Apparently, it has been a year since the last entry on this thread. Although Newtek has discontinued the VT5, I presume a good many of us will continue to use it for a while yet. We at the UNL College of Journalism use it in two TV studios, one with an older computer and one with a newer computer. The proc amp troubles have continued in both studios in spite of all Newtek’s efforts to correct them. For our part, we have a long history of wrestling with the issue and have learned a few things in the process. We do not have a fix, but we have found a way to bypass the worst of the fallout. Perhaps these techniques may be of use to anyone consulting this thread.
Most importantly, at least on our two computers, it seems that it is the VT’s attempt to read the file which includes the Bypass Settings that triggers the proc amp’s demise. By deleting this file and never ever attempting to store the Bypass Settings we have found that the rest of the proc amp functions seem to survive intact. This file is found as follows:
Program Files\Newtek\VT5\ProcAmp\Advanced Settings\ProcAmp_Advanced Settings for User.VTD
Strangely, it seems not to be that this file is corrupted. Initially, it worked fine for us, and we set it to Read Only to ensure that it stayed that way. However, eventually, something went askew, and the VT5’s mere attempt to read this good file brought the proc amp to its knees.
We have also taken to setting other files critical to our use to Read Only once they have been correctly and successfully saved, especially proc amp settings. This has allowed us to recover from a proc amp failure by simply re-starting the VT program. It also has prevented loss of labels and other data when the computer crashes as it sometimes does. Note that changing the settings in some of these Read Only files requires that certain other files be allowed to change at the same time.
