Yamaha NUAGE, Setup Manual, Page: 91 / 159

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Computer optimizations
Windows
The following procedure optimizes your Windows machine for use with Nuage. Most of the points
here are recommendations for improving audio recordings and processing performance on Windows
computers (note that performance improvements cannot be guaranteed due to differences between
systems). Before changing your computer's basic settings, we recommend creating a recovery point
for your system. The following recommendations assume that you are using Windows 7 (the way
you access these functions on other versions of Windows may differ). Also please be aware that
following these recommendations may have adverse effects on your computer.
1. Use a hard disk drive other than the startup drive with your OS installed as your recording and
playback drive. Run the defragmentation tool and disk scanner periodically on your hard drives.
This will keep data access fast and reduce disk errors.
2. Disable screen savers, anti-virus software, Windows firewall, and Windows Defender. If these
background tasks are activated unexpectedly, they can cause audio drop-outs. Also disable the
system sound so that you do not accidentally record or play back system sounds (Note: we
recommend not disabling anti-virus software and firewalls for computer that are connected to
the Internet).
3. If you need to use pagefiles, increase virtual memory (swap space). Although this depends
somewhat on other factors, you should generally aim for virtual memory to have double the
capacity of RAM (However, that much RAM may not be needed if you already have enough
memory). If you do not need to use pagefiles, disable this function on all your drives. Refer
elsewhere for more information on optimizing swap space, virtual memory, and page files.
4. Confirm that your computer's power profile (Start > Control Panel > Power Options) is set to
"High Performance" (or "Prioritize Performance"). This lets you avoid some CPU speed
restrictions and unnecessary performance-robbing visual effects. However, “Aero” should be
enabled.
5. Set the power-profile settings so that the computer does not sleep or hibernate even when idle,
and so that power to the hard drive is not shut off. If the computer unexpectedly shuts down,
audio recordings may be interrupted and lost.
6. Confirm that DMA (direct memory access) is enabled for each IDE channel. DMA is the
recommended (fastest) method of disk access for audio-oriented computers. To enable DMA,
open the disk manager (right-click Computer, then select Manage > Disk Manager). Next,
expand the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller," and right-click on each channel to view its properties;
under "Advanced Settings," confirm that DMA is enabled.
7. Delete all unneeded fonts. Reading fonts consumes system resources.