This post is really a continuation of my earlier post entitled "Suitable computer specs" which can be found a page or two earlier in this category.
I hope I'm not tempting fate, but I think I've solved a couple of issues I've been having with my new setup (which can be seen in the earlier thread).
I also hope that my solution may be useful to anyone else having the same or similar problems and who, like me, isn't particularly technical.
The first issue was with my CME UF8 keyboard which doesn't have drivers for W7 64 bit. Eventually thanks to the help I received here, I bought an EMU USB Miditab Midi controller which I still had problems with. It wasn't being recognised by the computer in spite of the driver being recognised and deemd to be OK.
Eventually I noticed that if I booted the computer with the keyboard power switch set to off, then it was recognised. Switching the keyboard on after bootup allows it to work just fine. There's obviously some signal present on one of the pins at startup that W7 doesn't like.
I then went on to have terrible problems with stuttering. I'm not sure of the technical name for it but I wouldn't call it pops or clicks - it's a kind of juddering sound and it could happen with a single instance of VI or indeed many instances. I tried many different remedies including using the DPC Latency checker which is mentioned in this forum, as well as altering many settings in the Options/Audio settings of Sonar 7, and disabling various devices, all to no avail.
This morning however, I saw a ticked box in the Options/Audio settings which says Use MMCSS (Windows Vista) I'd always assumed before that this was more or less the same as W7 in this respect and so I'd left it ticked.
After unchecking this box, and restarting Sonar, I've had no more problems - even with many instances of VI. It doesn't appear to have caused any other problems either. I've yet to try it with VE but I'm hopeful that the problem's solved completely.
As I said earlier, I hope I'm not tempting fate and that it's a real solution but I post it here for the benefit of anyone struggling with a similar problem.
Best wishes,
John.
(DG How did you go on with your new machine?)