2005 SP3.1 faster than 2004 SP5...Hooked

I agree, you are probably right in your assessment.

Feature and code bloat means a newer version is almost always slower even if by just a bit, because the coders always assume more CPU power is just around the corner.

The overly simplified "test" I did wasn't meant to be an exact comparison, but something that more approximated what happens when you "clean up" a machine.

It means that OS & Hardware maintenance can be more important than what is actually done with SolidWorks, as crap and corruption outside SolidWorks is most important of all.

Maintaining Windows and a PC's hardware tends to consume quite a few hours each year. I don't know what it is, but I know I don't like to do it, as it is excruciatingly time consuming when done right, and you need to keep track of 'everything'.

Given the value of man-hours, I am definately of the opinion, that when the time comes for the cleanup AND appropriate data protection, just take the old hard drive out for an 'archive', and put in a new hard drive and start the install from scratch.

Bo

Just out of interest,

Has anyone tried installing everything on their machine and then creating a 'Ghost' of this, storing it somewhere and then periodically doing a flat re-install from this Ghost? I would imagine that it would have much the same effect as a new install and could be complete in a much shorter time period. If there are any stats available I'd be interested in seeing them.

Will

Bo wrote:

Yes, it takes about 15 minutes to get a fresh Windows 2k instead of installing everything again and using atleast 2 evenings to get all the settings right. I have done this for Windows + basic softwares that I use but not with SW installed, but there is no reason why it should be excluded from the image. There are several softwares for this.

Anyway, the reason why I don't have image available for my pc right now is that, in any case, after 6 months you have to update Windows/antivirus/different kind of utilities/SW and you don't want to use software A from the image anymore but you want to replace it with software B and so on. So it's pretty hard to deside what you want to put into the image. And then you have to plan how to handle emails etc...so after all, maybe you don't save time that much with 6 months period...maybe it should/could be shorter.

regards markku

Mark, what you note is why I have chosen not to let my CAD machine go on the Internet.

I've chosen to do all other work on a 2nd machine to keep SolidWorks up as close to 100% as possible.

My choice for the 2nd machine is an Apple PowerBook, and that works great, because it is up 100% of the time and has virtually minimal yearly maintenance to keep it tip top.

Bo

Mark, what you note is why I have chosen not to let my CAD machine go on the Internet.

I've chosen to do all other work on a 2nd machine to keep SolidWorks up as close to 100% as possible.

My choice for the 2nd machine is an Apple PowerBook, and that works great, because it is up 100% of the time and has virtually minimal yearly maintenance to keep it tip top.

Bo

I somewhat agree with this assessment: "It means that OS & Hardware maintenance can be more important than what is actually done with SolidWorks, as crap and corruption outside SolidWorks is most important of all." However, given that two workstations are configured "correctly" and one has SW2004 and the other SW2005 you will see a 10% difference in preformance and maybe more if you could take into account some of the sluggishness of the UI.

I don't agree with throwing out the baby with the bathwater approach. It is possible to find the reasons that Windows is slowing things up and fix them. I use XPTC to good effect in this area and have made seemingly old sluggish machines come to life again. Changing the oil is almost always going to be cheaper than buying a new car.

I have taken this approach also. My other machine runs Win98 and my file server runs LInux/Samba. Can't afford Windows Server.

I agree with your note on SWks 2004 vs 2005.

I agree that bringing "sluggish machines come to life again" makes sense, and the real question is the best way that wastes the least time.

Hard drives are so inexpensive, in general, that either installing the OS from another form of archive of a clean install seems like a method that offers the least wasted time. If the likes of XPTC can do it faster than something like GHOST or similar, great. I tend to trust clean installs more than "fixer-uppers".

Then come the hardware updates, the MSOffice updates, & the Win XP updates. It is not always easy to figure out what update applies to me or whether I would even want the update (if I don't use Internet Remote Access or Wi-Fi for instance).

When I moved my Apple PowerBook from Mac OS 10.3.9 to 10.4.1, it took less than 2 hours to put it on a new HD from CD, transfer settings in the process, download the 10.4.1 update, & transfer applications, and everything ran fine. I hope to gosh Microsoft can do better on LongHorn with regard to installs & updates, but I will never hold my breath on this.

XPTC is an acronym for XP Tweaking Companion, a pdf based book. It is one of the most complete and well done guides to installing a healthy Windows OS and keeping it healthy. It covers most of the OS points in the SW Guides and a lot more that SW won't get into.

Top, thanks for the note on XPTC.

Given my normal small part work, I don't require massive horsepower to run my SolidWorks projects, so I've not done extensive 'tweaks' and did not know of XPTC. I'll go through it in time, though at nearly 200 pages, that will take awhile, though I've perused the first 3 dozen pages.

My major source of help in keeping SolidWorks running w/o problems has always been to keep my SolidWorks on a machine reserved exclusively for SolidWorks. I did this even when I had a desktop PC doing Internet access, and kept my Dell Inspiron running SolidWorks.

Today my Apple PowerBook exchanges info back and forth with my Dell M60 via BlueTooth without interrupting other network stuff on the PowerBook for external HDs, Ethernet & WiFi for the Internet. It basically keeps the Dell isolated and efficient.

Sounds like XPTC can help me get more efficient over time. One thing noted by Koroush Ghazi in XPTC as a source is blackviper.com, but as has been noted here, that site was taken down months ago, and I have no idea whether its content will come back up.

Bo

We'll have to get into the habit of running wget against such sites just in case.

I wonder if anyone still has a copy of the BlackViper content.

It was so extensive, I didn't bother copying it out for offline reading at the time, and never thought the plug would be pulled on it.

Bo

Actually it is still available here:

Another member AW, sent me an additional mirror or maybe it is now the "new" location for Black Viper, or so it seems. Info seems more current up to fall 2004 or so. Worth looking at.