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Optimizing Windows 2000 and Windows XP for Audio
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 2
Deciding on an OS..................................................................................................................... 3
Windows XP - Home or Professional? ................................................................................. 3
Hardware requirements ......................................................................................................... 3
Update or fresh install? .......................................................................................................... 4
Give it Time.............................................................................................................................. 4
Preparing for installation............................................................................................................ 5
Installation................................................................................................................................... 6
Formatting your Hard Disk ..................................................................................................... 6
Booting from CD ..................................................................................................................... 7
Setup Tweaks - Things to Do During the Install ....................................................................... 7
FAT32 vs. NTFS.......................................................................................................................... 7
ACPI ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Dual Boot ................................................................................................................................. 9
Mass Storage Devices............................................................................................................ 9
Multiple Users ........................................................................................................................ 10
Updates and service packs ................................................................................................ 10
System Performance Tweaks - Stuff to Do After Installing................................................... 11
Windows Messenger ............................................................................................................ 11
Display properties................................................................................................................. 12
Windows Sounds ................................................................................................................... 14
System Restore...................................................................................................................... 15
Performance ......................................................................................................................... 15
Virtual memory ..................................................................................................................... 16
Fast user switching................................................................................................................ 17
Auto Start and System Services .......................................................................................... 18
Disk I/O Performance Logging ........................................................................................... 20
Write Behind Caching .......................................................................................................... 20
UDMA/ATA Mode for Hard Drives ....................................................................................... 20
Separate Drives - How and Where..................................................................................... 21
Defrag Often.......................................................................................................................... 22
Virus and other Utilities......................................................................................................... 22
PlugIns and other Goodies.................................................................................................. 23
XP and Win2000 Resources..................................................................................................... 23
Stay Up to Date ..................................................................................................................... 23
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Summary of Contents for Tascam Computer
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Page 1: Table Of Contents
Optimizing Windows 2000 and Windows XP for Audio Introduction... 2 Deciding on an OS... 3 Windows XP – Home or Professional? ... 3 Hardware requirements ... 3 Update or fresh install? ... 4 Give it Time... 4 Preparing for installation... 5 Installation... -
Page 2: Introduction
It’s strongly suggested that you also read Dave’s original document, as much of the information contained within is useful to all Windows users. (You can find it on the TASCAM website at www.tascam.com/support/faq/pc_optimize/index.php) This article will focus specifically on the particulars of these two Windows operating systems, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. -
Page 3: Deciding On An Os
Deciding on an OS Should you opt for Windows 2000 or a version of XP? Windows 2000 has been around longer and many pros consider it more stable. It’s true that XP’s still working out some of the kinks, but by and large it’s proving to be pretty robust. W2k has had more time in use, thus benefits from more users’... -
Page 4: Update Or Fresh Install
Update or fresh install? Generally speaking, a fresh install on a wiped hard drive is the best insurance against potential problems; leftover registry items and other orphaned legacy files can lurk in your system for months, only to cause unanticipated conflicts with a newly-installed program or driver at a later date. -
Page 5: Preparing For Installation
Preparing for installation Even after confirming that the computer you want to install XP or 2000 on meets Microsoft’s recommended minimum specifications, you still may wish to do a little more investigating before you attempt an install or an upgrade, to make sure that all of your hardware is compatible with Windows XP or 2000. -
Page 6: Installation
Before you begin the install, it’s a good idea to download all necessary drivers for your PC hardware from the Internet. Pay particular attention to drivers for your graphics adapter, and any audio and MIDI interfaces. As well, make sure your printer, CD burner and any other peripherals are covered. -
Page 7: Booting From Cd
Booting from CD You will need to tell your computer to boot from the Windows CD-ROM instead of your (presumably blank and formatted) hard drive. To do so, you must access your computer’s BIOS (usually hitting DELETE key during boot up will access the BIOS; some computers use F8 or another key, so check your computer’s documentation or the manufacturer’s website). -
Page 8: Acpi
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. -
Page 9: Dual Boot
Dual Boot The compatibility with legacy (older) software in Windows 2000 and XP is considerably more restricted compared with Windows 9x; this is intentionally designed to insure stability against any kind of application failure. If an incompatible program is run, Windows 2000 or XP will stop it as soon as it tries to access that program. -
Page 10: Multiple Users
Multiple Users While Win9x also offers the option of setting up multiple users on a single computer, the implementation under W2k and XP offers far more independence between these multiple user accounts. If you will be using your computer for multiple functions, it’s a good idea to set up separate user accounts for audio applications and general use. -
Page 11: System Performance Tweaks - Stuff To Do After Installing
System Performance Tweaks – Stuff to Do After Installing Windows Messenger One of the ‘features’ of XP is the deeper integration of Windows Messenger. While Messenger may be useful for on-line communication, it’s a real resource hog; we recommend disabling it for audio use. To do this, right-click on its icon in the task tray and select 'open'. -
Page 12: Display Properties
Display properties While pretty photos and animated graphics are fun, they also contribute to bogging down your lean mean audio machine. And in keeping with Microsoft’s tradition of making looks a high priority, those fancy visuals are programmed to take processing priority away from what we consider important, processing audio. - Page 13 Now disable visual effects. Select the “Appearance” tab, click the Effects button and disable "Use transition effects…". It's also a good idea to disable "Show window contents while dragging". Figure 5 – Disabling Transition Effects Figure 6 – Selecting Color Quality Now select the “Settings”...
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Page 14: Windows Sounds
Next select the ‘Screen Saver’ tab. Screen savers generally tend to kick in when you least want them to; we recommend choosing None. On the same page, select your monitor power saving options. Windows usually defaults to relatively short times of inactivity before shutting off your monitor and hard disk and activating hibernate mode. -
Page 15: System Restore
System Restore Windows is set up to write periodic “restore check points” so that, in the event of a crash or a corrupted file, your system can restore to its most recent functional settings. Some users recommend disabling system restore to improve performance. NOTE that this is not recommended unless you make regular system backups. -
Page 16: Virtual Memory
performance of background services” to ensure lowest latency with ASIO-based drivers (ASIO drivers run as background services in Windows). W2K: Right click on My Computer and choose Properties. Select the Advanced Tab, then click the Performance Button. Change the mode from Application Response to Background Services Figure 10 –... -
Page 17: Fast User Switching
NOTE: Some users advise disabling virtual memory for increased performance. We do not recommend this unless you have at least 512 MB of RAM. Even then, note that this is not practical for all systems, as it can tend to make some machines less stable. That said, if you choose to disable virtual memory you can do so on the same page (Control Panel/System/Advanced). -
Page 18: Auto Start And System Services
machine. All those applications running in the background require some degree of CPU usage, as well as RAM. To disable this feature, go to Control Panel, and under “User Accounts” click on “Change the way users log on and off” and uncheck “fast user switching.” Figure 12 –... - Page 19 particular service is running presently, as well as whether it loads automatically on boot up, manually (called up by either the user or a program), or is disabled. You can edit any service by double clicking on it. Some services can not be disabled for safety reasons –...
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Page 20: Disk I/O Performance Logging
Disk I/O Performance Logging Windows defaults to continual logging of Input and Output data to your hard drive. Disabling this will free up some resources. To disable performance logging, go to the Start menu and select Run. Type in “diskperf –n” (minus the quotes) and hit Okay. Write Behind Caching Windows defaults to write-behind caching, holding data in a memory buffer before writing it to disk. -
Page 21: Separate Drives - How And Where
Windows 2000 and XP can recognize a DMA capable device, and will detect and activate DMA mode by default whenever one is connected. Most drives manufactured in the last few years support DMA, and most modern motherboards’ chipsets detect this. You can check or change your settings by opening Device Manager (right-click on My Computer, select “Properties”, then select the “Hardware”... -
Page 22: Defrag Often
drives, and while SCSI still has clear advantages in using multiple drives, UDMA drives are now rivaling them in throughput and performance; that and a much lower price point have helped find their way into more and more audio setups. Probably the single most important thing you can do for your system to increase performance and track count is to dedicate a separate physical hard disk to audio exclusively. -
Page 23: Plugins And Other Goodies
Bottom line…..a bit of effort toward keeping yourself informed can save you some hair-pulling and nerves the first time you can say “oh, yeah, I know what’s causing that….” This article last updated 17 March 2002 Daniel Keller, TASCAM Sr. Product Specialist...