Classic shell is a must for me on win 8.1, sweet little utility

 

i'm gonna go with win7 ice.
when i'm done formatting,
do i need to reinstall stuff like session horns for kontakt or will they be good since i've got the libs on a different hdd?

 

You don't need to reinstall the Kontakt libraries. Just add them again from Kontakt and off you go.

 

that's great news.

 

what do I do about drivers and ish like that?

 

Download the latest W7x64 ones for your motherboard and VGA, what else?

Except that I might recommend you to keep using your older VGA driver that you've been using so far with your previous W7, if you didn't have any problems with graphics. Especially if you use on-CPU Intel VGA. Newer Intel VGA drivers have a habit of working a bit dodgy with some plugins and DAWs.

edit: on the other hand I haven't tried the newest [2015] Intel VGA drivers. The policy of "don't fix it when it works".

 

Last edited: Jan 9, 2016

shit, I've no idea where I'd find those drivers now. I built this thing like 5 years ago!

 

If someone needs a really nice Windows 7 x64 lite version that is clean from garbage and ready for audio production here you go, 2.68GB Windows folder when installed! Less than 3GB whole installation.

Part1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vemvtyoy7gldrkf/Windows7SP1Lite.7z.001?dl=0
Part2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzhyaqrjx3mqilo/Windows7SP1Lite.7z.002?dl=0

I hope Dropbox links are alright with you. I could upload to Zippy or somewhere if needed.

*HASH* Windows7SP1Lite.iso
CRC32: 471EC257
CRC64: 30070D830FA2E5B7
SHA1: 3D1065F3F0F768EC7F765D207FCB5C3C6FD4BCE5
SHA256: 8F5A3AB4223036DC5E5FD70AA25504DEB22934D5B0E71E6DF2635E27D21EF351
MD5: EE93BA8344AA1128010B6A1AB3522DD6

I also posted this in an another thread where we discussed RAM disks. We don't need a new thread for this?

p.s. moderators is it alright for me to post links like this here? If not, just remove this post. And the one in "RAM Disks" thread. No problem.

Cheers!

 

Last edited: Jan 24, 2016

But still you have to beware that this does not prevent that Microsoft keeps pushing you to install the KB 3035583 (Which is the Windows 10 app).

So when you update you make shure you do not install KB 3035583. Also you get an icon in your taskbar urging you to install the app for further annoyance.......

 

You can stop it go into services and stop windows update and security center

 

took the dive no issues here with win10 ...boots faster and less midi latency... super stable .... no crashes till date ...good luck

 

go for 8.1 ;)

 

In a word, NO! I've been a beta tester for Microsoft for quite some time, and I must say that out of all the iterations of Windows I've tested over the years, Windows 10 is (by far) the most intrusive and annoying -- ever! If you have used it (thoroughly) no further explanation is necessary.

 

This lite Windows doesn't do automatic updates and you can only update it manually. MS updates are for those [reckless] people who use Windows for Internet. This Windows work with Internet and everything, but if you plan on using it for that along with audio you will have to download and install the MS updates manually. Once in a blue moon MS releases an update that concerns us musicians, but all the important updates we need are already included in this Windows. This is install and play OS. Not install and tweak, update, tinker to death OS. Install this OS, install your DAW and plugins, and make music.

Of course, sometimes you just need Internet for authorising software, that's why all the Internet stuff is still left in. You should also have no problems browsing the well known websites with it.

Cheers!

 

8.1 is on average 5% less efficient with DSP processing than Windows 7 and about 10% less efficient than XP. Windows 7 is about 5% less efficient than XP. I tested this on the same machine with same plugins and tests. I assure you this is true, or at least it is true for my Phenom II 965 AMD based main PC to tell the truth. Otherwise I'd be running Windows 8.1. all I'm looking for from an OS is that it runs the DAW and plugins the best it can.

I didn't even bother testing Windows 10 when I saw how W8 performs. Not to mention additionjal problems with either 8 or 10 with compatibility with some plugins, and troubles installing and running some plugins and software. Thanks, but I like to work on music, not troubleshoot my OS all the time. [even though I know Windows inside out all the way from 3.11, I hate distractions while I'm working with audio]

 

Last edited: Jan 23, 2016

Whats removed and any detailed info will be useful..

 

One thing I noticed while running these tests is that despite XP running the most efficiently, the performance meter in Reaper showed a bit more inconsistent performance than in 7 and 8. In other words it seems like 7 and 8 work a bit smoother. This may be due to multiprocessor upgrades to kernel that W7 and W8 got. So I'm perfectly satisfied with W7 no matter that it performs slightly worse than XPx64 in general. Smooth performance is also important, eh?

 

I find Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB the best version out there. Most stable windows 10 with very occasional stability and security updates only. No Feature updates. No telemetry.No Edge.No cortana.No Windows app store and other annoying apps.

It is the best version if you want to switch from windows 7.
Only available on p2p sites.

 

Everything annoying is removed. It's really hard to list everything annoying in Windows. For me whole Windows is annoying as I'm a Linux user, converted to Linux 3 years ago.

It installs very smoothly and quickly due to liteness and some install-tweaks. I haven't had any problems with any software that I use with it. I don't use anything Microsoft except Notepad. So everything but the Notepad has been ripped out. Just kidding. It is a clean OS ready for you to install the software you use.There's no "Windows experience", "tour", and similar HD wasters. If you use Internet Explorer you'll have to install a newer version because there is IE9 in this Win7, for example. Same thing with Media Player.

It's best if you could install it and try it before you use it as your main OS, if you can. It's quite simple to install. Just use a spare HD for that and see how you like it. That also gives you a chance to compare it with your other Windows.

I used this Windows for one of my client's computers, a very demanding one actually, that uses ProTools 12 and everything Steinberg [Cubase plus all you can get from Steinberg], have legit Waves Mercury +, NI Komplete, all IK Multimedia etc. and so far no problems at all. It's been a few months so far. Smooth ride baby!

Cheers!

 

Last edited: Jan 23, 2016

I did a clean install of Windows 10 a few weeks ago. Everything WAS smooth for a little while, but as time went on, I noticed horrible and seemingly un-fixable permission behaviors and crashes with saving projects in Studio One V3. Studio One also took too long to load up VST support in windows 10. I formatted, then installed Win7 x64, reinstalled all my apps and plugs, skinned my Win7 to look and feel like Win 10, Because I liked the new look and vibe of Win10, and I couldn't be happier. Everything is smooth, snappy and great. Studio One loads super quick, I can save my projects with no crashes.