Video Slow Down?

[hardsoftware Profile Private message]

I don't know for sure but I think (dangerous) the problem may or may not be that there is a lot of swap file or page file action going on which will slow things down considerably. When an application needs something from main memory and it is not there it has to move something it doesn't need from main memory back to the hard drive and "swap" it for what it does need, and this wlll make your computer run like molasses. Hard drives are absolutly the the biggest bottle neck in any computer system as they are many, many times slower than the rest of the system. Maybe the paging file is set up or managed incorrectly or something of that nature.

One thing I would turn off is any screen savers if you are going to render anything, or set them to activate after 4 hours or more.

Ben

[TinaJ Profile Private messageYIM]

"I don't know for sure but I think (dangerous) the problem may or may not be that there is a lot of swap file or page file action going on which will slow things down considerably. When an application needs something from main memory and it is not there it has to move something it doesn't need from main memory back to the hard drive and "swap" it for what it does need, and this wlll make your computer run like molasses. Hard drives are absolutly the the biggest bottle neck in any computer system as they are many, many times slower than the rest of the system. Maybe the paging file is set up or managed incorrectly or something of that nature. "

That makes a lot of sense. I store all pictures and videos on an external hard drive, as well as my larger programs, Printshop, Photoshop, Proshow are all on the external. On the bigger half of my main hard drive I have memories on tv, and while it's slow, it doesn't seem to be quite as bad as proshow as far as loading videos.

[Barbara_K Profile Private message]

I store all pictures and videos on an external hard drive, as well as my larger programs, Printshop, Photoshop, Proshow are all on the external. On the bigger half of my main hard drive I have memories on tv, and while it's slow, it doesn't seem to be quite as bad as proshow as far as loading videos.

Working on ProShow from an external drive could be a large part of your problem. Others have had issues with external drives.

Barbara

[briancbb Profile Private message]

If the external hard drive is USB this will definitely slow things down.

Brian

[TinaJ Profile Private messageYIM]

Sooo, should I move the program into the computer or the pictures? I don't think I have the option of both at this point. I'll have to go back and see how much space I have.
TinaJ

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

The pictures should not take up that much room, I would definitely
have the program on the main drive as well as the folders you are
working in since it creates a temp file in there (showname.pxc) that
it uses all the time for lots of stuff -- I would expect that would
really slow things down if it was remote. I would also render the
output to the local drive. Based on the fact you are playing with
pictures and video, if you are cramped now, you definitely should
look into an additional (or larger) main drive. Most systems have
room inside for additional drives (except mine where I have it full).
Depending on your configuration, if there is a spare connector and
spare slot for the drive, it is quite easy to do and drives are cheap
these days - I picked up a Seagate 500 gig drive (retail kit) the
other day for $99 (and I'm working hard to fill that up I might
add )

mikey

[Barbara_K Profile Private message]

Tina,

You should definitely have both the program and the pictures on an internal hard drive. Photodex lists 70MB in their system requirements for PSG. That is not very much and the pictures shouldn't take up too much room either. If your C drive is that full I think you need to do some housecleaning. It is generally recommended to keep about 30% of your C drive free which in your case would be 18GB. A cramped drive will not operate efficiently and cannot be defragmented properly.

Barbara

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

Why is it that a cramped drive can't be defragmented properly -- but
it can certainly be properly fragmented ?? Another one of the mysteries
of life I guess

mikey

[Barbara_K Profile Private message]

Why is it that a cramped drive can't be defragmented properly -- but
it can certainly be properly fragmented ?? Another one of the mysteries
of life I guess

mikey

Good question! I'll let you figure out that one Mikey. I do know it certainly is easy to fragment a drive though.

Barbara

[TinaJ Profile Private messageYIM]

You are so right, and as I've said, I have tried to clean the c drive. I've moved all big programs to the d or external, and if I had my way it would only hold windows. But, every time I add a new program, parts of it still end up in the C. I can't get explorer uniinstalled completely, I added firefox to the d and it still has a folder of stuff in C. It's frustrating that I can change out hardware and not a bit of trouble, but I can't get the basic housecleaning done. Oh, and the hard drive is a 60 gig, which I thought I would never fill, and is partitioned with 20 in the C and 40 in the D. I'm going to have to pay someone to clean it and maybe remove the partition.
Tina

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

You should be able to slap another 250 gig or so drive in there without
a problem ... hmmm - seems to me there was an issue with XP before
SP1 not being able to handle over 137 gig so that could be an issue, but
for sure, you should be able to slap in a 120 gig drive and give yourself
some significant room to work with. In general, adding another drive
to a desktop system is usually quite simple and relatively painless - it
does require some knowledge although in many cases, any manuals that
came with your system often show how to do it.

mikey

[TinaJ Profile Private messageYIM]

That would certainly save me some money. I have both service packs installed, wonder if I could go higher? Dang! What's the point of having that huge external if it slows everything down??
TinaJ

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

Well, a "huge external" has a number of good features --
1) it is separate from the main system and can be put somewhere else
for safe-keeping of your backups.

2) If you have a failure of the main system (when the external is
not connected), your backup copy of all your pictures etc. is safe
(my daughters system lost a power supply and took out the hard drive,
mother board, CD-ROM drive and the video card. -- didn't leave much!)

3) a large external drive is a great place to keep all those large files
that you don't often need, but sometimes want something back to
work with.

What a usb external drive is NOT is a good place to be running programs
from, compiling stuff to/from or playing with video to/from -- too much of
a bottle neck.

Without looking inside your system, I can't be sure, but if there is a spare
IDE connector in there, it is simple to add another drive and get windows
to use it. If there isn't a spare connector, then it gets a bit more complex,
but still should not be hard assuming there is room for the new drive.

mikey

[hardsoftware Profile Private message]

I agree, get at least a 250 gig. It will give you more "wiggle" room.



"Why is it that a cramped drive can't be defragmented properly "

I was looking at my DISKEEPER help/documentation for discriptions as to why a cramped drive will not defragment properly and below are some of the reasons they have listed. Anyway, I thought it might be a little helpful to post them here..

1. If your volume is extremely full, there may not be sufficient free space to defragment the files completely.[i] In that case, we recomend temporarily moving some of the files off the volume, particularly large files. This temporary measure often allows “working roomâ€

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

True - my choice would be at least 250 gig, but there were two things
in the way there: 1 was which service pack she was running and she
says it is SP2, so that issue is no longer a concern. The second, it seemed
to me that some of the older motherboards could not handle the addressing
above 137 gig, but it has been a while since I looked into that issue (and that
is still not an insurmountable problem since you can pop in a Promise PCI
adapter card that will give you 2 more IDE connectors (4 more drives) !!!)

mikey