Lean and Mean NLE Machine

[Pertti]

Hi Guys,

A friend asked if I could post my Win/NLE optimizations here for some interesting debate

I have been doing NLE with my computer ever since I got my hands on the RainbowRunner Studio for my P133+16MB in June -97, used Win95A/B, W98/W98SE and NT4, but my favorite of these is of course Win95B, which after some "minor" updates and modifications starts to resemble an OS (unlike the other ones)

These tips are based on W95B, but most of them work with other W9x versions, and some also in NT (although tweaking NT is quite different)
I have started with an idea of "If I don't need it, I won't use it (or load it)", and applied some simple logic here and there, and none of my computers have had serious Windows related problems (faulty or prematuraly released drivers, bioses or hardware set aside = P2B-S rev1.02)

Here are the windows optimizations (the ones I could remember)

Bare minimum installation of Windows with US settings to start, exept for the keyboard, none whateverkind of powersaving and only:
- Character Map
- QuickView
- WordPad
- Dial-Up Networking
- Direct Cable connection
- Virtual Private Networking
- Audio Compression
- Media Player
- Video Compression
- Volume Control
+ Necessary updates for W95B

Change regional to local
Tell Winwhatever that you really want to disable whatever powersaving
Delete "Setver.exe" (+ a lot of other useless files)

In System.ini:
MinFileCache=32 (48< for W98)
MaxFileCache=32768

Use Tweak-UI to:
- Disable Windows Animation
- Disable Smooth Scrolling
- Disable "Click here"
- Disable "Tip of the day"
- Disable start-up logo
- Disable Scandisk on start-up
- Clear everything but the last user at logon
- Disable autoplay of audio/data CD:s

Use Bootmanager to:
- Disable autoload of DrvSpace
- Disable autoload of DBLSpace

System Properties:
- Enable DMA transfers for supported devices
- Disable Auto insert notification for all CD:s
- Set typical role to network server
- Full read-ahead optimization
- Large cache for Quad-speed or higher CD
- Disable write behind for all drives
- Full graphics acceleration
- Swap file on some non-critical drive

In W95B, the Min/MaxFileCache gets rid of swapfile use with my 256MB:s of memory, but Micros**t in their great "wisdom" has changed the way it is being used in W98/W98SE. I read somewhere that now the programs are being opened into the swapfile and therefore 0kB swapfile is only possible by disabling it alltogether - Smart move Bill !!!

Recycling Bin:
- set to 0% and disable for each and every drive, otherwise seemingly empty partition can still be fragmented and slow because of the files in the Bin.
When you add drives into the system, the Bin is enabled by default, even when you have already disabled it for each and every drive in the system.

Actually this did cause some head scratching here once with a newly installed HD.

Networking:
- TCP/IP only for modem, and NetBeui for local

MSIE3.02:
- Set whatever caches as small as possible (or write protect the hidden files, if you don't mind a little complaining here and there) No MSIE4/5 near these babies.

Matrox PD:
- Uncheck "Start Matrox QuickDesk when Win starts"
- Uncheck "Show Matrox QuickDesk icon"
- Choose Dualhead DVDMax
- Lately removing PDesk from "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\Run" has also been on the list

No Background wallpaper, screensavers etc...

Results in memory footprint of ~13MB in W95B after start-up (with ~800MB:s of streamlined apps installed) = Lean and Mean NLE Machine ;-))

(~24MB minimum in W98SE, at which point the OS had already lost couple of usefull features - Volume control vanished from the systray, and no buttons came up on the taskbar no longer)

Hardwarewise I have tried to ask "What piece of hardware has surely been in the different compatibility labs ?", but that's an other story, and we don't want to scare the beginners here... do we

Pertti

[fluggo99]

Geez! I'm breaking all the rules, then! Of course, that's why I use Norton...

What processor, etc. are you running this all on nowadays?

[Pertti]

Hi Fluggo99,

I am currently using "What the hell is that?" , which is based on P2B-S rev1.03/PIII-500 and has ~80GB:s on 9HD:s (UDMA/UWSCSI/Promise)

My secondary one almost fits it's case and is based on Soyo 6BA+III/PII-333(400) with only 30GB:s on 4HD:s (UDMA).

Pertti

[evil twin]

hi guys,

i tried to optimize my system and this is what happened;
i played with my virtual memory, changed it from the d: drive back to the c: drive and when I reboot I got a "vfat device initialization failed" a device or resource required by vfat is unavailable. vfat cannot continue loading. system halted.

now other than re-installing windows what are my options?

i have run scanreg/fix but it didn't help.

evil

[Stewman]

Evil,

I assume you tried to start up in safe mode? If you cannot get windows to run even in safe mode, then I would re-install the OS over the current one. It'll keep most of your settings and your system will be restored pretty much to the original windows state with the added advantage of having all your programs already installed.

-Stew

[evil twin]

Stewman,

i was able to boot to safemode but couldn't fix anything from there. i reinstalled windows overtop of itself and things are back to normal.

though i have to ask...when someone wants to optimize a system is this normal?

evil

[Pertti]

Evil,

Increase the amount of "MinFileCache", for me 48 was minimum in W98SE, otherwise it would give the same error.

Pertti

[This_Idiot]

Pertti, I like the sound of your "WTF" PC. Is this the one that uses dexion racking to hold the HDs and a floor-standing fan to cool everything down ?

But I heard that Quickview is capable of making even a slimjim machine like yours choke every time you access a file. I threw it away a long time back.

[Pertti]

Hi Chris,

Actually the "HD-tower" is homemade out of galvanized sheet metal, has 10mm clearance on all the sides of the HD:s and 3 PSU fans cooling the 7HD:s in there (it's a Seagate thing ), the two Maxtors in the regular HD rack run cool enough on their own.

Pertti

[This_Idiot]

Well I wasn't far off the mark then !

I think you should write us an article on how to construct an external HD tower though, as these usually cost far more (commercially) than standard PC casings. Of course many people won't be that skilled in sheet-metal work, but almost every NLEditor that has stuck around this asylum seems to be fanatical about learning new skills. I'm not bad at welding myself (err, I mean that I, myself, can weld - not that I excel in connecting bits of myself with welding equipment).

Now if only Uwe would chip-in with a guide on making a padded tartan wrist-support..

[Pertti]

Chris,

I'll look into it. The design is quite crude, as it was meant as a small scale "pilot-project" for building my own case, since all the cases that could hold this stuff, are costing more than a fully equipped entry level PC.

Pertti

[Pertti]

Evil,

Forgot to answer your second question,

If BG wouldn't try to control what we are allowed or supposed to do with OUR computers, none of this would be necessary, but as his answer to the question "Where do you want to go today?" is: "Everybody wants to go sit in front of their PC:s to watch it play with herself all day long", we have no choice but to take the control of our PC:s by force

Pertti

[This message has been edited by Pertti (edited 18 January 2000).]

[evil twin]

Pertti,

thanks for the tip. now that i have reinstalled windows everything seems fine again. i will, on the other hand, play around some more with this to see what differences i see following your optimization steps.
as everyone has some sort of problem with video capture i expected that there would be a lot more on the subject.

i guess bg did the right thing to step down as ceo of ms so that he could spend more time "watching her play with her self".- i mean "Everybody wants to go sit in front of their PC:s to watch it play with herself all day long" just so long as he knows where his hands are-

evil

[Captain Marvel]

- Full read-ahead optimization
Is that right? Here's what Matrox says on their FAQ...
- Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > System, click the "Performance" tab, and click "File System". There, you will find "Read ahead optimization" set to "Full". Change it to "None". Then click the "Troubleshooting" tab and put a check mark in the "Disable write-behind caching for all drives".

Just the way it is written can be confusing...Read ahead optimization" set to "Full". Change it to "None"
I guess if you read that sentence you could think it says to set it to full.

I wonder which is right? Hmmm.... any thoughts... and why I'm at it again I hate to see us banging our heads against the wall (let alone against each other’s) let’s settle this swap file thingy while were at it. It states on the Matrox FAQ...

If while you are capturing or playing back video, and you notice that your primary C: drive is clicking away (assuming you capture video to a dedicated drive) this could be your problem. Make sure that your swap file is located on the same drive as your video captures. Having a swap file on the C: drive, while capturing to the D: drive will cause you to drop frames. Place the swap file (virtual memory) on your fastest drive.

They say( and others here) to put swap file on second HD (D: if its the fastest drive which I'm sure it is or you wouldn't be capturing with it, etc.) but I've also been told (and this sounds correct) that if you put the capture and the swap file on the same drive they are going to be tripping all over each other because only one can write/read at on time on an IDE channel. Now if they were on separate channels they could simultaneously read/write. What’s the consensus out there (if there is one)?

Sorry I had to edit my post.
Changes are as follows:


Hi Idiot!


[This message has been edited by Captain Marvel (edited 18 January 2000).]

[Elie]

Read ahead optimization should be set to " NONE ".

I personally like to have the swap file located on "C" if you have enough disk space, The reason you don't want the swap file in the same drive you capture and playback video from is because Windows constantly accesses the swap file which will bog down the drive.
Don't forget, you want a sustain rate of ~3.5 mbps and any interupption no matter how little WILL cause dropped frames/jitters etc.

Another thing to look at.. if you have an IDE setup, drive "C" should be on one channel and the "X" drive (capture drive) should be on the secondary channel. If a CDrom is present, I think it should be connected as a slave to the "C" drive on the same primary channel.
You want the secondary channel to be free of any activity and used strictly for capture and playback, this is to avoid jitters and dropped frames.
With SCSI it doesn't matter, but still the swap file should be on a drive other than the drive you capture/playback to&from.

Cheers,
Elie