My issues with Pro Tools 9 and Windows 7/64bit

[MuziqMaker]

My experience with Pro Tools and Windows 7/64bit was a little shaky at first but once I figured out a few things, Pro Tools 9 now runs fine. I never had any real issues with Pro Tools 7.0 or 8.0 on Windows XP Pro. But when I upgraded to Pro Tools 9, I had to install Windows 7. I installed the 32 bit version for fear that my third party plug-ins (too many to list right now) wouldn't work. I have 8Gigs of memory installed though I knew that Win 7/32 bit would only recognize 4Gigs. All was good in PT9 until I started running out of memory and getting all sorts of errors that I didn't get with previous versions of PT. I had built the computer knowing that one day I'd be moving up to 64bits so I threw caution to the wind and installed the 64bit version of Windows 7. As soon as I got Pro Tools 9 installed I started experiencing grief. Failure to launch, access errors, DAE errors, plug-in errors, GUI crashes etc. Then I remembered that when I had one particular issue running Pro Tools 9 on the 32bit version of Windows 7, Tech support told me to run PT9 as administrator. So, soon as I ran PT9 as administrator on the 64bit version all of the grief went away and everything including fxpansions vst wrapper and all of my 3rd party plug-ins work very smoothly now. I realized that most of my grief with Pro Tools 9 had come from lack of access to my memory and not running PT9 as administrator. Anyway all's good for now.

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Speed : 2.40GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Internal Data Cache : 4x 32kB Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 4MB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 16-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

System
System : Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 965P-DS3
Mainboard : Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 965P-DS3
Bus(es) : PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : 1 Processor(s)
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
System BIOS : Award Software International, Inc. 255.255
Total Memory : 8GB DDR2-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : Giga-Byte Technology P965/G965 Memory Controller Hub
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 267MHz (1068MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 8GB DDR2-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 4x 400MHz (1600MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : BenQ FP202W (Digital)
Monitor/Panel : BenQ FP202W (Digital)
Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO

Physical Storage Devices
WDC WD3200AAKS-00SBA0 (ATA) : 298GB (E:)
WDC WD6400AACS-00G8B1 (ATA) : 596GB (D:)
WDC WD740ADFD-00NLR5 (ATA) : 69GB (C:)
WDC WD5000AAKS-00TMA0 (ATA) : 466GB (F:)
Generic External (USB) : 233GB (O:)
Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB) : N/A (K:)
Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB) : N/A (L:)
Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB) : N/A (M:)
Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB) : N/A (N:)
WD 3200AAV External (USB) : 298GB (H:)
WD 5000AAKB Externa (USB) : 466GB (G:)
WD 5000BMV External (USB) : 466GB (P:)
TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-S202N (RAID) : N/A (I:)
LITE-ON SOHW-1673SU (USB) : N/A (J:)

Logical Storage Devices
Beta (E:) : 298GB (76GB, 25% Free Space) (NTFS) @ WDC WD3200AAKS-00SBA0 (ATA)
Alpha (D:) : 596GB (320GB, 54% Free Space) (NTFS) @ WDC WD6400AACS-00G8B1 (ATA)
Hard Disk (C:) : 69GB (11GB, 15% Free Space) (NTFS) @ WDC WD740ADFD-00NLR5 (ATA)
Gamma (F:) : 466GB (275GB, 59% Free Space) (NTFS) @ WDC WD5000AAKS-00TMA0 (ATA)
Zeta (O:) : 233GB (103GB, 44% Free Space) (NTFS) @ Generic External (USB)
Epsilon (H:) : 298GB (126GB, 42% Free Space) (NTFS) @ WD 3200AAV External (USB)
Delta (G:) : 466GB (325GB, 70% Free Space) (NTFS) @ WD 5000AAKB Externa (USB)
My Passport (P:) : 466GB (140GB, 30% Free Space) (NTFS) @ WD 5000BMV External (USB)
Removable Drive (K:) : N/A @ Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB)
Removable Drive (L:) : N/A @ Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB)
Removable Drive (M:) : N/A @ Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB)
Removable Drive (N:) : N/A @ Generic STORAGE DEVICE (USB)
CD-ROM/DVD (I:) : N/A @ TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-S202N (RAID)
CD-ROM/DVD (J:) : N/A @ LITE-ON SOHW-1673SU (USB)

Peripherals
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2830
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2831
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2832
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2834
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2835
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 2836
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 283A
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Composite Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Composite Device
USB Controller/Hub : MOTU USB MIDI (WDM) for 64 bit Windows
USB Controller/Hub : USB Composite Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : VIA 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller
Keyboard : HID Keyboard Device
Mouse : PS/2 Compatible Mouse
Human Interface : HID-compliant consumer control device
Human Interface : HID-compliant device
Human Interface : HID-compliant device
Human Interface : HID-compliant device
Human Interface : USB Input Device
Human Interface : USB Input Device
Human Interface : USB Input Device

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : MOTU PCI Audio Driver for x64
Device : M-Audio Delta Audiophile

Printers and Faxes
Model : Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Model : Fax

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows Vista Business Media Center 6.01.7600
Platform Compliance : Win64 x64

Network Services
Adapter : Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller

[M-ManLA]

Your plugs would of been safe with 64bit.

[MuziqMaker]

Yup, I know that now. Cool!

[sirprotools]

Well, I haven't had your luck. I upgraded to Win7 64 bit with a whopping 16G RAM. Pro Tools runs the same as it did for me in XP and W7 x32-- crappy. Run a couple of VI's and effects and bam, buffer issues and cpu issues-- not even possible with 4 cores, 16 gig ram? CPU issues?

I've been having much better luck with Reaper. Don't think I'll be going the PT9 route. Might put Logic on my Mac though.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by sirprotools

Well, I haven't had your luck. I upgraded to Win7 64 bit with a whopping 16G RAM. Pro Tools runs the same as it did for me in XP and W7 x32-- crappy. Run a couple of VI's and effects and bam, buffer issues and cpu issues-- not even possible with 4 cores, 16 gig ram? CPU issues?

I've been having much better luck with Reaper. Don't think I'll be going the PT9 route. Might put Logic on my Mac though.

Have you made any attempt to use the solutions here? Such as reviewing the General Troubleshooting thread, the Windows 7system tweaks and posting a Sandra report. You might also try pulling half of your RAM(take it to 8GB) as I have a local PT system specialist that swears 6-8GB of RAM is the best balance(any more RAM actually can rob system resources in management). I am quite happy with my rig.