Performance Changes

DONE - Change #1: Disable Display Options and Power Management

NOTE: You WILL hear audio dropouts until you make this change.

1. Right click on a blank space of your desktop and left click Properties to see the Display Properties window.
2. Left Click the Screen Saver Tab
3. Left Click the arrow to the right of screen saver drop down list and select (None).
4. Left Click the Power button on this tab to see Power Options Properties window.
5. In the Power Schemes group, left click the drop down arrow and select either Full Power or Always On and left click OK to close this window.
6. Return to the Display Properties window.
   For Windows XP - left Click the Appearence Tab and left click the Effects button...
7. If you have a laptop - Left Click the Hibernation Tab and un-check Enable Hibernation.
8. Left Click OK to close the Display Properties window.

DONE - Change #2: Disable Windows Search Indexer

1. Left click the Start Menu, then left click Run. Type services.msc and then hit Enter.
2. Scroll down and locate Indexing Service, then double click it.
3. Left Click on the Stop button to immediately stop the indexing service if the service status shows Running.
4. Under Startup Type, select Disabled to permanently disable the indexing service so that it will not run again.
5. Left Click Apply then Ok
6. Now you can close the Services dialog

DONE - Change #3: Update Windows

IMPORTANT NOTE: You MUST ONLY use Windows Internet Explorer to do Windows Updates. You CANNOT USE: Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Netscape or any other Browser. To run IE, left click Start button > All Programs > Internet Explorer.

Windows XP Updates are found at http://update.microsoft.com

You MUST do the Windows Updates to run MTU Hoster 4.xx or higher. Many users who had weird problems say these disappeared after updating Windows.

1. When the page above appears, left click on the Custom button. Your computer will be scanned for what updates are not installed.
2. In the left column, select all items under Optional Software.
3. Left click on Install to start the installation.
4. Once the updates are installed, if you see a message to restart the computer, you must do this before continuing.
5. Then go through the same process again until it shows 0 items to be installed under Optional Software updates and Critical Updates.

DONE - Change #4: Disable CDRom Auto Play Option

Disable this option to prevent programs from automatically reading a CDG or CDROM disc you load and running or playing it.

1. Left Click the Start button
2. Left Click the Run option
3. Type in regedit
4. Locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and left click it
5. Locate System and left click it
6. Locate CurrentControlSet and left click it
7. Locate Services and left click it
8. Locate Cdrom and left click it
9. Right click Auto Run and select Modify
10. Set the Value Data to 0 and left click the OK button
11. Restart your computer

Programs that can play or run files on a disc include:

• Windows Media Player
• Sound Drivers for an Audio card you installed in your computer
• Certain CDG Producers (Example: Sound Choice) add multiple sessions to some CDG discs that display advertisements each time you play a song from their discs.
• Some CD (or CDG) playing or copy software.

DONE - Change #5: Disable Alarm Sounds

Hoster displays Exclamation and Question message boxes that normally sound audio "alerts" to get your attention. These sounds are disruptive to your show unless you disable them.

1. Left Click the Windows Start button.
2. Left Click Settings... and then Control Panel.
3. Left Click the Sounds and Multimedia option.
4. In the Sounds Tab that appears on top, scroll down until you find the Exclamation title and left click it to select it.
5. In the Name: field below, left click the drop down arrow and select [None] at the very top. This will disable any sound playing when an Exclamation message box appears.
6. Left Click the Apply button at the bottom right to finish this selection.
7. Do the same for the Question selection so it also will not play a sound.
8. Left Click the OK button to finish this selection and close this dialog box.
9. These message boxes will no longer play a sound when they appear for Hoster or ANY OTHER program.

DONE - Change #6: Set the Resolution of Your Displays

If not changed, this can cause; 1) Lyrics to be out of sync with the audio, and 2) Graphics will draw with random errors (top half may not draw, top may draw very slow and be out of sync with the audio while bottom half draws fast, etc.).

Set For Computer Monitor:

1. Right click on the Desktop where there are no icons
2. Left click Properties
3. Left click Settings
4. Make sure that your Resolution is set correctly for Monitor
   
   
   • This setting depends on your computer, but Hoster is designed to run on 1024x768 or HIGHER
   • Insure your colors are set at 32 bit
5. If you have a TV/Singer's Second Monitor
   
   
   • Left click Monitor 2 to select this monitor
   • Set the resolution slider to higher than 800x600 or your colors will not be correct
6. Left click Apply and OK to close the dialog and save your new settings

DONE - Change #7: Virtual Memory Settings

This Windows setting determines how much hard drive space is fixed-allocated to swap RAM contents (i.e. running programs) when Windows needs to free up RAM for its own background tasks. If VM is set too low, you can see 5 to 20 second delays frequently in Hoster. Thus, you want to insure your VM is set correctly. The recommended amount is double your system RAM. More than this can actually slow WIndows performance.

1. Left Click the Start button.
2. Double-click Control Panel.
3. In the window that appears, double-click System.
4. Left Click the Advanced tab at the top.
5. Left Click the Performance Group - Settings button.
6. In the Performance Options dialog that appears, left click the Advanced tab.
7. In the Virtual Memory group at the bottom, left click the Change button.
8. In the Virtual Memory dialog that appears, left click the Custom Size radio button.
9. Ignore the Minimum size: value. Enter the Recommended size: value.
10. Left Click into the Initial size: field and enter the value (3055 MB recommended if you have 2GB RAM).
11. Left Click into the Maximum size: field and enter 4096 or up to 2x your installed RAM (MB).
12. Left Click the Set button and then the OK button to close the Virtual Memory dialog.
13. Left Click the OK button to close the Performance Options dialog.
14. Left Click the OK button to close the System Properties dialog.
15. Restart your computer now or shortly.

 

RECOMMENDED CHANGES

DONE - Change #8: Allow Windows Media Player to Play Local Files

Video files will not play if this is not set as below:

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Left Click Tools Menu
3. Left Click Internet Options
4. Left Click Advanced tab
5. Scroll down to the Security section
6. Left Click Allow active content to run in files on My Computer
7. Also left click Allow active content from CDs to run on My Computer
8. Restart XP

DONE - Change #9: Install Video Codecs

You need to install Video Codecs on your computer to beable to play different types of Video files in Hoster.

1. Download the Video Codec Pack from: HERE
2. Make sure that you click on where it states: Download [K-Lite Codec Pack X.xx FULL] where X.xx is the version number.
3. Save this file to your computer and then double click on it to run it, Follow the onscreen instructions.
4. Once installed, you will beable to play video files in Hoster.

Install At Lease 1GB Computer RAM

With the XP upgrades (SP3 for 32-bit, SP1 for 64-bit) and larger Songs Databases, to run safely and reliably your computer needs at least 1GB RAM for XP 32-bit and 2GB (4GB is better) for XP 64-bit. Upgrade your RAM and prevent headaches for you, your MTU.Community friends and MTU Staff.

Processor Speed Should Be At Least 1.3GHz

Hoster 4.x requires at least 1.3GHz to safely run all the new features. If you have a tightly designed Laptop or Shuttle computer, you may not be able to buy and install a faster processor as the Power Supply may be insufficient for an upgrade. However... adding a faster processor MAY or MAY NOT require more power. If you don't know, you need to find technical help to do this for you. With parts and labor, it may be cheaper to replace the computer.

Hard Drive Free Space

Most users don't know that Windows REQUIRES free hard drive space to perform "housekeeping" tasks to run reliably. Some experts say you need 25% free hard drive space, but at least 10% would be a minimum. If you have a 100GB drive, you need at least 10-25GB free. With a 250GB drive, you need 25-60GB free. If you see your hard drive light flashing a lot after 5 seconds when a new song starts playing, your drive may be "thrashing" due to not having enough free space. If you see this, add another USB external 1 Terabyte hard drive and copy your karaoke, audio, and videos files to it so your C: drive has more free space.