Will I be able to...

[Jax]

... run Pro Tools M-Powered 7.0 on my old generic Dell 1.5ghz with XP?

(The DUC is not worth searching. I've tried. Their search engine sucks!)

I ask because although this pc is not on the Digi's Supported CPU's list, it doesn't mean that it can't work... does it? I know they can't test everything.

I'd use my older Mac but it's a bit anemic for the task, being a 400mhz single processor.

It's either use the old pc or buy a cheap new one. I'm sure not buying an overpriced old Mac for an editing-only machine.

[quentinrittman]

what processor you got in the system? P4, celeron, AMD Athlon XP etc.

how much ram have you got. XP really doesn't run well on less than 256mb and that's without brigning anything like protools into the equation!

jsut coz their site says it isn't supported doens't mean it won't work
just means they're not gonna give you any support.

i have had a friends m-powered rig running on an acer p4 1.5gig system quite happily, only thing you're gonna find is high plugin counts are beyond you with a system that size.

wise idea, is to go into device manager and disable the onboard sound, onboard network (if you're not using it), disable ya visual themes completely, all system sounds. and any other hardware devices you're not using.

disable any background programs (desktop wallpaper managers, msn messenger, antivirus programs etc.

the system will go quite happily tracking onto the system hard drive without any issues. several gig free will be sufficient for you, (atleast 10 would be preferred) make sure you disable screensavers, and any power management features while you're recording.

either post ya more detailed specs on here or pm them too me and i'll see if ican help you any better.

cheers, Quentin

[Jax]

what processor you got in the system? P4, celeron, AMD Athlon XP etc.

It's a P4. Before too long, I found the following on Digi's site:

"Minimum Requirements
Windows XP

* Intel Pentium IV or Athlon processor, 1 GHz or higher
* 384 MB of RAM
* Windows XP Home or Professional, Service Pack 2
* Display resolution 1024 x 768 or higher
* Free USB port for iLok USB Smart Key"

So it looks like it should work. thumbsup

Pretty sure I have 512mb ram in there.. been awhile since I fired her up. But ram's cheap. I'll probably add more.

jsut coz their site says it isn't supported doens't mean it won't work
just means they're not gonna give you any support.

Hell, they didn't give me much support when I had my Mix rig either! They've finally gotten better since around the time of HD's arrival.

Plug-in count doesn't matter to me much, as I'm just using the PT 7 M-Powered rig at home for editing and song composition. I use the studio for tracking/mixdown.

wise idea, is to go into device manager and disable the onboard sound, onboard network (if you're not using it), disable ya visual themes completely, all system sounds. and any other hardware devices you're not using.

disable any background programs (desktop wallpaper managers, msn messenger, antivirus programs etc.

Ah yes, back into the world of a (modest) PC daw. It's been awhile, but I remember configuring the pc as above with Samplitude.

If there are any serious hiccups, I'll pm you. Thanks for the helpful reply!