Project file type .cpr not associating with Cubase Pro 14 Windows 10

[tom-e]

I want .CPR files to associate with Cubase Pro 14.

I have been upgrading Cubase licensing since version 9.0 and have been using the same Windows 10 laptop all along. File associations are now set to .cpr = Cubase 14. A project file I created yesterday in Pro 14 does not display the Cubase logo. If I click on the project file, I get a message “Cubase 9.5 No valid license found. The program will quit now.” If I use Open With, I get a choice Cubase 12 or Cubase 14. Backup filenames carry the Cubase logo for the version they were created in. When I set file associations for .CPR, I am given a choice between 12 and 14. Cubase Pro 12, 13, and 14 start properly as executables. Cubase 9, 10, and 11 do not, even though Cubase 11 is in Steinberg Licensing. Somehow previous licenses never made it over to my USB e-Licenser, and I cannot add them; both the software e-Licensing and the USB e-Licensing are grayed out with a red circle and slash.

[rickpaul]

I remember having a problem like this (i.e. the bringing up a non-current version of Cubase instead of the current one a while back – maybe Cubase 12???). I tried all the usual Windows things to make sure the file association was set correctly, but it still didn’t help. The thing that ultimately got me around it was uninstalling the oldest version of Cubase I had on my system (I think 9.5 as that was where I started with Cubase). I’d found that tip by searching this forum.

[Googly_Smythe]

@tom-e

When I set file associations for .CPR

How do you do this? Was it this option? This is how I solve this issue, and not just with Cubase.

Click the link, navigate to the Cubase you want.

[tom-e]

Thank you for your reply Googly. I wish that dialog that you showed would pop up, because then I could checkmark the box “always use this app”. But it doesn’t so I don’t get the chance.

[tom-e]

Thanks Rick, I will try that. I think Windows assumes new software versions overwrite old ones. Searching through the Registry, there are dozens of entries for my many Cubase versions, but I don’t know their functions, so I didn’t mess with it. But there’s no reason for me to keep old versions, 'cause it’s not the Beatles or anything. Deprecated elements of old projects can easily be replaced using new tools.

Cheers!

[rickpaul]

@tom-e

I think Windows assumes new software versions overwrite old ones. Searching through the Registry, there are dozens of entries for my many Cubase versions, but I don’t know their functions, so I didn’t mess with it.

I don’t think Windows makes assumptions on this, but, rather, I think it’s up to the installation programs for any applications to set the correct values, but maybe sometimes something happens to not work, be it some general issue or a temporary problem on a given system.

FWIW, here is the thread I’d found back when I had this problem, which I see from the thread was after updating from Cubase Pro 11.0.0 to 11.0.10 (in my case, not the original thread, which was from something like a year and a half earlier):

.cpr file opens Cubase 9

Hi Small niggle. After upgrading to Cubase 10 my .cpr files still open Cubase 9.5. I’ve tried: Right-click → Open With → Locate Cubase 10.exe, set as default Set the right association in “Choose a default app for each type of file” in Windows Wade through the registry but .cpr is registered in so many places that it’s impossible for me to find the right place to start I can of course open the project within Cubase 10 but I prefer working from my file explorer, Windows 10

My initial post in that (by-then-quite-old) thread is here:

.cpr file opens Cubase 9

I know this is an old thread, but I’m wondering if the original poster ever found a solution. The reason I’m asking is that I am now having the same issue after having updated from Cubase Pro 11.0 to Cubase Pro 11.0.10. Just to clarify a little bit: If I change the association to Cubase 10 in “Choose default apps by file type”, it does open Cubase 10. But, if I change it back to Cubase 11, it opens Cubase 9.5. Rick

In particular, I noted that, if I manually changed the file association to Cubase 10, that worked to not bring up 9.5, bringing up 10 instead, but, if I changed it to Cubase 11, it went back to bringing up 9.5. It was a subsequent post in the thread, from someone who was still having the problem when I posted, that gave the hint on uninstalling older versions’ having resolved it:

.cpr file opens Cubase 9

I uninstalled older versions (7 thru 9.5) . File association now seems to work OK. FYI when the problem existed all .cpr files in Windows explorer displayed with the default blank icon. Once I removed older Cubase versions the .cpr files displayed with the correct Cubase icon and launched Cubase 11.

While that person uninstalled a number (all?) of their older versions, I only uninstalled 9.5 (leaving 10.0.x and 10.5.x in addition to 11.0.10 on my system), and that resolved the issue. I’ve since gotten into the habit of uninstalling all but the most recent major release of Cubase prior to the one I’m running at the moment. Beyond tidying up a bit, as you indicate, there’s typically not much reason to keep those older versions around. Keeping one older version around at least allows for a bit of testing if needed to try and isolate some problem to check if it is only with the current version.

[rickpaul]

@Googly_Smythe

How do you do this? Was it this option? This is how I solve this issue, and not just with Cubase.

FWIW, back when I had the problem (after updating from 11.0.0 to 11.0.10), that sort of thing (and various others I tried did not help). See my most recent response to tom-e above for a bit more detail (or the post I linked to that ended up solving the problem on my system by mentioning the uninstalling older versions). But that is indeed something that should have worked (and would have worked in most any non-Cubase scenario I’ve ever encountered in the past).