Today we're going to roll on with part two of our three part PC Optimization guide. If you're just coming into this today you should go back to yesterday's issue and get caught up before reading on. Today we continue, starting with tip #3.

3) Make sure no extra programs are running when you launch Windows. Here's how:
Go to your START MENU, RUN, type MSCONFIG and hit OK.
GENERAL tab is already selected, check mark SELECTIVE STARTUP. Unchecked PROCESS AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS.
Select STARTUP tab, and deselect everything but your:
SYSTEM TRAY, SCANREGISTRY, and any other absolutely essential items. If there is a question about an item, disable it. You can always re-enable it simply by checking the box in the future and rebooting.

4) Check your sound hardware/software manufacturers' websites for updates. Many times an updated driver is the simple solution for an error. If possible, you should keep your old driver just in case, and be aware of beta (not fully tested) drivers and updates.

5) Change the "Role" of the computer.
Right-click MY COMPUTER, select PROPERTIES.
Click the PERFORMANCE tab, click the FILE SYSTEM button.
Change the role of your computer from DESKTOP COMPUTER to a NETWORK SERVER. This will change the file-caching scheme to be a little more efficient.

6) Multimedia Settings. These settings are particularly important to Digidesign cards.
WinME:
Go to START MENU, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL, SOUNDS & MULTIMEDIA.
At the bottom under Scheme, select No Sounds and answer NO to "Save current scheme?"
Select DEVICES tab, and expand the AUDIO DEVICES item.
Double-click the pro audio card, checkmark the box "DO NOT MAP THROUGH THIS DEVICE" and hit OK.
This will disallow Windows from using your audio card while you're in a recording program. If you have a SoundBlaster-compatible card still installed, Windows will now use it for Windows sounds.

Win98:
Go to START MENU, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL, MULTIMEDIA
Select DEVICES tab, and expand the AUDIO DEVICES item.
Double-click the pro audio card, and checkmark the box "DO NOT MAP THROUGH THIS DEVICE" and hit OK.
This will disallow Windows from using your audio card while you're in a recording program. If you have a SoundBlaster-compatible card still installed, Windows will now use it for Windows sounds.
Go back to the CONTROL PANEL, SOUNDS.
At the bottom under Scheme, select No Sounds and answer NO to "Save current scheme?"

7) Lower your bit depth for your Display settings:
Right-click anywhere on your Desktop, select PROPERTIES.
Click the SETTINGS tab, and change the COLORS setting to 16 BIT. Screen resolution is your choice.

8) Power Schemes / Screensavers.
In the same area as step #6, go to the SCREEN SAVER tab. Set the Screen Saver to None.
Click the SETTINGS button in the Energy Saver area. Set the Turn off Monitor, Turn off Hard Disks, and set System Standby to NEVER.

9) Disable Virtual Memory if you have more than 128mb of RAM in your computer.
Right-click MY COMPUTER, select PROPERTIES.
Click the PERFORMANCE tab, click the VIRTUAL MEMORY setting.
Choose LET ME SPECIFY. Check the DISABLE VIRTUAL MEMORY.
Windows will give you a warning that this is not recommended (no matter how much RAM you have!). Ignore it and press OK.