Essential Toolkit for Windows - Part 1:
Non-Music Tools You'll Want for Music
Peter Kirn of Create Digital Music explores software utilities that will help you fine-tune your Windows computer for audio production.
The computer experience for me on any platform isn't so much what you get out-of-box: it's what you're able to lovingly hack together that makes your musical life work. Windows enthusiasts have long been a community who do this with gusto. After years of running PCs and getting to chat with the community at Create Digital Music, I think we've got a pretty impressive set of utilities for making your PC run smoothly. Here are my personal favorites. These are just utilities, so I'm going to largely avoid the countless more free plug-ins and such out there -- these are the tools that will make your other music tools more useful. Significantly, some of the most important aren't even music tools per se, but they have a big impact on making music software run better, so I'll start with those.
These are all XP- and Vista-compatible unless indicated otherwise. Most of them are also free, and at worst, they're cheap. There are quite a few I install the moment I touch a machine.
Process Explorer
Click to enlarge
Hands-down, this is the single most important utility a Windows user can download. It replaces Windows' own useful but limited Task Manager with a far more detailed view of tasks running on your machine. Like any CPU meter, it does use some resources itself, so I don't recommend leaving it on when doing critical work or performing, but it is lightweight enough to leave on when evaluating potential issues.
The main use: keeping an eye out for CPU spikes that can be caused by misbehaving processes, from drivers to utilities. Often, these spikes will cause the pops and dropouts in audio that are the biggest reliability complaint for sound on any platform. You can also use Process Manager to assign higher priority to audio apps, and even search process names online to find out what's essential and what isn't.
Process Explorer is so useful, in fact, that it was aquired by Microsoft. Their revamped Windows Sysinternals site is a hugely helpful resource, with regular blog posts, software updates, and even video tutorials.
Mark Russinovich recently described how he used Process Explorer to track down a CPU-hogging, misbehaved
driver -- just the kind of thing that can ruin your day in music on any platform.
blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich
Also found at that site, AutoRuns lets you determine startup software (I have my own preference, but this looks like it works well, too): technet.microsoft.com
My own tips for Process Explorer:
- Show additional information. You can select additional details on the View menu.
- Right-click on the columns at the top of the process list and choose Select Columns. Here you can turn on memory information, which is visible in Task Manager but off by default in Process Explorer. (I find Virtual Size most useful.)
- Choose Options > Replace Task Manager. Now when you right-click on the taskbar and choose Task Manager, or hit ctrl-alt-del, you'll get Process Explorer instead of Task Manager. (To go back, choose Options > Restore Task Manager.)
- Click the graphs at the top to view a more detailed System Information view. Mouse over a peak in the CPU history, and you can see the most active process in a spike, even after it's happened. (Pictured below)
Click to enlarge
I think the single biggest source of unhappiness on Windows is resource-hungry antivirus and security software.
Not Symantec (or other nasty antivirus/security software)
Not to rant here, but I think the single biggest source of unhappiness on Windows is resource-hungry antivirus and security software. Yes, I'm looking at the software that regularly gets Editors' Choice awards from PC glossies. No offense to Symantec et al - they're developing software for average users, and those average users may not need real-time soft synths and multitrack audio.
For audio users, I suggest running lightweight, free antivirus software. AVG AntiVirus works well, although you have to change some of its defaults, and most importantly, disable its Resident Shield. The free and open source ClamAV has also been getting some good ratings lately. It's just a manual scanner and a little more bare-bones in terms of features, but that me desirable.
For AVG8 FREE, here are the settings I recommend (choose Tools > Advanced AVG Settings):
- Appearance > Balloon tray notifications > uncheck "Display system tray notifications"
- Resident Shield Settings > uncheck "Enable Resident Shield" (make sure you continue to scan any downloaded files manually)
- Schedules > Scheduled scan: Choose a time when you won't be working or pick an option under "Action based" that makes sense, or leave this off entirely (see the "Enable this task" checkbox at bottom).
For a still more advanced set of settings for AVG8, TweakGuides.com goes through how to disable
everything and run completely clean. It's probably overkill for most people, but it's good to know
it's there (and overlaps with some of my advice):
forums.tweakguides.com/showthread.php?p=84601
Now, obviously, infections from spyware and viruses can cause bad things for audio. If you're really paranoid, use a virtual machine like the free VMWare Player or Virtualbox to run your browser in a safe environment. Or you can just practice safe browsing practices and regularly scan manually for issues. (The Comodo Firewall Pro I recommend elsewhere may actually be more effective for real-world threats than heavy-handed virus scans, anyway.)
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Author
Peter Kirn
Composer, visualist, and author Peter Kirn has come from a classically-trained music background to
interactive digital music and visuals. His work ranges from collaborations with modern dance to live
audiovisual sets in clubs. He's the author of Real World Digital Audio (Peachpit) and runs the sites
createdigitalmusic.com and createdigitalmotion.com.