Refer to THIS page for more info. (sorry about the annoying little pop-up. you do not need to register)
Here is the relevant information: (note this is for XP. Vista is similar though. Let me know if you need specifics for Vista) ___________________________________________________________________
Managing Processor Time
System processing is managed by Windows, which can allocate tasks between processors, as well as manage multiple processes on a single processor. However, you can set Windows
to allocate more processor time to the program that you are currently
running. This can result in faster program response time. Or, if you
have background programs such as printing or disk backup that you want
to run while you work, you can have Windows share processor resources equally between background and foreground programs.
Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer
or have appropriate network privileges to make certain changes in
System.
To Change the Performance of Foreground and Background Programs
- Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
- Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Performance.
- Click the Advanced tab, and then do one of the following under Processor scheduling:
- Click Programs to assign more processor resources to the foreground program than the background program.
- Click Background services to assign equal amounts of processor resources to all programs.
If you click Programs, the result is a smoother, faster response
time for your foreground program. If you want a background task, such
as a Backup utility, to run faster, click Background services.
The Programs option allocates short, variable time slices, or quanta,
to running programs, and the Background services option assigns long,
fixed quanta.
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Flash seems to work best if this option is set to Programs. After making this tweak, my laptop is now performing as well as my (more robust) desktop! This is great news.
I am not sure what the default is, but mine was set to "background services" on the laptop
(note: on my desktop I need this set to 'background services' to ensure that i can record audio without any drop-outs - but this is irrelevant to 99.99% of you - If we do have any other audio engineers in da house let me know!)
The rest of the info in the link above is relevant too.
Please let me know if this makes a difference for you, thanks.