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Re: Optimizing Windows for looping



Thanks for all the tips!

What i'd like to do is have a laptop that doesn't even have internet on it--to get VSTs and other software on the computer I will either burn them to a cd or use my jumpdrive--either way, I just want to make sure that windows isn't using its processing power towards things that I don't need! Thanks for the tips!


Charlie

On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 9:50 AM, Dave <prog.music.freak@gmail.com> wrote:
One thing with Norton...you can set its priority for 'background' scanning a) when the computer is idle, and b) when it's active, in its config. If you tell it to have low priority, when it does kick on, it's somewhat negligible. This may, however, lead to not ever finishing a total scan, depending on how long you have your comp on.

Also, I believe 'active' and 'idle' refer to user participation, so if it's just processing file(s) and you're not actually using the mouse and keys, it considers itself idle. If you have it to run at high priority when idle, it may still slow the "lights out" processing of your files.


On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 10:05 AM, Krispen Hartung <khartung@cableone.net> wrote:
Totally agreed, Per. When I got my new ThinkPad T60p, I got obsessed with trying to tweak it so that I could be confident all possible power and memory was going to my software/looping rig. In the end, I could not tell any difference.  I used to disable the networks, wireless, etc, but now I don't even do that.  I even have Norton AntiVirus, which is a huge memory sucker (just look at what it consumes in the app manager), and now I don't even deactive it.

I would mess with things ONLY if there is a problem with your audio software...in short, go with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. I once had a major issue with my Digidesign mBox on an older XP machine. ProTools would crash when recording, but only at some venues. It took me a week to realize that it was caused by the wireless being on, yet there not being any access point for it to connect to. I disabled the wireless, rebooted, and the problem went away. But if there had not have been a problem, I wouldn't have touched anything.

All this being said, and to Rick's question, knowing what I know now, I will never by a PC again for music. My next laptop will be a macbook pro. All positive PC user experiences aside, I hear less about issues with mac users than with PC users, regarding compatibility, drivers, clicks, etc.

The quads are out now, right?

Kris

----- Original Message -----
On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 1:35 AM, Charlie Milkey <pilotcp@gmail.com> wrote:

You don't have to go into system tweaks for a stable XP audio rig.
Back in the days when Windows XP was new, many people looked into
system tweaking just by old habit, since that had been the trick for
making Windows 98 a much better audio system. My XP laptops for audio
are stable and this is all I do to them:

- Deactivate CD/DVD burner.
- Deactivate all network hardware.
- Turn off screen saver.
- Turn off energy saving programs.
- Set the "skin" to the least CPU intensive ("Classic" with no animations etc)

Do not upgrade Windows. Do not install any other software than the
applications you need for the music rig. If some music software needs
an online authorization I temporarily activate the network port to do
this.

--
Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.boysen.se (Swedish)
www.looproom.com (international)
www.myspace.com/perboysen
www.stockholm-athens.com





--
"The Universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent to the concerns of such creatures as we." - Carl Sagan, from "Cosmos"