Hi, I'm in a quandry I've been running Win 7 for the last few years in my studio using Studio One 4. Now finally win 7 seems to be corrupted. I now find myself having to do a new install ( a two day job) so I'm undecided which way to go, do I reinstall Win 7 or take the plunge and go for Win 10. Any advice or experiances would be welcome. TIA

 

I work on Win 10 and runs good. Some programs lately are not even supporting Win 7 - I saw a thread about UVI Plate on this - and once you setup your computer in the right way you're good to go. The only thing i strongly suggest you to do is to disable forced updates and you'll have to search the web for this since Microsoft doesn't allow you to do this directly.
Everything runs smooth and clean here, very rare BSOTs and I think they are due to my soundcard's drivers failure (Scarlett 2i2 2nd gen).

A friend of mine has a recording studio and it's doing the same thing, switching from 7 to 10, and he's not having any problem for now.
Very easy to setup also, they tried to hid some features like how to disable cortana the b*tch, but if you do a quick search you'll do it in no time if you have some basic computer knowledge.

 

Install windows 10 latest update. Windows 10 is better for now for music production. The updates are annoying but i find 1809 october update works great.

 

If you go to win 10 do the new version with the increased FLS slots. I have used both and still prefer win 7. Win 10 is
annoying with stupid stuff.

 

i have been running Windows 10 Pro x64(not LTSB or Enterprise which are supposedly even better) for some time. I am now on an Intel i9-9900K , Gigabyte Aorus Master , 64gb 3200mhz Corsair LPX Ram , OS Samsung NVMe 500gb , Kontakt Samples Disk 1tb Samsung SSD , and an 8tb Toshiba X300 for downloads,large samplepacks etc. I am using a a Startech PEX1PCI1 pci-express to pci adapter on one of the mobo's PCI-E 8x slots thus turning my PCI-e 16x slot running a Sapphire Nitro+ RX580 at PCI-E 3.0 x 8 instead of 16x to make use of the RME HDSP 9632 which fits perfectly in a Define R6 case with the right rca socket i never used anyway hidden inside the box.

so far and up until the latest Win10 version 1809 everything seems to be working the same as Windows 7 ,i feel like it is more stable,havent had no BSOD's at all except for HDSP64.sys coming in conflict with HDMI audio and Realteks audio driver during my first install and tryout but a newer driver fixed this,all plugins, daw's, midi keyboards even really old versions , 32bit vsti from 1999's and dxi plugins, legacy stuff just working fine,

Windows 10 needs some getting used to, two control panels, folder explorer panel view, and at first you will need to disable Telemetry ,Background and Advertising (Windows Store-Marketplace) ,there are portable plugins like "Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 for Windows 10" and "O&O ShutUp10" to get you quickly started if you dont wanna mess with it too much

Add an Acronis True Image 2o19 WinPE (if u have NVMe new UEFI Bios etc) Bootable ISO rescue media create a full system image file .TIB backup once every couple of months on an external hdd and of course a regular backup of your projects on external hdd just in case an unexpected update messes things up or a disk goes bad and you are ready to go. I have been loving this DAW machine so far and to be honest even though i never wanted to leave Windows 7 it was good that i was sort of forced to,new apps , support,driver issues , new hardware is all being build around Windows 10 anyway

You could always create a couple of TIB's in Acronis with different setups Win 10 LTSB and a Win 7 Ultimate and in a matter 5-10 minutes switch between them and try which one you want to stick on

Also if you decide to go Windows 10 check out HWidGEN - its the best way to own a perfectly valid copy (or many copies of different Win10 versions) locked to you live account ,perfectly genuine ,for free

***Edit https://community.cantabilesoftware.com/t/optimizing-your-computer-for-audio/588 a new video with windows 10 settings and updated GlitchFree Windows Audio Optimization Guide pdf

Also DoubleTake has a nice tip check out Windows Classic Shell http://www.classicshell.net/

 

Last edited: Jan 23, 2019

If you go Win10, look into using a classic Start Menu, too.
I am still using "Classic Explorer" (adds nice things to Windows Explorer menu bar) even though it is not going to be updated.
I have not looked for a replacement but saw a few others I'll eventually have to try. Really convenient to have the normal Windows-type menus.

 

I'm running Windows 10 Enterprise X64 2016 LTSB Version 1607 on one of the laptops. Works great with Studio One 4.1.0.

There's also the latest Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC X64 Version 1809. You might want to check that out if you're looking for the latest one.

FYI, LTSB and LTSC are the same product line. Microsoft just changed the name.

 

Windows 7 is EOL soon. Of course, you can still use it, disconnect from the internet, etc.. but I really wouldn't waste any more time on it.

 

As someone who has been a Windows user since 3.1, Windows 10 LTSC ...or, any Windows 10 version is the s***. You'll never go back to 7.

 

ive tried updating to windows 10 using latest updates/ etc. but always gets stuck on "working on updates/ dont turn off computer" and usually gets stuck at 81% . seems like its a common problem. tons of people have issues with the update/ upgrade. make sure everything is compatible/ update all drivers,etc.

 

If possible, I would recommend a clean install.

 

for audio productiony-ness:
for stability, win7.
for experimentation and beta tester help for microsoft's corporate customers, win10.
horses for courses.
btw, my main system is win8... i finally got it working the way i want... go figure.

good luck.

 

Simply don't update it. I still have the version of i guess April 2018 and works fine, and since the updates mostly cause problems than solutions i decided to stick with it.

Man how can you work well on Win 8? It was the worst OS Microsoft ever put out, and Win 10 is basically an advanced and better update of 8/8.1, why did you stick with 8

 

Home 7 / Work 10. They both have their pros and cons but in the end I'll go 10 with my next machine. You'll really need to set it up in a way you can control it properly (update behavior etc.) but ultimately it's the long term way to go anyway.

 

If going with Windows 10, I strongly recommend only using Windows 10 LTSB.

Make an install ISO using the tool here: https://gitlab.com/s1ave77/SVF.ISO.CONVERTER

You can purchase legit Windows 10 LTSB keys on eBay, or you can go with the HWID/KMS38 generation method.

Windows 10 LTSB is the actual "professional" version of Windows 10 intended for industry standard use, so it doesn't have all the ridiculous bloatware and smartphone app crap (among other things) in it. It gets security updates but not major updates that break shit. For that you install a new version of LTSB.

Even though the bloat is stripped out, you should still run hardening scripts such as WindowsSpyBlocker, and make sure you follow the relevant parts of the Windows 10 Privacy Guide.

Finally if you're like me and hate Windows 10 GUI you should try Open Shell Menu which is the continuation of Classic Shell, since the Classic Shell author got burnt out and quit. And also FileSearchEx for a real actual file search tool like we had in XP instead of the latest Microsoft crap.

Yes, it's unbelievable how bad the built in spyware and garbageware is with Windows. I can remember a point in the past which doesn't seem that too long ago to me where no one would have believed it could ever be possible that official versions of Windows would ship with so much spyware and tracking built in and turned on by default. Scary times.

 

Also for me personally, I disable windows defender and windows update in the group policy editor.

 

really really, at the end of the day, all things considered. I would say install w10
and make a windows repair/restore usb stick, its something that always come in handy.

best off all work offline, if you can. (not a reasonable option for me at least though) but my w10 works fine.

with W10 you will at least not be chasing solutions for problems that are totally obsolete, like f%cking drivers for conflicting hardware in an old os. those problems will only get worse for every month and every year and every hardware or software update you need to incorporate in your system.

non is perfect but with w10 at least you will be discussing the same issues as most people out there which will make you solve problems easier and solutions will be addressed by manufacturers and microsoft faster.

 

Last edited: Jan 23, 2019

Windows 8 has the tickless kernel of W10 (meaning it's faster than W7) without the W10 'quirks'. User complaints of W8 are usually about the UI, not the OS itself. The OS itself is fine. There's not much in W10 that's more 'advanced', and 'better ' is subjective.

 

I'm still on Win 7 Pro OFFLINE of course very stable i did get B.S.O.D before but that was beacuse my audio interface drivers (EMU 1616m) wasn't developed for Win 7 the XP drivers was very stable unfortanelty EMU sold the company to Creative and they didn't care for Pro Audio they wanted to sell headphones MP3 players and shit like that instead.
I would never have switched from XDP if it wasn't for the fact i wanted more memory and my XP was 32 bit only the 64 bit version was hard to find and i think it was buggy as hell when all plugin and Daw dev,s switched to 64 bit they didnt make it available for XP 64 bit.
So it was either stay on a stable XP with a new PC that was overpowered for that OS and miss the 64 bit train or switch to Win 7 64 bit.

Nowadays i have changed audiointerface to a Steinberg MR816 and those drivers are very stable used them about 6-8 months now no issues at all.
I miss my EMU though i liked the sound of that audiointerface.

And when the day comes that it is time to switch to Win 10 (if that ever happens? i really hope Linux had made it possible for studio users by then so far no or very few audio card drivers and ver few Daw,s and plugins) it's gonna be used OFFLINE of course.

I really don't like those stupid updates that happens in the background even if you try to stop it with variouse tools it should be the USERS that decide if they want to upgrade not the developer.

And that policy "must be online all the time" only fools fall into that "trap" just look at all Mac users LOL.
If you move an MP3 or even a simple text file on any of the HD's you got in your machine and even on externals HD on a Mac it sends data to Apple wow why on earth must they know that?

It's not like it is a system file.
"BIG BROTHER" and just the fact i couldnt even install OSX on my Mac without being ONLINE is just to much what a crappy solution.

I also don't agree with everyone saying "time to move on bla bla" so far it's only 2-3 plugins that DON'T work on Win 7 now if you really MUST use those you need to upgrade but for me those aren't important and it's gonna take many years before every vendor stop develop plugins that don't work on Win 7.

 

Last edited: Jan 23, 2019

hi, i upgrade from W7 to W10 with clean install, disabled some tricks and my machine is offline!
Stable, fast, big ram memory, internal and external ssd, i am very happy with!
have a nice musical day.
If you go on W10, last OS upgrade..