Windows 7 MIDI output device selection

OK Guys after downloading a load of junk promising to address this problem here is a get round that allowed me to access my USB midi card. Firstly make sure your USB midi is installed OK and the drivers are up to date. Put simply you just need to tell windows that instead of using the internal sound card for midi (which is windows default) you want to use the external midi usb. Go to start and where it says search programs and files type regedit   Windows  will ask you if you want to edit this and you answer yes. follow this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ActiveMovie\devenum{4EFE2452-168A-11D1-BC76-00C04FB9453B}\Default MidiOut Device   This is the part of the registry that tells windows which midi device it should use as default. Now click on the default midi folder and the last entry will be: midioutId click on this (this is the part that tells win 7 that your default card is internal I.E. zero 0  Change the hexdecimal to 1 this is your external USB midi card.  Close down the regedit and try your USB midicard it will be working now.  You don't need to reboot or anything just close regedit and try your card. To change back simply regedit back and change back to zero. It took me a week of misery to find this out but for me it now works 100%.  I haven't been coned into downloading  more viruses etc which all of the so called utilities on google have turned out to be. Try this at your own risk but there is nothing it for me only to help ease the problem.  MICROSOFT YOUR NAFF.  YOU COULD WRITE A UTILITY IN TWO MINUTE TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM. I just don't have knowledge or I'd do it myself.  Perhaps someone else can let me know. Good luck everyone.

I had the same problem, I could not select my EMU 1820 midi port (CS2x connected there).

 

I created a simple utility to do the job

MidiPortConfig

www.sdim.gr/mpc/

 

It is tested on Windows 7 x64 ultimate.

 

Don't look my home page, it's still under construction ;-)

Yes but this does not work at all on two of my machines! I've picked up virus' from some of these so called midi port programs and now I'm very dupious about trying anything. Why Windows hasn't made a simple utility to adress this problem I don't know. They are happy to take millions in revenue but can't address a simple problem like this. I have tried everything and there does not appear to be a get round. I have been a Midi musician and music programmer since the original windows program and up to Vista and 7 there has never been a problem. You go into control panel. Select hardware and sound and tell windows which midi card you want to address as default. What can be so hard to keep this option in? I'm stuck now I either go back to XP which apparantly microsoft are soon dropping support for or hang up my boots. Any one has genuine get round for this problem I would be sincerely grateful for.

Yep - you are right. 

 

Microsoft make it easy to use by taking out features. Then make it even easier by renaming everything and moving it to a new location so the 90% of people in the world who know how to use it have to start learning it all over again.  Write components that each have a different interface and don't use standard file dialogs eg. Windows Fax and Scan.  Come back Bill we need you to keep the marketing idiots in line...  Steve Jobs might have done a lot for Apple but Microsoft are helping even more.  - end of rant.

 

To choose a Midi device in Windows 7 you need third party software to provide the interface now.  It is not the fault of the driver except that maybe MS now expect the driver software to come bundled with this feature.

 

Cheers:-)