Welcome window keeps popping up on startup

mary-o wrote on 4/13/2026, 10:14 AM

I use SF 16.1. I got a -59 error code over the weekend. I fixed it by uninstalling and reinstalling the program. I record commercial VO's all day. Every time I open SF to record a new file, the welcome window keeps popping up with serial #, etc. I went to 'options, then preferences and unclicked the show logo upon opening new file. Still keeps happening. How do I get the program to stop doing this?

Comments

SP. wrote on 4/13/2026, 11:05 AM

@mary-o There should be an option in the hidden Internal preferences tab where you can enable/disable whether each audio file is opened in a new instance of Sound Forge.

- go to the 'Options' menu

- hold 'Shift' key and select 'Preferences'

- select the 'Internal' tab

- find "Force Single Instance behavior" (bottom of list or use search)

- change value from 'FALSE' to "TRUE"

- click 'Apply' and 'OK'

- Exit or restart SF

mary-o wrote on 4/13/2026, 11:27 AM

Hello again, I followed the instructions and got to the correct prompt. I changed the value on "Force Single Instance Behavior" to 'TRUE'. However, the 'apply' button was not highlighted for me to enable it, only the 'OK' button. Any other ideas you can help with? Again, I record MP3 VO's all day, Nothing crazy as far as any advanced editing is concerned. TIA

mary-o wrote on 4/13/2026, 11:40 AM

I should point out specifically what is popping up. It is a grey box that says 'welcome' in the top left. It shows the serial number as well as my email address login. The yellow prompt box says 'activate and register immediately online'. I believe I have done that. When I click ion the yellow box, there is a message that asks if I want SF to make changes to the app. Then a grey box pops up that says, Thank you, the program has been successfully activated. The an OK box to open the recording software.

SP. wrote on 4/13/2026, 12:01 PM

@mary-o Maybe the activation gets not correctly saved to your computer. Try running Sound Forge once as administrator via a right click on its desktop icon.

mary-o wrote on 4/13/2026, 2:00 PM

Tried it. No dice. Same interface (welcome page) pops up. Any other ideas? This is driving me nuts. LOL

SP. wrote on 4/13/2026, 2:20 PM

@mary-o Hmm, that's odd. Have you tried restarting your computer, just in case there is a Windows update that needs to be installed? Please select the Restart option and not the shutdown option. Sometimes programs don't work correctly without a recent restart of the computer.

mary-o wrote on 4/13/2026, 2:47 PM

I will try that next. I don't think I restarted the computer since I reinstalled the software. I'll let you know

mary-o wrote on 4/13/2026, 3:20 PM

I tried it. Same problem. Is there something I can do to change the fact that when I go to options-shift/preferences/internal and go to Force Single Instance behavior tab and try to insert TRUE in the box, the 'apply' button does not highlight. It will not allow that as an option. Perhaps if I troubleshoot that, it'll allow me to apply it and then hit OK