WavePad not saving in .mp3 format

[bcfromfl]

Hello all --

 

I just purchased the licensing for WavePad Master's Edition earlier this week, after having used the trial version successfully. However, I'm experiencing an annoying problem I hope someone can help me with.

 

I had been using the trial version on our laptop, which runs Windows2000. I have an Olympus digital recorder, which I use to record solos I sing in our church. The recorder saves in .wma format, and after I upload the file to the laptop, I open in WavePad, edit out the unwanted portions of the recording, then save in .mp3. This worked successfully after several repetitions.

 

Unfortunately, a couple weeks ago we had a problem with our laptop when the hard drive got too full (uploaded a bunch of photos from our camera), and I had to delete WavePad (along with some other programs) so I could manage the disk space, run the defrag, then load the software back in again. After I reloaded/downloaded WavePad again, it would not allow me to save my selections in .mp3 any longer. I downloaded WavePad into our desktop computer, which runs Win98, and the save feature works fine. Although, I don't like using WavePad on that system because it has a 400mHz processor and it's just way, way too slow.

 

Can someone help me understand what I need to do to get WavePad to work again on my laptop? The error message says, "Unable to create file "..." for saving." Do I somehow have a corrupted file, and if so, how do I clear it out so I can get a fresh download? I've used the "Add/Remove Programs" several times, but maybe there's a residual file that's not getting deleted? Or, perhaps I only need to "turn on" a feature within the program? I was hoping that the issue somehow had something to do with registering, but purchasing the software and putting in my licensing code didn't change matters. I'm sorry I don't know how to diagnose this any more specifically, and can only describe what's happening.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Bruce

[Guest nchto]

Try installing the mp3el component again, you can get it from www.nch.com.au/components. If need be, try reinstalling WavePad after installing this component, although this shouldn't be necessary.

 

Is there still sufficient space on the hard disk to store the file? Be aware that WavePad will uncompress the .wma first to a temporary file so you're able to edit the audio properly. This uncompressed audio will take up some room, but it's removed once you're done editing.

[bcfromfl]

That was it!!! Thank you so much for your help! It seems like easy solutions to software problems are few and far between, but what a relief that this one was solved so painlessly.

 

Thanks again!

[oobflyer]

If you are using a Mac - try this; it worked for me:

Rather than clicking on "File -> Save", or "File -> Save As" just click on the "Save File" icon in the task bar. When I did this WavPad automatically downloaded and installed the missing m3pel codec - and then saved the file as an MP3. This is assuming you started with an MP3, of course.

(For some reason they didn't include the codecs for the Mac OS version in the download so the drop-down menu doesn't have the option of "saving as" MP3 - for example).