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Advanced Tweaks for a Win95 System (Very Long!)

3/31/1999 5:26 PM
Joe Fuzz	Advanced Tweaks for a Win95 System (Very Long!) The following is an excerpt from a tech support letter that was posted to a newsgroup a couple of years ago. This letter was a response to a user who had done all of the basics but was still having trouble getting his digital audio to sync. I'm just offering this for reference. It makes for interesting reading but it could lock up your system. FWIW, I feel that dual boot is overkill but if it works for you, great. BTW, when I say "done all of the basics" above, I mean: Your hardware is decently fast. (P100, 32 Megs, etc.) If you built the system yourself, you paid the extra $50 for a good motherboard. You've resolved all the DMA and IRQ conflicts. In other words, your computer boots up fine. You've removed the resident programs like Fast Find, Disk Watchers, or Active Desktops that may be interfering with the sequencer. You disable the screen saver while you're recording. Also: the manufacturer of DOPro (Voyetra) recommended running in 256 color mode. Finally: Watch out for the virtual cache setting. Setting vcache too high is just as bad as setting it too low. Worse, actually. If you adjust the vcache and you start experiencing mysterious GPFs, you've set the vcache too high. Note: to print this post, click anywhere in this frame, then select "Print Frame" from your browser's File menu. ---------------------------------------- Pops and Clicks In Recording Digital Audio. While Windows95 is a much more stable operating system than Windows 3.1x (in general), it is a poor environment for doing digital audio recording because of its caching techniques. The virtual cache used in Windows95 can aid with multi-tasking, but it can also bring audio recording to a screeching halt. The results that most people experience are pops and clicks in their recordings. Pops and clicks result from pieces of audio data that get lost in recording. In your file, you get small gaps in the audio, which results in silence. However, the sudden end of sound and resuming of sound when played back creates the pops and clicks that you hear. Digital audio comprises an enormous amount of data. One minute of CD quality stereo takes over 10 megabytes of disk space. As you record, your computer needs to write 176K bytes of data to the hard disk per second, a heavy demand on your CPU and hard drive. This stream must be continuous, so that the data is written as the new data is received from the sound card. Caching does just the opposite of this. Caching takes incoming data (such as digital audio from the sound card) and stores it in memory until the memory cache is full. Once it is full, then it writes it to the disk. This is great for handling word processing documents because it appears to speed up your access to the computer, but with digital audio, it begins to back up. Each time that the computer is writing data and the cache buffer fills up before the writing is finished, data is going to get lost. That is where pops and clicks appear. How to fix: Well, you can try doing some of the steps listed further into this document, but you can make some simple "touch-ups" for smaller gaps. In a program like Turtle Beach's Wave, you have a tool which can manually create a sound; well, at least, you can link the two sound points. This will not actually reproduce the missing sound segment, but will soften the transition between sound and silence, and in most cases, avoid the popping / clicking sound. So how do I avoid all this in the first place? Well, the simple answer would be to go back to Windows3.1x which does not handle caching the same way as Windows95. The problem, however, is that many new programs take advantage of some of Windows95's enhancements, so reverting to Windows3.1x is not an option. But there is much to be said for the dual-boot system. Dual-boot? Dual boot means that you have Windows3.1x and Windows95 on the same computer. It really is easier than you think. If your system only has Windows95 on it at the moment, you can reboot the computer to the Command Prompt Only, or to Previous Version of DOS, and run Setup from your Windows3.1x install disk. Just be sure to put the older version of Windows in a different directory than Windows95! We suggest calling it OLDWIN or WIN3 to alleviate any confusion. Keep it simple! Don't install all the little applets the Microsoft bundles with Windows. All you really need is the operating system, and maybe Write for keeping notes and Sound Recorder for doing simple recording. You can then install just your sound card and any music/audio recording programs you need. What does this offer me? Piece of mind. You can create a shortcut on your Windows95 desktop that will reboot the computer into DOS and run Windows3.1x. You can then do whatever audio recording that you need. Exit out of Windows and the computer reboots back to Windows95 where you can use those files in whatever way necessary. But how about Windows95? Isn't there anything I can do? Well, Windows95 is not the horrible beast some people make it out to be. There are some modifications you can make that will definitely improve the quality of your recordings. They are not a guarantee, but alleviate the problems for about 95% of users. Gate Mode In your computer BIOS, you will see an option for ISA GATE MODE. It may also be referred to as GATE MODE, or FAST GATE, or A20 GATE OPTION. Normally, the choices are either "Fast" and "Normal" ... or ... "Enabled" and "Disabled". This setting should be set to "Normal" or "Disabled". To enter your BIOS, watch the screen when your computer boots up and the memory test is counting down. You should see a message somewhere on the screen that reads "Press <> to enter Setup" where <> is a certain key. By pressing that key at that time, you will enter into your BIOS. Adjusting the Virtual Cache First and foremost, the virtual cache has to go. The Windows95 default will resize the virtual cache as necessary, so in addition to caching data, it is actually changing itself to let more data in. In theory, it actually sounds great, but with digital audio, it's a no-go. In Windows95, click on the START button and then select RUN. In the dialog box, type SYSTEM.INI and then click OK. The file will open on your computer, and you can scroll down until you see a section (sections always have a header in brackets) marked [vcache]. Add two lines to this section, so that it looks like [vcache] MinFileCache=2048 MaxFileCache=2048 This will limit the size of the Virtual Cache to 2 megabytes, and prevent Windows95 from constantly resizing the cache. This is usually a small enough number as to not really interfere with recording. Although, you can also bring these numbers down to 256 to disable the cache. If the computer does not boot up to Windows95 after bringing the numbers down so low, you can boot to the Command Prompt and edit the files to reflect a higher number. You will need to fully reboot the computer for these changes to take effect. Adjusting the Read-Ahead Cache Right-click (press the right mouse button instead of left) on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, and select "Properties" from the menu that appears. Select the tab marked "Performance", and choose the button labeled "File System". There is a slider bar marked "Read-ahead optimization:" and you should pull the slider all the way to the left, bringing the size to none. You will need to fully reboot the computer for these changes to take effect. Video Drivers Make sure you are using the latest drivers for your video card. If you are using the standard VGA driver that comes with Windows, you will have a very tough time keeping up with your screen redrawing properly. It was not written for speed, but for ultimate and simple compatibility. Defrag the Hard Disk When you use your hard disk, it begins to store the information sequentially, filling up the space in rings from the inside out. When you delete a file, that empty space will be used for the next write. If the data being written to that spot is larger than the space available, part of the data goes in that "hole" and part of it goes elsewhere. This means that the hard drive head must maneuver to two different parts of the drive. The more usage your hard drive gets, the more of these small "holes" will appear. If you try recording large amounts of data (like digital audio recording) with these "holes", the hard drive head will be all over the place, filling in holes. This will prevent the audio from being recorded as quickly as it needs to be. Windows95 comes with a defragmenting program that reassembles the data so there are no "holes". This should be done right before doing any type of digital audio recording, and done each time. Compressed Hard Disks Forget it. By compressing your hard disk (using DriveSpace(tm) or Stacker(tm)), you are actually squashing all of your files into one large (very, very large) file which is unseen to you. The compression software actually extracts and compresses on the fly. This means that there will be a delay as the software tries to interpolate and compress the audio data coming to it before writing, then writing it, all while more audio is backing up behind it. Even the fastest computer will be unable to escape the inevitable data getting dropped. If you have to have your hard drive compressed, you will need to have a portion that has not been compressed to record the audio on to. With hard drive prices falling to around 10 cents per megabyte, it is more affordable than ever to add a new hard drive.

3/31/1999 5:26 PM

Joe Fuzz

Advanced Tweaks for a Win95 System (Very Long!)

The following is an excerpt from a tech support letter that was posted to a newsgroup a couple of years ago. This letter was a response to a user who had done all of the basics but was still having trouble getting his digital audio to sync.

I'm just offering this for reference. It makes for interesting reading but it could lock up your system. FWIW, I feel that dual boot is overkill but if it works for you, great.

BTW, when I say "done all of the basics" above, I mean:

Your hardware is decently fast. (P100, 32 Megs, etc.)

If you built the system yourself, you paid the extra $50 for a good motherboard.

You've resolved all the DMA and IRQ conflicts. In other words, your computer boots up fine.

You've removed the resident programs like Fast Find, Disk Watchers, or Active Desktops that may be interfering with the sequencer.

You disable the screen saver while you're recording.

Also: the manufacturer of DOPro (Voyetra) recommended running in 256 color mode.

Finally: Watch out for the virtual cache setting. Setting vcache too high is just as bad as setting it too low. Worse, actually. If you adjust the vcache and you start experiencing mysterious GPFs, you've set the vcache too high.

Note: to print this post, click anywhere in this frame, then select "Print Frame" from your browser's File menu.

---------------------------------------- Pops and Clicks In Recording Digital Audio. While Windows95 is a much more stable operating system than Windows 3.1x (in general), it is a poor environment for doing digital audio recording because of its caching techniques. The virtual cache used in Windows95 can aid with multi-tasking, but it can also bring audio recording to a screeching halt. The results that most people experience are pops and clicks in their recordings. Pops and clicks result from pieces of audio data that get lost in recording. In your file, you get small gaps in the audio, which results in silence. However, the sudden end of sound and resuming of sound when played back creates the pops and clicks that you hear. Digital audio comprises an enormous amount of data. One minute of CD quality stereo takes over 10 megabytes of disk space. As you record, your computer needs to write 176K bytes of data to the hard disk per second, a heavy demand on your CPU and hard drive. This stream must be continuous, so that the data is written as the new data is received from the sound card. Caching does just the opposite of this. Caching takes incoming data (such as digital audio from the sound card) and stores it in memory until the memory cache is full. Once it is full, then it writes it to the disk. This is great for handling word processing documents because it appears to speed up your access to the computer, but with digital audio, it begins to back up. Each time that the computer is writing data and the cache buffer fills up before the writing is finished, data is going to get lost. That is where pops and clicks appear. How to fix: Well, you can try doing some of the steps listed further into this document, but you can make some simple "touch-ups" for smaller gaps. In a program like Turtle Beach's Wave, you have a tool which can manually create a sound; well, at least, you can link the two sound points. This will not actually reproduce the missing sound segment, but will soften the transition between sound and silence, and in most cases, avoid the popping / clicking sound. So how do I avoid all this in the first place? Well, the simple answer would be to go back to Windows3.1x which does not handle caching the same way as Windows95. The problem, however, is that many new programs take advantage of some of Windows95's enhancements, so reverting to Windows3.1x is not an option. But there is much to be said for the dual-boot system. Dual-boot? Dual boot means that you have Windows3.1x and Windows95 on the same computer. It really is easier than you think. If your system only has Windows95 on it at the moment, you can reboot the computer to the Command Prompt Only, or to Previous Version of DOS, and run Setup from your Windows3.1x install disk. Just be sure to put the older version of Windows in a different directory than Windows95! We suggest calling it OLDWIN or WIN3 to alleviate any confusion. Keep it simple! Don't install all the little applets the Microsoft bundles with Windows. All you really need is the operating system, and maybe Write for keeping notes and Sound Recorder for doing simple recording. You can then install just your sound card and any music/audio recording programs you need. What does this offer me? Piece of mind. You can create a shortcut on your Windows95 desktop that will reboot the computer into DOS and run Windows3.1x. You can then do whatever audio recording that you need. Exit out of Windows and the computer reboots back to Windows95 where you can use those files in whatever way necessary. But how about Windows95? Isn't there anything I can do? Well, Windows95 is not the horrible beast some people make it out to be. There are some modifications you can make that will definitely improve the quality of your recordings. They are not a guarantee, but alleviate the problems for about 95% of users. Gate Mode In your computer BIOS, you will see an option for ISA GATE MODE. It may also be referred to as GATE MODE, or FAST GATE, or A20 GATE OPTION. Normally, the choices are either "Fast" and "Normal" ... or ... "Enabled" and "Disabled". This setting should be set to "Normal" or "Disabled". To enter your BIOS, watch the screen when your computer boots up and the memory test is counting down. You should see a message somewhere on the screen that reads "Press <> to enter Setup" where <> is a certain key. By pressing that key at that time, you will enter into your BIOS. Adjusting the Virtual Cache First and foremost, the virtual cache has to go. The Windows95 default will resize the virtual cache as necessary, so in addition to caching data, it is actually changing itself to let more data in. In theory, it actually sounds great, but with digital audio, it's a no-go. In Windows95, click on the START button and then select RUN. In the dialog box, type SYSTEM.INI and then click OK. The file will open on your computer, and you can scroll down until you see a section (sections always have a header in brackets) marked [vcache]. Add two lines to this section, so that it looks like [vcache] MinFileCache=2048 MaxFileCache=2048 This will limit the size of the Virtual Cache to 2 megabytes, and prevent Windows95 from constantly resizing the cache. This is usually a small enough number as to not really interfere with recording. Although, you can also bring these numbers down to 256 to disable the cache. If the computer does not boot up to Windows95 after bringing the numbers down so low, you can boot to the Command Prompt and edit the files to reflect a higher number. You will need to fully reboot the computer for these changes to take effect. Adjusting the Read-Ahead Cache Right-click (press the right mouse button instead of left) on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, and select "Properties" from the menu that appears. Select the tab marked "Performance", and choose the button labeled "File System". There is a slider bar marked "Read-ahead optimization:" and you should pull the slider all the way to the left, bringing the size to none. You will need to fully reboot the computer for these changes to take effect. Video Drivers Make sure you are using the latest drivers for your video card. If you are using the standard VGA driver that comes with Windows, you will have a very tough time keeping up with your screen redrawing properly. It was not written for speed, but for ultimate and simple compatibility. Defrag the Hard Disk When you use your hard disk, it begins to store the information sequentially, filling up the space in rings from the inside out. When you delete a file, that empty space will be used for the next write. If the data being written to that spot is larger than the space available, part of the data goes in that "hole" and part of it goes elsewhere. This means that the hard drive head must maneuver to two different parts of the drive. The more usage your hard drive gets, the more of these small "holes" will appear. If you try recording large amounts of data (like digital audio recording) with these "holes", the hard drive head will be all over the place, filling in holes. This will prevent the audio from being recorded as quickly as it needs to be. Windows95 comes with a defragmenting program that reassembles the data so there are no "holes". This should be done right before doing any type of digital audio recording, and done each time. Compressed Hard Disks Forget it. By compressing your hard disk (using DriveSpace(tm) or Stacker(tm)), you are actually squashing all of your files into one large (very, very large) file which is unseen to you. The compression software actually extracts and compresses on the fly. This means that there will be a delay as the software tries to interpolate and compress the audio data coming to it before writing, then writing it, all while more audio is backing up behind it. Even the fastest computer will be unable to escape the inevitable data getting dropped. If you have to have your hard drive compressed, you will need to have a portion that has not been compressed to record the audio on to. With hard drive prices falling to around 10 cents per megabyte, it is more affordable than ever to add a new hard drive.

4/2/1999 9:31 AM
Carlo	Great info, thanks joe. I got a little confused, at first, cos DirectCD and Easy Cd Creator both came w/ the HP burner and are both Adaptec programs. Anyway...what are you using your computer for, multitrack, mastering, midi, etc.? I think I'm going to take the plunge and get a computer just for recording. I want to learn what works and what doesn't before I lay down the cash. Carlo

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