Q: How do I uninstall and reinstall my AudioBox drivers in Windows 7?

A: If recording is not working in your DAW (digital audio workstation) software, or if you are experiencing issues such as glitching or other unwanted sounds, the AudioBox driver may need to be uninstalled and reinstalled on your system. Common reasons that it becomes necessary to reinstall the driver include:

Plugging the AudioBox into a USB port other than the one it was originally installed on

Using the device with a USB hub or extension cable

Using the device with a USB cable other than the included cable

Hardware and/or software changes to your system

Plugging the device into the front panel of a desktop computer

In almost all instances, you can simply run the uninstaller, reinstall the driver immediately, and no other steps are necessary. This should only take a couple of minutes and usually solves most driver-related issues.

However, if you experience difficulties with the driver's installation process, or if you receive an error message from the installer, follow the steps in this guide to fully uninstall and reinstall the drivers properly. This guide can be used to install all PreSonus AudioBox devices, including:

AudioBox USB

AudioBox 22VSL

AudioBox 44VSL

AudioBox 1818VSL

AudioBox iOne

AudioBox iTwo

Additionally, this article can simply be used as a guide to properly install the driver, even if no attempt has been made to install the driver yet.

Before uninstalling and reinstalling the driver, please check out this article, which explains common reasons why the AudioBox might not seem to function properly. Though the article is written for Studio One, its basic troubleshooting procedure applies to most major DAW software.

UNINSTALL

Uninstalling the Driver Application

1. Unplug the AudioBox from your computer.

Note: If this is an AudioBox44VSL or AudioBox1818VSL, power the unit off as well.

2. Click Start -> Computer.

3. In the new window, open your system drive by double-clicking it. By default on most Windows systems, this is the C:\ drive.

4. Open the Program Files directory.

5. Locate the PreSonus folder and open it. If there is no PreSonus folder, skip to Removing Device Manager Entries.

6. In the PreSonus folder, open the AudioBox or AudioBox VSL folder, if present. If you do not find these folders, skip to step Removing Device Manager Entries.

7. In the AudioBox folder, locate and run the "uninstall" application. You may see it presented as "uninstall.exe". The uninstall wizard will guide you through the rest of the uninstall process.

Note: There may be a file present named "unins000". This is not the uninstall application. If you only see this file, and the "Uninstall" application is not visible, press "back" in Windows Explorer and delete the AudioBox/AudioBox VSL folder.

Removing Device Manager Entries

Now that the AudioBox driver has been removed, we need to check to make sure that the Windows Device Manager doesn't have any residual entries that could be conflicting with the new installation.

1. Click the "Start" menu then right-click on "Computer" and select "Properties".

2. Click Advanced system settings on the left.

3. Under the "Advanced" tab, click on "Environment Variables".

4. Under "User variables for [Your Username]," click "New..."

For Variable Name, enter: devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices

For Variable Value, enter: 1

Then hit OK

5. Close all open windows, then click Start > right-click Computer > Properties > Device Manager

6. In the Device Manager, click View > Show Hidden Devices

*7. Check in the following categories and right-click/uninstall anything listed as "AudioBox," "USB Audio Device," or "Unknown Device." If you don't see any of these entries, that's OK - it simply means that no bad entries were created, and you can skip to Removing Application "Roaming" Data.

Check the categories below (if they are visible) to remove the relevant entries:

Other Devices

PreSonus USB 2.0 Audio Devices

Sound, Video, and Game Controllers

Universal Serial Bus Controllers

*It is important to remove only these entries. Other entries that appear similar may include "USB Composite Device," "USB Host Controller," "High Definition Audio Controller," etc. These are most likely devices embedded in your system and removing them may cause problems.

Removing Application "Roaming" Data

1. Click Start, enter "%appdata%" (without quotes) into the search field, and press the Enter key.

2. You will be brought to your computer's Roaming folder. You should see a PreSonus folder listed; open it.

3. Locate the AudioBox and/or AudioBox VSL folder, and delete it.

Removing Prefetch Data

1. Click Start -> Computer.

2. Open the System Drive (C:\ by default).

3. Open the Windows folder.

4. Open the PreFetch folder.

5. Locate any files with "AudioBox" in the title and delete them. These files would either begin with the word "AudioBox" or "PreSonus", so if the files are set to sort alphabetically, the files in question should only appear in the "A"s and "P"s.

Note: There may be other PreSonus prefetch data in this folder from Studio One or other PreSonus devices. Even if a file states PreSonus in the title, only delete it if it also states AudioBox!

INSTALL

Downloading the Driver

1. Register your hardware at http://my.presonus.com to access the latest driver downloads.

NOTE for Vista users ONLY: You will need to download legacy drivers that are listed with support for Vista. To download Vista drivers, locate your product at Product Downloads

Note: It is advisable to install the latest driver available for your AudioBox product from the corresponding product downloads page and not from a CD Installer!

2. Locate your AudioBox product on the My Hardware list and click its link.

3. Right-click the link for the driver for your computer's operating system and select "Save As..."

Note: Depending on your web browser, this option may appear as "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...". These are the same functions.

4. Save the file to your computer's desktop.

Note: In Windows 7, there is usually a link in the upper-left corner of the Save window for "Favorites"; click it, and Desktop should be available.

Installing the Driver

1. Go to the Notification Area in Windows and locate any antivirus software that could be running in the background. You'll need to temporarily disable its security features while you reinstall the driver. You can re-enable your security software once the driver has finished installing.

Note: For more information on how to disable and control your antivirus software, consult the company that creates and maintains it, such as Symantec, McAfee, or AVG. Most of these companies have online documentation that can assist you with configuration.

2. Locate the AudioBox installer on your desktop; right-click it and select "Run as administrator".

3. Select "Run".

4. Follow the onscreen instructions until the AudioBox installer prompts you to plug in the device.

WARNING: It is critical to not press "Install Driver" before proceeding with the instructions below. If this button is pressed before the AudioBox is properly connected and the Windows system installers are allowed to finish, complications may occur which require the driver to be uninstalled again.

5. This step has different aspects depending on whether or not you are running Windows 7. Please see below for the proper instructions for your OS:

Windows 7: Plug the AudioBox into your computer's USB 2.0 port. A notification from Windows should appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, stating "Installing Device Software..." Do not click this bubble. It is a Windows system installer and needs to finish its work before you can proceed.

Note: If this is an AudioBox44VSL or AudioBox1818VSL, you will need to power the unit on as well.

6. Windows will then state that "Device driver software was not successfully installed" in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This is normal and does not mean the driver has failed to install; it simply means Windows was unable to install the driver itself. You can now click "Install Driver."

7. Once you click "Install Driver," allow the AudioBox installer to finish the installation. As the program suggests, this may take some time.

8. Once the install has finished, you'll be prompted to reboot your computer; reboot your computer.

Checking for New Firmware

After your computer has fully booted, you will want to check to make sure that there are no pending firmware updates to the AudioBox. If the AudioBox is running firmware from a prior version of the driver, it needs to be updated to work with your new driver. To update the firmware, follow these steps:

1. Open the AudioBox program.

Note: If you are unable to open the AudioBox program (also known as AudioBox VSL or simply VSL), please check out this article.

2. If a firmware update is pending, you will be requested to update the firmware right away. Please update the firmware for the unit and it will be ready to use.

WARNING: It is critical to not unplug, turn off, or otherwise break/alter the connection to the AudioBox while the firmware updates. We recommend that you simply do nothing while the firmware is updating.

If the mixer window is visible and you are able to manipulate the different faders and controls, no firmware update is pending and the device is ready to use.

If you're still having problems...

If you receive an error during installation that halts the installation process, or your original problem is not resolved, please open a support ticket at our support site. If you already have an open ticket, create a system profile of your computer using the following process, and send it to your current support agent: