FAQ: How do I set up a computer for Music?

[e-ray]

Question: I've got the multiple partitions set up. But when I try to install Windows on the second partition, it claims my product key isn't any good. I did some searching and found that XP activation keys are only good for one use, hence I can't use it for two partitions. Is this true?

[nanashiwanderer]

Only if its OEM.

[e-ray]

I was attempting to install Windows on my other partition with my recovery disk. It does not have the product key listed on the package, so I used magicaljellybean to find my product key. I entered that, but to no avail. I might take it my computer to my university's IT center to see if they can do anything, I've been attempting to do this for the past three or four days with not much luck.

[Hamalam]

In here you can rename drives, change letters on drives (I like to have my logical drives named in order, starting from C: ) and change partitions.

I think Partition Magic has a utility for updating references to drives when you change the drive letters.

For instance, if you have a drive K, and you change the drive letter to L, the utility program will search for references to drive letter K on your hard drive and change them to drive letter L.

Simply changing drive letter names may cause some programs not to work correctly.

Also, some copy-protection schemes for programs may invalidate licensing keys or authorization codes when drive names are changed or partitions are resized.

I learned this first-hand.

Regards,

Hamalam

[nanashiwanderer]

was attempting to install Windows on my other partition with my recovery disk. It does not have the product key listed on the package, so I used magicaljellybean to find my product key. I entered that, but to no avail. I might take it my computer to my university's IT center to see if they can do anything, I've been attempting to do this for the past three or four days with not much l

This is OEM Software you can't install it on a different partition.

[e-ray]

Well, crap. Am I S.O.L. then? Am I going to have to buy WinXP?

[cece74]

Aaron says:

5. Once you have your DAW set up the way you like it back it up... Use a program to make a drive image of your DAW should anything happen you can at least get back to a clean install...


Which program do you suggest for this task? Any reliable freeware?

[Dimey]

I will soon be purchasing a dedicated machine from www.digitalaudiowave.com Digital Audio Wave builds what many in the industry recognise as a very high performance music dedicated system, backed by great technical support. I did quite a bit of research before I made my decision and found these guys to be the best I've researched, so far. You can even send them any of your components, like sound cards, even any software you have, and they'll install it, optimise the system and make sure all is running smoothly. Their systems ship ready to rock. Also, the one I'm getting runs whisper-quiet, at about 19dB overall. Thats super-quiet, boys and girls.
If you don't want to fool with building and optimising your own machine, I highly recommend these guys. Their web site allows you to configure your own system and pick and choose what you want in it. If you have the extra clams lying around, it might be worth it to check them out.

My $00.02

I don't think your link works. I'm looking into a solid already built DAW.

[niko084]

Curious being I don't have the space for any more machines right now I will be using my main machine as my DAW, I also play games and general use on it..

Now considering I have SCSI 320 10k hard drives not in raid, but these are scsi 320 and they are 10k drives...

As for processing and ram...

I have a Intel Core 2 duo e6750
4 gigs of ddr2 ram
on Server 2003 64bit

My machine is very far from a slouch, not in raid and running basic apps like virus scan and basic windows stuff in the background hurt me?

My machine is pretty tweaked out for gaming and dvd encoding/ripping so no BS is running. As you can guess I know quite a bit about computers being I'm running Server 2003.

[samplerbanker]

Fragie made a post that solves my long-run problem.. thanks fragie!

[bassin419]

ne thing I've found that isn't specifically mentioned on MusicXP is how to turn off the stupid Security Center in the system tray (for XP SP2, anyway). When you turn off all the other carp and don't have antivirus installed, it tells you you're a horrible person and everything like that. So I decided to figure out how to get rid of it.

a better way for shuting down security center and many other windows processes,
1 press and hold windows key and press r.
2 type services.msc
3 scroll down to security center, right click and go to properties,on the general tab click drop down on startup type and set to disable.

there are many services(such as messenger,windows firewall,remote access ect...) that are not needed for audio or video recording/playback. u can be brave and shut them down if u wish, but google the service if u are not some are vital for windows to operate.

[terry]

bassin419

I just check out black viper web site. He has of other tips to. Heck even has tweaks for vista sp1 as well.

[tragictravisty]

ive got an hp pavilion a1600n which i plan on using as my main machine. I don't think I have the windows xp install disk though, but i can pick this up at best buy or something right? anyway, I plan on totally erasing the machine, reinstalling xp, deleting all non-essential apps, getting rid of all but the absolutely necessary processes at startup, and then installing my audio hardware, then software. How do i erase the machine? also, i plan on adding another 3 gb of ram, should i upgrade the hard drive?

[AETHM]

One thing that I would like to caution people about in the first post is setting up your hard-drive in a raid 0 configuration. This was probably a good option when the guide was written, but now, the hard disk performance you get with a raid 0 configuration is not going to outweigh the risk of data loss due to failure. With Multiple HD's configured in raid zero you will lose ALL your data on ALL drives if ONE fails. I think Raid 5 or some other redundant backup system would be far better. Quality hard-discs are cheap and huge now.

Setting up a separate partition (or dual booting) as described above is an excellent alternative to havening a dedicated machine. How to get around the the windows licensing issues.

1. Buy a new version of windows.. uggg..
2. Use a free linux Distro for your everyday Use. Something like Ubuntu will work fine for most people.
3. Dual boot XP and Vista. If you have Vista, chances are you have an old XP license sitting around somewhere.

Note on GPU's. GPU's are probably not thought about much but you should take them into consideration because:

1. If you have one for gaming it can be REALLY noisy
2. You don't need an expensive one.. but you should probably have a dedicated GPU if you can afford it. A cheap, passively cooled GPU will boost performance since the duties of video / display will be taken off the CPU, Chipset, and system memory and these cards are generally less than $50.

One last tip... Keeping it all Cool: Keeping your PC cool will prolong it's life and doing it properly will make it nearly silent. Get a good heatsink for your CPU. The better the heatsink the less the fan needs to run. Replace your fans with larger (controlled fans). The larger the fan, generally the better, because it moves more air with less revolutions. Most motherboards monitor CPU, Chipset, System temps, ect... a controlled fan will only turn on when it's needed cutting back on noise. And finally.. tuck the wires away as neatly as possible.

[AETHM]

ive got an hp pavilion a1600n which i plan on using as my main machine. I don't think I have the windows xp install disk though, but i can pick this up at best buy or something right? anyway, I plan on totally erasing the machine, reinstalling xp, deleting all non-essential apps, getting rid of all but the absolutely necessary processes at startup, and then installing my audio hardware, then software. How do i erase the machine? also, i plan on adding another 3 gb of ram, should i upgrade the hard drive?

Erasing the machine is easy. First.. make sure you have a windows install disc. Lot's of store bought PC's don't come with this anymore. It's common for there to be a separate partition called "backup" or something like that pre-installed. It's possible to copy that data to a disc and configure it to boot. But that will taking another posting.
Sooo... you have the windows install disc.
1. Put the CD in the drive... by default... windows will boot from CD/DVD first if you hit a key on your keyboard.

2. You will see a message during startup that says.. push "x" key to boot from CD/DVD

3. Now you wait while windows boots off the DVD. Once it's done:

4. Pick fresh install or advanced (there will be an upgrade option) you don't want that.

5. Do a quick format to NTFS

6. Install windows to a primary partition. You probably only have 1 or 2. The second is most likely a backup partition. Install windows on the largest of the 2.

7. Done... Good Job... Connect to the internet and let windows update, install drivers, install software

Installing more ram is a good idea. Be aware though that unless you are running x64 bit versions of xp or vista you run into a Max ram limit of about 3.2Gb. Any more than that is useless and just taking up power. Upgrading the hard-drive depends on how much space you need. You can always add more drive later via internal, USB, or firewire.

[cool mofo]

umm wow there is alot of info here that I don't understand. I read this whole post and feel like I really have alot to learn.[darn]

[KevinMayo]

Can a DELL PC be upgraded to firewire or is firwire capability just taken into consideration before purchasing a platform?

[Nanashi]

any desktop pc can be upgraded very easily to have Firewire, a laptop the Firewire has to be taken part of a platform consideration for a host of reason (even if its actually possible to add Firewire to a laptop later, which in some cases it is, its still not a good idea.

[cool mofo]

I have a hp a545c pavilion xp 3200.Now the ram sucks on this thing.I read that the most ram I can put on this is 1gb.Isthis true?

[Nanashi]

you can put 2GB according to google. But I wouldn't be surprised if its 1GB. I wouldn't do it though. The computer is about 6 years old, its not even a surprise its having trouble with todays software. Most computers should be retired after 3 years, at the most 5 years.