Those wishing to optimize Windows XP may find this interesting: http://www.litepc.com/

Hello Frank
If your afraid of computers, then it is great, but contrary to what it says about being able to do things that you cannot normally do with Windows is not strictly correct, the main thing it offers is an easy menu system to do the jobs, rather then having to go into the Windows OS in depth, however there are plenty of Free utilities on the web (Even some from Microsoft) that do the same job.
If you do decide to go down this route, check with the manufactures of your software, to see what can and cannot be turned off. (Some things seemingly unconnected with the software have to be left running)
If your computer is for music, (I assume that’s why you are a Synth Zone Member) then just follow the instructions on the web sites, that are dedicated to optimizing Windows for use with music software.
Hope this helps

Bill

I have Windows XP TINY (106 MB) installed on a second partition for the purpose of running my Microsoft Flight 2004 which is the only program installed.
Due to none of the normal XP clutter being installed...Flight runs very slick and I can set a higher frame rate and the graphics can be notched up much higher.
This would be ideal also for Music .

Abacus, do you have any links to places regarding tweaking windows for music?

Doc-Z

Hello Doc-Z
Here is a site that is quite comprehensive. http://www.musicxp.net/index.php

Bill

Hi,
bit of a dumb question.
Removing items or shutting them off etc etc
( I haven't had a chance to study the websites yet)
Is this done to improve the overall performance of the pc ie help with latency problems ,or help softsynths load more quickly etc etc

in short, why would one do it??

Bit nervous about removing stuff unless there would be a great overall advantage.

best wishes
Rikki

I have a few PC related links amongst the links on http://www.synthzone.com/synthhelp.htm

Hello Rikki
Out of the box a computer operating system is set up to give a good overall performance with all Software and Programs, this is because it is unknown what the computer is to be used for, however the settings are made available to optimise it for a specific task. (Please remember that if it is optimised for 1 task, it will reduce the performance on other tasks)
A good demonstration of the performance difference attained by optimising settings can be easily seen by the difference in performance between the standard general purpose Windows Sound Driver, and the optimised ASIO driver.
Hope this helps

Bill

Thanks Bill,
I'll delve a bit further into the above link you posted.

Nigel,Thank you for your link as well.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by abacus:
[B]Hello Rikki

You are very wise to be cautious Rikki. Never make ANY changes to your PC without investigating the advantages and disadvantages first. It's not worth risking crippling your computer system by just trying any changes without first being aware of what the risks and benefits are.

Nah, I think Rikki should spend all her time with software. It would keep her away from all that hardware stuff.... On her PC Rikki could always create a Restore point and recover her previous condition....almost always!!!

Besides if it doesn't work Rikki just goes out and buys something new!!!!

On a more serious note....,in general it is worth tweaking the PC for music or multi media. It optimizes performances - more RAM, faster startup - shut down, less disk swapping and so on.

Thanks Nigel,
I'll weigh up the risks.
I actually use a desktop for internet etc, and a laptop for my music stuff. My music software programs, files etc are backed up on cdroms ( plus in my desktop pc.)
Means I can easily start from scratch again, provided I don't do something strange to the operating system & my windows disappears ( haa haa , eek !!)

Hi Frank, great to hear from you again.
I always do a restore point before adding or deleting programs , utilities etc ( so far so good)
The software you mentioned above , is that designed for computer dummies like me to enable them to remove stuff from the computer , & then restore it back to prior state , just in case the stuff removed causes unseen consequences to other programs on the pc??

best wishes
Rikki

Rikki, you would still need to be very careful with a program such as that. You can remove things which are essential to other parts of the operating system. If it is removed you can't restore it. Also, anytime you mess with the registry you can get into difficulty....so be careful.

I guess to back track a bit.....if things work don't fix it!!!!!!

Hi Frank,
at the moment things are working fine in my new dual core laptop. I've only been using the inbuilt Audigy software for auditioning & setting up my soundfonts for BIAB. I did install Forte in it a while back, but ended up removing it . Not sure if the Audigy software may have been interferring with Forte. I had the odd strange thing happen at times.

I decided to keep using my old Dell laptop with Forte , Live Synth pro, OMB etc midied to the Clavinova. Unfortunately it died again for no apparent reason ( no, I wasn't fooling with the registry haahaa). Second time it's died on me, so I think I'll retire it for good.

It's going to be interesting to see if I can get Forte running smoothly with my dual core laptop with the Audigy software still installed. Don't want to remove it just in case it wasn't the culprit.

I think you mentioned quite a while back that maybe, I could have a problem using Forte with a dual core processor. I did notice the other day that there have been at least a couple of updates to forte that I hadn't downloaded.

Main reason for installing forte again would be, because I wouldn't mind getting Garritons & checking into some of the other vst's.

best wishes
rikki

Rikki, yes I thought there may be a problem with forte or plugins when used on computers with dual core CPUs. However, recent discussions seems to indicate it may not be a big a problem. Here is one such discussion: http://www.brainspawn.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1944

Thanks Frank,
I'll check it out. Haven't had a chance to reinstall forte yet. Most appreciated
best wishes
Rikki