Support Report: Getting Your Powered Plug-Ins up and Running
by Brett Patrick

You know that feeling of anticipation. You rush home to see the box you know is waiting on your porch, or you speed home from your local dealer to open up that new piece of UA gear. If you are one of the many people who has recently purchased a UAD-1 Powered Plug-Ins bundle, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. And if you're like me, sometimes you just rip into the package, start making connections and shove installation CDs into your computer's drive. Read Me docs and Quick Start Guides be damned! However, like the amazing plug-ins that the UAD-1 card powers, installation and authorization are different from the process for most plug-ins. In this month's Support Report, we'll help you get the plug-ins up and running as quick as possible, and give you some powerful resources for help throughout the process.

For starters, I recommend that everyone check out our new registration and authorization movies. They present all of the necessary information in one place and can be viewed here. If you do not have Internet access, you should definitely read the two blue pages included in the box. These two pages contain all you need to know about installing, registering and authorizing your UAD-1 card.

“Remember that a box may sit on a retailer’s shelf long enough for the software to have become outdated.”

Registration & Authorization Movies

Although these two pages contain everything you need to know, there may be times when a user does not have access to them at the time of installation. The first rule of thumb when installing any new software is to check compatibility with both your OS and your host application. If the compatibility checks out, then it is a good idea to look for the most current version of the software you are installing. Remember that a box may sit on a retailer's shelf long enough for the software to have become outdated. Once you are sure you have the most current UAD-1 software, you may install it on your machine. After the software is installed successfully, you should power down and install the UAD-1 PCI card. Mac users will be ready to register and authorize at this point. If you are running Windows, the Found New Hardware Wizard should appear when your system boots. Choose not to connect to the Internet; click Next and tell the Wizard to install the software automatically. Now you are ready to register your card and authorize your plug-ins.

Once you have finished installation, you will want to visit my.uaudio.com to register your card and download your software-authorization file. When you get to the page, you will click Register An Account on the left-hand side. Fill in the required information, click Next, and choose Add Hardware. Enter your Hardware ID and your serial number. The Hardware ID can be found in the Authorizations page of the UAD-1 Meter, and the serial number is on the box, as well as on your card. If you own a Project Pak, then you are finished and can begin using your UAD-1 plug-ins. For owners of all other bundles, or if you have just purchased a new plug-in from the Webstore, you will want to go to the My Systems page. Here you will click the Download Software Authorization button and follow the onscreen prompts. Mac users will Control-click the link and save to the desktop, while Windows users will right-click and save. Once the file is on your desktop, the procedure for applying it to the card differs from Mac to Windows. Mac users will drag the file onto the UAD-1 Performance Meter icon in the dock. Windows users should double-click the file to apply it to the registry.

You are now ready to use the amazing UAD-1 Powered Plug-Ins. As winter approaches, you may want to curl up by the fire with the UAD-1 manual to learn more about these powerful signal processing tools. As always, if you have questions, comments or concerns contact tech support.

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