Well Freddie a great summery. I would add that now what are meant as tweaks as such are for the most part user preference. As you say you really don't need to do much on a modern OS unless you have special needs such as on a laptop.  

Freddie H

But you know how it works on the internet. Suddenly everyone thought this koolaid were ment for everyone for every audiocard on any platform. Its because of that we have people disable AERO, graphic and other background service on Windows 7 like it was XP, think they will gain something? It's just the opposite. AERO need to be turned on to function correctly on Windows 7, 8. All graphic you see in Windows 7 and in all the programs & plugins are using the GPU on the graphic card only. So if you use the best quality on the graphic it doesn't matter it will cost you nothing on performance, it will only look better.
But if you turned AERO off it will use the CPU instead like in XP behavior. On XP = all graphic are using the CPU instead. On XP, disable all graphic will lower the CPU use on XP platform = performance gain..
 
 
So to rap it up, Tweaks that worked on XP is not the same on VISTA, Windows 7 or Windows 8. More or less, there are no TWEAKS on Windows 7 and you don't need to. You can go ahead and disable the UAC. That's it! 

Good point on AERO. I learned something here!
 
However, I wouldn't be as general as saying no tweaks for win7. Common sense issues like disabling anti-virus, auto updates, unnecessary services that do periodic things for nothing will always apply.
 

 

It's still a good idea in Win 7 to do the basic stuff:

1. Set your computer's power for high performance
If your computer is set to conserve energy, the CPU may not be running at full speed all of the time. This can have a detrimental effect on your computer's audio performance. To set your computer's power for high performance:
- Go to: Start>Control Panel>Power Options
- Choose "High Performance"
- Click the "Change plan settings" button.
- Make sure both power options are set to "Never"

2. Disable system sounds
System sounds can interrupt audio. Ensure that they are disabled by doing the following:
- Go to control panel and select "Sound"
- Go to the sounds tab
- Under sounds scheme, select "No sounds"
- Click "Apply" then, "OK"

3. Enable DMA (Direct memory access) on each IDE channel
This allows data to be transferred directly into the memory and can improve audio performance. To ensure that DMA is enabled:
- Open device manager
- Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers category then double click on each one of the IDE channels
- Under the 'Advanced settings' tab, make sure the 'Enable DMA' box is ticked in device properties
Please note: this only applies to some hardware and if this option is not available, you should not worry about completing this step.

4. Set processor scheduling to "Background services"
This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this:
- In control panel select "system"
- Go to "Advanced system settings" and then the "Performance" tab
- Set processor scheduling as "Background Services"
- Click "Apply" then "OK"

5. Disable Windows Firewall, anti-virus and spyware software
These should all be disabled to ensure that no interferences occur during audio recording or playback and to ensure that maximum resources are available. To remain secure while your firewall and antivirus disabled, it is advisable to temporarily disconnect from any internet connections when working with audio.

Freddie H
 That is the correct setting on any DAW or program or audiocard on Vista, Windows 7 or 8. Set to "background" comes from XP time and Matthias Carsten founder and owner of RME. 
RME find that it fixed some problems they had with some older driver and early chips on their cards on XP plattform. It was ONLY with those specific RME cards and ONLY on XP. Audiodriver is not a background task so it doesn't improve nothing. Set the processor scheduling to background task actually can cause dropouts and clicks instead on Windows 7.
      

And there are still some respected people in the DAW world who continue to state that audio drivers are a background task.  Sigh.  Authority <> accuracy!

KPerry

Freddie H
That is the correct setting on any DAW or program or audiocard on Vista, Windows 7 or 8. Set to "background" comes from XP time and Matthias Carsten founder and owner of RME. 
RME find that it fixed some problems they had with some older driver and early chips on their cards on XP plattform. It was ONLY with those specific RME cards and ONLY on XP. Audiodriver is not a background task so it doesn't improve nothing. Set the processor scheduling to background task actually can cause dropouts and clicks instead on Windows 7.
    

And there are still some respected people in the DAW world who continue to state that audio drivers are a background task.  Sigh.  Authority <> accuracy!

Respected or not wrong is still wrong. Can it be that they doesn't have any real knowledge?
Ask someone that really know example Noel at Cakewalk or Mark Russinovich that design Windows 7 and 8 at Microsoft Tech..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Russinovich

Mark Russinovich Microsoft Tech.
 
http://www.presonus.com/community/Learn/Optimizing-Windows-Vista-and-Windows-7-for-Music-Production
Visual Effects > Adjust for best Performance (this disables all Aero effects). = AERO
Look at this page. There countless of wrong tweaks and wrong advice that work on XP only but not on Windows 7. They even suggest you to disable Aero too to make your computer work better and faster with audio? We that know at least a little about this; know that it is just a wrong advice.
 
Next bad advice---> disable Virtual memory (or paging files). Wrong again. No it shall be ON and set to let windows manage it regardless how much RAM you have installed. On XP another story.
Advice--->Defrag Often! No! If you use SSD disk that so many do on Windows disk you can even destroy it if you defrag just once.
 
You can make your own conclusions..
 

> 5. Disable Windows Firewall, anti-virus and spyware software.
 
Absolutely not. Configure it so it is optimal so it does not get in the way of your DAW. Unless you are running a really low powered PC or you are permanently disconnected and never import anything, there is no need for this and it should not be done.
 

CakeAlexS


> 5. Disable Windows Firewall, anti-virus and spyware software.
 
Absolutely not. Configure it so it is optimal so it does not get in the way of your DAW. Unless you are running a really low powered PC or you are permanently disconnected and never import anything, there is no need for this and it should not be done.
 

Yes agree!
 
Use this. Its FREE  & safe and no bad impact on the computer.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/security-essentials-download

This was a good thread !!

"Just wanted to let you know that it is your Focusrite..."
 
Lol. Focusrite rocks, even with the firewire interface . Stable as a rock here.
However...
That was after I went back to the 2.2 driver...  Too many midi glitches with 3.0.
 
FWIW...While I agree with what's already been discussed, when it comes to pops and clicks I always start with my audio interface driver - either update or re-install.
 
V

I've just run DPC and have no spikes at all.  Latency hovers between 115 and 130.

All drivers updated and all BIOS options (On-board Audio, Controllers, Lan) disabled.  Only issue I had going to 64bit was Nvidia drivers.  Had to use an older driver to avoid BSOD in 64bit.

Studio PC only.  Not for any other use.  Still pops with 2ms Latency????   (Just 6 audio tracks with FX  with 1 softsynth running - no issue on XP32bit)


Win 7 64bit, Intel 2.66ghz Dualcore, Asus P5k, 8gb ram, Nvidia Geforce 7300, Sata OS HDD & Sata Audio HDD.