I always chuckle when I read something like this because in the first days of RealTracks, late 2008, you could start regenerating a song, go downstairs and make a sandwich, and come back to see it finishing up. But it’s all relative and the red flag in your question is that it used to be much better than it is now.

There is one major area to check first. I’ll look up exactly where it is, but it is the checkbox to allow a song to regenerate in the background while the song starts playing. I think it’s called Fast Generation or something similar.

Less important is an option in RealTracks preferences about Quality. Reduce it, and generation is faster.

However, I don’t think this is where you should focus.

If you had a sense that the whole computer is slower, we could work the problem to consider malware, background processes, failing drives, the whole works. But you’ve already gone there, so perhaps concentrate on the drive itself. Is there a minimum of 20% free space? Consider getting Crystal Disk Utilities to examine the drive thoroughly.

BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.