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MMD > Archives > May 2003 > 2003.05.08 > 05Prev  Next


MIDI Music Lapses
By Bill Luecht

Hi, all.  In reply to Jim Moore's question about lapses in the music
with WindPlay, it sounds like Windows is allowing some other program
which is running in the background (and there are usually several)
to temporarily "hog" all of the processor's resources.  This happens
on my computer when playing MIDI files with McAfee VirusScan running.
Sometimes the tempo is just slightly uneven, and sometimes it hangs
for a second or two, but it certainly ruins the music.

Try to disable the anti-virus program by right-clicking the icon in the
lower right corner of the screen, if there is one, and then clicking
EXIT to stop the program.  It should re-start when you re-boot the
computer, so you will have to disable it each time.

If this doesn't work, hit ctrl-alt-del and then select the Task List or
Task Manager, you can see all of the processes that are running in the
background.  Some of these are necessary for Windows; others are not.
Try shutting them down one by one (if they are important and you close
them, the computer may not work properly, and you will have to
re-boot), and then try WindPlay again.  If you find the offending
program, then all you have to do is determine whether it needs to be
running, where it is located, and what causes it to start in the first
place.  Simple, huh?

Some of these processes are ad-ware or spy-ware, and come from e-mails
or the Internet.  There is a program called Ad-Aware available for free
from http://www.lavasoft.de/ that will search out this stuff and clean
it from your computer.

Many programs that are time sensitive don't run well in Windows,
because Windows only lets the program run in fits and starts.  This is
the reason Richard Stibbons' roll scanning program runs on a computer
with DOS as the operating system, rather than in Windows.

Regards,  Bill Luecht

 [ See "Optimizing Your PC to Run Gigasampler", at Warren Trachtman's site
 [ http://www.wstco.com/pianosounds/GigasamplerMemoryOptimization.htm
 [ -- Robbie


(Message sent Thu 8 May 2003, 18:06:57 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

Key Words in Subject:  Lapses, MIDI, Music

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