Another SLOW Question …

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:19:23 GMT, "Dee Dee"
wrote:

OK, I know there’s been enough ‘why is PS slow’ questions asked and I don’t mean to bug, BUT …

I’m running PS CS, windows XP Pro … AMD Athlon XP 2200+ …. 1.66 GHz 1.00 GB of RAM.

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

I just deleted many fonts that I don’t need/use… running in the lower right taskbar is: Panda antivirus, volume, and safely remove hardware.
Under msconfig: almost all things are checked, but I’m not sure what’s safe to uncheck and what is. Most of the checked items are listed as: HKIM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version.

Defragged about 4 days ago … ran anti-virus yesterday. Anything else you need to know …. ask.

Everything is horribly slow and it wasn’t like this always, all though I have to admit that I don’t remember when it started. It’s been most recent that it’s been the worse.

Any help is welcomed. 🙂
Thanks!
Dee

See my answer further up the list – maybe right for you

Keith J Chesworth
www.unseenlondon.co.uk
www.blackpooltram.co.uk
www.happysnapper.com
www.boilerbill.com – main site
www.amerseyferry.co.uk

"BoilerBill" wrote in message

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:19:23 GMT, "Dee Dee"
wrote:

OK, I know there’s been enough ‘why is PS slow’ questions asked and I don’t
mean to bug, BUT …

I’m running PS CS, windows XP Pro … AMD Athlon XP 2200+ …. 1.66 GHz
1.00
GB of RAM.

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

First, check your system event log for errors – you may find something obvious.

Assuming there are no errors, what is the resolution in pixels per inch of your document? If you are not seeing this problem as severely with smaller images, or with images with fewer layers, I suggest bumping your RAM up to 2 gig.

Memory is one of the better bargains out there these days. —

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

In article <jtawg.52232$>, RE-
says…

"BoilerBill" wrote in message

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:19:23 GMT, "Dee Dee"
wrote:

OK, I know there’s been enough ‘why is PS slow’ questions asked and I don’t
mean to bug, BUT …

I’m running PS CS, windows XP Pro … AMD Athlon XP 2200+ …. 1.66 GHz
1.00
GB of RAM.

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

First, check your system event log for errors – you may find something obvious.

Assuming there are no errors, what is the resolution in pixels per inch of your document? If you are not seeing this problem as severely with smaller images, or with images with fewer layers, I suggest bumping your RAM up to 2 gig.

Memory is one of the better bargains out there these days. —

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Also, check your Scratch Disk configuration, size, location, etc. If you get beyond physical RAM, you will be using the Scratch Disk. If it is a partition, rather than a physical, fast, free HDD, you will get slowdowns. Always check your Scratch Disk(s) for any leftover TMP files from PS. These can be leftover from a system, or program crash, or improper closing – doesn’t happen often nowadays, but can. It’s great to keep your Scratch Disk totally free of any other files, if possible.

Hunt

Thanks Bill

"BoilerBill" wrote in message

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:19:23 GMT, "Dee Dee"
wrote:

OK, I know there’s been enough ‘why is PS slow’ questions asked and I don’t
mean to bug, BUT …

I’m running PS CS, windows XP Pro … AMD Athlon XP 2200+ …. 1.66 GHz
1.00
GB of RAM.

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

I just deleted many fonts that I don’t need/use… running in the lower right taskbar is: Panda antivirus, volume, and safely remove hardware.
Under msconfig: almost all things are checked, but I’m not sure what’s safe
to uncheck and what is. Most of the checked items are listed as: HKIM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version.

Defragged about 4 days ago … ran anti-virus yesterday. Anything else you
need to know …. ask.

Everything is horribly slow and it wasn’t like this always, all though I have to admit that I don’t remember when it started. It’s been most recent
that it’s been the worse.

Any help is welcomed. 🙂
Thanks!
Dee

See my answer further up the list – maybe right for you

Keith J Chesworth
www.unseenlondon.co.uk
www.blackpooltram.co.uk
www.happysnapper.com
www.boilerbill.com – main site
www.amerseyferry.co.uk

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

"BoilerBill" wrote in message

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:19:23 GMT, "Dee Dee"
wrote:

OK, I know there’s been enough ‘why is PS slow’ questions asked and I don’t
mean to bug, BUT …

I’m running PS CS, windows XP Pro … AMD Athlon XP 2200+ …. 1.66 GHz
1.00
GB of RAM.

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

First, check your system event log for errors – you may find something obvious.

Assuming there are no errors, what is the resolution in pixels per inch of your document? If you are not seeing this problem as severely with smaller images, or with images with fewer layers, I suggest bumping your RAM up to 2 gig.

Memory is one of the better bargains out there these days. —

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Mike,

Where do I find the event log? Resolution is 300 Dpi

Yeah, I’ll buy more memory as soon as I can …

Thanks,
Dee

"Hunt" wrote in message

In article <jtawg.52232$>, RE-
says…

"BoilerBill" wrote in message

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:19:23 GMT, "Dee Dee"
wrote:

OK, I know there’s been enough ‘why is PS slow’ questions asked and I don’t
mean to bug, BUT …

I’m running PS CS, windows XP Pro … AMD Athlon XP 2200+ …. 1.66 GHz
1.00
GB of RAM.

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes
FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

First, check your system event log for errors – you may find something obvious.

Assuming there are no errors, what is the resolution in pixels per inch of your document? If you are not seeing this problem as severely with smaller
images, or with images with fewer layers, I suggest bumping your RAM up to 2
gig.

Memory is one of the better bargains out there these days. —

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Also, check your Scratch Disk configuration, size, location, etc. If you get
beyond physical RAM, you will be using the Scratch Disk. If it is a partition,
rather than a physical, fast, free HDD, you will get slowdowns. Always check
your Scratch Disk(s) for any leftover TMP files from PS. These can be leftover
from a system, or program crash, or improper closing – doesn’t happen often
nowadays, but can. It’s great to keep your Scratch Disk totally free of any
other files, if possible.

Hunt

Hunt,

Ya know, I never did ‘get’ all that about scratch disk stuff … I do know that it’s set at ‘first drive – C’ then second at D.

If there’s more I need to know, could you explain that in layman terms? Thanks,
Dee

From: "Dee Dee"
….

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes
FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

Assuming there are no errors, what is the resolution in pixels per inch of your document? If you are not seeing this problem as severely with smaller images, or with images with fewer layers, I suggest bumping your RAM up to 2 gig.

Memory is one of the better bargains out there these days. —

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Mike,

Where do I find the event log? Resolution is 300 Dpi

Each layer will be about 25 megabytes of memory – 50 if you are editing in 16 bit, so a four layer image will be using 100 megs, add Photoshop’s overhead and you’re probably right at the limit.

Yeah, I’ll buy more memory as soon as I can …

I’ll bet that adding a 1 gig stick of memory will fix the problem.

One temporary solution would be to work at a lower rez, then temporarily flatten to one layer and bump it up to 300 ppi for printing. Even working at 200 ppi will cut your memory use by over half.
—
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

In article <LX0xg.8246$
says…

"Hunt" wrote in message

In article <jtawg.52232$>, RE-
says…

[SNIP]

Ya know, I never did ‘get’ all that about scratch disk stuff … I do know that it’s set at ‘first drive – C’ then second at D.

If there’s more I need to know, could you explain that in layman terms? Thanks,
Dee

Basically, Scratch Disk (size, location, etc.) provide PS (and some other programs, set from within those programs) with additional "virtual" memory to process images. You will run out of RAM at some point. Ideally, a machine should be configured around these guidelines"
1.) OS and programs C:\
2.) Images D:\
3.) Scratch Disk E:\ – G:\, where these are big and fast physical HDDs.

OK, so you have C:\ & D:\. Assuming that they are physical HDDs, and not partitions (virutal drives), the best solution would be to set D:\ as your first Scratch Disk, and C:\ as your second. Keep D:\ as clean as is possible. With HDD prices falling, it’s pretty easy to acquire additonal drives for Scratch Disk use. Again – big and fast. All you have to worry about is the controller, but if your MoBo doesn’t allow more HDDs, a separate controller, say a PCI board can work fine.

Reason to keep Scratch Disk HDD free is so PS can use all of it, and not end up with fragmented TMP files. As PS will (should) clean out this HDD, when closed, it is always empty, except when you are actually working in PS. You should not need to de-fragment, but it doesn’t hurt to check it once in a while, especially if you have a PS crash.

If you use C:\ (OS, PS and Scratch Disk, plus whatever else) they will be fighting for time through your controller and fighting fragmentation all of the time.

Hope this makes sense.

Hunt

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

From: "Dee Dee"
…

Working with an 8 1/2" x 11" document, with only a few layers (4-5), sometimes moviing an object on a layer, or giving an effect, etc .. takes
FOREVER. It’s very frustrating!

Assuming there are no errors, what is the resolution in pixels per inch of your document? If you are not seeing this problem as severely with smaller images, or with images with fewer layers, I suggest bumping your RAM up to 2 gig.

Memory is one of the better bargains out there these days. —

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Mike,

Where do I find the event log? Resolution is 300 Dpi

Each layer will be about 25 megabytes of memory – 50 if you are editing in 16 bit, so a four layer image will be using 100 megs, add Photoshop’s overhead and you’re probably right at the limit.

Yeah, I’ll buy more memory as soon as I can …

I’ll bet that adding a 1 gig stick of memory will fix the problem.
One temporary solution would be to work at a lower rez, then temporarily flatten to one layer and bump it up to 300 ppi for printing. Even working at 200 ppi will cut your memory use by over half.
—
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Great advice Mike .. thanks! 🙂

Dee

"Hunt" wrote in message

In article <LX0xg.8246$>,

says…

"Hunt" wrote in message

In article <jtawg.52232$>, RE-
says…

[SNIP]

Ya know, I never did ‘get’ all that about scratch disk stuff … I do know that it’s set at ‘first drive – C’ then second at D.

If there’s more I need to know, could you explain that in layman terms? Thanks,
Dee

Basically, Scratch Disk (size, location, etc.) provide PS (and some other programs, set from within those programs) with additional "virtual" memory to
process images. You will run out of RAM at some point. Ideally, a machine should be configured around these guidelines"
1.) OS and programs C:\
2.) Images D:\
3.) Scratch Disk E:\ – G:\, where these are big and fast physical HDDs.
OK, so you have C:\ & D:\. Assuming that they are physical HDDs, and not partitions (virutal drives), the best solution would be to set D:\ as your first Scratch Disk, and C:\ as your second. Keep D:\ as clean as is possible.
With HDD prices falling, it’s pretty easy to acquire additonal drives for Scratch Disk use. Again – big and fast. All you have to worry about is the controller, but if your MoBo doesn’t allow more HDDs, a separate controller,
say a PCI board can work fine.

Reason to keep Scratch Disk HDD free is so PS can use all of it, and not end
up with fragmented TMP files. As PS will (should) clean out this HDD, when closed, it is always empty, except when you are actually working in PS. You
should not need to de-fragment, but it doesn’t hurt to check it once in a while, especially if you have a PS crash.

If you use C:\ (OS, PS and Scratch Disk, plus whatever else) they will be fighting for time through your controller and fighting fragmentation all of
the time.

Hope this makes sense.

Hunt

Thanks so much Hunt .. for all that info! I reallly appreciate it .. I just put D as first and C as second … will keep D as clean as possible and see if I can get more RAM and perhaps another HD .. not sure about my MB, I’ll have to check that.

Thanks again! 🙂

Dee