Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

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MikeDVI
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:23 pm

Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by MikeDVI »

Hi all,

Like many here, my MX shares a computer used for gaming and other things (specs below). I am finding that this PC frequently and at random hiccups, or freezes for a second or two while in use. (Not just in MX is up either, I see it in word, excel, games, you name it, so Windows is up to something in the background). I have tried every darn site with tweak recommendations I can find, but there is obviously a process that eludes me. I do disable internet connections, automatic update, Malwarebytes, win defender, screen savers, real time backups and a myriad of other processes but to no avail.

Today it put me over the top as just toward the end of a real time fingerstyle track it froze up for about two seconds and ruined the session along with my patience to punch it in for a fix. I am recently gaining ground in my work with songwriters and this is becoming a real hassle!

To my point, are the "recording specific" PC's like what you see at Sweetwater etc. worth the investment? My thoughts are move this current machine to normal / gaming use and purchase a specific PC with all the bloatware removed, and have it dedicated to music tasks only.

Edit - I am reading where Acronis True Image backup software (which I use) is a culprit of freezes.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Mike
MX10.5 Pro Studio B 586. Presonus 1818vsl AI, Dell XPS 8930 Core I9-9900 3.10 GHz, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, 64-GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2060, 1 and 2 TB SSD’s + 1 and 2 TB spinner sata’s, cookies and coffee.
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Rolling Estonian
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Location: MD/DC

Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by Rolling Estonian »

I'm going to be buying a new laptop soon. You can get a custom made i7-10, 32gb ram, 2 SSD for under $1500. I'm looking at Xotic, hidevolution and others.

Specialized systems for music production for the most part are just set up correctly for you which you can do yourself.

M
MikeDVI
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:23 pm

Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by MikeDVI »

Rolling Estonian wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:27 am I'm going to be buying a new laptop soon. You can get a custom made i7-10, 32gb ram, 2 SSD for under $1500. I'm looking at Xotic, hidevolution and others.

Specialized systems for music production for the most part are just set up correctly for you which you can do yourself.

M
Thanks and agree about setting things up correctly ourselves, however it seems I am not getting that step right based on these hiccups!
MX10.5 Pro Studio B 586. Presonus 1818vsl AI, Dell XPS 8930 Core I9-9900 3.10 GHz, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, 64-GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2060, 1 and 2 TB SSD’s + 1 and 2 TB spinner sata’s, cookies and coffee.
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Rolling Estonian
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Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by Rolling Estonian »

I've told everyone who may be experiencing problems to open your task manager when you boot up and keep it open and watch. Windows will be doing update stuff all the time, no matter the update settings you have on. But if it's something weird you can Google and fix it, my buddy had a bitcoin mine software running that was messing up his system till he found it, so a lot of stuff could be the issue. If it's misbehaving on all the programs it's something.... Finding out what is can be the issue. You could try a fresh windows install, that could do it.

M
MikeDVI
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:23 pm

Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by MikeDVI »

Rolling Estonian wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:11 pm I've told everyone who may be experiencing problems to open your task manager when you boot up and keep it open and watch. Windows will be doing update stuff all the time, no matter the update settings you have on. But if it's something weird you can Google and fix it, my buddy had a bitcoin mine software running that was messing up his system till he found it, so a lot of stuff could be the issue. If it's misbehaving on all the programs it's something.... Finding out what is can be the issue. You could try a fresh windows install, that could do it.

M
Cool and thanks again!! I was reading about this exact thing on superuser, and as you said, open task manager and keep a window open to watch, sort of like ambushing the culprit. Once it freezes I cant do a thing, then it is too late to catch the bug.

I will try this, really appreciate the tip!

Mike
MX10.5 Pro Studio B 586. Presonus 1818vsl AI, Dell XPS 8930 Core I9-9900 3.10 GHz, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, 64-GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2060, 1 and 2 TB SSD’s + 1 and 2 TB spinner sata’s, cookies and coffee.
MikeDVI
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:23 pm

Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by MikeDVI »

Replying to my own post to help others that may encounter this on a Dell.

I big thanks to Rolling Estonian!!

Late last night and this morning I encountered the usual freezing up for a couple seconds. The culprit was "Dell Support Assist Remediation". A Google search has a boatload of issues on this!

I uninstalled the program, so far no freezes since. Time will tell, and I will keep my eyes (and task manager) open.


Mike
MX10.5 Pro Studio B 586. Presonus 1818vsl AI, Dell XPS 8930 Core I9-9900 3.10 GHz, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, 64-GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2060, 1 and 2 TB SSD’s + 1 and 2 TB spinner sata’s, cookies and coffee.
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Rolling Estonian
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Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by Rolling Estonian »

Awesome. If you haven't yet, get decrapify and go through and get rid of what you don't need. Mass manufacturers like Dell have a ton of bloatware that will do all kinds of things.

M
MikeDVI
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:23 pm

Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by MikeDVI »

Thought I'd drop in, I could not find a decent version of a decrapify, but I did go into installed programs and do it the old fashioned way. Unloaded a ton of stuff, I researched programs I was unsure about --- as you stated Dell has really overloaded this thing. For example there was some Farm Sim game coming up in task manager that not only did I not want but had no clue it was even installed. Shame on me.

Farm Sim? Why is Farm Sim loading itself up? (Are you sure you want to uninstall? YES, forever please)

On the freezing up it apparently was that "Dell Support Assist Remediation" after all, no freezes for two days now.

I stumbled on a post at Microsoft-dot-com where they answered a user having similar problems with a similar Dell PC, and the tech told him exactly what Dell nonsense could be deleted. I followed suit after reading up on each entry. So far it is running great and boot times are less as well. The Task Manager trick is great and I can't believe I did not think of it sooner! I still have it up on my second monitor but things are pretty quiet now.

Thanks again, a thousand times over.

Mike
MX10.5 Pro Studio B 586. Presonus 1818vsl AI, Dell XPS 8930 Core I9-9900 3.10 GHz, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, 64-GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2060, 1 and 2 TB SSD’s + 1 and 2 TB spinner sata’s, cookies and coffee.
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Rolling Estonian
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Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by Rolling Estonian »

Yeah, decrapifier is gone, this is good too:
https://www.shouldiremoveit.com

Also, make sure in task manager you don't have anything unnecessary in your startup menu.

M
MikeDVI
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:23 pm

Re: Windows 10 freezes / "recording specific" PC worth it? (Not an MX issue)

Post by MikeDVI »

Rolling Estonian wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:45 pm Yeah, decrapifier is gone, this is good too:
https://www.shouldiremoveit.com

Also, make sure in task manager you don't have anything unnecessary in your startup menu.

M
Yeah, I stripped the startup stuff out the day I got it. Also use CrapCleaner regularly, I have my MX location excepted for song load times.

Thanks for the link!

Mike
MX10.5 Pro Studio B 586. Presonus 1818vsl AI, Dell XPS 8930 Core I9-9900 3.10 GHz, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, 64-GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2060, 1 and 2 TB SSD’s + 1 and 2 TB spinner sata’s, cookies and coffee.
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