ways to use daily computer for pro tools as well

[mcginty]

Hey guys,

Just got an MBOX2, BCF2000 and some gear for a starter, simple home studio. Unfortunately i don't have the cash to spring for a dedicated PT system, and want to use my current everyday system for pro tools as well.

What are the reccomended ways of doing this? I tried 2 different XP installs, but had some driver and USB issues, and it was plagued from the getgo. What is the general best way to do this? Currently i am running Vista. The PC is a 2gbRAM, 7800GTX, AMD 3800+ 64b Dual Core.

Any help would be appreciated,
All tips are most welcome!

Gints

[bladesg]

Vantec EZ Swap SATA

Google it

[sunburst79]

I like to Dual Boot myself.

The Vantec EZ swap is a good idea also.

[3JDamon]

Dual-boot couldn't have been the cause of the driver issues. You should try it again, it's the time-proven way to go. If you really want a separate physical boot drive, you don't need a hot-swap caddy to do it either. Surely your case has room for three drives.

[Obsidian Dragon]

I suggest you work on getting your Windows XP to work first (no more driver issues) and then tackle the Protools install and configuration. Since you have Vista on there it is a little harder to get XP installed afterwards. I recall some tricks you have to do to fool the installation programs but don't know them off the top of my head. It seems having XP installed and then adding Vista allows for a dual boot easier.

[mcginty]

ok, I will try to put XP back on and run a dual boot.

I will check for a guide on how to retro install XP along with Vista, because i would prefer to not uninstall my Vista now it's running so smoothly.

Thanks Guys

[Jenk2k]

I use an AMD 3000XP in WXP with 2GB ram for my daily machine and for pro tools and I use two hardware profiles. I am not sure if this is what everyone means by dual boot - I thought dual boot was two different windows installations on two different partitions. I've never needed to go to that extreme. Honestly most of the time for quick sessions, I just disable the wireless net adapter and am able to work consistently for hours. That seems to be the thing that messes with the CPU the most.

For long sessions or more intense plugin usage, I use the "pro tools session" hardware profile that I created where almost no drivers or anthing unecessary are loaded. This works wonderfully for me day after day, and my system is slower than yours.