User guide

Pro Tools|HD User Guide32
Optimizing a Windows System
for Pro Tools
To ensure optimum performance with
Pro Tools|HD, configure your computer before
using Pro Tools hardware and software.
Before configuring your computer, make sure
you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac-
count where you want to install Pro Tools. For
details on Administrator privileges, see your
Windows documentation.
Required Optimizations
To ensure optimum performance with
Pro Tools, configure the following settings be-
fore using Pro Tools hardware and software.
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:
1 Choose Start > Control Panel.
2 Double-click Power Options.
3 Click the Power Schemes tab.
4 From the Power Schemes pop-up menu, select
Always.
5 Verify that the following settings are set to
Never:
• Turn off hard disks
• System standby
•System hibernates
6 Click OK.
Recommended Optimizations
Pro Tools can also be affected by other software
and hardware drivers installed on your com-
puter. For best possible performance, it is recom-
mended (but not required) that you do the fol-
lowing:
• Avoid running any unneeded programs at
the same time as Pro Tools.
• Turn off any software utilities that run in
the background, such as Windows Messen-
ger, calendars, and disk maintenance pro-
grams.
• Turn off any non-essential USB devices
while running Pro Tools.
When you are finished changing Windows
system settings, restart your computer.