Best PC Optimisation Software for Producers
3 min readToday I’m going to show you my favourite free tools to clean up and optimise your PC to speed it up. As a modern producer, you need to keep your computer tidy and up to scratch – much in the same way that big studios of the past had to be physically ship-shape.
DAWs and music production software can be very demanding on your computer and alongside the need for processing power, storage and RAM are other things to consider.
Native Instruments Kontakt libraries, for example, need to load large amounts of files into the PC’s RAM to be able to play them back at the touch of a button. Likewise with big projects, you might find that your computer is being pushed to the limits.
Of course, the first steps are to make sure you are only running the software you need – Chrome running in the background for example is notorious for using up system resources. But once you’ve tried those methods, you might want to do a bit of a computer spring clean.
I have chosen this list based on online research as well as what has worked well for me.
(Please note: I don’t have a Mac and so don’t want to make claims I don’t stand by myself, so this list is for the PC users)
1. Glary Utilities
Free Download: https://www.glarysoft.com/
This is a Swiss Army Knife of tools which can help you get to the bottom of most speed issues. I like to use this software because it has a very simple “1-Click Maintenance” option which automatically scans your computer for problems and clean it up.
It also offers more advanced tools such as disk defragmentation, which is useful for people who regularly use HDs, and many other tools.
2. CCleaner
Free Download: https://www.ccleaner.com/
Very similar to Glary Utilities, CCleaner looks through the computer cleaning up the mess left behind. Expect the cache and cookies of internet browsers to be cleaned up, as well as temporary system files. I tend to use both of these together to get the best of both worlds, but either will do really.
3. WinDirStat
Download Link: https://windirstat.net/
This tool doesn’t do anything by itself beyond visualise things. Much like how we use a spectrum analyser on a mix, we look here to see what is going on in our storage.
While the other tools will delete cache and temporary files (similar to post-its and scraps of notes on your desk that you use only briefly), this will highlight the actual files which won’t be touched.
Each square is colour coded and represents a file. The big squares (or rectangles) represent big files while the small squares are the smaller files. You can see my Serato track library on the left of the image, made up of thousands of deep blue boxes, while immediately to their right, you can see sizeable video files.
When looking to make space, I would first look to find the biggest files visually, and then can decide if I need to keep them. You can also select folders in the tree explorer at the top, and it will draw a box around the group of files within. This is a good way to see if a folder is taking up a lot of space.
Got any recommendations?
I’d like to keep this list as current as possible. If you have any recommendations or tools you couldn’t live without, drop them in the comments!
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