UPDATE - using the external hard drive (USB 3.0) went a long way towards solving the audio glitches

So then i wiped my hard drive and did a fresh install of windows 7 without service pack 1

We have been running the home studio with a basic (cheap) laptop for about a week and have discovered a glitch in that protools doesn't like writing to the system drive so after about 5 mins of recording you get drop-

The only downsides for me are that because iLock is a usb drive with your software license key, the Avid Fastrack actually needs 2 usb ports to function, and I have a laptop with only 2 ports, so I need a usb hub to attach anything else like a mouse or external hard drive