Posts Tagged → windows xp
Portable Apps
I do love the fact that I can use of many of my favourite apps from a USB memory stick (such as Audacity, Firefox, Filezilla etc). Portable versions of many popular open source and freeware apps are available for download at portableapps.com.
All this can happen without installing anything on the local (windows) PC. In fact, usually no trace is left at all. This is especially useful for IT professionals who find themselves using/troubleshooting a variety of PCs during the working day.
My tip for this is to make sure that you use a fast enough USB device. I frequently find myself waiting (too long) on Portable Firefox starting up from a slow USB memory stick. I find that I get very good performance from apps installed on my ipod. And when you’ve got an 80gb Classic, there’s always space to spare… and it saves you carrying around more than one device… ok, so you need a cable – I nearly forgot about that small (but vital) detail.
Getting back to DMA mode in Windows XP
I’ve been having some major problems with audio performance on my laptop of late. I listen to a lot of mp3s, as well as some fairly heavy audio processing in Ableton Live. So when I started getting some serious glitches, I needed to get it sorted.
After defragging my hard drive, checking for viruses and spyware, removing any unnecessary start-up items and many other (unsuccessful) attempts to fix this issue, I found the following link.
Getting back to DMA mode in Windows XP | Sniptools | Miscellaneous
Basically, for any kind of respectable audio performance in Windows, the hard drive controller needs to be set to ‘DMA’ (direct memory access), rather than ‘PIO’ (programmed input/output). You’ll see from the link that there are two possibilities, one involving a registry hack, and the other a few fairly straightforward mouse clicks.
Thanks to sniptools.com for getting me listening clearly again!