My solution is to have a separate computer for gigging (ThinkPad).

I order it from Lenovo with as much bloatware missing as I can. I never connect to the Internet, disable anti-virus software, and only put what necessary for the gig on it.

This keeps background tasks at a minimum, no malware scans going on when I'm gigging, and no crashes. In fact I've been gigging like this since 2002 and have never had an on-stage crash.

I have two computers up and running at all times - just in case. Everything is duplicated on both machines. One is a 2002 ThinkPad still running. The other 2002 computer was replaced when Win7 was still new.

In all that time I have had to go to the spare twice. (1) The CMOS battery died so instead of entering time and date and restarting, I just went to the spare, bought a $5 battery the next day and replace it (2) Hard drive was making noisy sounds. I moved the USB-Audio interface cable to the spare and finished the show without a glitch. Replaced the hard drive.

The 2002 computer that got replaced had a problem with the hinge. As I would open and close the lid, vertical stripes would appear in the display. I guess I wore the contacts out. Anyway, it was so old that the parts would be unavailable so I bought a new one.

I'm a "the show must go on" player. Spare computers, extra cables, two wind controller, duplicate wind synth modules, extra mic, etc. I don't need extra sax, flute, or guitar because I can cover those parts with the wind synth if I need to.

It seems like a bit of expense to have so much redundancy, but it's insurance against a blown gig. Can you imagine how quickly the news would travel from club owner to club owner if your computer failed in the first set and the club lost entertainment for the night?

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