Optimizing the system can eliminate compatibility problems that can interfere with audio editing. To optimize a Windows system for Adobe Audition, work through the tasks in this document. To further eliminate problems, simplify the system to include only those components necessary for editing audio.

1. Make sure that the system meets the minimum requirements for Audition.

Audition may not run correctly on a system that doesn't meet the following requirements:

• Intel Pentium III or higher (SSE2-enabled processor required for AMD systems)
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Home Edition with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (certified support for 32-bit editions only)
• 512MB of RAM
• 10GB of available hard-disk space (when used with Loopology DVD)
• 1280x900 monitor resolution with 32-bit video card and 16MB of VRAM
• Microsoft DirectX or ASIO compatible sound card
• CD drive required for installation
• Internet or phone connection required for product activation and Internet-related services

Note: To check how much RAM is installed, choose Start > Control Panel > System. The amount of RAM appears on the lower half of the General tab in the System Properties dialog box.

2. Install current Windows service packs and other updates.

Updates to the Windows operating system improve its performance and compatibility with applications. You can obtain Windows service packs and other updates from the Microsoft website at www.windowsupdate.com. For assistance installing service packs and other updates, contact Microsoft technical support.

Important: Before you install a system update, check the system requirements for Audition 3.0 (and any third-party software or hardware you may use with Audition) to ensure compatibility. If the update isn't listed, then contact Adobe or the manufacturer of your third-party software or hardware.

If you've reinstalled an application or the Windows operating system after installing the latest Windows update, then reinstall the update. Some applications install commonly used system files, overwriting the updated versions installed by the Windows update.

3. Update the sound card driver.

Many sound card manufacturers frequently update their software drivers. If you haven't recently updated the sound card driver, contact the sound card manufacturer for an updated driver, or download one from the manufacturer's website.

To determine the manufacturer and driver version of a sound card:

1. Choose start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices.
2. Click the Hardware tab.
3. Choose the Device and click Properties.
4. Select the Driver tab and note the Driver Provider and the Driver Version listed.

4. Verify that other device drivers are compatible with Windows XP.

If updating the sound card driver doesn't resolve the problem, verify that all other device drivers are compatible with Windows XP. Device drivers are software files that allow Windows to communicate with devices such as scanners, mouse devices, and keyboards. Contact the device manufacturer to make sure that you are using the latest driver for it.

To check for device driver problems:

1. Choose Start > Control Panel > System.
2. Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
3. Click the plus sign (+) to the left of each device type.
4. If a device appears with a black exclamation mark (!) in a yellow circle, right-click that device, and choose Properties from the menu.
5. Note the properties for the device:
   • Check the Device Status field: If the device isn't working properly, information in this field can help you troubleshoot the problem.
   • If the Properties dialog box has a Driver tab, click it. If the Driver tab doesn't indicate the driver provider, click Driver Details. If Microsoft is the provider, a generic driver is probably installed; contact the device manufacturer to obtain the most recent driver.

5. Re-create the Audition preferences file.

Re-create the Audition preferences file to eliminate problems that a damaged preferences file might cause.

Note: When you use this solution, Audition will create a new preferences file and you will lose custom settings associated with your current preferences file. Deleting the preferences will cause Audition to disable checking for DirectX plug-ins and force reinitialization of VST plug-ins.

Your Audition preferences file may be a hidden file in Windows XP. To show hidden files and folders, complete the following steps:

1. Open My Computer.
2. Click on the Tools Menu and Choose Folder Options.
3. Choose the View Tab.
4. Under Files and Folders and Hidden Files and Folders, choose Show hidden files and folders.

1. Quit Audition.
2. Navigate to the following folder C:\Documents and Settings\ [username] \Application Data\Adobe\Audition\3.0.
   
   Important: If you saved your own custom workspaces, copy the UserWorkspaces folder to a new location.
   
   
3. Delete the entire contents of the C:\Documents and Settings\ [username] \Application Data\Adobe\Audition\3.0 folder.
4. Start Audition

6. Set Adobe Audition temporary folders to high-performance drives with adequate free disk space.

When recording in Edit View, Audition stores temporary files in its Primary Temp Directory. Make sure that the Primary Temp Directory is set to the fastest drive (7200 rpm and above) and the drive with the most free space. You should also create a folder just for Adobe Audition temporary files so that you can find the files easily should you need to delete them.

To create and set the location of the Primary Temp Directory:

1. Create a folder on the hard drive where you want to save the Primary Temp Directory (for example, a folder named "AuditionTemp").
2. In Audition, choose Edit > Preferences and select the System tab.
3. In the Temporary Folders section, enter the path (or browse) to the folder you created in step 1.

Recording in Multitrack View stores files directly into a subfolder within the folder of the current session. (For example, for a session called "Audition.ses" a folder called "Audition_Recorded" will contain all the files recorded for that session). For this reason, make sure that the session files and this associated folder are stored on the fastest drive (7200rpm and above) and the drive with the most free space.

Putting the Adobe Audition temporary directories and/or session folders on separate hard drives can improve performance. If you have multiple hard drives put the Primary Temp Folder and the session folders on the hard drive that doesn't contain the Adobe Audition program files.

7. Optimize handling of temporary files by Windows XP.

Windows and applications store working data in temporary (.tmp) files that they create on the hard disk. Excessive or outdated temporary files can interfere with performance of Windows or applications.

Delete temporary files by using the Disk Cleanup utility included with Windows or by using the following instructions. Make sure that at least 700 MB of free space is available on the hard disk to which temporary files are written. To start Disk Cleanup, choose Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. For information about Disk Cleanup, see Windows Help.

To manually delete temporary files:

Note: Repeat this procedure periodically. Windows deletes temporary files when Windows and applications close normally. When Windows or an application crashes, however, temporary files can accumulate on the hard disk.

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start > Search, and click All Files And Folders.
3. Type *.tmp in the All Or Part Of The File Name box.
4. Choose Local Hard Drives from the Look In menu, and then click Search.
5. After the search results appear, choose Edit > Select All.
6. Choose File > Delete. Click Yes to confirm that you want to send the files to the Recycle Bin.
7. Remove any files you don't want to delete from the Recycle Bin, and then empty the Recycle Bin. Windows deletes all temporary files not in use.

To make sure that at least 700 MB of free space is available on the hard disk to which temporary files are written:

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start > Control Panel > System.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Environment Variables.
4. In the User Variables For [user profile] area, locate TEMP in the Variable column, and note the folder listed in the Value column. If the complete pathname for the folder isn't visible, then double-click TEMP in the Variable column, and note the folder name in the Variable Value box.
   
   Note: If a TEMP variable doesn't exist, then contact your system administrator for assistance.
   
   
5. In Windows Explorer, verify that the folder you noted in step 4 exists on a non-compressed disk partition that has at least 700 MB of free space:
   • If the folder doesn't exist, then create it: Right-click the drive, choose New Folder from the menu, and type the folder name you noted in step 4 (for example, Temp).
   • If the disk doesn't have enough free space, then create additional space by removing unnecessary files. To determine the amount of free space, right-click the disk and choose Properties from the menu.

8. Repair and defragment hard disks.

System errors can occur if hard disks contain damaged sectors or fragmented files. Repair and defragment hard disks, either by using the Error-checking tool and Disk Defragmenter utility included with Windows or by using a third-party disk utility (for example, Symantec Norton Utilities). You should run such utilities on each hard disk or partition. More information about the Error-checking tool and Disk Defragmenter appears below; for more information about a third-party disk utility, refer to the documentation for the utility.

The Error-checking tool repairs bad sectors, lost allocation units and file fragments, cross-linked files, and invalid file names. To access the Error-checking tool, choose Start > My Computer, right-click the desired hard disk, and choose Properties from the menu. In the Local Disk Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab, and then click Check Now in the Error-checking area.

Note: To prevent Disk Defragmenter from moving files to bad sectors of a disk, run the Error-checking tool before running Disk Defragmenter.

Disk Defragmenter rearranges the files and free space on your computer so that files are stored in contiguous units and free space is consolidated in one contiguous block. To access the Disk Defragmenter utility, choose Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.

9. Scan the system for viruses.

Use current anti-virus software (for example, Symantec Norton AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan) to check the system for viruses. Virus infections can damage software and cause system errors. For more information, see the documentation for the anti-virus software.

10. Set the virtual memory paging file to the default size.

Virtual memory allows the system to use hard disk space to store information normally stored in RAM. Windows XP manages virtual memory by using a paging file. You specify the minimum and maximum size of this file. If the size is different from the default in Windows XP, applications may return errors. However, some applications may require a non-default size for the paging file. Change the size only if other applications aren't adversely affected.

To set the paging file to the default size:

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to change the size of the paging file.

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start > Control Panel > System.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings in the Performance area.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Change in the Virtual Memory area.
5. From the Drive list, select a hard-disk partition that has free space equal to at least three times the amount of the computer's installed RAM. To determine the amount of space available on a hard-disk partition, click the drive letter; the amount of space available appears in the Paging File Size For Selected Drive area.
6. In the Initial Size box, enter a value equal to one and a half times the amount of the computer's installed RAM.
7. In the Maximum Size box, enter a value equal to twice the amount of the Initial Size value.
8. Click Set, and then click OK to close the Virtual Memory dialog box.
9. Click OK to the alert "The changes you have made require you to restart your computer."
10. Click OK to close the Performance Options dialog box, and then click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.
11. Click Yes in the System Settings Change dialog box. Windows restarts.

11. Change the Wave Cache settings in Adobe Audition.

Changing the Wave Cache setting increases performance in Adobe Audition.

To change the Wave Cache setting in Audition 3.0:

Choose Edit > Preferences > System, and then enter one of the values from the table below, depending on how much RAM is installed on your computer.

Note: As you reach higher Wave Cache settings, your returns start to diminish, so you should try various settings to see how they work for you.

Products affected