Cubase 12 Pro All Content Not Working on Different User on Windows

Cubase
1

Hi there!

Me and my girlfriend share a desktop computer. It is the same computer we have Cubase Pro 12 installed on. Everything works fine on my user (which is where Cubase 12 was originally installed). However, when I try to open the program on my girlfriend’s user on Windows, I get the following issues: VST Sound Library will not open or show, no presets, and no loops properly appear. When I try to open media bay, the VST sound library remains unticked, and it is impossible to make it ticked and show up. Even if I try to refresh these sounds, nothing appears.

I tried a few things in order to fix this. I tried giving my partner admin rights on the computer, and I also tried giving her admin access to the folder C:\ProgramData\Steinberg\Content where the Library Manager shows all the relevant content is installed. After looking at the product activation on this particular user, it also says that Cubase is activated.

Another thing I did try was running Cubase 12 Pro on my partner’s user account as an administrator, and this actually made the program load up and all the sounds and apps started working properly. However, I have discovered that you aren’t supposed to run the program in this mode and it can lead to issues using it properly. For example, people say that you cannot drag and drop files into the window when running Cubase as an admin. Besides, I wouldn’t want to have to open it as admin every time. It also doesn’t make sense because both accounts on this computer have been made admin, so why should I have to run it as an admin in the first place. It’s clear that this is some sort of permission issue that Cubase won’t allow the other user to have access to all the content that comes with it. I cannot install the program again as it is already installed on this machine.

Now since running Cubase 12 normally (not as an admin) I also get the error message come up saying "VST Sound Library “Groove Agent SE…” not found etc etc. And this message appears for every missing file afterwards. However, when I try to locate the file it says “Contact the file owner or administrator to obtain permission”. Since I have already given this user admin access to the contents folder, I do not understand what else I can do.

So far, I have:

  1. Given access and permission to all accounts on the computer to the content folder and all sub folders of Steinberg in the hidden Program Data folder.
  2. Given all accounts admin status to further improve on this.
  3. I have followed the instructions to initialize programme preferences.

Unfortunately, I still have no sounds, pictures, loops, or pre-sets available on the second user on my computer despite Cubase actually opening and everything else working.

The problem here is no content loads up at all.

Everything on my original account works fine, but not on the second user.

Maybe reinstalling the content would help? If so, I’m not sure how to do this, but any new ideas are welcome!

This has taken two days out of my life trying to fix this now, but still can’t figure it out! Someone PELASE PLEASE HELP!

2

Here are some factoids that help: Others might have more/better advice,

The License Manager must not be in use by the other account, iow, no Steinberg Products can be running,

  • The second user also has to log into the Activation Manager.

  • The content has to be in a folder that is fully accessible by default. Administrative user accounts already have access to C:/ProgramData/ so don’t mess with that.

Running Cubase as Admin has no useful effect, btw.

3

Hello there!

Thank you for your reply Steve! I already did everything you said, unfortunately it did not solve the problem.

However, the case is closed! I managed to solve it this morning, and I’ve just woken up to 10,000 sounds fully working on the second user. I’ll try and explain what I had to do in order to get this to work.

  1. Give access and permission to the second user account on the computer to the content folder and all sub folders of Steinberg in the hidden Program Data folder. Do this by going to C:\Program Data\Steinberg, right clicking the folder and go to the security tab. Make sure that the User in question has full access to this folder and the folders in it.
  2. Give the other account admin status to further improve on this
  3. I have followed the instructions to initialize programme preferences (this actually made no difference as far as I can tell, but worth doing if you run into issues). There are articles about this on the Steinberg forums and website, please have a look for this step separately.
  4. This could be enough for you to fix this issue. However, go to step 5 if not.
  5. Remove all content using the Library Manager after you have given Admin Rights to the User that is experiencing the issue, and re-install all the content on the original account again.

This fixed the issue for me. I guess if the files are installed under an account that is an Admin, while the other account has no access to the C:\Program Data\Steinberg folder then the files become permanently locked in for security reasons to the original creator of them files. As a result of this, it seems to me that even after you give permission to get access to these files to another user on your computer (post installation), the files will still not be recognised upon start-up on the other user.

Unfortunately, it seems like the only fix for this situation is to re-install the content at the very least. If that alone doesn’t work, I also recommend re-installing Cubase 12 as well.

Rather than just re-installing, I would advise anybody struggling with this to follow the steps above first and do it in that order. It seems that if you complete the installation on the only Admin account on your Windows PC, that Cubase instruments will not load up sounds or function properly on a different user on your computer. If it is your first time installing and you want to be able to use Cubase across different users on the same PC, I strongly suggest you make your other Users Administrators, and also give Admin access to the Steinberg Content Folder.