x4 to x7

[dumbdumber]

I have just bought x7 after using x4 for a few years. Should I uninstall x4 from my pc to save space? Will I still be able to access all my x4 projects if I uninstall it?

[BrianCee]

Yes you can if you want to - all your X4 .vsp projects can be imported into X7.

you do not have to though - numerous versions can remain on your PC and provided you only try to use one version at a time will not cause any problems

[mrbobbell]

I encourage you to follow BrianCee's suggestion and NOT remove your existing VideoStudio installation. I have several versions of VS installed on my PC with no conflicts.

However, as he said, you can only use one version at any given time. For instance, you can't be editing with VS 4 and then launch VS 7 without first shutting down VS 4. That limitation has never been an inconvenience for me.

Bob

[dumbdumber]

THanks, I haven't deleted it, I'll just leave it there.

[Davidk]

Hmmm all of which is true, but . . . (there's always a caveat)

1. the standard audio video and graphics (frames colours etc) Corel puts in VS periodically change. Some are deleted (I've had errors with a vsp using a standard video gallery image not being in a later version), and others changed. As they did in X7 for some graphics items. I complained to corel, the reason they gave made no sense, and nothing otherwise changed in the released version. So be prepared for change if you run an X4 (or any earlier version than X7) project in x7, it will open Ok but the visual imagery for any gallery items or effects you may have applied from x4 could well look quite different in x7. Which is a good reason to keep the older version installed, and use it with the projects you created in it. Unfortunately, there isn't away to mark the version of a vsp unless you include it in any project file title, eg _x4, as part of the filename when using save or save as. If you attempt to open a vsp from windows explorer (double click it) the VS version that will open is the latest installed. Opening this way you need to use the open with option, choose the VS version required and make sure that no other version of VS is alive and running even if minimised at that point.

2. Trying to open an x7 vsp with any earlier version of VS will fail fail with an incompatible file format message. So if, having opened an x4 vsp and made some changes, or even if its not changed but habit intrudes and you click the save button to exit, that vsp is now an x7 item and won't open in x4 any more. To fix that, open in x7 and then save as and choose the filetype option list to specify the version you want it saved in. There are only 3 allowed choices - current and 2 prior versions - and on OK there will be a message about losing data, which really is only relevant if you've used x7 to insert something that the earlier version doesn't have eg motion tracking. If unchanged, ignore the warning and continue. If it was changed, or by error you have used a vsp from a version that is now not in the filetype list, then you have a choice to make about which version of VS your project is now in.

Reasons why you should keep the prior versions installed. If diskspace is becoming an issue (why you might be considering uninstalling an older version), get and use one of those cute little 1+Tb, usb interface external drives for about $99 instead.

Davidk