When I open Waves Element synth as stand-alone, it asks me with a file finder window to “Select Waves Element plug-ins folder” but I can’t find one it will accept. It either shows me the selector again, or it crashes. I tried the most obvious “C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\Plug-Ins V12” and the V11 folder, and also other likely targets, but no luck yet. I’m on a Win10 PC, and latest Element version. It works fine as a VST in the Reaper DAW. Anyone know which folder it’s looking for?
I’ve run into this problem before, except on a Mac. I think you may have been close with the solution. Try selecting the whole Waves folder instead.
If that doesn’t work, you can try running the Repair function in Waves Central’s Settings panel. Just be aware that can take a little while to run if you have lots of plugins.