PC freezes for seconds when calling up AC12 attributes

[Anonymous]

Who can help me?

I using a workstation with the following properties: (Fujitsu Siemens Celsius D2438-A2; Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @2.13GHz; NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700; Driver 6.14.11.7604; 2 x 1GB RAM 667ns; XP Service Pack 2 OS

For a considerable time I have had the problem that some of my AC 12’s element attribute call up functions ( e.g. line types & materials ) suddenly slow down at times taking as long as 12 seconds before the pallet pops up:

1. This usually happens after working with a large AC12 file ( 30 MB) for a while and especially when other programs such as Outlook and Word are running concurrently on the workstation.

2. Once the PC switches to this ‘slow-down’ state the AC12 attribute pallet ‘call up’ command causes all other processes running on the computer to freeze for up to 8 seconds, even the mouse.

3. The processes return to normal once the pallet appears but then freeze again for up to 7 seconds when exiting the pallet.

4. Once this has happened most other programs partially embedded in the operating system ( XP ) such as Word, Word Perfect, Excel & Outlook(+/-4 secs) also cause the PC’s running processes to freeze for a few seconds when opening files or attaching files to emails. No delays when using older software such as Lotus 123 and also new software such as OpenOffice.

5. The file ‘open’ processes speed up ( to a second and less but still fractionally interfering with all other processes once AC12 has been shut down. Unfortunately, the retrieval processes on embedded programs do not return to the split-second speed and zero interference which is the norm after start-up.

6. When restarting AC12 again, element attribute call up processes speed up somewhat but still take between 5 secs ( lines ) & 3 secs ( material ). Strangely enough no interference or delay when calling up any other of AC12’s attribute settings. I have tried out AC11 but found that it has exactly the same lines/material attribute ‘slow-down problems’ problems as AC12

7. Shutting down all other programs on the PC does not solve the problem either only a reboot of the PC does but then only for a little while.

I tried everything from disconnecting my PC from the LAN and disabling Norton Antivirus to cleaning & defragging, reducing the background services which run on my PC to an absolute minimum and ensuring that the latest AC 12 Hotfixes and drivers are installed but nothing seems to help. I suspect that it has something to do with Windows Kernel or Window’s Search Protocol (which I cannot disable) as my Ram, CPU and pagefile capacities are more than adequate. Short of reinstalling XP and the myriad of Programs on my PC which I desperately try to avoid (as all other software & functions including AC12’s 3-D work smoothly) is there anything else anybody can think of which I could try as the 2nd last resort?

[Karl Ottenstein]

If you are working on an AC file that big, with only 2 GB of (slow) RAM, you should probably not have anything else running - such as Outlook, Word, etc. Sounds like you are thrashing to your disk for virtual memory. Can you hear a lot of disk activity while these delays are happening?

Besides thrashing, if your page file was set up with the Microsoft defaults, the page file itself is likely fragmented, only compounded the issue. Fixing the page file aside ... when is the last time you defragmented your drive(s)?

That said, if there are a huge number of attributes loaded, it can take a few seconds for Attribute Manager/etc to open - vs instantaneous with the default attribute set.

Sorry to hear about your frustration. 😞

Karl