Solidworks now goes like a bomb!

Pete,
This issue of numerous and often not needed Windows default services running is something that all high level users of a CAD programs should be familiar with. Of course this situation just gets worst as time goes by and you add more stuff to your system. If you go out to your favorite search engine and type in "Windows XP tweaks" you will find hundreds of sites that suggest tweaks that should in some cases dramatically your performance. Sometimes just tuning or tweaking simple things in the Control Panel are a starting point. Graphics behavior, system restore, indexing, automatic backups, etc. In other cases you might manually be directed to go in to the registry to tweak settings. In others cases *.reg files are provided that will go in and make registry changes for you. Needless to say an understanding of backing up and restoring of registry files could be important in case of problems.
Go out a fine a site that you like and become familiar with the possibilities. Some of these sites can at times be way out of date. You need to find one that has been recently updated to accommodate all the Windows XP SP2 changes.
I like the BlackViper site. Below is a link on his site specific to services. Good stuff !!!
Good luck

You are forgetting that not all users know this, and even some of the high level users, don't. If we worked on the assumption, that every high level user, knows everything about Solidworks and XP Pro, there would be no need for this newsgroup. Even the high level users put questions, (and answers), here. Some are dumb in some people's eyes, but are eye opener's for others.
Your link is a very good example, I wonder how many people knew about this?
Whilst many people will play with the settings in Solidworks, many are loathed to fiddle with the OS setting's. Some are not even allowed too, by their IT department. Now if it can be shown, that a performance increase, can be gained, then something good has come out of my post and we all gain. It that not the reason for this newsgroup?
We all find our own way, but a little help along the way, is always appreciated. You just have to read the post's here to confirm that.
Now where is that "any" key??

I was just about to post a message about SW performance and I saw your post. Boy, I'll tell ya, I'm my system must really be a mess then. I've got a simply couple of assemblies with about 100 parts (most of which are feature driven patterns) and the darn thing is nearly impossible to use. I have to resort to hiding and supressing parts and sketches in order to be able to work at the assembly level. In one notable instance, I was editing a part sketch that had about 50 rectangles that were brought over from a sketch in the main assembly (with relations). All I did was to create offset entities and turn the source entities into construction lines. I had to sit there and wait for about 30 seconds every time I edited something.
The system? 1.8GHz P4, 2GB RAM, separate system and data drives (SW part/assy files on data drive), US$1,500 graphics card (NVidia Quadro FX4000) with all the accelerations turned on and 128MB of system memory set aside for textures. Oh, yes, WinXP Pro.
A few days ago someone posted a note about his company going to SW to work on assemblies with 10K parts. With what I've seen and experienced to date, I couldn't, for the life of me, imagine how anyone could possibly consider using this program to work on projects of such complexity. The main source of my concern comes from:
1- Slow performance
2- Ridiculous file size growth
3- Random crashing and loss of work
4- Significant penalty paid for not doing things a certain way (both in performance and file size). Of course, since this may very well change from version to version...what happens with 10K-part assemblies 5 versions from today? This is of real concern. Can you trust your models to survive the test of time? I guess you have to make not of and keep the SW version that the models were created under in order to safeguard against problems.
5- Horrible lack of support for text-based features
6- Horrible lack of tools for image files (transparency being one example)
7- Random damage to parts/assemblies during work. Whole chains of relationships and even sketches have been known to disappear/change. Just search the archives.
8- eDrawings is useless except for impressing high-school kids
9- 2D drawing seems to be fraught with a similar degree of performance and reliability issues.
10- No way (that I know of) to go back and forth between using multi-body parts and assemblies. MBP's are a nice way to lighten the load when using subassemblies. But, let's say that you need to pull-in the real assembly to check alignment/form/function/whatever. The whole thing blows-up in your face and you have to re-mate/fix it in the master assembly. Not good. What's the point.
11- Probably a few more things that I have yet to learn.
Don't get me wrong. I am getting work done. But, it'd sure have been nice to have paid a lot less money for what --at times-- feels like a science experiment rather than a program that could find safe use by organizations working on complex designs with more than three parts.
I know that AutoCAD is not a 3D modeller, but I can't help but compare SW to ACAD in terms of robustness, reliability and plain-old getting work done. I've been using ACAD since version 1.2 (it used to come in 8inch floppies!) and I, frankly, don't remember the program crashing for no reason after version 1.4 or so. It has never blown-up in the middle of a job and lost the work for that session (SW has) and files don't grow exponentially 'cause you add some text here and there. In general, ACAD runs and feels like a tool you can rely on. And I have, for years. It will take a long, long time --and a few more service packs-- before SW can feel the same way. It sure makes pretty pictures though.
To return to the topic.
Can someone list the tweaks that most reliably improve SW performance to a significant extent? Pete's assy going from a 15 minute load to

I too would like to know which services cause such dramatic increases.
Corey

Sean Dotson posted something like this to the mcad forums but I can't find it now.
Sean, you there?
Richard

To export settings so we can see them, at the top of the window is a menu called Action. Under that pick Export List. I found that the default tab delimited text file seemed to work the best, and this file can then be opened in Excel to make it a bit more readable.
You can also take a few screen shots to capture the settings.
I'm quite curious to see what you have done to achieve such dramatic differences, and what the other ramifications are.
WT

I'm glad to hear that other high level user's, do not know what services to turn off. I will export my setting's tomorrow, (Tuesday in the UK), being it's on the work's PC, and post it here.
I have added a few more parts, including Toolbox parts, and the time lag is not significant.
But, and a big BUT here, "fully" constraining toolbox parts, also speeds the assembly up. Most toolbox parts have auto constraints, but the norm is 2 per item. Take a bolt for example, you get a coincident and a concentric, this allows the bolt to turn in the hole that it mated too. One bolt is not too bad, but add 50 or more nuts, bolts and washers and it does slow MY assembly down. Now what I did, was to constrain the sketch of the nuts, bolts and washers, (using a parallel constraint), also.
Added to this I also constrained the flange sketches, in my all sheet metal parts.
Bit of an overkill?, maybe, but I got the real slowness, after adding the sheet metal sub-assemblies, so this was my clue. I know someone will disagree with me, (as always), but this is my 2 cents worth and it works for me.
Pete

Here is my work pc services, setting's:-
I also have a csv or a xls file, it you would like it emailed to you.
Name,Description,Status ,Startup Type,Log On As Alerter,Notifies selected users and computers of administrative alerts. If the service is stopped, programs that use administrative alerts will not receive them. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Disabled,Local Service Application Layer Gateway Service,Provides support for 3rd party protocol plug-ins for Internet Connection Sharing and the Windows Firewall.,Started,Manual,Local Service Application Management,Provides software installation services such as Assign, Publish, and Remove.,,Manual,Local System Automatic Updates,Enables the download and installation of Windows updates. If this service is disabled, this computer will not be able to use the Automatic Updates feature or the Windows Update Web site.,Started,Automatic,Local System Background Intelligent Transfer Service,Transfers files in the background using idle network bandwidth. If the service is stopped, features such as Windows Update, and MSN Explorer will be unable to automatically download programs and other information. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it may fail to transfer files if they do not have a fail safe mechanism to transfer files directly through IE in case BITS has been disabled.,,Manual,Local System ClipBook,Enables ClipBook Viewer to store information and share it with remote computers. If the service is stopped, ClipBook Viewer will not be able to share information with remote computers. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Disabled,Local System COM+ Event System,Supports System Event Notification Service (SENS), which provides automatic distribution of events to subscribing Component Object Model (COM) components. If the service is stopped, SENS will close and will not be able to provide logon and logoff notifications. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Manual,Local System COM+ System Application,Manages the configuration and tracking of Component Object Model (COM)+-based components. If the service is stopped, most COM+-based components will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System Computer Browser,Maintains an updated list of computers on the network and supplies this list to computers designated as browsers. If this service is stopped, this list will not be updated or maintained. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System Cryptographic Services,Provides three management services: Catalog Database Service, which confirms the signatures of Windows files; Protected Root Service, which adds and removes Trusted Root Certification Authority certificates from this computer; and Key Service, which helps enroll this computer for certificates. If this service is stopped, these management services will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System DCOM Server Process Launcher,Provides launch functionality for DCOM services.,Started,Automatic,Local System DHCP Client,Manages network configuration by registering and updating IP addresses and DNS names.,Started,Automatic,Local System Distributed Link Tracking Client,Maintains links between NTFS files within a computer or across computers in a network domain.,Started,Automatic,Local System Distributed Transaction Coordinator,Coordinates transactions that span multiple resource managers, such as databases, message queues, and file systems. If this service is stopped, these transactions will not occur. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. ,,Manual,Network Service DNS Client,Resolves and caches Domain Name System (DNS) names for this computer. If this service is stopped, this computer will not be able to resolve DNS names and locate Active Directory domain controllers. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Network Service Error Reporting Service,Allows error reporting for services and applictions running in non-standard environments.,Started,Automatic,Local System Event Log,Enables event log messages issued by Windows-based programs and components to be viewed in Event Viewer. This service cannot be stopped.,Started,Automatic,Local System Fast User Switching Compatibility,Provides management for applications that require assistance in a multiple user environment.,Started,Manual,Local System Help and Support,Enables Help and Support Center to run on this computer. If this service is stopped, Help and Support Center will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System HTTP SSL,This service implements the secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) for the HTTP service, using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL). If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System Human Interface Device Access,Enables generic input access to Human Interface Devices (HID), which activates and maintains the use of predefined hot buttons on keyboards, remote controls, and other multimedia devices. If this service is stopped, hot buttons controlled by this service will no longer function. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Disabled,Local System IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service,Manages CD recording using Image Mastering Applications Programming Interface (IMAPI). If this service is stopped, this computer will be unable to record CDs. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System Indexing Service,Indexes contents and properties of files on local and remote computers; provides rapid access to files through flexible querying language.,,Manual,Local System IPSEC Services,Manages IP security policy and starts the ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE) and the IP security driver.,Started,Automatic,Local System Logical Disk Manager,Detects and monitors new hard disk drives and sends disk volume information to Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service for configuration. If this service is stopped, dynamic disk status and configuration information may become out of date. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service,Configures hard disk drives and volumes. The service only runs for configuration processes and then stops.,,Manual,Local System McAfee Framework Service,Shared component framework for McAfee products,Started,Automatic,Local System Messenger,Transmits net send and Alerter service messages between clients and servers. This service is not related to Windows Messenger. If this service is stopped, Alerter messages will not be transmitted. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Disabled,Local System MS Software Shadow Copy Provider,Manages software-based volume shadow copies taken by the Volume Shadow Copy service. If this service is stopped, software-based volume shadow copies cannot be managed. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System Net Logon,Supports pass-through authentication of account logon events for computers in a domain.,,Manual,Local System NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing,Enables an authorized user to access this computer remotely by using NetMeeting over a corporate intranet. If this service is stopped, remote desktop sharing will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System Network Associates McShield,,Started,Automatic,Local System Network Associates Task Manager,,Started,Automatic,Local System Network Connections,Manages objects in the Network and Dial-Up Connections folder, in which you can view both local area network and remote connections.,Started,Manual,Local System Network DDE,Provides network transport and security for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for programs running on the same computer or on different computers. If this service is stopped, DDE transport and security will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Disabled,Local System Network DDE DSDM,Manages Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) network shares. If this service is stopped, DDE network shares will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. ,,Disabled,Local System Network Location Awareness (NLA),Collects and stores network configuration and location information, and notifies applications when this information changes.,Started,Automatic,Local System Network Provisioning Service,Manages XML configuration files on a domain basis for automatic network provisioning.,,Manual,Local System NT LM Security Support Provider,Provides security to remote procedure call (RPC) programs that use transports other than named pipes.,,Manual,Local System NVIDIA Display Driver Service,Provides system and desktop level support to the NVIDIA display driver,Started,Automatic,Local System Performance Logs and Alerts,Collects performance data from local or remote computers based on preconfigured schedule parameters, then writes the data to a log or triggers an alert. If this service is stopped, performance information will not be collected. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Network Service Plug and Play,Enables a computer to recognize and adapt to hardware changes with little or no user input. Stopping or disabling this service will result in system instability.,Started,Automatic,Local System Portable Media Serial Number Service,Retrieves the serial number of any portable media player connected to this computer. If this service is stopped, protected content might not be down loaded to the device.,,Manual,Local System Print Spooler,Loads files to memory for later printing.,Started,Automatic,Local System Protected Storage,Provides protected storage for sensitive data, such as private keys, to prevent access by unauthorized services, processes, or users.,Started,Automatic,Local System QoS RSVP,Provides network signaling and local traffic control setup functionality for QoS-aware programs and control applets.,,Manual,Local System Remote Access Auto Connection Manager,Creates a connection to a remote network whenever a program references a remote DNS or NetBIOS name or address.,,Manual,Local System Remote Access Connection Manager,Creates a network connection.,Started,Automatic,Local System Remote Desktop Help Session Manager,Manages and controls Remote Assistance. If this service is stopped, Remote Assistance will be unavailable. Before stopping this service, see the Dependencies tab of the Properties dialog box.,,Manual,Local System Remote Procedure Call (RPC),Provides the endpoint mapper and other miscellaneous RPC services.,Started,Automatic,Network Service Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator,Manages the RPC name service database.,,Manual,Network Service Remote Registry,Enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer. If this service is stopped, the registry can be modified only by users on this computer. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local Service Removable Storage,,,Manual,Local System Routing and Remote Access,Offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments.,,Disabled,Local System Secondary Logon,Enables starting processes under alternate credentials. If this service is stopped, this type of logon access will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System Security Accounts Manager,Stores security information for local user accounts.,Started,Automatic,Local System Security Center,Monitors system security settings and configurations.,Started,Automatic,Local System Server,Supports file, print, and named-pipe sharing over the network for this computer. If this service is stopped, these functions will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System Shell Hardware Detection,,Started,Automatic,Local System Smart Card,Manages access to smart cards read by this computer. If this service is stopped, this computer will be unable to read smart cards. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local Service SSDP Discovery Service,Enables discovery of UPnP devices on your home network.,Started,Manual,Local Service System Event Notification,Tracks system events such as Windows logon, network, and power events. Notifies COM+ Event System subscribers of these events.,Started,Automatic,Local System System Restore Service,Performs system restore functions. To stop service, turn off System Restore from the System Restore tab in My Computer->Properties,Started,Automatic,Local System Task Scheduler,Enables a user to configure and schedule automated tasks on this computer. If this service is stopped, these tasks will not be run at their scheduled times. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper,Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS name resolution.,Started,Automatic,Local Service Telephony,Provides Telephony API (TAPI) support for programs that control telephony devices and IP based voice connections on the local computer and, through the LAN, on servers that are also running the service.,Started,Manual,Local System Telnet,Enables a remote user to log on to this computer and run programs, and supports various TCP/IP Telnet clients, including UNIX-based and Windows-based computers. If this service is stopped, remote user access to programs might be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System Terminal Services,Allows multiple users to be connected interactively to a machine as well as the display of desktops and applications to remote computers. The underpinning of Remote Desktop (including RD for Administrators), Fast User Switching, Remote Assistance, and Terminal Server.,Started,Manual,Local System Themes,Provides user experience theme management.,Started,Automatic,Local System Uninterruptible Power Supply,Manages an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to the computer.,,Manual,Local Service Universal Plug and Play Device Host,Provides support to host Universal Plug and Play devices.,,Manual,Local Service Volume Shadow Copy,Manages and implements Volume Shadow Copies used for backup and other purposes. If this service is stopped, shadow copies will be unavailable for backup and the backup may fail. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System WebClient,Enables Windows-based programs to create, access, and modify Internet-based files. If this service is stopped, these functions will not be available. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local Service Windows Audio,Manages audio devices for Windows-based programs. If this service is stopped, audio devices and effects will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS),Provides network address translation, addressing, name resolution and/or intrusion prevention services for a home or small office network.,Started,Automatic,Local System Windows Image Acquisition (WIA),Provides image acquisition services for scanners and cameras.,,Manual,Local System Windows Installer,Adds, modifies, and removes applications provided as a Windows Installer (*.msi) package. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,,Manual,Local System Windows Management Instrumentation,Provides a common interface and object model to access management information about operating system, devices, applications and services. If this service is stopped, most Windows-based software will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions,Provides systems management information to and from drivers.,,Manual,Local System Windows Time,Maintains date and time synchronization on all clients and servers in the network. If this service is stopped, date and time synchronization will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. ,,Disabled,Local System Wireless Zero Configuration,Provides automatic configuration for the 802.11 adapters,,Disabled,Local System WMI Performance Adapter,Provides performance library information from WMI HiPerf providers.,,Manual,Local System Workstation,Creates and maintains client network connections to remote servers. If this service is stopped, these connections will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.,Started,Automatic,Local System

Please send the file and I will pull it into something a bit more readable.
WT

Kind of interesting timing - PC Mag just put this one out today that, among other suggestions, describes some of the services that you can turn off.
WT

I can't remember who posted this but these are the services to disable for a typical CAD workstation:
Routing and Remote Access Alerter Application Layer Gateway Service** (only if firewll is not used) Application Management Background Intelligent Transfer Service ClipBook COM+ System Application Distributed Link Tracking Client Distributed Transaction Coordinator Help and Support IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service** (only if do you not use the cd-rw xp record suport) IPSEC Services Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service MS Software Shadow Copy Provider Net Logon NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Network DDE Network DDE DSDM Network Location Awareness (NLA) NT LM Security Support Provider Performance Logs and Alerts Portable Media Serial Number QoS RSVP Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator Remote Registry Removable Storage Server Smart Card Smart Card Helper SSDP Discovery Service System Restore Service Telnet Themes Uninterruptible Power Supply Universal Plug and Play Device Host Volume Shadow Copy Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Windows Installer Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions Wireless Zero Configuration WMI Performance Adapter Fast User Switching Compatibility ** (only if fast user shiching is not used or the machine have one user only) Protected Storage Windows Time TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Task Scheduler Secondary Logon Print Spooler ** (only if the pc do not have or use a printer) Indexing Service Error Reporting Service Computer Browser Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
Have Fun!
I haven't tried all of these at one time so use at your risk.
Malcontent

This seems like a very dangerous list.
I mean, disabling services like "Removable Storage", "Universal Plug and Play Device Host", "COM+ System Application" or "Windows Installer" seems like an invitation to experience a boatload of trouble rather than fix anything.
Is this list for real or is it a cruel joke?
-Martin

If you want performance and keep track of what you disable, you ought to be able to re-enable anything you need, so I don't see this as a problem.
In fact, I think Pete's original comment shows just how P... POORLY MS Windows is designed and setup. If a user absolutely must have all available CPU cycles for a job, there should be a "one-click" toggle the use can set up to disable all non-essentials & re-enable the same set.
The true fact is MS has slighted users of its OS by limiting its programming efforts (on security most notably) so it could build-up tens of billions in profits
I will try disabling things once I format my new HD and put on a new WinXPSP2 OS on it.
Bo

Martin, See my disclaimer at the end of the post. "Use at your own risk" I've tried most of the services with no ill effects with the exception of Universal Plug and Play Device Host. When I stop that service, I can't open drives or folders in explorer.
Malcontent
BTW, I have an XI Computers AMD64 machine if that matters.

I saw that. Sorry, the "cruel joke" comment wasn't aimed at you...just a general statement...I was saying "do we really have to do all of this?"
It's amazing how much junk these computers are running without the user having any control or idea of whether or not they are necessary. Gone are the days of having 100% control of the CPU, I guess.
-Martin

Two words:
LInux DOS

Given that some countries and government administrations are committing to a NIX in one form or another, the handwriting is on the wall.
I personally think that MS has failed as a developer of an easy to use, consistent, bug-free, OS. I simply can't remember the last time I crashed OSX or program. SolidWorks crashed WXP yesterday.
Bo
pete wrote:

Shame that solidworks does not work on Suse

a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com... What I do not understand is why those lost processor cycles do not show in the task manager? I mean: I have a default install and on idle the UC task is between 0 and 2%? average 1%. I naively suppose I cannot get more than 1-2% increase in perf. Or is there something "unfair" in the way W2K shows proc. usage?
???