I mentioned Norton as a reference only, and that only for their Speeddisk defrag utility. It used to let you define where certain types of files went on the physical disk, as well as specifying their order. Alas, Symantec/Norton have systematically reduced user control over their products, so I have found other, better (and FREE!) alternatives.

Haven't used NAV for years. AVG became too resource-hungry and didn't offer much control, so I now use Avast! antivirus. It at least allows me to disable the online scanners when I so choose. AVG used to, but when they introduced ver. 8 I couldn't find that option any more.

Per another user's recommendation, I have switched from the free Glary Utilities (which I still recommend) to IObit's Advanced SystemCare Free. It has a nice defrag utility, as well as a memory optimizer which is superior to Glary's. IObit also have a "Game Booster" utility which looks promising; it optimizes your system at the touch of a button, then returns it to its original state when you have finished your turbocharged session. Not like another one I tried (idiot!); my system hasn't been the same since. In the meantime, setting up the disk cache as mentioned above made a huge difference.

All of this represent a compromise, of course. I will shortly have a dedicated DAW with NO extraneous software, and a separate PC for teh interwebz.

Thanks for the thoughtful remarks.

R.

"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."