digimixer
Although many people have multiple PCs and use a dedicated machine for Virtual DJ, there are probably also many they don't have that luxury.
This post is designed to help those people create multiple boot profiles, a general Profile for you to use your computer for day to day use and an additional profile which is especially streamlined for VDJ
Please note: This post assumes you know which services are safe to disable.
Head to: Start --> Control Panel.
In the Control Panel, select Performance and Maintenance.
In the Performance and Maintenance Panel, select System.
System Properties Dialog will appear.
Select the Hardware tab, then click the Hardware Profiles button near the bottom.
The Hardware Profiles Dialog will be displayed.
Your current profile (Profile 1) needs to be copied.
Select the profile to highlight and then select the Copy button.
Choose a name that is appropiate, I used "VDJ here."
When finished, select OK on the Hardware Profiles Dialog and System Properties.
After creating as many Hardware Profiles as you wish, select Administrative Tools in the Performance and Maintenance Panel.
In Administrative Tools, select Services.
Double click each service to bring up the Services Properties Dialog.
Warning: Using the standard method in the "General Tab," if you Disable a service, it is "forever" Disabled for every hardware profile and every user. So Instead, we use the "Log On" tab.
Select the Log On tab.
Using my Windows XP Services Configuration as a guide, select each service and Enable or Disable them in each profile by selecting the profile and choosing the proper button.
Do not adjust your "Default" or "Profiles 1" configuration.
After all services have been adjusted, reboot your system.
In a few seconds, the "Hardware Profile" screen will be displayed allowing you to choose which service configuration you wish to boot.
You are done!
This post is designed to help those people create multiple boot profiles, a general Profile for you to use your computer for day to day use and an additional profile which is especially streamlined for VDJ
Please note: This post assumes you know which services are safe to disable.
Head to: Start --> Control Panel.
In the Control Panel, select Performance and Maintenance.
In the Performance and Maintenance Panel, select System.
System Properties Dialog will appear.
Select the Hardware tab, then click the Hardware Profiles button near the bottom.
The Hardware Profiles Dialog will be displayed.
Your current profile (Profile 1) needs to be copied.
Select the profile to highlight and then select the Copy button.
Choose a name that is appropiate, I used "VDJ here."
When finished, select OK on the Hardware Profiles Dialog and System Properties.
After creating as many Hardware Profiles as you wish, select Administrative Tools in the Performance and Maintenance Panel.
In Administrative Tools, select Services.
Double click each service to bring up the Services Properties Dialog.
Warning: Using the standard method in the "General Tab," if you Disable a service, it is "forever" Disabled for every hardware profile and every user. So Instead, we use the "Log On" tab.
Select the Log On tab.
Using my Windows XP Services Configuration as a guide, select each service and Enable or Disable them in each profile by selecting the profile and choosing the proper button.
Do not adjust your "Default" or "Profiles 1" configuration.
After all services have been adjusted, reboot your system.
In a few seconds, the "Hardware Profile" screen will be displayed allowing you to choose which service configuration you wish to boot.
You are done!
Posted Mon 06 Aug 07 @ 11:10 am
sbangs
thats cool on my blog there is a guide if you wish to try it to replace windows explorer with vdj on startup saves a lot of memory :)
Posted Mon 06 Aug 07 @ 11:16 am
digimixer
skyfxl wrote :
thats cool on my blog there is a guide if you wish to try it to replace windows explorer with vdj on startup saves a lot of memory :)
Cool.. didn't realise you could do that! I thought explorer.exe was an essential executable.
Hmm... wonder if it's possible to incorporate that into the above, so that it only replaces explore.exe with the VDJ.exe when booting in the VDJ profile ???
Posted Mon 06 Aug 07 @ 11:38 am
sbangs
if you make another user acount you can apply it just to that acount with the local user keys :)
so ud boot in that profile and then sign in as that user :)
so ud boot in that profile and then sign in as that user :)
Posted Mon 06 Aug 07 @ 12:47 pm
sowndman
This is a great post.
BUT !
How about a suggested list of services running which has already been test.
BUT !
How about a suggested list of services running which has already been test.
Posted Mon 06 Aug 07 @ 1:53 pm
digimixer
I didn't bother including this as recommended services to disable have been posted on this forum quite a few times in the past, the problem is that different people have many different applications installed, some of which run as a service, so it is impossible to give a definitive guide as we can't be sure which services you have and need.
See link below for a general guide to which standard services can be safely disabled
http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/winxp_services/services-3.shtml
See link below for a general guide to which standard services can be safely disabled
http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/winxp_services/services-3.shtml
Posted Mon 06 Aug 07 @ 2:08 pm
CanSpoilU
This is a cool idea... but I decided to go with a true Dual-Booting system running Vista and XP. I created three paritions on my laptop.
C: Drive for my Vista Operating System (all my day to day stuff)
D: Drive for my XP Operating System (used strictly for VDJ)
E: Drive for all my videos and mp3s
I went with Vista and XP because Vista makes dual booting easy. Here are the steps I took to set this up.
- Boot laptop with Vista DVD so the Vista install program loads
- Delete all old partitions with Vista install (I believe you select custom install to do this)
- Create three partitions (I went with 30GB for Vista... 10GB for XP... and the remainder for my videos)
- Format the 30GB FIRST, then the 10GB, then the video partiton.
- Select the 30GB formatted parition for Vista and start the install (copying the files)
- Once you start copying the vista files.... simply CANCEL this operation or turn off the PC (this is important)
- Boot laptop with XP CD
- Install XP onto the D: drive that you formatted with Vista... finish XP install
- Once XP is installed... put the Vista DVD back in and do a full Vista install and install on your C: drive 30GB partition
- Vista will detect the XP installation on the D: drive and once the Vista install is done... you will get a customized boot menu. Everytime you turn the laptop on... it gives you two choices.... Windows Vista or "Earlier Version of Windows" which is Windows XP.
Wala! You have a true dual-booting system. I run all my day to day stuff with Vista. This is great because when I load all my games and crap on Vista... it doesn't effect my XP install with VDJ.
There are only a few programs I run on my XP install... VDJ, DVD Decrytor, TMPGENEC Express, MS Office, and my Sprint Aircard software for wireless internet.
I take this a step further too. I run Norton Ghost on my laptop. I took a snapshot of my XP partition after XP was installed (and before I installed any software). If I detect that something fishy is happening with my XP install and VDJ is not running right... I wipe the XP partition clean by using Ghost. The beauty of this is... if done right it does not affect my Vista partition, or my dual boot menu (master boot record), or my videos. Wiping my XP partition takes about 5 minutes! :D Much better than wasting hours doing an install from scratch.
C: Drive for my Vista Operating System (all my day to day stuff)
D: Drive for my XP Operating System (used strictly for VDJ)
E: Drive for all my videos and mp3s
I went with Vista and XP because Vista makes dual booting easy. Here are the steps I took to set this up.
- Boot laptop with Vista DVD so the Vista install program loads
- Delete all old partitions with Vista install (I believe you select custom install to do this)
- Create three partitions (I went with 30GB for Vista... 10GB for XP... and the remainder for my videos)
- Format the 30GB FIRST, then the 10GB, then the video partiton.
- Select the 30GB formatted parition for Vista and start the install (copying the files)
- Once you start copying the vista files.... simply CANCEL this operation or turn off the PC (this is important)
- Boot laptop with XP CD
- Install XP onto the D: drive that you formatted with Vista... finish XP install
- Once XP is installed... put the Vista DVD back in and do a full Vista install and install on your C: drive 30GB partition
- Vista will detect the XP installation on the D: drive and once the Vista install is done... you will get a customized boot menu. Everytime you turn the laptop on... it gives you two choices.... Windows Vista or "Earlier Version of Windows" which is Windows XP.
Wala! You have a true dual-booting system. I run all my day to day stuff with Vista. This is great because when I load all my games and crap on Vista... it doesn't effect my XP install with VDJ.
There are only a few programs I run on my XP install... VDJ, DVD Decrytor, TMPGENEC Express, MS Office, and my Sprint Aircard software for wireless internet.
I take this a step further too. I run Norton Ghost on my laptop. I took a snapshot of my XP partition after XP was installed (and before I installed any software). If I detect that something fishy is happening with my XP install and VDJ is not running right... I wipe the XP partition clean by using Ghost. The beauty of this is... if done right it does not affect my Vista partition, or my dual boot menu (master boot record), or my videos. Wiping my XP partition takes about 5 minutes! :D Much better than wasting hours doing an install from scratch.
Posted Mon 06 Aug 07 @ 4:53 pm
Timmyg1978
Does anybody know what to look for to turn off networking related services? I've created my VDJ boot profile & thought I turned it off but the network adapters still pop up. I'm using a Dell Inspiron B130. Thanks for this guide;^]
Posted Sun 12 Aug 07 @ 3:52 pm
Timmyg1978
heh, nevermind, think I got it now;^]
Posted Sun 12 Aug 07 @ 5:15 pm
digimixer
Maybe we could add this to the one of the sticky setups guides threads?
I believe it's useful for a substantial amount of users
I believe it's useful for a substantial amount of users
Posted Mon 13 Aug 07 @ 10:16 am
sbangs
sure why not ;) adding it to general guides
Posted Mon 13 Aug 07 @ 11:45 am
mcgiver73
I take an even easier route.. i just open task manager and kill the process for everything i dont need while mixing.. like iexplore.exe explorer.exe etc etc... and then when i am done just open the taskmanager again (you have to do ctrl alt del since you killed explorer) and then just "start new task" and type in explorer.exe and you have a desktop again.. and when you reboot your computer all the normal start up stuff comes back and you have a "normal" operating pc again... d-.-b
Posted Mon 20 Aug 07 @ 2:18 pm
digimixer
Hi Mcgiver73
That's pretty much i use to do it, but the problem with this way is you need to keep doing it each and everytime your want to use your laptop for VDJ.
The method mentioned above, although initially a little more work, is more efficent, once completed, you simply select "VDJ" at boot time and there's nothing else to do!
...so in the long run, it saves alot of effort and time.
That's pretty much i use to do it, but the problem with this way is you need to keep doing it each and everytime your want to use your laptop for VDJ.
The method mentioned above, although initially a little more work, is more efficent, once completed, you simply select "VDJ" at boot time and there's nothing else to do!
...so in the long run, it saves alot of effort and time.
Posted Mon 20 Aug 07 @ 2:55 pm
Andrew87
I made a batch script ages ago which automates the closing of such processes and then launches VirtualDJ. However, you are not disabling services this way. Some services run under svchost.exe
http://www.virtualdj.com/forums/49462/General_Discussion/Increase_your_Virtual_DJ_performance.html
^ Back in the v3.4 days, even did database backup by date and time
http://www.virtualdj.com/forums/49462/General_Discussion/Increase_your_Virtual_DJ_performance.html
^ Back in the v3.4 days, even did database backup by date and time
Posted Mon 20 Aug 07 @ 3:00 pm
Andrew87
Too late to edit this into the post sorry. You can stop services running the command
sc stop "Service Name", e.g.
sc stop "O&O Defrag"
sc stop alg
To find out which proccesses are running, use the command
sc query
sc stop "Service Name", e.g.
sc stop "O&O Defrag"
sc stop alg
To find out which proccesses are running, use the command
sc query
Posted Mon 20 Aug 07 @ 3:17 pm
mcgiver73
we will see.. i just did the "profile" thing.. it looks promesing so far.. thanks for the tip!! d-.-b
Posted Sat 25 Aug 07 @ 2:38 pm
CanSpoilU
Let me just reiterate that nothing is better for VDJ than running it on a dual-boot / dual-partition system... especially if you do this in conjunction with using a disk imaging utility like Norton Ghost.
Case & Point... I get to my gig today. First gig I planned on using V5. I wiped my laptop clean and rebuild my dual boot system from scratch. Well I get here and I forgot to load Office 2003 which I need for my database playlists. I install it... reboot... blue screen. Somehow I hosed my registry during this Office Install. Don't ask me how... I work in the computer industry fulltime and I have never seen this.
Anyways... I whip out my Norton Ghost DVD that I built that has my backup images for my VDJ partition. I restore it (takes about 5 mins for the restore). I am back up and running on my laptop 10 mins later (after installing VDJ/MK2/Office2003).
If I wasn't on a dual boot partition... I wouldn't be able to do this. This is the only way I will run with my VDJ laptops.
Case & Point... I get to my gig today. First gig I planned on using V5. I wiped my laptop clean and rebuild my dual boot system from scratch. Well I get here and I forgot to load Office 2003 which I need for my database playlists. I install it... reboot... blue screen. Somehow I hosed my registry during this Office Install. Don't ask me how... I work in the computer industry fulltime and I have never seen this.
Anyways... I whip out my Norton Ghost DVD that I built that has my backup images for my VDJ partition. I restore it (takes about 5 mins for the restore). I am back up and running on my laptop 10 mins later (after installing VDJ/MK2/Office2003).
If I wasn't on a dual boot partition... I wouldn't be able to do this. This is the only way I will run with my VDJ laptops.
Posted Sun 26 Aug 07 @ 3:36 am
Andrew87
Norton Ghost is a great little application, but I don't like the new versions. Norton Ghost 2003 is the one for me. I made my usb pendrive bootable with usb2 support and it loads Norton Ghost from it into its own DOS environment. This means you can backup the Windows partition (with full cd/dvd recording support) or restore it without requiring an additional partition. Like you've mentioned, restoring is extremely quick. As fast as your dvd drive transfer speed pretty much, so say 10 minutes to restore a laptop.
Posted Sun 26 Aug 07 @ 3:53 am
CanSpoilU
Andrew87 wrote :
Norton Ghost is a great little application, but I don't like the new versions. Norton Ghost 2003 is the one for me. I made my usb pendrive bootable with usb2 support and it loads Norton Ghost from it into its own DOS environment. This means you can backup the Windows partition (with full cd/dvd recording support) or restore it without requiring an additional partition. Like you've mentioned, restoring is extremely quick. As fast as your dvd drive transfer speed pretty much, so say 10 minutes to restore a laptop.
I am actually using Ghost Corporate Edition. I forget the version of the suite. I am not using the personal version of Ghost (like Ghost 2003).
All I did with this version of ghost is I pulled the GHOST32.EXE file from the bin directory and I simply use that to run it. I think its version 11 of that file (compatible with Vista too I think). I don't need to actually "install" ghost into my registry and all if I simply use this file. If I am booting into DOS... I simply use its sister file that works in DOS GHOST.EXE.
Pendrives are good to use. They load quick. I simply use a bootable DVD since I need the DVD to hold my images anyways.
Posted Sun 26 Aug 07 @ 4:02 am
CanSpoilU
I also don't even need to boot into DOS or use the pendrive if my other partition (my vista partition) works. I simply boot into Vista... run GHOST32.EXE and point to the file on the DVD to do a restore. Either way works.
Posted Sun 26 Aug 07 @ 4:03 am