Hard Drive Space!!!!! Question

[sonnie]

hi everyone..im recording on my laptop and when ever i add about 8 tracks to my project...it runs perfectly!!...but then..when i add on 2 or 3 more tracks..it begins to slow up and i dont understand why???????????....My friends told me i needed a more memory on the laptop or either buy an external hard drive....and someone else said get a new proccesor..??could someone help me please bcuz i am new at this and i dont want to spend money on a new proccesor when i could of brought an external hard drive....im on a tight budget...any advice on what amount of GB on a hard drive i should buy?????...any ideas????..i appreciated..

[SoundofMind]

Look....you don't need to send me a PM with that question...Just wait for your aswer calmly
I'm a nice guy, so I will assume you did this for mistake, but maybe you don't
Whatever

[SonicClang]

There are three variables that play into your computer's ability to record a lot of tracks at once. The first is the processor, the second is the memory, and the third is how fast your computer writes to your hard drive.

Without the specs on your laptop I have no way of knowing which of the three it might be. I do know that processors on laptops are almost impossible to upgrade, and the memory isn't a picnic either. Any "external" hard drive you get is going to write 100 times slower than the internal one already installed. So that leaves you two options. Either spend the money on upgrading the laptop, which might not even be possible, or get a new one.

Or... just record less tracks at once. Also, make sure you're not running any real-time effects while you're recording, that'll MAJORLY slow your computer down.

You could always try defragging your hard drive, but I doubt that'll improve the performance of the computer noticably.

[TimOBrien]

Originally Posted by SonicClang

Any "external" hard drive you get is going to write 100 times slower than the internal one already installed.

No. No. No.

Most laptop internal drives are very SLOW (4500-5400rpm).
Adding an external firewire 7200rpm drive is a very SMART thing to do.

Just as with a desktop, you want to write/read the data streams to a different drive than the one with the OS & applications, so it is free to flow all that data without interruption.

(I'm using a Motu828mkII and a GlyphGT050 firewire drive on my XP laptop with ZERO problems.)

[Innovations]

yes but any external drive is going to be going through a USB or firewire interface AND since he is recording on a laptop my guess is that his sound processor is going through the same USB or Firewire interface.

My guess too is either processor or memory. You can run a test to see which one is pegged and act accordingly.

[SonicClang]

Originally Posted by TimOBrien

No. No. No. Most laptop internal drives are very SLOW (4500-5400rpm).
Adding an external firewire 7200rpm drive is a very SMART thing to do.

Hmm, I didn't actually know that. I don't use a laptop so I wasn't aware that the hard drives were so slow.

If that is the case, an external hard drive may fix it. I would definitely keep the box and receipt around in case it doesn't, because those things are really expensive. It would be easier than upgrading the other two items, and it would at least eliminate one possibility.