Spring Cleaning - LOR Software

[Rick Hughes]

For the past several years I've used the same PC for doing my editing and then running the show (along with being my regular PC for email, Internet, etc.).

This year I've acquired a PC which will be dedicated to running the show. To be sure I have the same LOR software on each, I want to remove the current LOR software (and any remnants going back to version 1.5) and then reinstall. I have the WipeReg utility to clean the registry.

Is there anything else I should "clear out" before I start installing anew?

Thanks for any advice.

Rick

[Steven]

The following applies to Windows XP Pro. Adjust as necessary if you're running some other version of Windows.

Assuming you're going to dedicate this computer to running shows, I would start by removing all software that is not necessary and could possibly slow the system down. Much of this runs as Windows services, so I would start by going to Control Panel (Classic View), then Administrative Tools, then Services. Disable

• Alerter
• Clipbook
• Human Interface Device Access
• Messenger
• Network DDE
• Network DDE DSDM
• Routing and Remote Access

I have 35 other Services set to Automatic, and the rest set to Manual.

If you can't figure out if a service is helping you or not, you can try turning it off and see what happens. Or, you can ask me if I turned it off.

Next, see what kind of junk gets started when Windows starts. Run the Registry editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun. Almost everthing there can be deleted and Windows will start and run faster.

For security, I set up a user named "lights" that runs the LOR software. "lights" is a non-administrator account, so it can't install any system software, including spyware, etc. I put the account and password in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon in the values DefaultUserName and DefaultPassword. This makes the "lights" account automatically login (and start the LOR Control Panel) when the computer boots.

Also, I removed all antivirus software, since it's not needed and slows the system down. I don't use the system for reading mail or browsing the web.

[Rick Hughes]

Steven, thanks ... that's a much more comprehensive approach which will both simplify things and improve performance.

Rick

[Forest]

Steven,

This is very helpful. I have an older secondary machine that I started with last year but had to move to my primary machine because of memory issues. I was able to bump up the RAM a bit but have not ever tested to see if it could now handle the load. I am going to try to go through some of the steps you outlined.

I have one question. Is your 'lights' machine hooked into your local network. I have mine networked so I can move sequences and music onto it from my main PC. Will having it on my local network make any changes to what you have outlined? Will I need any of the apps that you have turned off?

Thanks, Forest

[Steven]

Forest wrote:

Will having it on my local network make any changes to what you have outlined? Will I need any of the apps that you have turned off?

The services I mentioned above should not be required to move files over the LAN using SMB (the Microsoft file sharing protocol). However, just to make sure, make a note of the services you turn off, reboot, and give the file transfer a try. If it doesn't work, try turning them on one at a time (no reboot necessary).

I also have mine on a LAN, but I haven't (yet) put it on the same LAN as the machine I use for sequencing, so I have to use a USB flash drive.

[jim6918]

The only thing I would offer to this thread (since I fancy myself more of a computer techie than electrirican) is to make a complete backup of your registry before making changes. Either make an external copy, or copy and rename old registry. My experience reminds me that changes made to a registry can be hard to undue if they cause problems to your system.

I do like your idea of selectively enabling and disabling services. Easy to undue changes.