Optimizing a dedicated audio workstation

Posted by Paul_A (A) on May 14, 2008 at 20:41:56

In Reply to: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! posted by Bambi B on May 14, 2008 at 10:43:42:

I have a computer that is dedicated to music / midi and nothing else. The audio related functions can be very demanding of throughput speed, so I have gone out of my way to optimize everything that I can. My sampled piano, Ivory, reads its samples directly from the hard drive as I play. To avoid any dropouts, I put the samples on a separate hard drive used only to store those samples.

I haven't connected the computer to the internet or installed anything that I don't need for music--no printer drivers, no anti-virus, I never set up outlook express or anything else that might poll the operating system. The video card is set to 16 bit color which redraws the screen faster than 24 bit color. I also disabled any Windows services that weren't needed. I've heard that Norton can be hard to remove; it can leave traces even after a disk has been reformatted. I've heard it suggested that to fully remove all traces of Norton, you should repartition the hard drive a few times and then reformat it.

I'm sure that this all sounds draconian, and I'm also sure that it's more than you need to clean things up and get up and running again, but if you have problems with audio drop-outs or hangs, you might want to strip down your system to the bare essentials. The link below has a few tips for speeding up an audio computer, and there are better resources for this sort of thing somwhere on line.

http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/20050225_optimize_your_pc_for_audio_and_video.html (Open in New Window)

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - Bambi B 10:43:42 05/14/08 (27)

RE: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - Jagdeep 18:31:36 05/17/08 (0)

Advice buyers of new computers - Feanor 07:26:47 05/15/08 (1)

I second these suggestions (nt) - K-Bob 09:56:23 08/08/08 (0)

Optimizing a dedicated audio workstation - Paul_A 20:41:56 05/14/08 (1)

I dream of the simple life - Bambi B 07:37:49 05/15/08 (0)

Are you sure it's Norton and not one of the others? - Godzilla. 20:02:20 05/14/08 (0)

If Norton kills another recording just kill IT. - Topper 19:43:14 05/14/08 (0)

Avast Antivirus - Jonathan 19:30:39 05/14/08 (1)

Yeah, that's what I use (after getting fed up with Norton and McAfee) [NT] - David Spear 19:59:56 05/14/08 (0)

I Second Kaspersky - WW85 18:17:25 05/14/08 (0)

RE: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - Mag 17:49:57 05/14/08 (0)

I don't know if this will exactly fit your needs... - PAR 14:41:46 05/14/08 (0)

RE: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - Caucasian Blackplate 13:10:44 05/14/08 (0)

RE: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - Bob Brines 12:06:54 05/14/08 (0)

If not 'Net connected, why have an A-V program? - cdb 11:55:18 05/14/08 (3)

My slight complications,.. - Bambi B 07:16:52 05/15/08 (0)

A very good point... - AbeCollins 06:36:24 05/15/08 (0)

I agree - 6eye 18:36:01 05/14/08 (0)

RE: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - RGA 11:45:23 05/14/08 (2)

RE: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - Bigromano 17:42:09 05/14/08 (0)

RE: Norton Antivirus kills another recording ! - double28 12:03:51 05/14/08 (0)

Norton is a wonderful product - Bruce Kendall 11:27:43 05/14/08 (2)

RE: Norton is a wonderful product - Awe-d-o-file 13:41:49 05/14/08 (0)

Zone Alarm - DustyC 12:32:11 05/14/08 (0)

Run the Norton Removal Tool - AbeCollins 11:15:58 05/14/08 (2)

RE: this - LousyTourist 04:25:05 05/15/08 (1)

Another vote for Avast - Record Squid 23:43:37 03/28/10 (0)

Follow Ups

Optimizing a dedicated audio workstation - Paul_A 20:41:56 05/14/08 (1)

I dream of the simple life - Bambi B 07:37:49 05/15/08 (0)

Optimizing a dedicated audio workstation

Post a Message!