Software Profiles

[vicevursa]

Hey all you cool kids!

well, I have been away from the board for awhile. But I am back again with a couple of questions.

I recently lost both my hard drives while the power was being restored after hurrican Isabel. Yeah, I know, that sucks. But, after a bout of depression I have decided to start recording again.

Here's the deal. I have been reduced to one 80gb hdd. With my previous system it ran as good as I could have ever hoped. I had a high track count, and hardly a drop out. Now, I can barely get through 1 audio track with one DXi that's only 8 measures long. I know that windows will let you use separate hardware profiles, but will it let you use different software profiles. That way I can control what loads up and when?

Thanks for your help


Vice

[moskus]

Originally posted by vicevursa
will it let you use different software profiles?

I've looked into that, and I think not. But you can create different users, and different users can load different programs... (The only pain with this is when you install new programs).

But going from a high track count to a very low one... Have you partitioned your 80 gig harddrive?

[vicevursa]

No, I haven't partitioned the hard drive. I suppose I have to uninstall WinXp to do that, right? I assumed my system wouldn't be as good as it was before, but I didn't think it would be this bad.


Vice

[moskus]

Originally posted by vicevursa
I suppose I have to uninstall WinXp to do that, right?

No, you don't need to. Just grab a copy of Martition Magic. (WinXP apparently has some partition program, but I've never used it).

[BloodShark]

Vice, you'll need a dual-boot for that. Take a look here.

To create the partition, you can also do like this or this.

[imalion]

Just thinking out loud here...


Why not just hit control+Alt+Delete and close all programs that are running?

I do that everytime I am working on a recording project in Cakewalk.

[moskus]

Originally posted by imalion
Why not just hit control+Alt+Delete and close all programs that are running?

Because that's boooring in the long run.

[vicevursa]

Ok. hard drive is now formatted:

10gb for programs
70gb for data.


What's next?


Vice

[Qwerty]

Why don't you install two con-current versions of your operating system?

I have a default boot install of Win2K in \WinNT. In this copy of Windows, I have all my games enabled and optimized for graphics and sound and this is where I do all my surfing so virus checkers and firewall stuff is all there cluttering it up.

I also have a \WinMusic which I configured clean - no networking, no graphics tweaks etc., just a clean music environment, optimised to run with absolutely NOTHING else cluttering up the registry and memory. Therefore no chance of anything changing to f@*k up my configuration and therefore latency and tracking capability.

That would be my vote.

Q.

[vicevursa]

I can install two instances of the same operating system? Is this something pretty straight forward?

Vice

[Qwerty]

I am running \WinNT on my 10Gb partition with all it's programs and crap and \WinMusic on my 50Gb partition with itself and Sonar being the only things on the drive.

I am using Windows 2000, NT v3.51 and v4 also supported this, so I would presume XP does also. You need to do a customised install. Check the microsoft knowledgebase on their support section for more information or any known "gotcha's" with XP.

If you can recognise one partition from the other and have a basic understanding of your PC, it shouldn't be hard at all. Just read everything properly -- and if you f@*k it up, it's a clean install so you can just blow it away and try again.

After it is complete, when you boot you will be presented with a text screen menu asking which OS you want to boot into. The labels for these choices and which one is the default are controlled by an easily edittable file in the root of C:\ which is called BOOT.INI. I normally edit this to make the menu read something easy like, "Games OS" and "Music OS".

Ciao,

Q.

[vicevursa]

I am going to try the dual boot. It sounds like a good idea. Thanks,

Vice

[BloodShark]

Originally posted by vicevursa
I can install two instances of the same operating system?

Yes. The partition will work as different HD, so you'll install one OS per partition/HD.

[Qwerty]

FWIW - I was previously using dual installs on the same partition without any problems using Win2K.

Each install uses a unique SID which means you don't run into the same "ownership" type issues that you did with the Win9x codebase in relation to shared things like Program Files etc.

Q.

[vicevursa]

Here's a question. I currently have two partitions, one for programs and one for data. Now if I do the dual boot should I make three partitions?
A 10gb partition for regular computer usage (i.e. Internet, games, etc.)
Then a 10gb one for music apps (Sonar and DXi stuff, etc.) and then a 60gb partition for just data. I assume I can use NTFS on all partitions.

Any takers on why Sonar is performing sub par? I imported an mp3 (128kbs bit rate) onto a blank audio track. It wouldn't even play through the whole song before dropping out.

Thanks,

Vice