TUNING TIPS FOR WINDOWS XP (advanced users)
  
     
MidiTzer/GSO

• Introduction

How to set up..
• your audio card
• GS3
• TPO Ranks
• Miditzer

GSO adjustments
• Tweaking GS3
• Swapping ranks
• Fine tuning
• iMidi Harp
• iMidi Tremolo

Downloads
• UGSF ranks
• Project files

Other infos
• Audio routing
• Pc and audio system
  recommendations
• Tuning tips for XP

Gigastudio and Miditzer require a lot of processing from your computer. Ideally you should get an Intel Core 2 processor (the faster the better), but we were able to achieve more than 750 polyphonic voices on a Pentium IV 3.0 (2 gigs of memory) by fine tuning XP, disabling many tasks that are running in the background and stopping unuseful services.

The following tweaks will help you extract every bit of processing power out of your computer. You will also find some more tweaks in an article written by Preston Gralla for CNET titled Insider Secrets: Speed up Windows XP.

 

  
From Tascam's Gigapulse FAQ  


1. A fresh install of Windows XP

2. Verify in "Device Manager" that all devices (AGP, PCI, FW, USB etc. .. ) are happy. (No "yellow exclamation marks" or "other device" categories.)

3. When at all possible verify that in "Device Manager" "View/Resources by type/Interrupt request (IRQ)" that your audio card is sitting on its own IRQ number and that this number is not assigned to any other devices.

4. Now it is recommended that you turn off any services or programs in Windows that run in the back ground. TASCAM Recommends the following XP tweaks

5.Switch off Power Schemes
Start> Settings > Control Panel> Power Options> Always On > Set: Turn off monitor and turn off hard dises to Never

6. Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup
Start > Settings > Control Panel> Display > Desktop> Customize Desktop> Untick "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days.

7. Disable Hide Inactive Icons
Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu> Taskbar TAB > Uncheck "Hide Inactive Icons"

8. Set Visual Effects to "Best Performance"
Start > Settings > Control Panel> System> Advanced > Performance Settings > Visual Effects Tab > Adjust for best performance

9. Disable Remote Assistance
Start > Settings > Control Panel> System> Remote > Untick Allow remote assistance invitations to be sent from this computer

10. Disable Automatic Updates
Start > Settings > Control Panel> System> Automatic Updates > Turn off automatic updating. 1 want to update my computer manually

11. Disable Internet Synchronize Time
Start > Settings > Control Panel> Date and Time > Internet Time > Untick "Automatically synchronize with internet time server"

12. Disable Windows Sounds
Start > Settings > Control Panel> Sounds and Audio Deviees> Sounds Tab > Sound Scheme to None.

13. Disable System Restore
Start > Settings > Control Panel> System> System Restore Tab. Tick the "Turn off System Restore on ail Drives"

14. Disable Fast User Switching
Start > Settings > Control Panel> User Accounts > Change the way users log on or off> Untick Use Fast User Switching

 
 
From MUSICXP.NET (for detailed informations goto http://www.musicxp.net )		  


1. Set processor scheduling to background services rather than programs.
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance Settings > Advanced Tab > Background Services

2. Set visual effects to a minimum.
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance Settings > Visual Effects Tab > Adjust for best performance

3. Switch Off Desktop Background Image
Right Click Desktop > Properties > Desktop Tab > Background None

4. Disable Screen Saver
Right Click Desktop > Properties > Screen Saver > None

5. Disable Fast User Switching
Start > Settings > Control Panel > User Accounts > Change the way users log on or off > Untick Use Fast User Switching

6. Switch Off Power Schemes
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Always On > Turn off monitor and turn off hard discs to Never

7. Switch Off Hibernation
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate > Untick Hibernation

8. Disable System Sounds
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds Tab > Sound Scheme to None.

9. Do Not Map Through Soundcard
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Hardware Tab > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties > Audio Devices > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties, and check the "Do not map through this device" checkbox.

Applications may still try to play sounds through your "pro" soundcard, so it is recommended that you disable this.

Go to Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Hardware Tab > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties > Audio Devices > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties, and check the "Do not map through this device" checkbox.

10. Disable System Restore
Start > Settings > Control Panel> System > System Restore Tab. Tick the "Turn off System Restore on all Drives"

11. Disable Automatic Updates
Switch off Automatic Updates by going to Control Panel, System, Automatic Updates and ticking the box labelled "Turn off automatic updating. I want to update my computer manually.".

12. Startup and Recovery Options
Right click My Computer and click on Properties > Advanced > Start Up & Recovery Settings and uncheck "Automatically Restart".

13. Disable Error Reporting
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced TAB > Error Reporting > Click the Disable Error Reporting box (Tick the "But Notify Me When Critical Errors Occur" if you prefer)

14. Disable Remote Assistance
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow Remote Assistance Invitations to be sent from this computer"

15. Fixed Swap File (Virtual Memory)
Select the Advanced tab of the Systems applet and then select the Performance settings button. Then select the Advanced page. In here it is possible to customise the Virtual Memory. For custom size, this is often recommended to be 1.5 to 2 times the amount of your total RAM for both initial and maximum size. Set this to a fixed minimum and maximum value according to your existing RAM

16. Speed Up Menus
You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP. You can customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key. Click Start, and then click Run. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK. Expand the menu in the left panel and select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Scroll down in the right panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file. In the Value Data box, change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number, such as 1. Click OK.

17. Disable Offline Files
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Folder Options > Offline Files > Untick "Enable Offline Files"

18. Disable Remote Desktop
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer"

19. Disable Internet Synchronise Time
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Date and Time > Internet Time > Untick "Automatically synchronize with an internet time server"

20. Disable Hide Inactive Icons
Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu > Taskbar TAB > Uncheck "Hide Inactive Icons"

21. Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Desktop > Customise Desktop > Untick "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"