{"id":1713137,"date":"2012-03-21T17:23:48","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T17:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/?post_type=articles&p=1713137"},"modified":"2023-05-24T15:11:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T15:11:29","slug":"pc-optimization-guide-for-windows-7","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/pc-optimization-guide-for-windows-7\/","title":{"rendered":"PC Optimization Guide for Windows 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tired of clicks and pops?\u00a0 Annoyed with error messages?\u00a0 No matter if you just bought the latest and greatest or if your dusty old PC has more than its share of birthdays, Windows isn’t automatically ready to tackle your studio tasks out of the box.\u00a0 This guide should help clear up some of those pesky performance issues that as a studio artist, you don’t have time to worry about.\u00a0 After all, its all about the music!<\/p>\n

Getting Started<\/h3>\n

The first thing to do is more of an aesthetic fix and will only make it easier for us to get through the optimization guide.\u00a0 First click on the Windows Start button and choose Control Panel.\u00a0 On the top right corner of Control Panel, switch the ‘view by’ type to ‘small icons’.\u00a0 This gives us a lot more options without having to click through so many menus.<\/p>\n

\"Windows<\/a>\"Windows<\/a>
You should instantly see a difference. This will make navigating options in Windows 7 a whole lot easier; especially if you are more familiar with Windows XP.<\/p>\n

Disable User Account Control (UAC)<\/strong><\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. This helps alleviate and prevent installation and registration issues.\u00a0 To disable UAC, click the Start<\/strong> button.\u00a0 In the Search Box type UAC<\/strong> and press ENTER<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  2. In the UAC window, slide the slider down to ‘never notify<\/strong>‘ and press OK<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  3. Restart<\/strong> your PC.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \""UAC"<\/a>\"Arrow<\/a>\"Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

    Disable USB Power Management<\/strong>
    This helps prevent power issues with devices that are powered by USB.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Open Control Panel<\/strong>, then click on Device Manager<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    2. Open the Universal Serial Bus Controllers<\/strong> menu.<\/li>\n
    3. Right click on the USB Root Hub<\/strong> in the menu and choose Properties<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    4. Go to the Power Management<\/strong> tab and un-check the the box to “allow the computer to turn off…”<\/li>\n
    5. Repeat this for each of the USB Root Hub’s that show up in device manager
      \"Device<\/a>\"Blue<\/a>\"USB<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Enabling Write Cache and Advanced Performance for hard drives<\/strong><\/h4>\n
        \n
      1. This helps alleviate poor hard drive performance.\u00a0 In Device Manager<\/strong>, open the Disk Drives<\/strong> menu.<\/li>\n
      2. For all of your hard drives, right click on the drive name and select Properties<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
      3. Go to the Policies<\/strong> tab and check the boxes to \u201cEnable write caching\u201d and \u201cTurn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Note<\/strong>:\u00a0For external hard drives, change the option from \u201coptimize for quick removal\u201d to \u201coptimize for performance\u201d.<\/em>
        For internal drives<\/span>, use these settings:<\/p>\n

        \"Policies<\/a><\/p>\n

        For external drives<\/span> use these settings:<\/p>\n

        \"Poliocies<\/a><\/p>\n

        Shop All External Hard Drives \ud83d\udcbe<\/a><\/p>\n

        Disable Startup Items<\/strong>
        These settings will make you PC boot lighting fast and give your computer the much needed overhead power to run more plugins.<\/p>\n

        1. Click the Windows Start<\/strong> button and in the search box, type msconfig<\/strong>, then press ENTER<\/strong>.
        \""msconfig"<\/a><\/p>\n

        2. Go to the Startup<\/strong>\u00a0tab and choose Disable all<\/strong> in the bottom right corner.
        Note<\/strong>: After doing this, Pro Tools users with Avid or Digidesign interfaces must check the box for \u201cDigidesign MME Binder.”<\/em><\/p>\n

        \"Startup<\/a><\/p>\n

        3. Next, navigate to the Services<\/strong> tab.\u00a0 Check the box at the bottom to \u201chide all Microsoft Services\u201d
        4. Choose Disable all<\/strong> on the bottom right corner.<\/p>\n

        Note<\/strong>:\u00a0Pro Tools users must check the boxes for \u201cDigidesign MME Refresh Service\u201d (Avid\/Digidesign interfaces only), \u201cdigiSPTIService\u201d and \u201cPACE License Services.\u201d<\/em>
        \"Services<\/a><\/p>\n

        \u00a05. Click OK<\/strong> and Restart<\/strong> the computer.<\/p>\n

        Change Processor Scheduling<\/strong><\/h4>\n

        Changing the processor scheduling settings dramatically improve the way your computer handles audio tasks.\u00a0 From our experience, we have seen a big performance increase on many other non-audio related programs as well.\u00a0 Its a good thing!<\/p>\n

        1. Click on the Windows Start<\/strong> button, then right click Computer<\/strong>\u00a0and choose Properties<\/strong>.
        \"Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

        \u00a02.\u00a0 Click on Advanced System Settings<\/strong>.
        \"Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

        \u00a03.\u00a0 Click the Settings<\/strong> button under the Performance section.
        \"Advanced<\/a><\/p>\n

        4. Set Processor Scheduling to Background Services<\/strong>.
        \"Advanced<\/a><\/p>\n

        5.\u00a0 Click the OK<\/strong> button.\u00a0 You will have to Restart\u00a0for changes to take effect.<\/p>\n

        Adjust Power Options<\/strong><\/h4>\n

        1. Click on the Windows Start<\/strong> button and choose Control Panel<\/strong>.
        2. In Control Panel<\/strong> choose Power Options<\/strong>.
        3. In Power Options<\/strong>, choose High Performance<\/strong>.
        4. To the right, click Change Plan Settings<\/strong>.
        \"Control<\/a><\/p>\n

        5. Choose Change Advanced Power Settings<\/strong>.
        \"Edit<\/a><\/p>\n

        6. At the top of the Advanced Settings<\/strong> window,\u00a0select\u00a0High Performance<\/strong>.
        \"Advanced<\/a><\/p>\n

        Open USB settings\u00a0<\/strong>> USB Selective Suspend<\/strong>, and change this to Disabled<\/strong>.
        Open Processor Power Management<\/strong> > Minimum Processor State\u00a0<\/strong>> 100%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        7. Click OK<\/strong>, then Save Changes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        Disable Sound Exclusive Mode<\/strong><\/h4>\n

        1. Click on the Windows Start<\/strong> button and choose Control Panel<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

        2. Choose Sound<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        3. Within the Sound<\/strong> settings, select your device and click Properties<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        \"Sound<\/a><\/p>\n

        4. Within the Properties<\/strong> window, navigate to the Advanced<\/strong> tab. Then, make sure you uncheck<\/span> the two boxes under Exclusive Mode<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        \"Advanced<\/a><\/p>\n

        5. Do this for all devices under the Playback and Recording<\/strong> tabs in Sound Settings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        Speedstep or Processor Throttling<\/strong><\/h4>\n

        This optimization is probably one of the most important out of all of these.\u00a0 Unfortunately due to the vast array of differences in computer manufacturing, we don’t have a specific step by step tutorial on how to do this.\u00a0 This setting can be disabled from your computers BIOS.\u00a0 If you are familiar with your computers BIOS, look for \u201cIntel Speedstep\u201d, EIST,\u00a0 or \u201cAMD Cool n’ Quiet\u201d, and disable it.\u00a0 This is basically a setting that ramps down your CPU clock cycles to a slower speed, to save electricity.\u00a0 In many cases it interferes heavily with most recording processes on a computer and can severely degrade your performance.\u00a0 Disabling this setting will also make all of your other programs perform a lot faster as well.\u00a0 If you aren’t sure how to disable this option, get with your computer manufacturer for instructions on how to do this.<\/p>\n

        Virus Protection and Internet Security<\/strong><\/h4>\n

        For the most part, this will not play nice with your recording programs but let’s be realistic about this.\u00a0 The average Joe uses their music computer for all of their business as well.\u00a0 Its not the best way to handle it, but not everyone has the space (or cash) to run 2 separate computers.\u00a0 If you don’t have a separate machine to run the internet on, use the least intrusive antivirus that you can.\u00a0 We recommend AVG or Microsoft Security Center.\u00a0 There is little CPU usage with these but seem to be pretty effective.\u00a0 If you feel the need to be running any more security than this, you should think about using the internet on a different computer,\u00a0 or change your browsing habits.\u00a0 A light antivirus and a good browser like Firefox with the Adblock Plus extension can do miracles.<\/p>\n

        Chances are if your are running a modern computer, we really don’t need to make any further changes.\u00a0 Windows 7 is much more efficient with its graphics on modern graphics cards.\u00a0 There are exceptions to this, but for the most part you should be fine.\u00a0 If you are an enthusiast and would like to further optimize the computer we recommend the Black Viper optimizations in addition to this guide. You can find them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Helpful Links<\/h3>\n

        PC Optimization Guide for Windows 10<\/a><\/p>\n

        Windows 10 Compatibility Information<\/a><\/p>\n

        How do I format a hard drive on Windows?<\/a><\/p>\n

        How to install Focusrite USB drivers on Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

        Installing and using ASIO4all for Windows<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[4],"tags":[34601,35079,33883,34125,36523,57296,36527],"storecat":[],"itemids":[89687,111928,96533,68286,104567],"manufacturers":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n