Handy Utility

jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/5/2008, 6:35 PM
Find Yourself closing a lot of other open programs and services, because you're afraid that Vegas might crash or not run properly, because of conflicts? Try this:

http://alacritypc.kensalter.com/index.htm

It's called AlacrityPC and it was originally designed to give resource-hog video games like Flight Simulator X as much memory and other resources as possible. AlacrityPC has separate default profiles for Vista and XP and it runs on both 32 and 64 bit OS versions. Basically it stops all unnecessary programs, runs your "monitored" program (like Vegas) and then when you exit Vegas, it restarts all the programs and services that were stopped or ended.

The default OS profiles stop a lot of unnecessary services and you can also select which other programs to stop (like Windows Defender, your Anti-Virus program and the Vista Sidebar, for example). It also attempts to recover unused memory blocks. On my 2 GB PC, it freed up enough RAM to have almost 1.65 GB free to run Vegas.

The program is freeware, but if you try it and like it, the author (not me, my C programming is way too rusty these days) will kindly accept a small donation.

Comments

craftech wrote on 3/6/2008, 6:18 AM
I read the information they have on that website and it looks as though the user has to decide which processes and services to shut down. A lot of people don't know which ones to pick, especially with bloated OS like XP and Vista. If you already have that kind of skill then you have the knowledge to do everything this utility does right within those OS.

John
Spot|DSE wrote on 3/6/2008, 7:16 AM
EndItAll is a great tool that shuts everything down that isn't necessary. Been using it for many years.
rs170a wrote on 3/6/2008, 7:50 AM
A lot of people don't know which ones to pick...

The following came from the Sony Knowledgebase a few years ago.

Close all background applications. This is not limited to the
programs that show in the system tray. Do a ctrl+alt+del and end
task or process on as many applications as you can, leaving only
Explorer and Systray for 98 or ME. For Windows 2000 and XP
move over to the Processes Tab and click the "Image Name"
heading at the top of this window twice, you would be able to view
these items by alphabetical order.
For Windows XP, you will only need next to your user name:

explorer.exe
taskmgr.exe

Next to "system":
csrss.exe
lsass.exe
mspmspv.exe
services.exe
smss.exe
spoolsv.exe
svchost.exe
system
system idle process
winlogon.exe
jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/6/2008, 12:07 PM
No, actually, if you start with the default Vista or XP profile as the parent, AlacrityPC already has a large number of processes that will be stopped and then subsequently restarted by default. It also allows you to pick additional services and programs to stop/restart. I gave a few examples in my OP and someone else gave some more examples above.