2003 = SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

Jim,

You are rather sparse > This is absolutely ridiculous.

yeah, its their software . . . now my cpu is waitng on them (3.06Ghz) the way it should be

I run a Dell Laptop on Win2000 with basically your 3 numbers above cut in half and nothing like what you describe has ever happened on SWKs

2000, 2001, 2001+ or 2003.

Something else basic is wrong somewhere. Disk full? Reinstall SWks tried or not? What else is running at the same time as SolidWorks?

Bo

Jim,

We are going to try and help you out here.

When you run statistics on the assembly what kind of numbers to you get for the slow assemblies. Are there any overconstrained components in the assembly?

Sounds like you need to run some benchmarks. That is one of the best diagnostics I know.

Was this assembly also built > All files are stored on my system.

I would try a couple things to see if these help:

1) Restart your computer in VGA mode and see how SW performs - If it works btter it could be a bad video card or driver (even if it did work in SW01+ before) 2) Try checking the "Software OpenGL on or off depending on the it's set at default. HINT: you can't have any files open to change the setting 3) You might try doing what I call an "Alternative reinstall" instructions below:

Alternative to try before reinstalling!

If you have exhausted all other possibilities of your problem try doing this, before reinstalling. IMPORTANT You have to be comfortable to change data in the registry, because you can hose your entire computer if you change the wrong item.

1) Close SW 2) Click Start\Run and type Regedit 3) Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Solidworks 4) RMB the Solidworks directory and click rename. 5) Rename it with your Initials or something. 6) Restart SW, you will have to accept the license agreement and reset your toolbars and tools options. Before you do that, see if that fixes any problems you are encountering. 7) If so, Close SW, then go back to your Registry and delete the Solidworks directory you renamed. (if you push f5 (refresh) you will see a new Solidworks directory appear). 8) If not and you want to keep your old settings. Then Close SW, (push f5) delete the newly created Solidworks directory, and rename the other directory (that has your initials in it) back to Solidworks. If this doesn't work, your last alternative maybe to Reinstall SW.

Explanation: All this really does is, it resets all your settings to default. It is essentially like reinstalling, without actually reinstalling. I have found this work for some people in the last few weeks. Most people are a lot happier to change their settings back, then to reinstall SW, because of the down time it takes to reinstall.

Just some ideas to try out.

Best Regards, Scott

Jim:

Why don't we have a panel of your peers here at comp.cad.solidworks prove how bad the software is. Please post your assembly where we can all get it and see clearly that it is SolidWorks slowing things down for no good reason whatsoever.

Every now and then I get the chance to visit someone with problems just like yours. In 1 of 4 visits, the users claims were completely correct. In the other 3 cases, there were very simple common sense things that could be done to improve performance by 50% or more.

Here are things that will slow down SW:

- unnecessary incontext references

- circular incontext references (PartA has a feature which is dependent on PartB which has a feature dependent on PartA)

- mates made to time dependent assembly features (incontext, assembly cuts, children of patterns, etc)

- incontext relations across subassemblies

- flexible subassemblies

- hundreds of mates at the top level (no use of subassemblies)

- all hardware (screws) mated individually instead of using patterns

- display quality maxxed for assembly and all components

- anti virus software set to scan all opened documents

- not fixing errors on mates or features (tries to solve every rebuild)

- opening SW by double clicking on files on a network drive (journal file is written to constantly across network)

- no use of any of the tools SW has provided to speed up performance (large assy mode, lightweight, hidden, suppressed, simplified configurations, fast hlr, low quality transparency, subassemblies, locked incontext relations, etc.)

- unnecessarily detailed models (geometrically accurate springs, threads, etc.)

- autorecover settings set low

- load referenced documents set to always

- verification on rebuild

- software OGL

- anti alias turned on

- using hlr in shaded mode or wireframe

- poorly ordered equations

- using sketches with a lot of entities rather than separate features with simpler sketches

- sketch patterns instead of feature patterns

- other generally bad modeling practices

Just because SW gives you the flexibility to be able to do what you want doesn't mean that you are immune to the effects.

matt

"Jim P" wrote in news:vfr5h7591i953 @corp.supernews.com:

Good suggestions Matt, While reading your post it is hard not to notice one must turn off many of the great features SolidWorks marketing uses to promote the software. What good are all these features if they bring the system to its knees?

Kman

snipped-for-privacy@peoplepc.com (Kman) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

Yeah, you're right, there is a price to pay for the cool stuff. To me, it's just like everything else in life, the sticker SAYS this car should get 26 MPG, but when I drive like a demon, I get only 18. Those Wendy's triple burgers with bacon look so good, but if I keep eating them I'll pay a price for that too. That short skirt on the street corner looks good, but...well, let's not go there. Suffice it to say there's always a price to pay. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way you know what the price is, is by having made that mistake once or twice already.

Here's another one I left off the list:

- use of the "multiple contexts" switch

The good news is also the bad news: we've got choices, but must understand what we're dealing with to make the best decisions. The hardest thing is that the rules may be different depending from which point of view you see the problem: large assembly, dynamic assembly motion, BOM and drawings, compensating for inadequate hardware, "design for change", manufacturability, complete and accurate geometrical representations, etc...

I don't mean to imply that we *can't* or *shouldn't* use cool features, just to recognize that you may have conflicting desires. I don't think we can fault SolidWorks for giving us choices (although I often wish they would help us understand the consequences of those choices better).

I work as a software implementer. Sometimes I see people new to SolidWorks trying to get going in the right direction, and sometimes I help people fix messed up processes. I have to make recommendations that wind up becoming standard company practices. I tend to recommend things on the conservative side mainly to accommodate beginning or part time users, and I make sure the power users get some sort of intuition about when they can break or bend the "best practice" rules. To me, that's what it's all about.

Anyway, enough preaching.

matt

Jim

I bet you have recently done a Windows update from MS, well have a look and see if you have "Windows Hotfix 811493" installed. If you have save all your work, uninstall the damn thing, reboot and you should be running sweet again. See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-013 on microsoft technet. Cheers Brian

Sorry Confidentiality issues.

Brian Lawson

Much better.

HAMSTER - cricetus cricetus

There is usually a reas> Thanks guys!

Brian:

I think we all owe you for pointing this out. How did you come across this?

matt

snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk (Brian Lawson) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

Hi Jim Glad it helped. Us users do these M$ ugrades somtimes without thinking about the consequences and effect they have on the overall operation of our OS. I find this site

pretty good at letting the the public know of any M$ whoopsies. Cheers Brian

Hello Matt- Great answer. I see these issues all the time. Best Regards, Devon T. Sowell

I've just got into the habit of reading

or every couple of days. Just scan the headlines and read what I think may be of interest. I do recommend that we should never ignore our OS eg drivers, SP's ect but knowing full well that some of these can have and adverse effect on the programs that we run, not just SW. In the case of this hotfix it practically killed my home PC to the extent that I was waiting minutes for explorer to refresh then I remembered a headline from the Inquirer regarding a hotfix from M$ that was screwed up. I also think that Niel is correct as I did a full Windows upgrade the other day with no adverse effects, sly M$. Cheers Brian

Matt,

I know a bunch of these are in your other rules of thumb, but it would be nice if you made a new rule that collected them all in one place for quick reference. For those of you who don't know about it, be sure to check out Matt's "Rules of Thumb" at

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems