Well i ran a latency checker "you know the one that would give you a graph to view and the red blocks would spike right up c ausing audio spikes n dropouyts saying this computer cannot handle audio"Have you run that...."dhcp latency checker its called"
theres a few versions that will give you better information abopout whats causing the spikes but i gotta go out right now as im late but will be back in an hour from when this is posted.....im sure we can resolve your problems mate really im sure of it....i will hit you up when i get back
And dont forget to "pm me then we can go into more detail privatley"

 

@jynx, I will PM you as well, however I thought this tool would be a good one to share. I did some googling. The tool I believe you are talking about is a DPC Latency Checker, and there are several different variants of this tool available:
http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml
I think this one is the one you are talking about as it shows red spikes when there is a problem. Their recommended method of troubleshooting the problem appears to be educated guesswork by disabling different hardware until you locate the problem.
http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
I also ran across this tool which seems to show process information as well. It may be more useful/quicker in tracking down where a problem is coming from, especially if you know or are able to research process information.
Both tools' websites appear to have lots of information regarding "Deferred Procedure Call" which is what the tools measure in order to determine if there will be a problem with realtime audio processing/latency.
Thank you, @jynx for pointing me in this direction. I will be looking at these and running them against my system to see what I can find.
Sorry if too off topic!

 

For blocking Apps, Vst & any .exe program i useExtension GUI of Windows own Firewall System)
http://www.sordum.org/8125/firewall-app-blocker-fab-v1-4/
How i use this program:
Extract the rar of the product
right-click the .exe of the program i want to install and click Block in Windows Firewall
after i installed the program i go to the installed location and block those .exe too (If any)

For blocking Hosts
http://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman
use this to block Hosts R2R recommends lol jokes(maybe) to block pop-up websites that sneak though
you could use this to block plugins from calling home if you know the IP addresses they use

 

That's like counting on dust on the scale when getting weighted.
In practice no one solved DAW performance problems by shutting down internet browser and legit win services on modern machines.
Test it. Load a test project that overloads CPU with internet browser in the background, all win services enabled, multiple win explorer instances, enabled wifi. Then do your "tweaks" and see the result.
Internet browsers can make difference in RAM usage but you don't have to have browser running 50 tabs and bad add-ons.

The only thing that makes difference is removing antivirus completely which you don't need anyway unless you have no idea what you're doing on internet.
That's my 20+ years of experience.

 

Just thought I might add to this thread that comodo free firewall can stop apps from opening your browser. We all know how effin annoying that can be, even if your network is disabled You have to create a rule in the HIPS section. Serum and Cableguys etc. I just toggle the HIPS feature on when Im in my DAW and back off when Im done

 

Last edited: Jan 30, 2017

I've personally experienced plenty of plugs and apps on various Macs over the years calling home and deactivating themselves for bogus serial numbers, etc. Even if you don't believe developers aren't malicious and will sue over owning illicit software ... why take that chance? Little Snitch cost 35 dollars and is absolutely unobtrusive (other than occasionally asking whether or not an app calling home should be allowed). Why not invest that money and eliminate a potential risk, rather than blindly assuming you're safe?

 

I am writing this...while listening... the playback ... FROM MY DAW!

No, seriously guys, I was never off the net, except to deal with my procrastination tendencies (so every day during working hours). These days I do that with chrome extension, so just my browser is blocked.

BUT, this thread convinced me to AT LEAST block the Cubase with the Win Firewall. But also I am thinking about dual boot (can you even install two win versions on the same computer? never asked myself that one.)

 

Yeah.

 

Yea I know about two different versions, like win 10 and win 7, but can you install two win 10 OSs? I kind of like 10.

 

As long as you purchase two separate licenses, one for each install and are cool with twice the amount of privacy invasion, yes.

 

So, now I set to work, opened my project, and the connection to my PC Slave VEP6 is lost. Whad'ya know!?

So yea, it's not that easy for me!

 

No you don't need to block anything, just disconnect the Ethernet cable.

 

Very reliable method. Cheap, as you probably have scissors in the house.
Seriously though, disconnecting the ethernet cable is really simple and it works 100%.

edit: on the laptop it's even easier as you usually have a wi-fi on/off button. I use that all the time.

 

Last edited: Feb 15, 2017

Call em back and tell em they suck.Be a rebel.

 

Actually you don't. I assembled a dual-boot machine using the same Win 8.1 Home OS and seperated them in my BIOS/UEFI. So the same OS on 2 different boot SSD's configured to boot up my mainstream OS as default (with it's own additional HDD's assigned in diskmanagement) and when I enter startup options in my BIOS (F2/Del for eg.) I can choose for my DAW OS SSD (tweaked for audio and also with it's own SSD/HDD's only here accessible).

I even updated my mainstream 8.1 OS to Win 10(!) more than a year ago while keeping my DAW OS on a stable Win 8.1 and both are fully functional, still receiving periodic updates for both (yes, I have both connected to the big bad www. ;))

A "phone home" action is only triggered when the installation ID changes. Windows activations are stored on Microsoft activation servers based upon the Installation ID which is made up of the Hardware ID - which uniquely identifies the computer it is installed on, the Product ID which identifies the version of Windows installed, and the Product Key - which identifies the basis for the license/activation. Typically, every time Windows boots it re-calculates the Installation ID. As long as the Installation ID is the same as the last one that was calculated, Windows just stays activated without any additional action.

So yes, you can use the same OS license on two "machines".

 

Normally I would recommend to people to use the latest Microsoft OS for Internet, but W10 is really quite weird and buggy, and 8.1 is still getting patched and fixed, so "upgrading" to W10 is really not necessary. 8.1 with Classic Shell is pretty usable for everything, however IMHO it's better to upgrade to some Linux distro [Debian, Mint, Ubuntu] for the Internet.