I have a strange anomaly that I have noticed on 2 computers running SW2004 sp3 under XP but not on an older computer running windows 2000. The file icons for solidworks take a long time to update when scrolling through a large number of files (100 or more). I can scroll through any other file type under similar circumstances with no hesitation, but not solidworks files. It would seem to me to be the icon itself, or maybe something to do with the ability of SW to show thumbnail graphics in windows explorer (which I have unchecked). Anyone else have this issue? It's really slowing me down. Mike
Slow SW file Icon updates in Windows Explorer XP only
Apr 24, 2004
18 Replies
I too have this same problem on my XP machine. I did not have this problem on my previous machine which was Win2K.
Unfortunately, I can not help you with a solution. However I can elaborate on my setup here a little and see if your setup is similar. Basically, I do not work on local files at all. I work from a file server (Samba I believe). So when my Windows explorer is open to whatever job I am working on, it is actually looking at my server. I have tried copying a large folder locally and I do not have this problem. Therefore I figure it has something to do with an XP setting that does not like my server very well or something (that's a little above me).
I'm experiencing the same on the two XP machines.
The only solution I can think of is to start limiting the size of the folders on the network. Currently some folders have up to 5,000 files.
In Windows explorer, go to folder options\view and uncheck 'do not cache thumbnails'. I think this has helped me some. Even though I am not showing thumbnail graphics in SolidWorks, windows still displays an icon with each filename.
I would love to see a real solution to this since it is quite annoying to have to wait everytime you do a file\open.
Turn off the switch in SolidWorks under Tools, Options, "show thumbnail graphics in windows explorer" and use the Windows Explorer"View" menu to select "Thumbnails".
Using the Windows Explorer thumbnails gives you bigger thumbnails that you can see, and it takes less time to repaint them.
matt
snipped-for-privacy@turnkeytechnologies.net (Michael Brusich) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:
I am working on all files locally. I don't have the "show thumbnail graphics" option checked. The odd thing is, if I have a folder full of Jpg's for instance, I can tool through them instantly, but with SW files, I move the slider and wait 5, or so seconds before the windows file icons update and the window relinquishes control to me. I have noticed a few postings to windows xp groups about this (files associated to other programs however) but no good solutions (that worked anyway). I thought someone might have the magic bullet. Thanks in advance. Mike
(Hey Matt!)
Hey Mike!
Uh. hmmm. Maybe you have the "Do not cache thumbnails" unchecked? (Windows Explorer, Tools, Folder Options, View, Files and Folders, Do not cache thumbnails)
Caching makes a big thumbs.db file in every folder, which might be causing that. I have that turned ON, so my thumbnails are not cached. I mainly work locally as well.
Matt
snipped-for-privacy@turnkeytechnologies.net (Michael Brusich) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:
Perhaps I was not specific enough. My problem is not with the thumbnails, it's with the updating of the file tree and the associated icons. In this case the sw part icon. I did however try the "do not cache thumbnails" switch, to no avail. If you go to any folder with several hundred files in it, as soon as the folder is clicked a default windows icon appears in front of all the files. Normally this icon changes instantaneously to the icon associated with the file. In my case, with SW files only, this update can take up to 10 seconds. (a virtual eternity that is testing my sanity).
Mike
"YES" in Greensboro Coliseum, NC tonight, I'm psyched. Saw them several times 20 years ago! Ok, I'm old.
I am experiencing the same thing......would be interested in hearing about an improvement. Bruce Chapman Manager - Product Engineering Rayco Mfg, Inc.
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Oh, those icons. Okay, sorry, I misunderstood. I don't know what it might be. If you wanted to experiment, Explorer Folder Options would be a good place to start. What are your folder display settings?
matt
snipped-for-privacy@turnkeytechnologies.net (Michael Brusich) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:
In the control panel under system>advanced>Performance I tried the non default setting "adjust for best performance" and noticed no difference in behavior. One other difference between the Win2000 pc and the 2 xp pc's is the video card brand. The win2000 pc uses a fire gl2 and the 2 xp pc's that are experiencing this slow behavior use nvidia Quadro FX 750 and
1000. Are others experiencing this problem using nvidia cards? Looking for a connection. MikeBy the way the "YES" concert was awesome. Especially since Jon Anderson is 60 years young.
Uh, I'm not sure if I see the same thing you do. I'm using a QuadroFX1100 on XP Pro. I had a quick look at my SW backups folder, and it updated the icons almost as fast as I scrolled through it. Explorer says there are 433 objects in the folder.
If I had a large assembly loaded in SW, and I was running out of memory, I can imagine that this might take a long time to update. I've not noticed that behavior yet. The only time my display slows down is when the CPU meter is pegged.
I am using the nVidia Quadro4 750 XGL. But, since I only see this when working from remote folders, I doubt that the video card/drivers are the cause.
However, I don't think that it is a network problem either. We are a very, very small company with very little network traffic. My files open very fast. So that leads me to believe that it is not a bandwidth problem. And, I never had this problem until I moved from Win2K to WinXP. Therefore, I think it is definitely a WinXP problem. But I can't figure it out though. I reformatted and reloaded my OS (WinXP) a while back (for other reasons) and this problem didn't get any better.
The two WinXP machines showing the icon slowdown problem here are both running Quadro FX-1000's. Its most noticable when Windows Explorer is set to "List" view, i.e., horizontal scrolling required. The big directories are on one of the machines so we know its not network-related.
Richard
We have here the same problem, It started since we moved from SW-03 to SW-04-SP3, only on XP (on Win-2K it is much faster although those are much slower machines), and only in network folders (in local folders it behave as expected). We use Novell file server some use Microsoft client to access the server and some Novell client (4.90 SP1a) and the problem on all XP machines is the same.
Ditto here. We have FireGL 2 cards but I don't believe this is video card/driver related. One of our programmers here believes its due to all the extra 'overhead' in XP. (Oh, thats XP Pro.)
It is apparent that we have found the culprit to this problem. Everyone that posted that has this problem has one thing in common, Windows XP. Now, anyone got any clues as to why or how to fix it?
Well this is interesting. I really believe it has something to do with the method by which xp retrieves the file icons for certain programs. I've read in other newsgroups, similar problems with other programs (paintshop I think it was) and the slow icon problem. I am going to contact my VAR about this and see if they may be of some help. I am going to refer them to this thread in the newsgroup and maybe all those having this problem can do the same. I work with good sized assemblies and am constantly fetching files, so over time, this behavior is slowing me down. If anyone else finds a solution PLEASE repost to this thread and please shoot me an email. Thanks. Mike
I have found a post that addresses the problems we are experiencing.
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