So now you're going to come roaring into the noughties, rip all your silver discs to your 1TB harddrive and use them as drinks coasters? No excuses now!

I play with video editing and photo's a lot...my old XP machine (30 months old) is seriously challenged with only 2 GB of memory max, to run the programs. My 2 year old Sony laptop simply won't...

If I change a film format, say from WMV to MOV, the PC almost shuts down and takes up to 5 hours to do the conversion of the 20 minute film...It uses so much of my capabilities that even the screen saver is locked out till the process is done.

The next time I plan on getting a windows 7 machine with no other software on it but with the ability to load at least 8GB of memory and a good graphics card...Something that will not need replacement in 2 years.

He makes my little refurb computer want to go hide in the corner.

I am happy for him, though.

Way to go.

Jim

For video editing or other graphics intensive apps, not just that 8GB of RAM will help, but a large cache multi-core processor(s) and especially a 64-bit OS.

BTW- turn off your screen saver- just have the screen go blank. Turn off auto virus scans and any software that that "helpfully" sits around updating, or waiting to update itself. A lot of resources go into junk you don't need or want. Big offenders are acrobat, Office, Quicktime, Google, audio cards, and any media-oriented software.

My setup, which gets used for both complex 3D animation and then a lot of video editing and compositing, is Vista 64-bit Business, and it has been amazing, with bullet proof stability. I actually cannot remember EVER having a full OS crash in the year that I've had it, and I've had it going for days at a time with all day work, and all night network rendering. My four machine render farm didn't get turned off for four months straight for one particular project, while rendering 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and again, never even a hiccup.

Of course, the main thing is not to load in the garbage software and add-in, services and other BS that is the bane of all computer users everywhere. There are many sites out there that are good at giving advice on setting what gets loaded in at start-up and disabling ones you don't need.

Out of interest Keld, what are the Windows Experience Index scores for your machine? (you can check under Control Panel>Performance Information and Tools).

Jim, Is the file conversion CPU constrained or memory constrained? Might just be that a couple more megs of memory make all the difference and give the machine a new lease on life. Obviously there is a limit to what it is worth spending on an old machine but memory is so cheap now that this is often a very cost-effective route to take.

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Of course, the main thing is not to load in the garbage software and add-in, services and other BS that is the bane of all computer users everywhere. There are many sites out there that are good at giving advice on setting what gets loaded in at start-up and disabling ones you don't need.

Amen. I couldn't agree more.

I have used Tune-up Utilities for years now and would recommend it enthusiastically. In fact when friends ask me for help with a screwed-up PC (I am the reluctant 'IT Manager' for an ever-growing circle of friends and family - I'm sure some of you know how that feels!) one of the first things I usually do is install it in order to get a handle on how bad things really are. Most of them end up keeping it.

It is a real Swiss Army Knife of a program containing a assortment of indispensible utilities from a disk defragmenter to registry cleaner/defragmenter, start-up manager etc. It is the best way I am aware of to keep a PC lean, clean and healthy. They offer a 30-day free trail so you can see for yourself what sort of shape your machine is in. The permanent license then costs something like $30 and is good for 3 machines. As far as I am concerned this is one of the best $30 I have ever spent.

Not aimed specifically at you Doug, I really would recommend this to everyone.

Thanks for the advice...what large cache multi-core processor are you recommending...I run very little on the machine though I do have all my music on it, but unless open, that does nothing but fill RAM.

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Out of interest Keld, what are the Windows Experience Index scores for your machine? (you can check under Control Panel>Performance Information and Tools).

Jim, Is the file conversion CPU constrained or memory constrained? Might just be that a couple more megs of memory make all the difference and give the machine a new lease on life. Obviously there is a limit to what it is worth spending on an old machine but memory is so cheap now that this is often a very cost-effective route to take.

The 2GB is the max the old E-machine will take.

I use CCleaner for most clean ups and Webroot's window washer to get rid of deep seated junk...

I'm spec'ing out a new work machine using a pair of the 12-core AMD's for a signal processing workhorse (for audio, yes).

Probably run Linux, tough.

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I play with video editing and photo's a lot...my old XP machine (30 months old) is seriously challenged with only 2 GB of memory max, to run the programs. My 2 year old Sony laptop simply won't...

If I change a film format, say from WMV to MOV, the PC almost shuts down and takes up to 5 hours to do the conversion of the 20 minute film...It uses so much of my capabilities that even the screen saver is locked out till the process is done.

Quick question: what software are you using?

I ask because I run XP in my office as one of my main tv recording/editing/transcoding machines, and don't hit anything remotely like the kind of times you report.

I *have* found that most of the well-known consumer products - Roxio/Nero et al - are very, very slow.

I use Video ReDo and the TMPG family of products for simple editing and, in particular, transcoding. They're quick, stable and while they'll tie up your box, they won't make it sluggish after.

s.

btw - j_j, what kinda linux you thinking about? I run Linux as much as possible on my home laptop and have a mythtv box in the office whose uptime is measured in months. I started back in very early 93' when I downloaded something like eight floppies from AOL and installed Slackware, I think. I remember there was no GUI, at which point I fell in love.

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I play with video editing and photo's a lot...my old XP machine (30 months old) is seriously challenged with only 2 GB of memory max, to run the programs. My 2 year old Sony laptop simply won't...

If I change a film format, say from WMV to MOV, the PC almost shuts down and takes up to 5 hours to do the conversion of the 20 minute film...It uses so much of my capabilities that even the screen saver is locked out till the process is done.

Quick question: what software are you using?

I have Photoshop CS3, AVS video converter 6 and AVS video editor..I am just touching the surface of what the last two can do as they take so long to do it...

Guys -

With respect, there might be a bit of overkill going on here. dbowker absolutely needs what he has for the kind of work he does, and you're right, in general video editing can chew through fast, well-equipped computers.

However, if Jim is simply in the business of light video editing and conversion, he should be getting better results than he's describing.

Personally, I'd be considering a switch to TMPG for conversion, (you can demo it, I believe)and a smaller footprint editor. Since I just need straight cuts trimming and such, I use Video ReDo, but if you're in need of dissolves and time lines, I would (believe it or not) look at Sony's low end derivative from Vegas.

I ran it successfully, (meaning I could edit without wanting to pull my hair out) on a 2004 era Dell that is single core, though multi-threaded.

s.

I wish someone built a program (at a real price) that simply took the fuzzy, color challenged, or audio mushy video file and with the press of a button, cleaned it up. Adobe's CS3 and 4 series of photo editor software has auto tone, contrast and color buttons that apply a total correction at once AND that can be walked back from in steps to get it right.

Imagine that 5 year old family reunion that is fuzzy or with washed out color fixed with a similiar control. Or the beach video where most of the audio is drowned in ocean wave background.

That is what I want and have not found.

Don't blame you. Even though I'm primarily a Linux/Mac guy, my preferred photo editor is Paint Shop Pro, especially before Corel got it. I recommend PSP 9, whose auto-correction is very good and which I find very, very much easier to use than PS. Also, a smaller footprint. And for quick jobs on the Windows side, Irfanview, a program that is fast,small and logical.

s.

Pinnacle's Studio (very inexpensive) has impressive color balance, saturation, white balance, sharpness, stability, etc. correction; noise reduction (both audio and video); and other similar goodies.

While not a pro program it does an amazingly good job.

Agreed. We've used a Pinnacle product as 'training wheels' for non-linear, with good results.

s.

That's good to know. It is the best I have found for my purposes but I am far from an expert.

It sure is fun to manipulate video however. It has greatly increased my appreciation for good editing in everything from news stories, to commercials to movies.

http://www.computingunleashed.com/2009/06/speed-up-windows-7-ultimate-guide-to.html