Members Your Guitarist Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 Does anyone have any suggestions or web links on how to optimize Windows XP for audio production/recording? Lou www.yourguitarist.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jgk62 Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 I don't use my computer for recording, but I know a little about computers... One, don't use the computer for anything BUT recording. Meaning, don't download iTunes, realplayer, porn, etc, anything that takes up much-needed resources Two, get a good sound card Three, lots of memory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 Give me a minute... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 23, 2006 Moderators Share Posted January 23, 2006 www.musicxp.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 http://www.musicxp.net http://www.tweakxp.com --- This was a good page. http://www.opusaudioprojects.net/WinXp.htm It's a 404 now, so I'll share a copy I saved... ---- Windows XP DAW Optimization Guide Well Folks... It's that time again... A new OS... a New Tweak Guide. This one is going to be pretty in-depth and requires some Registry Editing and other fun stuff of the sort! This is what I do. Install OS, Install all hardware drivers, Tweak OS and then install software. So..here we go First thing is the installation. Let XP install as ACPI. This has been proven to be easier and smoother. Let Windows do its thing. Hit F8 saying you agree (legal stuff ya know!) Now, if this is an existing OS of say Win2k or a previous install of XP you will see options for: Esc=Don't Repair; R=Repair F3 to Quit Well, we're doing a fresh install so we want to hit Esc for Don't Repair Now, you'll see your drives and partitions here.. If you have Two "physical" drives it will show you these drives as C and D Highlight C Drive If you had an existing Install from any other OS press D for Delete Partition. Press Enter to Continue Press L for Delete Now, we're back at the drive selection screen again and this time we see Unpartioned space. Highlight the drive you want to install XP onto Press Enter to Install Now we have to decide what File System do we use...NTFS or FAT32. Here's the lowdown.. I'm going to steal someone else's words here... Daniel Keller from Tascam wrote this little blurb about NTFS Vs FAT32. I find this stuff very intriguing and indeed do agree! Tascam's Win2k/XP Document FAT32 vs. NTFS You have the option under W2k and XP to choose the file system that best suits your needs, FAT or NTFS. FAT (File Allocation Table) is the native file system based on the Windows 9x kernel (including 95, 95a, 95b, 95c, 98, 98se and ME). NTFS (New Technology File System) is the native file system for operating systems based on the Windows NT kernel (including NT4, 2000 and XP). During the installation, Win2K or XP will ask if you want to convert the installation partition to NTFS. If you need compatibility for Windows 98 - especially if you want to dual-boot - don't convert. While NTFS offers a number of improvements over FAT32, most of these advantages are not all that applicable to audio, and you are unlikely to see a major performance difference between the two. Moreover, defragmenting your drives (something you should do on a regular basis anyway) is substantially quicker in FAT32. Be aware that Windows 9x cannot read data on NTFS-formatted drives. Generally speaking, you should use FAT32 if you are doing a parallel installation with Windows 9x/ME, or if you will need to work with files created with a FAT32 system (opening old song files, working with others using FAT32-based systems, etc.) leave everything with FAT32. One exception would be if you'll be working with video or other large files in excess of 4GB; or if you also use your PC to browse the internet or the computer is part of a LAN running XP Professional. Only NTFS can limit access rights to your files and therefore provide the security needed for a networked computer. In this case, select NTFS for all partitions except those which are to accommodate your audio data later. One other interesting point: NTFS can read the "resource fork" of SDII files from MacOS, and can therefore recognize the timecode stamps used in these files; FAT(32) can't do this. If you do a lot of work with ProTools or other MacOS-based DAW applications, you should consider at least one NTFS partition in your system. (Note that this does not imply that your NTFS-based system can mount/read from a MacOS drive; simply that individual SDII files imported to an NTFS drive will retain their time-stamp information.) End Tascam excerpt Most DAW users tend to go with NTFS file systems for the OS drives due to more stability and more security plus larger disk support. FAT32 for the data drives. I've done both and don't see a performance difference either way. Windows will begin it's file copying, Once it's done it will restart your machine. It's a good idea from here to enter into the BIOS to stop the CD-ROM from being the first boot device. Set the Hard Drive as the main boot. Also locate the Parellel Port mode in the BIOS and set it to EPP(Enhanced Parellel Port) This option is for those using copy protection devices for Cubase, Nuendo or Logic only! When you disable the Portable Serial Number service and have the Parellel Port set to ECP the copy protection key or "dongle" will not be found. Switching this to EPP fixes that issue. Exit out and restart to begin the XP installation Enter your Name and Organization (If applicable: you can leave it blank) Enter your Windows Key Name your computer! Hit Next Continue Installation If you have a NIC card it will ask you what type of Installation do you want to choose: Typical or Custom Do Typical for faster install Ok. so now we have a fresh install of Windows XP. When XP starts up every time you get that annoying Take the XP Tour pop up..click on it to open the tour..once in the tour simply exit out and it wont open up anymore. Also Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that in no time at all.. Start Menu>Run Type this in exactly as it is here: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%INFmsmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very quickly and then it will ask you to restart. Or if you just want to stop it from loading: Double click on the Messenger icon in the system tray to open it. Skip through the internet and sign up stuff, just cancel it. When Messenger loads go to tools and Options then Preferences and uncheck 'Run this program when Windows starts' Now...get rid of that Fisher Price look and go back to the Classic Windows interface. It's better for system performance when using as little colors or graphics as possible: Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties. Click on Themes tab Set Themes to Windows Classic Click on the Screen Saver tab Set Screensaver to None Press the Power button near the bottom Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard Drives off to NEVER Hibernate..If this is Enabled uncheck it. This is mainly for Laptops but uses a very large chunk of data.(I've seen this not show up on the first boot of XP..when you restart it will be there but it's disabled) APM..Enabling this will allow your computer to shut down properly when in Standard PC mode Hit OK Click the Appearance tab. On the Windows and Buttons menu, select Windows Classic Press Effect button Deselect all options. Hit OK Click the Settings tab Set your bit depth to 16Bit. This is optimal for Audio machines due to less colors for video drawback which in turn gives you better audio performance Also do this for the Start Menu: Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties. Click Classic Start menu. Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu. By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons to your desktop. Right Click My Computer and select Properties: System Restore tab: Check the Turn System Restore on all drives. Automatic Updates tab: Turn Off Automatic Updates. Remote tab: Uncheck all options to turn off Remote Assistance. Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Affects tab: set to Adjust for Best Performance. Advanced tab: Processor Scheduling: Set this for Background Services Memory Usage: Set this for System Cache(**See Note Below**) Virtual Memory: Press Change... Depending on how much RAM you actually have is what you are going to enter here If you have 256MB RAM set this to 512 for Min and Max If you have 512MB RAM or higher set this to 384 for Min and Max Restart your machine at this point in time... When you come back the first thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't say it needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're ready to continue. *****NOTE****** *Using the System Cache setting with a Universal Audio Card is not recommended as it will effect overall performance with the card.****** Now is the time to Install your hardware drivers if you haven't done it already. It makes no difference what order you install the drivers in. Turn off CD AutoPlay Go to Start->Run->gpedit.msc Computer Config -> Administrative Template -> System Double click Turn off AutoPlay Enable it. Control Panel>Double click Sounds and Audio Devices...Go to the Audio tab Set the Playback and the Recording settings to either Your built in soundcard or a SoundBlaster(If Applicable) Check Only Use default devices down below Go to the Sounds tab Under Sound Scheme choose No Sounds Press No to saving the previous Scheme Hit Apply ----> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 ---> Now we get to play with the services! ********FIRST THINGS FIRST!! MAKE A BACK UP OF YOUR REGISTRY ***BEFORE *** DOING ANY REGEDIT OR SERVICES TWEAKS OF ANY KIND!!!!!!!!************** A little word about using the registry. The left hand side is your hierarchy of Windows. Those are the "keys" so to speak. On the right hand side are the "values" for those keys. Now, typically in a registry we have a few types of values We have the String, Binary and a DWORD. To create a new value simply right click in the "values" window and it will come up with NEW and you will see your three options for values. Typically all the values in this tweak are DWORD values and I think one Binary. Each one is labeled as to what value it is. Also each value you create has numbers and hexadecimal settings. Again, each tweak here has the appropriate information on what and when to enter them. Start Menu, Run...type in regedit and hit OK... Hit the Drop menu for Registry and select Export Registry.. save this to another drive for safe keeping's. Now, let's stop that annoying balloon from popping up from our system tray This is a Registry Tweak we have to do.. Start menu>Run...type in regedit Hkey_Current_UserSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrent Version ExplorerAdvanced If enableballoontips is there set the value to 0 If it doesn't enter it in as a new DWORD and put the value to 0 What we want to do is turn off certain "services" that are running in the background that we don't need while recording or playing out Audio Software. Control Panel>Administrative Tools: Double Click on Services Here is a list of what I have disabled. Keep in mind my machine doesn't touch the internet or a network in any way. If you have an NIC or modem of any sort, I specified which ones and what settings with I=Internet and A=Automatic Alerter Disabled Application Layer Gateway Service Disabled Application Management AppMgmt Manual Automatic Updates Disabled Background Intelligent Transfer Service Disabled ClipBook Disabled COM+ Event System EventSystem Disabled COM+ System Application Disabled Computer Browser Disabled Cryptographic Services Disabled DHCP Client Disabled (IA) Distributed Link Tracking Client Disabled Distributed Transaction Coordinator Disabled DNS Client Disabled (IA) Error Reporting Service Disabled Event Log Automatic Fast User Switching Compatibility Disabled Fax Service Disabled Help and Support Disabled Human Interface Device Access Disabled IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service Manual Indexing Service Disabled Internet Connection Sharing Disabled IPSEC Services PolicyAgent Disabled Logical Disk Manager Manual Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service Manual Messenger Disabled MS Software Shadow Copy Provider Disabled Net Login Disabled NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Disabled Network Connections Manual Network DDE Disabled Network DDE DSDM Disabled Network Location Awareness (NLA) Disabled NT LM Security Support Provider Disabled Performance Logs and Alerts Disabled Plug and Play PlugPlay Automatic Portable Media Serial Number Disabled Print Spooler Disabled Protected Storage Disabled QoS RSVP Disabled Remote Access Auto Connection Manager Disabled Remote Access Connection Manager Disabled Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Disabled Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Automatic Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator Manual Remote Registry Service Disabled Removable Storage Disabled Routing and Remote Access Disabled Secondary Logon s Disabled Security Accounts Manager Disabled Server Disabled Shell Hardware Detection Disabled Smart Card Disabled Smart Card Helper Disabled SSDP Discovery Service Disabled System Event Notification Disabled System Restore Service Disabled Task Scheduler Schedule Disabled TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service Disabled (IA) Telephony Disabled Telnet Disabled Terminal Services Disabled Themes Disabled Uninterruptible Power Supply Disabled Universal Plug and Play Device Host Disabled Upload Manager Disabled Volume Shadow Copy Disabled WebClient Disabled Windows Audio Automatic Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Disabled Windows Installer Manual Windows Management Instrumentation Automatic Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Manual Windows Time Disabled Wireless Zero Configuration Disabled WMI Performance Adapter Disabled Workstation Automatic Once you have set all of these close out of the services and restart Do this for all NTFS drives: Open My Computer>Right Click on C:Drive and select Properties. Deselect Allow Indexing Servicing....Hit Apply Select Apply Changes to C: subfolders and files You might get a message that says Access Denied...press Ignore All Now, click on the Hardware tab. Double click on your Main drive Click on the Policies tab. Uncheck Write Caching. This will help your main drive read faster. Only do this for the main drive! By default, Windows 2000/XP log the I/O traffic of your hard drive. While this is a very useful setting for servers, for workstations it doesn't do anything except use up system resources. To disable it, go to the run menu and type diskperf -n Hit Enter to disable this logging. Disable Error Reporting Right Click on My Computer Press the Advanced Tab Press the Error Reporting Button Choose Disable Error Reporting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 OK...the true fun part of Windows systems...Regedit! Here we will be doing some pretty snazzy stuff that I found very cool! ****Again...it may be a good idea to make a back up of the registry ***** Intel Chipsets need to have UDMA 66 enabled for Win2k and XP. This also enables UDMA100 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlClass {4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 Here's the file, if you want to save a copy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Your Guitarist Posted January 23, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 Damn...you guys are good! I am looking forward to exploring all of these articles. Thanks! My machine is dedicated to audio production and editing. I have another set up for email, news groups, and itunes...I had no idea that you could get porn on the internet. Everything actually works very well. Over the past 3 years I've only had to do typical maintenance(additional hard drives, heftier power supply, etc...) There is a minimum amount of "bugginess" that seems to be typical of any computer that I have used, including brand new machines right out the box. My question stems from a train of thought that I found myself riding the other day when I was wondering if some one had developed a OS for PC's purely for audio production and editing. It occurred to me that there are probably audio "gurus" who have figured out the best way to configure XP for audio. Hence I found myself here. Thanks again, Lou www.yourguitarist.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted August 17, 2006 Members Share Posted August 17, 2006 UP, UP, and AWAY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FatalVision Posted August 17, 2006 Members Share Posted August 17, 2006 Wow. Now that is a lot of stuff. Thank you for directing me here. I think tweaking my computer out sounds great, but I am a little scared about doing it. I am pretty new to working on computers in this way, I have always used them for basic purposes and kept my recording very simple, using programs like acid and rebirth in ways that they probably weren't supposed to be used, but I got pretty good results. I have a dell laptop that I recently bought, and since it is my first and only laptop and my old desktop is about a year away from dying, it is my main computer. Therefore, I use it for many purposes. I have itunes, I use the internet, but also use nuendo and other programs. I am looking to be able to use it for all my purposes. So, I guess my question is how can I tweak my computer in a way that will help my audio performance but not interfere with the basic functions of my computer. I already went through the list of tweaks and have a decent idea of what I can and can't do, but its always helpful to hear it from people who know. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to help me out. Someday I hope to become extremely well-versed in this kind of thing, and I guess this is the best way to learn. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ermghoti Posted August 17, 2006 Members Share Posted August 17, 2006 Keep in mind: on my system, doing all the tweaks I could find resulted in no measurable increase in performance, but I am happy to have done them, just to eliminate potential conflicts. Don't expect to be able to run ten more simultaneous tracks, or a couple dozen extra plugs or anything, is what I'm saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted January 11, 2007 Members Share Posted January 11, 2007 Browsing the new digs. Bump this for good measure. -~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted January 11, 2007 Members Share Posted January 11, 2007 All-encompassing work from Stranger! The only thing I worry about is that his instructions are so detailed and so complete that they may -- in their sheer length -- be intimitading. (I mean... I'm a power user and a business app developer but the sheer mass might give me pause. I'm kidding -- OBVIOUSLY, he's trying to cover all the bases.) With regard to single-purpose machines... while reserving your machine strictly for recording is the EASIEST way to maintain a well-optimized, lean, mean machine, if you're careful, by and large, you can maintain a multi-purpose machine that is ALSO well-optimized for recording. Both my XP laptop and my (stripped down) Windows MCE desktop have a boot profile RAM footprint of about 120-125 MB or so with 20-22 processes running. HOWEVER -- jgk62 was pretty spot on on highlighting PRECISELY the type of programs that like to burrow into your system and suck down its resources. Realplayer, Quicktime, some other big name players, put "loaders" in background that don't actually do much except put their logo in your system tray -- and take resources... sometimes more than you would ever imagine. For instance, Sun's Java Runtime installation AUTOMATICALLY -- without asking -- installs a relatively huge background process (12-15 MB RAM footprint) in your boot profile -- what's it doing? Simply waitin for Sun to send word out on the web that there is a new Runtime software update. Even MICROSOFT's Windows auto-updater doesnt' take up nearly that much resources [last time I ran it in background and checked its footprint] -- closer to one third that. It's INSANE. Sun are [uncharitable but well-warranted slagging deleted by author]. With regard to PORN... porn viewers, "video players" -- just don't do it. There are SO many threats from this sector and many of them are designed to install WORMS in your system. (OK... there are SOME innocent porn/erotica sites, you should pardon the expression. But extreme caustion is warranted.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Processor Scheduling: Set this for Background Services Memory Usage: Set this for System Cache Do these two things and you're usually good to go... while some of the other tweaks are useful / good, IMO, these two are usually essential, as they deal with memory and sound card drivers / priority. Turning off auto play for any CD drives, and turning off hibernate / power management are also useful tweaks. Some say that turning off System Restore is a good idea, but if it saves your butt just once, IMO, it's worth the very slight amount of system overhead it costs you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 It saved my butt once when my Wonderful two year old son was doing some computing and managed to drag the whole entire programs list into the task bar. There were also a whole mess of system files in there, too. Do not, I repeat: Do not drag all these folders into the task bar! _~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphajerk Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 thanks, i saved that list to see what i havent done to XP yet. that was nice and long. i dont know if it actaully does much however [aside from that SUN {censored}... hate that crap, although i have had to put it on my machien for something else,i tried to avoid JAVA... but MS gave up in its vJava] and yeah, QT stinks! but things like altiverb want it, and i need it for other video applications as well so im stuck having to have that on my machine as well. but right now, im running a full multimedia workstation and its pretty rock solid and i dont see performace hits when doing audio since i havle only done a few tweaks on this machine and didnt totally optimize XPpro on it. i think my favorite tweak is the start delay, love the fast subwindows.... so i go for speed on the OS working, but im guilty of cleartype... just like to look at it over w/o it. i have been pretty amazed by this machine so far, and its only a 2.4 c2d. just bought a WD 500GB HD today for $149 and loaded all my samples onto it. i see greater results in optimizing your PC for recording, more than optimizing XP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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