Finally on the "XP Bandwagon!!

Hey fellow PC PTLE DUCers, I finally upgraded to Windows XP(Home)and 5.3.1 after a day and a half of computer hell. It seems to be working fine, although I haven't been through a grueling session as of yet. I pulled up a couple of demanding old sessions and they played good so far. I searched the old posts for tweaking suggestions and they seem to be questionable. Many posts say no tweaking at all, but I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions now that the dust has settled. I pulled up one session that used to give me a "remove some plug-ins for more CPU power" message, and the same message came up, so no immediate improvement is evident. At least it hasn't made PT LESS efficient. Any suggestions? I stayed with FAT32 for all of my drives. I need some tutoring on how to set up a start menu profile for running ProTools. For instance, no matter what I do, my McAfee Anti-Virus starts when Windows starts. I'd like to have a ProTools profile that has NOTHING in start-up. I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later, but I'm up for current suggestions. Waiting patiently for PT 6.0 now!! Regards, Murph

cool murph you will be happy with xp!

Hey Murph, Glad you made it to XP, and I know you'll be glad even if there are any bumps at first. If so, somebody will be here to help. I've been running reasonably smooth for a while now. Now, my friends Mike(Quikdraw) and DaBasstard helped me (as usual) when I went to XP Pro, and as soon as I got it installed, Mike gave me the basic 'follow up' advice below. So just in case, here it is for you too. I also saw in a recent thread where Quikdraw had tested all the so-called extra 'tweaks' he could find, and he found that really, none of them improve performance of PT. So according to that, PT should work fine with XP as it is. BUT, don't forget to: Set a recording limit in PTLE Set CPU usage to 85% Set PTLE to allow background recording applications To set Windows processor usage to Background Services. Right-click My Computer, choose Properties, click the Advanced tab, click the Advanced button under Performance. Select Background Services. ~Roy

This is a great thread for me now, too. I just upgraded to XP and could use the final advice on tweaks and what not now that the "dust has settled". Keep 'em coming.

I posted a link at the bottom of the "Best System for PTLE for under 1000.00" thread last week for Windows XP Optimization. This one was put out by Tascam. Good luck, Allen

Thanks guys for the replies. So far, so good. Computer seems more stable, all around. Do you guys think I made a mistake by: A) Upgrading as opposed to doing a Clean XP install? and B) Going to XP Home as opposed to Pro? Would it affect PT performance enough to be worth taking either or both of those steps? Wondering if the remnants of 98 in my system are bogging it down in any way...