Disabling background software

  • Thread starter Thread starter futuredays
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futuredays

futuredays

home recordist
This is such a newbie question, I'm embarrassed to ask it even in the newbie forum.

When we burn a cd or are doing some sort of recording on our computers, we should be turning off any virus scan programs and screen savers etc. How do you guys go about doing this? Do you do the old Ctrl-Alt-Del and just randomly end task through the list? If so, do you know which ones you should be picking?

OR, do you use software that'll shut everything down but the eseentials?

(This is doubly embarrassing for me because I'm a computer programmer...but I've never ever had reason to shut down software running on my computer in 10+ years of programming...yes, mostly mainframe...)

Oh, I'm running Win95.

[Edited by futuredays on 10-20-2000 at 11:18]
 
Yes, control/alt/delete end task everthing but explorer and systray. Do this before launching your cd-burner software.

Also check in windows/startmenu/startup. You shouldn't need anything in there (if it is a program that you need at startup though, leave it). Delete them all: findfast, etc.

Look in win.ini as well for lines

load=
run=

As for virus scanners, best way to shut them down is to uninstall them. They do nothing but bog your system down. Unless your updating them on an hourly basis they won't do you much good. Don't open email attachments and you will be fine.

I suggest a dual boot setup if your using your machine to record. http://www.masterbooter.com and check out http://www.98lite.net while your at it.
 
Well actually you only really need to shut down software that's accessing your hard drive a lot. You can leave your virus scanner on if it's not set to auto-check the system at X time. You are going to want to disable screen savers definately, they tend to cause the most problems. If you're on dialup to the internet, disconnect & close any other internet programs. If you're on cable, just close your net programs. There's really no need to close things you don't see (something that isn't in the taskbar or systray) because generally these programs won't cause much problems (they are small programs, can't do harm).
 
Another easier way:
Point at the icon that is running at the bottom of your screen. Right click on that icon. Then click "exit".
It will close out that program.
DJ
 
Well, if you plan on recording audio(multitrack), you will want each and every last bit of system resources. Virus scanners, although shut down are still using resources from boot up onwards. If you want a machine for recording, you should not install any of these programs in the first place. i.e. Dual Boot. Load up that other crap on a dedicated partition, if you must.
 
Dougie Johnson said:
Another easier way:
Point at the icon that is running at the bottom of your screen. Right click on that icon. Then click "exit".
It will close out that program.
DJ
Click to expand...

This is the way I've been doing it - as opposed to Ctrl-Alt-Del and end task. For me, the main culprit for wrecking a burning session is the virus scan, which I disable by right clicking on the taskbar and selecting that option. But I've never done anything about the windows screen saver (I don't have any fancy screen saver, just the out-of-the-box regular Win95) and it hasn't seemed to have interfered with anything I've done thus far. Still I wouldn't want to take any chances in the future.

I use SoundForge XP 4.5 to mix down to 2 tracks from my 4 track cassette and also need to disable the virus scan while doing this.

Judging by the number of queries people have on this BBS about screwing up their cd burns and other computer recording glitches, it would be nice to have some of these details you all are offering in a central place - like the main homerecording.com site for example. Most FAQs on cd burning mention disabling software (almost as a side remark) but never go into much detail about how to do it. The details help for newbies like me...

Thanks again to all...I'll be away from my computer for a week but I'll be checking back after my vac to see if anyone else has another twist on the topic...
 
Working with 2 tracks shouldn't pose too many problems with a bloated OS install. It's when you get into the 8 to 24 track mode that every optimization counts. Sorry, I can't EQ that track, Norton wants it. No, can't put a delay on that track, I need those resources to run pcmedic/fixmysystemmagic/computerdoctor/goback! :)
 
Something else. Desktop Themes. If you or someone in your family installed Windows Plus Pack and are running all those cool spinning icons and animated critters. Kill it. I'd suggest a bootdisk and an immediate format c: /s/u/q

If your drives are UDMA, I'd upgrade to 98 (fresh install only, not upgrade from 95). DMA is not very well implemented in 95.
 
Didn't see this mentioned

Yes, Emeric certainly does.

If you upgrade to or already have Win98 you can run msconfig and it gives you lots of options for startup if you want to get a good idea of how much crap your machine is probably loading before you even launch a single program. There are options for diabling it all as well. You can just type "msconfig" in the Start Menu --> Run box.
 
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