tab for posting on facebook. Many times, people will see my posts during my show and decide to come out.

How much RAM you have on that thing?? I run on two laptops and a player. One for Karaoke, right now using PCDJ Karaoki trial edition, and a browser to buy new music as I need it, the other I use for music and my copy of my book for look ups. I have a physicl book for the customers. I'm going make a few more books in the next couple of weeks. I do them myself at home. Why pay a ton of money for a printer to do them?

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Any 4 gig RAM machine will do that without batting an eye. A 3 gig Windows XP machine should work fine as well. A 2 gig Windows 7 machine should really have no issue with it so long as you have a 7200 RPM SATA drive with a decent buffer or a quality Flash Drive.

-Chris

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-Chris

6 gigs with Windows 8.

My previous laptop, which still works perfectly today, but has been re-assigned to "back-up" duty now, is about 7 years old. It has Vista on it and came with 1 gig of RAM, but I upgraded it to 2 gigs. I ran the same programs on it during my karaoke shows with no problems.

I used the new version of Karma at my gig tonight. I didn't like it. The main reason was because it fits kinda weird on my screen in comparison to the version I was using before. Takes up too much space. Too big. Kinda hard to explain, but I didn't like it. Also, I do not use a touch screen, but a regular widescreen laptop.

Needless to day, it's been removed and I've gone back to the version I was using before. Ahhh yes, much better for me. It's all good though. No harm, no foul.

Karma doesn't do filler music?

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens