Finale Installation Details
Finale components are installed to various locations on your hard drive depending on their function and required accessibility. Because there may be multiple user accounts on the same computer, Finale installs all customizable files (i.e., files that each user may want to edit individually) to a common folder. When Finale is launched, files are copied from this common location to a user-specific location for the account currently logged in.
Windows XP
File locations
Noteman says: Finale must be installed on the hard drive that has been assigned the drive letter C:. Installing Finale on a different drive or partition can lead to unstable operation and is not supported.
Installation directory: C:\Program Files\Finale 2014
Common folder: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MakeMusic\Finale 2014
User folder: C:\Documents and Settings\[your account]\Application Data\MakeMusic\Finale 2014
Program directory files
| File | Subfolder | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Finale.exe | [root] | The Finale application |
| Finale Read Me.rtf | [root] | Document containing important information about running Finale, interface changes, new features, and fixes |
| synthgms.sf2 | Audio Support | SmartMusic SoftSynth General MIDI SoundFont [default for MIDI playback] (see SoundFonts) |
| SoftSynth.soundmap and GIFF.soundmap | Data | Sound maps (for Score Manager) |
| privpol.txt | Data | MakeMusic Privacy Policy |
| [various] | Help Files | Local version of the Finale 2014 User Manual, Finale 2014Quick Reference GuideThe printed and electronic versions of the Finale Quick Reference Guide accompany all new Finale purchases. Only the electronic version is included with Finale upgrades. The printed guide includes both Mac and Windows versions. |
| [various] | Music Files | Exercises, Tutorial files, Worksheets, and Repertoire |
| [various].FXT (see Plug-in filenames) | Plug-ins | Finale plug-ins (the folder structure here determines how plug-ins appear in the Plug-ins menu) |
Common/user folder files
| File | Subfolder | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MacSymbolFonts.txt | Configuration Files | Font list of custom music/symbol fonts (see Configuring MacSymbolFonts.txt) |
| pagesizes.txt | Configuration Files | Listing of default page sizes and margins (see Configuring Pagesizes.txt) |
| [various].XML | FinaleScript | FinaleScript scripts (the folder structure here determines how scripts appear in the FinaleScript plug-in) |
| [various].FAN | Font Annotation | Character mappings for music fonts (see Font Annotation) |
| [various].LIB | Libraries | Finale library files (see Finale libraries) |
| Garritan Instruments for Finale.XML General MIDI.XML SmartMusic SoftSynth.XML Tapspace Drumline for Finale.XML |
MIDI Device Annotation | Percussion MIDI maps |
| [various] | Music Files | Default documents, Document Styles, Templates |
| ARIA Player VST_x86.dll and softsynth_vst.dll | VST Support | VST plug-ins |
Windows Vista/7/8/10
File locations
Noteman says: Finale must be installed on the hard drive that has been assigned the drive letter C:. Installing Finale on a different drive or partition can lead to unstable operation and is not supported.
Program directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Finale 2014 (64-bit systems) or C:\Program Files\Finale 2014 (32-bit systems)
Common folder: C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale 2014
User folder: C:\Users\[your account]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale 2014
Program directory files
| File | Subfolder | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Finale.exe | [root] | The Finale application |
| Finale Read Me.rtf | [root] | Document containing important information about running Finale, interface changes, new features, and fixes |
| synthgms.sf2 | Audio Support | SmartMusic SoftSynth General MIDI SoundFont [default for MIDI playback] (see SoundFonts) |
| SoftSynth.soundmap and GIFF.soundmap | Data | Sound maps (for Score Manager) |
| privpol.txt | Data | MakeMusic Privacy Policy |
| [various] | Help Files | Local version of the Finale 2014 User Manual, Finale 2014Quick Reference GuideThe printed and electronic versions of the Finale Quick Reference Guide accompany all new Finale purchases. Only the electronic version is included with Finale upgrades. The printed guide includes both Mac and Windows versions. |
| [various] | Music Files | Exercises, Tutorial files, Worksheets, and Repertoire |
| [various].FXT (see Plug-in filenames) | Plug-ins | Finale plug-ins (the folder structure here determines how plug-ins appear in the Plug-ins menu) |
Common/user folder files
| File | Subfolder | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MacSymbolFonts.txt | Configuration Files | Font list of custom music/symbol fonts (see Configuring MacSymbolFonts.txt) |
| pagesizes.txt | Configuration Files | Listing of default page sizes and margins (see Configuring Pagesizes.txt) |
| [various].XML | FinaleScript | FinaleScript scripts (the folder structure here determines how scripts appear in the FinaleScript plug-in) |
| [various].FAN | Font Annotation | Character mappings for music fonts (see Font Annotation) |
| [various].LIB | Libraries | Finale library files (see Finale libraries) |
| Garritan Instruments for Finale.XML General MIDI.XML SmartMusic SoftSynth.XML Tapspace Drumline for Finale.XML |
MIDI Device Annotation | Percussion MIDI maps |
| [various] | Music Files | Default documents, Document Styles, Templates |
| ARIA Player VST_x86.dll and softsynth_vst.dll | VST Support | VST plug-ins |
Mac OS X
File locations
Noteman says: The Finale installer places the Audio Units plug-ins (ARIA Player AU.component and SmartMusicSoftSynth.component) in your Mac's default audio components folder (/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components).
Installation directory: /Applications/Finale 2014.app
Common folder: /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale 2014
User folder: /[your account]/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale 2014
Tip: To easily access support files located in ~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale 2014, go to Document/Finale Files and open the Finale 2014 shortcut.
Common/user folder files
| File | Subfolder | Description |
|---|---|---|
| synthgms.sf2 | Audio Support | SmartMusic SoftSynth General MIDI SoundFont [default for MIDI playback] (see SoundFonts) |
| MacSymbolFonts.txt | Configuration Files | Font list of custom music/symbol fonts (see Configuring MacSymbolFonts.txt) |
| pagesizes.txt | Configuration Files | Listing of default page sizes and margins (see Configuring Pagesizes.txt) |
| SoftSynth.soundmap and GIFF.soundmap | Data | Sound maps (for Score Manager) |
| privpol.txt | Data | MakeMusic Privacy Policy |
| [various].XML | FinaleScript | FinaleScript scripts (the folder structure here determines how scripts appear in the FinaleScript plug-in) |
| [various].FAN | Font Annotation | Character mappings for music fonts (see Font Annotation) |
| [various] | Help Files | Local version of the Finale 2014 User Manual, Finale 2014Quick Reference GuideThe printed and electronic versions of the Finale Quick Reference Guide accompany all new Finale purchases. Only the electronic version is included with Finale upgrades. The printed guide includes both Mac and Windows versions. |
| [various].LIB | Libraries | Finale library files (see Finale libraries) |
| [various] | Music Files | Default documents, Document Styles, Exercises, Templates, Tutorial files, Worksheets, and Repertoire |
| Garritan Instruments for Finale.XML General MIDI.XML SmartMusic SoftSynth.XML Tapspace Drumline for Finale.XML |
MIDI Device Annotation | Percussion MIDI maps |
| [various].bundle (see Plug-in filenames) | Plug-ins | Finale plug-ins (the folder structure here determines how plug-ins appear in the Plug-ins menu) |
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