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The World of PC Recording

A Tutorial Guide on Creating, Optimizing


and Maintaining Computers for Audio Recording

By Dave Casey, TASCAM Product Specialist


1. Getting Started With The Basics
To Build, Or Not to Build……..
Understanding The Beast

2. Putting A Shopping List Together


Motherboards
Processors
Hard Drives
Memory
Operating System
AGP Graphics Cards
SCSI Controllers
The Case and Power Supply
Surge Protectors

Hard Drives: SCSI vs. IDE


Which Way Do I go?

3. I’m Armed With A lot Of Knowledge….Now What?


Building A System
Buying A Pre-Built or Built-To-Order System
Spec Out A Powerful System

4. I Found It And Bought It…What Next?


Putting It Together
Formatting the Drive And Installing The Operating System
Custom Installations

5. Maintaining Your System


De-Fragmenting the Hard Drive
Scandisk
Disk Cleanup
Backup

6. Optimizing Your System


Disable Write Behind Caching
Reduce Read Ahead Optimization
Reducing Graphics Acceleration
Make sure DMA Is Activated For All IDE Disk Drives
Turn Off Auto Insert Notification
IRQs & Not playing nicely with others
Don’t Use PCI slot 1 For your sound card
V Cache
Window’s Cluster Sizes
Use A permanent Swap File
Shutting down Unused USB, Serial, And Parallel Ports
More than one is a crowd
The Computer’s role
Highly accelerated graphics cards
Display bit depth
Screen Savers and Power Management
Modems
Specify and simplify

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1. Getting Started With The Basics
Time does indeed march on. This statement is no more relevant or accurate than in the
world of computer technology. The latest and greatest is constantly being pushed aside by
the “newest” latest and greatest. Computing technologies have sky-rocketed to new
stratospheric levels of efficiency and speed in the last few years. Who reaps the benefits of
this ongoing battle between computer component manufacturers to be the top dog in
Silicon Valley………? We all do!

To Build, Or Not to Build….


There are a couple of things to consider before making this initial decision. When choosing
to either build a system from scratch, or purchase one from a store, you will find clearly
defined advantages with both scenarios.

Advantages to building from scratch:


1. Being able to carefully select system elements that are known to perform in the PC
audio world.
2. Building your computer will give you increased knowledge of the system that you
create. This is beneficial in increasing troubleshooting chops, and reducing the
element of “fearing the unknown”.
3. The “bang for the buck” ratio is increased when you cut out the added cost of
someone else assembling the computer for you.

Advantages to buying a pre-built system:


1. Complete system tech support provided
2. Convenience of plugging in, and getting the system running with minimal effort.
3. No worrying as to whether you have chosen incorrect or incompatible
hardware/software.

This document will help you to understand the different elements of a PC, and allow you to
make a more informed choice when acquiring a system for yourself. Whichever way you
choose to go, the bottom line is successfully recording audio onto your computer.

Understanding The Beast


Whether you choose to build or buy pre-built, it will be helpful to understand the basic
components of a computer. From the outside, a computer appears to be an incredibly
complex piece of technology….and it is. But when you break down the components and
how they relate to each other, you will find that it isn’t really as mysterious as one might
think.

A computer exists and functions much the same way that an automobile does. A car is made
up of specific components that when put together, turn a pile of parts such as wheels,
transmission, axles, and engine into a (insert your favorite car here). Look at a computer the
same way. Mastering the basic science of a computer is not that different from learning
about how an automobile works. It is a science of components, and how they rely upon,
relate to, and co-exist with each other.

Here are the basic components of an audio specific computer:

Motherboard
Think of this as the engine block of any car. Other elements get attached to the
motherboard. The speed and performance specs of the computer will be determined by the
peripherals chosen.

Processor
This is the brain of any computer. The speed of the processor will determine how well the
overall computer will perform.

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Memory or RAM
RAM exists to provide a place for ongoing computing tasks to exist. For this reason, the
more you have the better.

Hard Drive
Think of this as the main storage place for your computer. When you install a program or
record music, it is stored on the hard drive as data. This is also where your OS (Operating
System) such as Windows 98 resides.

Graphics Card
Just as the name implies, this is a device that produces the visual display that you see on the
computer screen.

Sound Card
Much the same way that the graphics card functions, an audio card is your portal to getting
the music in and out of your computer. There are a number of manufacturers and models to
choose from, and it is up to the end user to determine their price range, and performance
considerations.

Monitor
Connects to the graphics card to let you actually see what is happening with your computer.
Size and quality are a major consideration, since it is what you will spend most of your
computing experiences looking at.

CD-ROM (Read Only) or CDRW (Read & Write)


One of a number of devices that let you load data (CD-ROM) or store data (CDRW) to and
from your computer. Software manufacturers typically distribute their programs on CD-ROM
or floppy disk.

Floppy Drive
Even though the storage size of a floppy disk is very limited (roughly 1.44 Mb), a lot of
manufacturers will send out updates and small application files on a floppy disk. They also
come in handy for initial setup of a new system…

Keyboard and Mouse


These two inexpensive components allow you to navigate through and control every
function of your computer.

Case or Tower
The box where everything is installed

Operating System
The basic software platform that your computer will need to function. Windows 98 SE, ME,
and 2000 are the most popular and current OS platforms.

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2. Putting A Shopping List Together
Whether you are planning on building from scratch, buying a pre-made system, or
evaluating your current system for use in recording audio, it is important to keep in mind
that computer based audio involves huge files. For example, a 4-minute song with 24 tracks
of 24 bit audio will require your system to stream approximately 180 megabytes of data per
minute. Needless to say, this is very different from just about anything you might ever do
with your computer. Here are a few basic concepts and guidelines that should be
considered.

Motherboards
The motherboard is the main hub of any computer. There are a few things to keep in mind
when choosing a motherboard, or evaluating your current one for audio recording:

1. Try to avoid motherboards with a lot of built on audio and graphics functions. These
“conveniences” can actually introduce potential conflicts with recording specific audio
cards, and make the process of disabling them for troubleshooting a bit of a chore.

2. Chipset. Every computer purchase, every motherboard upgrade, every CPU buying
decision comes back to the same thing: the system chipset. If the CPU is the brain of your
PC, the chipset is its heart. It controls the flow of bits that travel between the CPU,
system memory, and the motherboard bus. Efficient data transfers, fast expansion bus
support, and advanced power management features are just a few of the things the
system chipset is responsible for. At one time, most functions of the chipset were
performed by multiple, smaller controller chips. There was a separate chip (often more
than one) for each function: controlling the cache, performing direct memory access
(DMA), handling interrupts, transferring data over the I/O bus, etc. Over time these chips
were integrated to form a single set of chips, or chipset, that implements the various
control features on the motherboard. TASCAM highly recommends Intel chipsets. There
are a lot of different companies offering a variety of chipsets, and in most home
computing scenarios any brand of chip should do the job. When dealing with digital
audio in the computer environment it is generally recognized that Intel chipsets have
proven to be more stable.

3. PCI Buss Speed. If the chipset is the heart of your PC, the PCI Buss and corresponding
speed are certainly the circulatory system. All the data that passes from installed
memory (RAM), through the processor, and through any installed PCI devices (SCSI cards,
sound cards, etc.) do so through the PCI Buss. 33mHz, 66mHz, 100mHz, and 133 mHz are
all references to how fast the data can stream through the specific motherboard’s PCI
Buss. The higher (faster) the number, the more efficiently it will work. For those who are
evaluating their current system, a minimum buss speed of 66 mHz is recommended. For
anyone building a system, a 100 to 133 mHz (or higher) buss speed is recommended.
Keep in mind that your memory (RAM) speed should correspond to the established
motherboard buss speed (e.g., A motherboard with a buss speed of 100 MHz should use
a PC-100 memory stick in the user’s chosen megabyte size).

4. Make sure that you purchase an ATX style motherboard. They are the updated version
of the original AT style motherboards. The main differences were improvements in
layout and functionality.

Processors
In the PC audio community it is widely believed that Pentium and AMD processors are most
suited for digital audio. This is not to say that a Celeron or other manufacturer’s processor
will not perform adequately, but there are particulars to the way Pentiums and AMD
processors handle caching that give them a distinct advantage. In a high demand processing
scenario, these processors are able to buffer or store command information until it can catch
up (Caching). This is something to keep in mind when you get 18 tracks with numerous
plugins and effects pounding on your processor. A processor with a minimum speed of 400
MHz is recommended.

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Hard drives
The size of your hard drive is important, but not as important as the RPM speed, and access
time of the drive. When you are playing back audio, and even more so when you are
recording audio, you need a drive that can spin fast enough to write and play back data
from the surface of the drive’s platter quickly. You will find drives from 4800 rpm all the
way up to 15,000 rpm. Most computer audio experts will recommend at least a 7200-RPM
drive speed.

A hard drives access speed is exactly what the name implies…..it is the measured speed that
the drive’s mechanism can read and write information to and from the drive. Although
some drives are able to provide seek times as fast as 3 milliseconds, anywhere from 7-10
milliseconds is fine for basic computer audio needs. You will generally find faster listed seek
times on SCSI drives.

Another consideration is the implementation of an application drive coupled with a second


audio specific drive. What this will allow the user to do is load his OS and programs onto a
designated drive, while using a second audio only drive to record the audio data. There are
two main benefits to a system utilizing two drives:

1. Your audio application does not have to access the same drive as all of your programs
and related data, increasing access speed and in turn the playback and recording
performance of your system.

2. If your OS on the main program drive becomes corrupt or you have damaged file
directories, or even worse a damaged drive, your audio data is not destroyed.

Memory
Computers rely on installed memory, or RAM for regular computing chores. Most home
systems do not run applications that are overly taxing to the installed RAM. Internet, Word
documents and even gaming do not draw heavily upon the system memory. In the world of
digital audio on a computer, the entire system is taxed much more heavily, and specific
elements such as memory do become “make or break” elements to the overall picture.
Areas such as editing and mixing with plugins and effects draw heavily upon RAM.
Although a system can run with 64 MB and sometimes lower, it is recommended that an
audio system have anywhere from 128 MB to 512 MB or more installed to be able to run
effectively.

Often users confuse hard drive size with the amount of memory installed on a system. A
good way to view the difference is to think of a hard drive as a tool cabinet, and the
installed memory as a workbench. You would store a tool in the tool cabinet until you were
ready to use it, at which point you would move it to the workbench for quicker access to it.
This is the same way that a hard drive and installed memory work together. A program
resides on the hard drive until you “open” it, at which point it gets shifted into memory for
quick access.

*Another reminder: Keep in mind that it is necessary to match the buss speed established by
the motherboard when choosing memory sticks. The overall speed of the system buss will be
limited to the slowest element…make sure the memory you choose is not the weakest link.

Operating System
Choosing the operating system is a very important step in the process of setting up an audio
computer. There are many different opinions regarding the best choice for OS, but you will
find that there are a lot of common ones as well. Most will agree that it is not always wise
to run out and buy the newest OS, the day it comes out. Although software is extensively
tested before release, there are often unanticipated bugs to be be found and fixed, and the
bottom line is this…..do you want to be the one discovering bugs while you are working on
your current project? Another consideration is what drivers and software are currently
available for the OS you are considering. A lot of companies don’t offer drivers for really

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new OS platforms immediately, and on the flip side of the coin, most new programs do not
have drivers for really old OS platforms. Most computer audio experts will recommend
either Windows SE, 2000, or ME. All of these operating systems have proven to be stable OS
platforms that when installed on a solid system will reduce the potential for problems.

Another consideration to research is how your computing needs will be met by different OS
options. Audio will behave differently than video potentially will on different operating
systems. Do some research and pick some brains. There is a collection of 40 user profiles at
the end of this document to reference.

One final thing to keep in mind regarding OS selection, is the wave of devices utilizing USB
protocols. USB achieved its greatest degree of stability on the PC platform with windows 98
SE, so this is something to keep in mind when eyeing that slick looking US-428.

AGP Graphics cards


SCSI controller cards and related SCSI devices, as well as PCI based audio cards tend to push
the limits of a PCI buss. With this in mind, the last thing you want to do is add more
congestion to the mix. AGP graphics cards were created to allow a computer user to get
their video graphics off of the PCI buss by creating and utilizing a graphics specific slot (AGP
slot). To successfully run an audio workstation, it is highly recommended that your system
utilize an AGP graphics card

SCSI Controllers
If you choose to implement a SCSI device into your system, you will need a SCSI controller. A
SCSI controller is a PCI based card not unlike other PCI based devices. It resides on the PCI
buss in one of the available slots. With a SCSI card installed, it allows you to chain devices
such as hard drives, CD-ROMs, CDRW, or any number of storage devices in internal (inside
the case) or external (outside the case) configurations, on what is referred to as the “SCSI
Buss”. This buss exists within the computer’s standard PCI buss as one device, regardless of
how many things you have attached to it. The SCSI controller works as a secondary buss,
allowing the system to run up to 15 additional devices. Each device connected to the SCSI
buss is assigned a SCSI ID number, and it is using these designated device numbers that
allow the SCSI controller to know which device is being addressed by the system. The clear
performance advantage to SCSI is the ability to have a ton of extra storage solutions (hard
drives, backup devices) available to the computer audio user, in any configuration they
choose to setup.

The Case and Power supply


When choosing a case for your system, there are a couple of things that you need to keep in
mind:

1. Make sure that you get an ATX (newer) and not an AT case. The major difference are
the openings on the rear panel for connections to newer technologies like USB that will
come installed on your motherboard.

2. Make sure that you get a case that will fit ergonomically into your work environment.
Nothing too big, or too small. But keep in mind the possibility of expansion in the
future, as new devices become available in the computer world.

3. Make sure that the box has enough front panel slots to accommodate any installed CD-
ROM drives, CDRW or other backup devices you may wish to install now or in the future.

Make sure that you install a power supply big enough to not only power your current
installed devices, but any future devices you might want to install. 300 watt supplies are not
that much more than 250 watt ones……go nuts and splurge to get one with enough
headroom to power your system efficiently now and in the future.

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Surge protectors
You’ve built your brand new rig, and are tracking your generation’s Sergeant Pepper, then
all of a sudden…….POOF! A power surge rushes through the wall socket and into your
computer, frying components without prejudice. A simple $15.00 surge protector can be the
best insurance you could possibly ever acquire for your computer. If you can ante up the
extra dollars to purchase a battery backup/surge protector, you can even go so far as to give
yourself a couple of minutes to save your work and safely shutdown your system in the
event of a surge followed by a complete power failure.

Hard Drives: SCSI vs. IDE


SCSI

SCSI has long been considered the standard for high data transfer used in audio and
streaming video workstations. There are many advantages to a SCSI based system:

High data transfer rates.


With the new wave of Ultra 160 SCSI devices, data transfer speed has been raised to 160 MB
per second, providing much needed headroom for recording and playing back high track
counts

More chainable devices.


Modern SCSI busses will allow up to 15 devices, all operating off a single installed PCI based
controller. No extra interrupt requests are introduced as the device chain grows.

Bi-directional data bursts.


SCSI can read and write information simultaneously, speeding up the transfer of data to and
from the disk. Perfect for recording and monitoring audio on a DAW.

Buffering.
A SCSI hard drive can be sent a group of commands and buffer them sequentially, vastly
improving the performance of the drive.

High RPM disk speeds.


In the world of huge data streams, speed to and from the disk is the name of the game. SCSI
drives are the only drives currently venturing into the 10K and 15K RPM world. The faster
the RPM, the faster the drive can write and read the data from the device without
bottlenecking.

Fast seek times.


SCSI utilizes a faster hard disk seek time, referring to how fast the drive can access and
retrieve data from the device. SCSI average seek times run from 7-8 milliseconds all the way
down to 3-4 milliseconds on the 15, 000 RPM drives. The faster it can get the data, the
better the performance.

IDE

In the past, IDE never really came close to SCSI in the performance department, and
although it has not quite surpassed it – it has closed the gap substantially. The main area
that IDE outshines SCSI is in the price department.

Cost
The primary benefit of the IDE hard drive is the price. With IDE closing the gap on the
performance factor with SCSI, IDE drives can offer nearly matched performance specs at a
lower price, usually 30%-50% less for similar storage capacity devices.

Additional controllers

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Just about all motherboards provide IDE controller connections built onto the board itself.
This eliminates the need for an additional PCI controller card, and thus the additional cost. It
is getting hard to find a motherboard that does not offer support for UDMA (Ultra Disk
Matching Architecture) which allows transfer rates of up to 100 MB a second.

DMA = IDE S-A-V-I-O-R


Prior to the implementation of DMA, the processor was called upon to oversee the transfer
of data from RAM to the drive. The result of this was additional CPU power being drawn
away from handling other processing chores like automation, plugins, or even screen
redraws. This was referred to as PIO (Programmed Input/Output). DMA (Direct Memory
Access) implemented a system of writing the data directly from RAM to the disk without the
degree of involvement that the CPU undertook in the past. Although not a big deal for the
Internet enthusiast, this is a regaining of critical CPU horsepower for the processing hungry
DAW maniac.

Which way do I go?


The bottom line here is that there is no clear-cut bottom line. The agreed upon facts are
that although IDE is right on the heels of SCSI in the performance department, SCSI still
offers faster seek times, higher drive speeds, and more efficient drive design. IDE has SCSI
beat hands down in the cost and value department. With the additional cost of a separate
SCSI controller added into the already higher price tag of the SCSI drives, the difference in
performance may not be such a big consideration. A person working with 24 tracks or less
could just as easily utilize an IDE based system as they could a SCSI based system.

If you are a user who plans on running a multitude of additional storage solutions (4 or
more) in either internal or external configurations, SCSI is the only way to go (IDE is limited
to a total of 4 internal devices). A SCSI buss will allow you to run up to 15 devices on a single
SCSI chain in internal and external configurations.

Many users have adopted a system spec that utilizes both worlds. By implementing a less
expensive IDE drive to hold the OS and any installed programs, they can install an 80-gig
drive for a fraction of the cost of a SCSI drive of the same size. Next, they install a smaller
high speed SCSI drive to write just the audio data to. In doing this, they benefit from giving
the system a dedicated storage device for the audio data. Inevitably, your budget will factor
into the configuration that you choose to go with.

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3. I’m Armed With A lot Of Knowledge…..Now What?
The next step is to choose whether you want to build a system, or buy one pre-made. Here
are a few suggestions for both scenarios.

Building A System (Some places to look for parts)

Computer Swapmeets
Rows and rows of independent parties and large computer vendors selling and trading
computer parts. Large vendors attend these shows and sell their products at a much lower
price to clear out inventory. They realize that a lot of people attend these shows, and they
know that they will be able to move a lot of product in a short amount of time…usually at a
fairly discounted price.

Once you have put your list together, you can systematically make the rounds at these
events comparing prices. Most vendors will take credit cards, but a fist full of cash is hard to
resist. Bargaining is a common occurrence at these shows, and there are some great deals to
be had. The best way to find the show closest to you is to go online and search. Another
way is to drop by your neighborhood computer store and inquire. These stores usually have
any number of computer “geeks” whose sun rises and sets on the dates of these shows. If
you know what you are looking for, a show can be a terrific way to find it at a great price.

Online
Shopping for parts online is not all that different from a swap meet, except it is basically a
nationwide swap meet! There are thousands of computer retailers across the country who
post their goods and prices on any number of websites designed to attract potential buyers.
The only downside is the fact that you don’t get the instant gratification that you would
buying at a swap meet, considering any purchases must be shipped to you……that, and
those tasty swap meet hot dogs.

Computer Store
Another consideration is the trusty local computer store. Whether it is a “mega” chain store,
or a “mom and pop” shop, you should be able to find what you need if you look around.

Buying A Pre-Built, or Made-To-Order System.

The big computer companies


Dell, Gateway, Compaq, and Hewlett Packard are a few of the big name computer suppliers.
When you purchase a system from these companies, you are getting a solid system from a
reputable company. You are also getting access to support for your computer in the event
of a technical problem. This can be handy if you are not an overly technical person.

Your local computer store


The same way a smaller, local computer store can provide a PC builder with parts for their
system, they can also build a custom system for you. If you are specific in the details of what
you want installed, they can usually assemble and troubleshoot the system for a fee. This
can come in handy for the user who wants to control what goes into their system, but
doesn’t really want to go so far as to build it from the ground up.

Spec Out A Powerful System


If you choose to let a company build your computer, you may still take an active part in the
creation of your system. Here are 6 system guidelines that will ensure a pre-made audio
system will perform to the best of it’s ability.

1. Get the fastest Pentium or AMD processor you can afford. A minimum of 400MHz
processor speed is recommended for reasonable audio performance on your PC.
2. Get the most Ram you can afford. A minimum of 128Mb is recommended.
3. Try to purchase a motherboard with an Intel chipset

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4. RPM speed, as well as size of a hard drive is a major consideration in delivering audio
track playback performance. Try to get a drive with at least a 7200RPM rating.
5. To take advantage of the recent advancements in USB device support, as well as overall
OS performance considerations, try to run a Windows 98SE, or newer operating system
platform.
6. Avoid having extra devices and programs installed on your system. The less you have,
the better your system will run. Dedicating the system to only audio applications is
highly recommended.

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4. I Found It And bought It……What Next??
This section will touch on the steps involving component assembly, and operating system
installation. Although it is aimed primarily at the user who is building their system from
scratch, much of this information will eventually apply to someone who already has a
system, or is purchasing a pre-built computer. You may one day need to re-install or update
your operating system, or just might want to understand the steps involved with putting all
of the individual components together.

The actual process of assembling your computer is fairly basic, and includes the following
steps:

1. Installing the memory and processor onto the motherboard.


2. Installing the motherboard into the case
3. Mounting the hard drive, floppy drive, and CD-ROM drive into the case, and connecting
them to the motherboard with the supplied IDE ribbon cables.
4. Putting your graphics card into the designated AGP graphic card slot, and choosing a PCI
slot to install your sound card into.
5. Connecting the power leads to the installed devices.
6. Hooking up the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Just about every motherboard manufacturer will supply you with a manual that will cover
the features and installation procedures for their product in the box, or on their website.
The other consideration regarding the setup of the motherboard is to pay close attention to
is the setting up of the devices on the IDE buss (hard drives and CD-ROM). Most
motherboards come with at least a “Primary” and “Secondary” IDE Buss. Your hard main
hard drive will connect to the primary connection, with the CD-ROM drive connecting to the
secondary one.

Any additional devices such as a CDRW or second hard drive will need to be slaved off of
these primary devices. Setting this up is merely a matter of designating the role of each
chained device by designating it as a “Slave” or “Master”. On the hard drive, CD-ROM, or
other IDE device that are installed, there are a set of pins on the rear of the device. By
attaching a set of small jumpers, you are able to designate the specifics (Slave and Master)
of how the device will function within the computer. Jumper settings for a drive are usually
shown on the drive itself. If not, it is always readily available on the manufacturer’s website.
Be sure that you pay close attention to how you are defining each installed component. This
is a common source of problems if it is not done correctly.

Formatting The Drive And Installing The Operating System


You’ve got the hardware put together, and now you are ready to install the Operating
System or “OS” as it is commonly referred to. Windows 98SE, ME, and 2000 are the most
common and most current operating systems for the PC. When it comes to choosing the
right OS for your system, it is merely a process of researching the differences and benefits
that one OS might offer from another. The operating system provides an environment for
the computer to exist and function in…without it, you have a brand new car without any
gas in the tank.

To install the OS onto the hard drive, the drive must first be partitioned and formatted.
Partitioning will allow you to set the size of the space on the drive by letting you take a 20
gig drive and make one 20 gig partition, or two 10 gig partitions, etc. This can be
advantageous if you need to setup multiple OS scenarios on one computer, or if you want
to segregate certain software programs and establish different working modes. For
example, you could have an audio-only partition set up to run only your audio applications,
and a second partition set up on the drive to run all of your gaming, internet, and other
home computing chores.

Formatting is a process of encoding rudimentary information onto the drive itself to make it
available for the system to write data to it. It functions much the same way that Adat and

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DA-88 tape formats work. Until you format them with information that the machine can
recognize, they exist as unidentified storage media. Here is a step by step procedure for
partitioning and formatting a drive, and then installing the OS.

1. Put a Windows Startup Disk into the floppy drive of your computer, and power up the
system. If you do not have a Start Up disk available, one can be created from any other
computer with a version of Windows installed on it. To create a startup disk on a
Windows computer, click on Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add or Remove
Programs/Startup Disk. Insert a blank Windows formatted floppy disk into your floppy
drive, and follow the prompts.

2. Put the Startup disk into the system you are installing Windows on. The system will
initiate a boot from the Start Up disk when you power up with the Startup disk in the
floppy drive. Once this process begins, it will ask you if you want to continue with CD-
ROM support. Select Yes
3. The necessary files and drivers will be loaded onto the virtual drive D from the Startup
Disk. What this means is that since your actual hard drive is not being used, the system
will create a place to put the rudimentary information necessary to do basic functions in
the installed memory.

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4. At this point you will be led to an “A/>:” prompt. If there is a brand new drive installed,
it will need to be partitioned. You should run FDISK at this point:

A:/>fdisk

Fdisk will set up the basic file partition for your system. Think of this as apportioning a
plot of land. You are merely telling the system that you want to establish a specifically
sized partition for your hard drive.

5. Once the basic partition has been established, you will need to format the drive for use.

A:/>format c:

C is always designated as the primary computer hard drive in a single hard drive system.
Be careful when formatting multiple drives…it is very easy to format, and in the process
DESTROY information on other hard drives!
The system will ask you to confirm your action, do so if you are certain that you are
formatting the correct drive. Be sure of the desired drive letter before you initiate a
format command.

6. Initiate the OS installation by first putting the OS disk into the CD-ROM drive. Next, you
need to tell the system where you want it to look for installation information. Usually,
the CD-ROM is designated as the E drive. At the A:/> prompt, merely type E: and press
Enter to switch to an E:/> prompt. To initiate the setup process:

E:/>setup

Pressing enter will start the installation process. From here merely follow the OS
installation prompts.

Custom Installations
When doing a clean install of an operating system (OS), it is usually recommended that a
person planning to use the system for audio recording purposes do a “custom” install of the
OS. When the install process has been initiated, you will be asked if you want to do a
standard, portable, compact, or custom install. A custom install is recommended. If you
choose a custom install, it is safe to not include:

Handicap Accessibility (unless you need it)


Accessories
Address book
Communications
Games
Online Services
Multimedia (You may choose to keep some or all of the elements within this header,
highlight and then click Details to look at what is included in this folder)

Excluding these extra “features” will reduce the size of the OS installation, further reducing
the extra “fat” that is not necessary on a lean, mean, streamlined machine. One final thing
to remember is to always update your system’s hardware element drivers (graphics cards,
SCSI controllers, sound cards, etc.) from the company’s website. There are always updates
and improvements ongoing with these critical elements of your system.

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5. Maintaining Your System
Defragmenting the hard drive
As data is written and retrieved from the hard drive, data fragmentation can become a
system-slowing problem. Think of your hard drive as a giant cupboard, filled with a variety
of canned goods. The way a hard drive accesses the information is much the same way we
would choose a specific can from a pantry. The system issues a command for a specific piece
of data, at this point the hard drives stylus scans the disk to locate the data…much the same
way our brain would issue a command to retrieve a specific can of corn from the cupboard.
Since writing and retrieving data is an ongoing process, often pieces of data can become
separated from similar data clusters. The result is a slowing down of the retrieval process
because the retrieval device must scan the entire disk surface to locate the needed data.
Think of computer defragmentation as a re-organizational process, not unlike the process of
grouping similar canned goods in a cupboard. By putting the corn with corn, beans with
beans, etc. you can reduce the amount of time it takes to gather the necessary elements to
make that 3 bean casserole. The windows disk defragmentation tool can be accessed in:

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter

Get into the habit of doing this at least once a week, as it will make a big difference in your
systems performance.

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Scandisk
Drive errors are usually minor problems that affect a tiny area of the hard drive preventing
the storage of data in that location. Bad sectors (unable to hold data), lost clusters
(clusters on the hard drive that are perceived as being used, but aren’t), and cross-linked
files (two or more files that are trying to use a single cluster) are the most common errors
that one might encounter on a hard drive. These errors are usually minor and can be easily
repaired by running a simple disk management utility such as Windows Scandisk. Running
Scandisk on a regular basis (once a week) will help to maintain the hard drive health and
performance as well as reducing the risk of a complete disk failure. To access Scandisk in
Windows:

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scandisk

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Disk Cleanup
A disk loaded with unnecessary data will reduce the overall performance of the drive itself.
Often, a hard drive gets loaded down with deleted or forgotten files that can collectively
cause the hard drive to work harder accessing the needed data. Running a disk cleanup
utility will allow you to visually assess the drives content and select what does not need to
be kept on the hard drive. To access Windows disk cleanup utility:

Start/Program Files/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup

Navigating through the various cleanup options will allow you to not only clean out
temporary files, but also allow you to view the currently installed program files, and allow
you to delete and regain some disk space by clearing out what you don’t need or use
anymore.

Back Up
One of the most overlooked and under considered facets of the computer world is back up.
Nothing is worse than losing an entire project of songs in the blink of an eye, and although
recording audio with a computer has empowered the user with a whole new level of muscle
and flexibility, it has also left the careless extremely vulnerable to disaster. There are so
many cost efficient backup solutions available (CDR, Jaz, DVD RAM, ORB, Magneto Optical,
Data Dat, Zip) that anyone recording data on a computer should be able to find a solution
that will work for them.

In addition to the standard process of backing up, technology has also provided software
like Dantz’s Retrospect which will allow you to create a perfect copy of your hard drive in
it’s current functioning state. This is handy to restore your system back to its previous

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functioning condition if you experience corruption of Windows files or other extreme file
failure. There are a number of these utility programs available, so do some investigating.

Developing a backup routine is a discipline that is well rewarded the first time you
accidentally delete a group of tracks from a project or discover that an entire project
directory has become corrupt. Be smart, back up!

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6. Optimizing Your System
There are a number of optimization tips available for PC users, here are a few that are
tested and proven. Obviously, with so many different configurations of PC systems in the
world, some of these tips will help tremendously, and some might not make a noticeable
difference. Try some experimenting to see which ones help you and your system.

Disable Write Behind Caching


Go to the Control Panel and choose the SYSTEM icon. Next, click the Performance tab, then
the File System. Now choose the Trouble Shooting tab. Select the last option, “Disable Write
Behind Caching For All Drives” and click OK. This forces Windows to write data immediately
to disk rather than holding it in memory and writing it later. By disabling this function, you
can increase your performance a great deal, because the data is not being buffered before
going to the disk. This feature could be helpful if you have a very slow RPM hard drive, in
that it could buffer the data until the slower drive was able to “catch up”. The flip side to
this data buffering is a greatly increased processing delay.

Reducing Read Ahead Optimization


When the hard drive is accessing and retrieving data, it is able to grab some “extra”
information that it views as sequentially necessary…basically, it figures you will need the
next packet of information in addition to the specific data you asked for. This can be helpful
if you are running only one application, but in the world of computer audio recording, you
constantly need a variety of information from different areas of the disk. If the system is
retrieving data that it thinks you need, but don’t, this can slow your system down
tremendously.

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Go to the Control Panel and choose the SYSTEM icon. Next, click the Performance tab, then
the File System. Now choose the Hard Disk tab. Decrease the slider to the smallest setting.

Reducing the graphics acceleration.


Right click “My Computer”, go to “Device Manager”, choose “Performance”, click on
“Graphics”. You will find a sliding scale that will allow you to reduce the amount of
processor power dedicated to your graphics. Most audio programs do not require intense
graphic support, so you might try some experimenting here. Try moving the slider to the
left, if there is no improvement in your audio performance, slide it back to where it was set
originally. Be sure to restart after making changes.

Make sure that DMA is activated for all IDE disk drives
Right click on “My Computer”, and go to Device Manager. Click on the + sign next to disk
drives. This will show you all of the IDE drives in your system. Double-click on each one, click
the Settings tab, and check DMA. Doing this will activate the Direct Memory Access (DMA).
If your hard drive supports DMA, activating this will make a huge difference.

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Turn off “Auto Insert Notification”
When activated, this feature will automatically launch the contents of a CD-ROM when it is
loaded into a CD-ROM drive. Convenient for most, but in the audio world this draws
unnecessary system resources away from the audio application by repeatedly checking the
ROM drive for newly inserted disks. Right click on “My Computer”, and go to Device
Manager. Click on the + sign next to CD-ROM. Double click on each device, and click the
Settings tab, unchecking Auto Insert Notification.

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IRQs & Not playing nicely with others…….
A PC uses a system of ID’s for all of the devices that function within the system. Each device
is given an Interrupt Request number, or IRQ number. This is how the processor addresses
each of these elements. Occasionally, certain installed devices will end up with the same IRQ
(IRQ sharing). A lot of the time this is not a problem, but certain devices require a lot of
attention…and simply cannot share.

Sound cards are usually the most problematic when they share IRQ numbers. They will be
more susceptible to IRQ related mayhem when they share numbers with 1. TV cards 2.
Graphics cards 3. SCSI or additional IDE controllers 4. Internal modems or ISDN. There are a
few ways to remedy IRQ sharing on a PC. The first, and less complicated of which is to
physically shift the installed PCI devices. When SCSI, sound, and other PCI cards are first
installed, Windows scans the PCI buss and assigns IRQ numbers automatically. By physically
moving the cards, and rebooting, Windows will re-assign IRQ numbers. This procedure may
take a few tries to achieve the desired number allocation, but it is by far the least technical
solution to basic IRQ conflicts.

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Although some devices can live harmoniously sharing IRQs, it is best to try and
avoid it.

Don’t Use PCI slot #1 for your audio card.


An AGP graphics slot will often share the same IRQ with the PCI slot next to it on the
motherboard, as will the ISA slot. The rule of thumb here is to not put any high throughput
cards (SCSI or audio cards) in the first or last PCI slot.

Vcache
Go to your C drive, open the Windows folder, find SYSTEM.INI and double click on it. Scroll
down the listed information until you get to “MaxFileCacheSize” and “MinFileCacheSize”.
The amount of Vcache is usually set higher than most audio applications need, and an
exceptionally high amount of Vcache will actually slow your application down. Change this
setting to 16,000 for both the minimum and maximum values.

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Window’s Cluster Sizes
When you perform a standard FAT 32 partitioning of a drive, it will set up the directory with
4K clusters. Using a program like Partition Magic will allow you to re-build the cluster sizes
into larger 32K chunks without losing data already on the drive. What this means in basic
terms is, Windows will process information from the drive in larger portions. This translates
into an increased amount of data that can be written to/from the drive with less effort from
your system. Compare this adjustment to filling and emptying a 3 gallon bucket 1 ounce at a
time instead of 12 ounces at a time.

Use a permanent Swap File.


A Swap File, or “Virtual Memory” was created as a way to extend the limits of the installed
RAM. When a system’s available memory is used up, Windows implements a system of
buffering the oldest commands to a section of the hard drive, effectively allowing them to
temporarily be “housed” until they are accessed again. The process of juggling the
commands from virtual memory to active memory is where the Swap File got its name.

Windows automatically allocates the amount of hard drive space dedicated to Virtual
Memory. It creates what is referred to as a “Dynamic Swap File”, meaning that no dedicated
space on the drive is allocated for the Swap. The benefit of this is that you will have more
drive space available for storage overall, but the bits of information that get put into the
swap file can quickly become scattered all over the drive. Since Windows is putting this data
wherever there is available space…it is actually increasing the amount of effort and time it
takes to retrieve this data.

The alternative is to set up a “Permanent Swap File”. This involves determining a set
amount of hard drive space in a specific location on the drive, and putting the overflow
data there. Although you might not actually use all of the dedicated space for Swap

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functions, the drive will only have access a smaller, specific region of the drive…increasing
the overall performance of the drive, and subsequent Swap File function.
The first step is to clear out the current Windows Virtual Memory settings. To access your
Swap File, go to:

Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Performance/Virtual Memory

Check “Let me specify my own virtual memory settings”. At this point, click “Disable Virtual
Memory”, next click “Ok”. At this point windows will give you a warning message, click
“Yes” (This warning is there for those who accidentally change settings without knowing
what they are doing). Select “close” to exit System Properties. At this point you will need to
reboot your system.

Before new Swap files can be recognized and implemented, your drive must be de-
fragmented:

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter

After you have de-fragged the drive that the Swap File resides on, re-enter:

Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Performance/Virtual Memory

At this point, uncheck “Disable Virtual Memory”. Now that you have cleared the system of
the old Swap File settings, you must define the new settings. Set the minimum and
maximum size of your swap file to fixed values based on these calculations:

64 MB installed RAM = 128 MB Swap File


128 MB installed RAM = 192 MB Swap File
192 MB installed RAM (or higher) = 256 MB Swap File

*Note: Set the minimum and maximum to the same value.

An advanced trick used by many PC users, is to set up the Swap File on the outer portion of
the hard drive’s surface, where the drive’s stylus can read up to 60% more information on a

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single rotation of the platter. Watch an LP spin on a turntable, and see how far the needle
travels on the outer portion of the record vs. the inner section…a hard drive works exactly
the same way.

No USB, Serial, or Parallel Port devices? Shut Em’ Down!.


If you are not using any devices on your USB, serial, or parallel ports in your setup, go to the
BIOS and disable the them. If you don’t currently use them, closing them down will reduce
additional IRQ assignment and unnecessary accessing by the system buss. In many cases, this
is an easy way to resolve IRQ conflicts.

More than one is a crowd


Turn off any programs that are set to load upon bootup. Often Windows will activate a
variety of programs on startup (anti-virus, system monitoring, etc.). While convenient for
the standard PC enthusiast, this will draw extra processing power away from your audio
recording/playback. Go to Start/Run/ open MSCONFIG, and then select the Startup tab.
Uncheck everything except for your System Tray. For reference before you do this, right click
on My Computer, choose Properties, and click on the Performance tab. Note your available
system resources before the preceding operation, and then when you have completed the
process. It will more than likely result in the reclaiming of 10%-40% of your systems
available resources, resulting in a faster bootup, and improved performance.

The Computer’s Role


By default, Windows will set the role of your computer as a “Desktop” computer. This is a
safe, all encompassing setting for a general windows based computer. In dealing with
demanding hard disk I/O functions, and the huge audio data streaming through the system,
it is necessary to shift a bit of the system’s muscle to handle this specific need. To change
this setting, right click on “My Computer” and choose “Properties”. Select the

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“Performance” tab, and next choose the “File System” tab. There is a box that will allow
you to change the role of your computer, change this to “Network Server”.

Highly accelerated graphics cards


Unlike modern 3D gaming, the computer audio world does not rely upon highly accelerated
graphics. This being the case, it is not only unnecessary, but often detrimental to the overall
performance of your system due to the high demands of the card on system timing. Unless
you are doing graphic intensive A/V production, going with a less accelerated graphics card
(4-16 Mb of onboard RAM) will actually improve the performance of your audio specific
system.

Display Bit Depth


Reducing the bit depth you are utilizing on your system will free up additional processing
muscle. Most audio programs do not need to be running 32 bit True Color, so try running 16
bit High Color, or 24 bit True Color settings. As always, see what works and looks the best
for particular situation. Right click anywhere on your desktop, select “Properties”, then
select “Settings”. You will need to re-start after making changes.

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Screen savers and power management
As a rule, don’t implement screen savers and power management functions. These features
will consume resources at the most inopportune times. In general, try to avoid having
anything running in the background that can draw processing power away from the
primary objective…recording audio. This includes not only screen savers and power
management, but also virus protection and system monitoring.

Modems
Having a modem on the PCI buss, especially a voice modem, can lead to conflicts and
confusion within some programs which may attempt to recognize the device as a sound
card. It is generally recommended that if you must have a modem on your DAW, that you
utilize an external one that takes advantage of a serial connection. Another solution is to
disable the device in the Device Manager when it is not being used.

Specify and Simplify


If it is at all possible to set up a dedicated “audio only” system, this is most definitely the
most preferable option. By limiting and controlling what goes into the computer hardware
and software wise, you will reduce the potential for conflicts and simplify the process of
troubleshooting any problems or conflicts that do arise. Many times hardware and software
specific to audio recording will not “play nicely with others”, and usually prefers to be the
king of the sandbox. If it is at all possible, leave the gaming, Internet and other “home
computing” needs to a separate system.

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