Setup guide

Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 57
Enabling DMA
Enabling your computer's DMA (Direct Memory
Access) frees up CPU bandwidth so your com-
puter can do other Pro Tools tasks.
In most cases the DMA option will already be set
correctly, as Windows detects and activates
DMA mode by default.
To enable DMA for any IDE hard drives:
1 Right-click My Computer (Windows XP) or
Computer (Windows Vista).
2 In the left-hand pane of the Computer Man-
agement window under System Tools, click on
Device Manager.
3 In the right-hand pane, click the plus (+) sign
to expand IDE ATA/API Controllers.
4 Right-click on the Primary IDE Controller and se-
lect Properties.
5 Click the Advanced Settings tab.
6 For each device, do one of the following de-
pending on your operating system:
• Set the Transfer Mode to DMA if available
(WIndows XP)
– or –
• Check the box Enable DMA (Windows
Vista)
7 Click OK.
8 Repeat the above steps for any additional IDE
Channels.
9 Close the Computer Management window.
Disabling User Account Control
(Windows Vista Only)
For optimal performance with Pro Tools on
Windows Vista, disable User Account Control
(UAC).
To disable User Account Control (UAC):
1 Choose Start > Control Panel.
2 Double-click User Accounts.
3 Click “Turn User Account Control on or off.”
4 Deselect the “Use User Account Control (UAC) to
help protect your computer” option.
5 Click OK.
Disabling System Standby and Power
Management
When using Pro Tools, the Windows System
Standby power scheme must be set to Always On.
This helps prevent long record or playback
passes from stopping due to system resources
powering down.
To configure Windows Power Management
(Windows Vista):
1 Choose Start > Control Panel.
2 Double-click Power Options.
3 In the Power Options window, select High Per-
formance.
4 Click Change plan settings.
5 In the Edit Plan Settings window, click Change
advanced power settings.
6 In the Power Options dialog, reveal Hard disk >
Turn off hard disk after.
7 Click Setting option.
8 Select the value in the Setting (Minutes) field
and press Backspace on your computer key-
board.
9 Press Enter. The hard disk setting changes to
Never and the Power Options dialog closes.
10 In the Edit Plan Settings window, click Save
changes and close the window.