Do you Optimize Windows 7 for recording?

Configure and optimize you computer for Audio.
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I didn't touch win7, and yet i dont think it could be a whole lot better. I was told by a source that its not necessary. I trust him with my life. The only "real" issue i have is Aqua plugins take FOREVER to load...and then another day on top of forever.

Ive found some PC optimization info for win7, and im going to give it a go on my net connected junker.

Did you tinker with win7? and if so what was your strategy?

B) Ive always wondered about DAW specific set-ups. Seems to me that choosing a recommendable motherboard, tuning win7 up (if even this), reliable soundcard drivers, and a descent DAW platform, is about 90% of the battle. What else is there after this? Can we do a little better? Should anything be avoided?

Does anyone have a link, or know of a sticky dedicated to DAW specific computer set-ups/builds? As deep as we are into this stuff, it surprises me that there is not a step by step method (or close-each computer is different obviously) for converting our store bought PCs, into a rock solid, high performance, DAW.


Thanks. I appreciate any thought you guys may have given.
There ya have it...

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I only optimise for general usage - only-audio tweaks are hard to come by.
M

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Last edited by Chapelle on Fri Oct 06, 2023 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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That's a great question.

Because, I'd agree with your friend about it not needing too much tweaking out of the box.

I'd be interested to know how few or how many processes some people have going. Before I trim the fat via the task manager, I have about 55 processes going that get trimmed down to about 43, 0% usage over 6 cores.

Hmmm...the power plan option eh? Neat! What's that doing for you?

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Last edited by Chapelle on Fri Oct 06, 2023 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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There are several tweaks especially for SSD-drives which can improve speed and stability significantly. But optimization starts with buying good hardware. Rule #1 Don't buy the cheap ssd drives. Keep ssd, audio interface and bios firmware updated. Check alignment for the ssd, turn off pagefile.sys, disable unused services in Windows (e.g. indexing service). Disable unused software bloat from autostart via msconfig. Be sure to backup all important partitions and data (Acronis Trueimage, Norton Ghost, i prefer the free clonezilla with a linux boot cd but not everybody likes the ugly terminal console graphics). Making backups is like working with a DAW: save often and you're good to go. :)

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You guys rule!!

Heres the first one i found. http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/art ... windows-7/

This is the one that got me all charged up. I havent had a chance to get deep with it. http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=431729&p=6040318#p6040318
Thanks brah.(just watched Point Break lol)This link is important to my growth!



MODS: Man i really blew it here, on thread placement. Would ya mind putting it in its proper location? thx!!
There ya have it...

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Ultrasonic wrote:You guys rule!!

Heres the first one i found. http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/art ... windows-7/

This is the one that got me all charged up. I havent had a chance to get deep with it. http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=431729&p=6040318#p6040318
Thanks brah.(just watched Point Break lol)This link is important to my growth!



MODS: Man i really blew it here, on thread placement. Would ya mind putting it in its proper location? thx!!
In short, theres no real need for optimising. Be careful of non audio general guides. The only one Id recommend is Steinbergs :


https://www.steinberg.net/en/support/kn ... -daws.html

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UltraJv wrote:
In short, theres no real need for optimising. Be careful of non audio general guides. The only one Id recommend is Steinbergs :


https://www.steinberg.net/en/support/kn ... -daws.html

Hey thanks a ton man. It pains me to have typed a huge reply, and then have destroyed it. I may make another attempt, bnut man that was crushing. :tu:
There ya have it...

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IF you feel the need to optimize, and in some cases it could help, here are a couple of sources you can use for information as well as the Steinberg post: (BEWARE disabling UAC !! )

http://www.presonus.com/community/Learn ... Production

http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/art ... windows-7/

However, it just is not, in most cases, necessary (as UltraJV already said) and can cause you more head aches than it is worth.

If you are having a specific issue, you should address that specific issue. The problem with these tweaks is they generically disable services, devices, protocols, etc, and these could be necessary and relevant to your particular machine.

If you're hoping to gain additional processing power, not gonna happen - better to say, not enough to make any noticeable difference.

I suggest do as Chappelle said and get on with making some music :tu:

Happy Musiking!
dsan
My DAW System:
W7, i5, x64, 8Gb Ram, Edirol FA-101

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I apologize for the long post.
If you are having a specific issue, you should address that specific issue.
One of the things i said in a post that i accidentally deleted, is that im terrible at troubleshooting. By far my weakest link...and to make things more complicated, my buddy says i have the weirdest problems ever lol... I tend to agree with him since there never seems to be much info or a fix when i look for something.

Heres one for ya you might get a laugh from...this computer is my net computer and light duty DAW. Its a core 2 duo junker that i dont care much about, and other than the following, it operates pretty damn good.

Every 10th time that this thing goes to sleep, it becomes unresponsive and needs rebooted THREE times to operate properly.......Every time this happens i have to use the power button to get thru the cycle.

1) The first restart, it wont actually "hook up" and the fan runs continuously at high speed, the way a computer does when it fires up from the OFF position. I have to hold down the button to shut it off or it will just run forever lol.

2) The second time, the computer acts quite normal. The f2 and f12 dialogue comes up, i get a "resuming windows" screen, and then the computer screen shows "power saving mode" and then goes back to unresponsive sleep...hard shut down and restart again.

3) The third time i get another dialog asking if i want to delete the restoration data (cant recall what else it says - but im due lol) and then the computer starts as it should.


None of this is important. I just wanted to give you an instance of "weird" behavior.


Back on topic
I have no need for more processing power and i cant disagree with your thinking at all, but after saying my only problem was the long load times for Aqua plugins, i just realized that i had learned how to avoid some others, and forgotten about them.

I could go on using my DAW happily without touching a thing, but there ARE somethings i wonder about....which fuels my curiosity about dedicated DAW builds.

This is an idea of some issues i have that are probably pretty common among users, that im hoping optimizing may help with.

1)Severely long Aqua plugin load times
2)Severely long project load times when they have Aqua plugins in them. (sometimes 5-7 minutes depending the size of the project and amount of Aqua plugins)
3)Crashes with repeated and intense stopping and starting..space bar OR mouse
4)Intermittent blank plugin GUIs with heavy project CPU loads.
5)Plugins fail to load at extreme CPU levels
6)sporadic weird error messages that often seem to mean nothing.

Im sure i could think of more if i thought a bit.

I7 quad core
16GB ramm
win7 Ultimate 64bit
Reaper/Studio One 32/64 both
Microsoft security essentials - free
No cracks
2 UAD cards
a bunch of USB dongles
Fireface 800
1TB hard drive
There ya have it...

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Ultrasonic wrote:I apologize for the long post.
If you are having a specific issue, you should address that specific issue.
One of the things i said in a post that i accidentally deleted, is that im terrible at troubleshooting. By far my weakest link...and to make things more complicated, my buddy says i have the weirdest problems ever lol... I tend to agree with him since there never seems to be much info or a fix when i look for something.

Heres one for ya you might get a laugh from...this computer is my net computer and light duty DAW. Its a core 2 duo junker that i dont care much about, and other than the following, it operates pretty damn good.

Every 10th time that this thing goes to sleep, it becomes unresponsive and needs rebooted THREE times to operate properly.......Every time this happens i have to use the power button to get thru the cycle.

1) The first restart, it wont actually "hook up" and the fan runs continuously at high speed, the way a computer does when it fires up from the OFF position. I have to hold down the button to shut it off or it will just run forever lol.

2) The second time, the computer acts quite normal. The f2 and f12 dialogue comes up, i get a "resuming windows" screen, and then the computer screen shows "power saving mode" and then goes back to unresponsive sleep...hard shut down and restart again.

3) The third time i get another dialog asking if i want to delete the restoration data (cant recall what else it says - but im due lol) and then the computer starts as it should.


None of this is important. I just wanted to give you an instance of "weird" behavior.


Back on topic
I have no need for more processing power and i cant disagree with your thinking at all, but after saying my only problem was the long load times for Aqua plugins, i just realized that i had learned how to avoid some others, and forgotten about them.

I could go on using my DAW happily without touching a thing, but there ARE somethings i wonder about....which fuels my curiosity about dedicated DAW builds.

This is an idea of some issues i have that are probably pretty common among users, that im hoping optimizing may help with.

1)Severely long Aqua plugin load times
2)Severely long project load times when they have Aqua plugins in them. (sometimes 5-7 minutes depending the size of the project and amount of Aqua plugins)
3)Crashes with repeated and intense stopping and starting..space bar OR mouse
4)Intermittent blank plugin GUIs with heavy project CPU loads.
5)Plugins fail to load at extreme CPU levels
6)sporadic weird error messages that often seem to mean nothing.

Im sure i could think of more if i thought a bit.

I7 quad core
16GB ramm
win7 Ultimate 64bit
Reaper/Studio One 32/64 both
Microsoft security essentials - free
No cracks
2 UAD cards
a bunch of USB dongles
Fireface 800
1TB hard drive

Sleepmode causes trouble on every OS and machine from Linux, Windows and OSX. If youre not using the PC, turn it off.

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UltraJv wrote:Sleepmode causes trouble on every OS and machine from Linux, Windows and OSX. If youre not using the PC, turn it off.
Yep.

UltraJV and I may not agree on whether it's necessary to disable Windows Services, but I certainly agree with this point. Any "sleep" or "hibernation" modes should have been among the first casualties of optimizing any operating system for DAW use.

Steve
Here's some of my stuff: https://soundcloud.com/shadowsoflife. If you hear something you like, I'm looking for collaborators.

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In case you missed it, see my sig.

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