Optimising for capture

[TimBoz]

I have read (somewhere in this great site) that obviously the fewer processes running on the computer (mine is XP) when capturing leads to a better result (less dropped frames).
Presumably stopping internet traffic (I am on broadband) helps - can I do this simply by disabling the network connection via Control Panel.
I assume that I can safely quit my Firewall and Antivirus following this.
The big question from here is which other processes can be safely killed via Windows Task Manager without affecting the Capture program (Virtual VCR) or leading to the system crashing. I have read several times on this site about people doing this and presume there are a few processes which can be killed to avoid interuptions (and dropped frames).
Again, will doing this lead to a quicker time when post-processing - and prevent my CPU and Hard-drive getting ****** off and walking out of the house after working flat out for several hours!!!!

[Cogar]

I am no expert, but merely running no applications besides VirtualVCR and stopping all Internet traffic does the trick for me. I might get 1-2 dropped frames in a 90 minute capture. I also recommend turning off all of XP's "energy saving" features and automatic scanning/disk defrag functions. They tend to come on when you are not using the keyboard and mouse rather than when the computer is truly idle. FWIW, I have an ASUS P4C800E Deluxe motherboard with a 3.2 P4 (not overclocked), NVIDIA 6600GT, and two 80GB Western Digital HDDs (not RAID). Not state of the art, but not leftovers from 2002 either. I use Trend Micro Internet Security and stop Internet traffic via its firewall function (stop all traffic). I do keep the firewall and antivirus running, although I suppose you could keep it off. The problem with disabling the antivirus and firewall functions is that the application might stop system processes with a "warning" message in an hour or so telling you that they are turned off. :p

[mic]

Best way to turn off network access is in Network Connections -- If you lock the firewall instead you can have prob., even crashes. The firewall itself shouldn't be a big prob, but anti-spyware & virus real-time protection *might* slow things up. If you want to do a quick check that's half-way accurate, open up task manager to the processes window, start capturing, and watch the cpu usage -- you'll see every once in a while antivirus software pop up to 1-3%, which isn't a lot, but means it's active & possibly interferring with the flow of capture.