CS3 speed query..advice appreciated

Paul Burdett wrote:

Hi all,

I have CS3 Extended running on a pentium 3GHz, win xp, 2Gb Ram, 116Gb free space on my main drive (C:) and a second hard drive with 278Gb space (a new drive recently installed to use as a back up etc). I also have an older (much slower) computer that is used for the internet etc and is connected to a KVM switch, so that I can use both computers with one monitor/keyboard/mouse. The fast (CS3) computer does not have internet access.
OK..so today I turn on both computers and fire up CS3…it takes quite a while to start up..not really hanging on any particular thing such as preferences, plugins etc, but when it finally starts (30-45 seconds) everything is slow…slow to open a file, image displays in sections etc. So..I simply restart the computer and PS starts in around 3-4 seconds! I’m wondering what could cause the initial slow startup. This sometimes happens even if the slower computer is not on.
Hitting ctrl/alt/del on the CS3 computer shows quite a number of processes? such as: ctfmon.exe, hkcmd.exe, alg.exe, wdfmgr.exe, SMAgent.exe, mdm.exe, mDNSResponden…, spoolsv.exe (printer?), svhost.exe (four of those listed), lsass.exe, csrss.exe, smss.exe.
I know I can (and will) "Google" these to learn what they are, so there’s no need (unless you want to) to tell me about them, unless you feel any are the cause.
Any feedback appreciated…thanks all,
Paul

All those processes are parts of Windows or Windows drivers, I wouldn’t worry about them. There are many hundreds of other processes running too, which you have not listed. Generally the biggest one to slow down PS on a Windows machine is anti-virus software. Sadly, this being essential, there’s not much you can do!

I’m not sure what to suggest, apart from… get rid of Windows and buy a Mac. At both the studios I work with we gave up on PCs a year ago exactly because of this sort of thing.

—

x theSpaceGirl (miranda)

http://www.northleithmill.com

-.-

Kammy has a new home: http://www.bitesizedjapan.com

"SpaceGirl" wrote in message

Paul Burdett wrote:

Hi all,

I have CS3 Extended running on a pentium 3GHz, win xp, 2Gb Ram, 116Gb free space on my main drive (C:) and a second hard drive with 278Gb space (a new drive recently installed to use as a back up etc). I also have an older (much slower) computer that is used for the internet etc and is connected to a KVM switch, so that I can use both computers with one monitor/keyboard/mouse. The fast (CS3) computer does not have internet access.
OK..so today I turn on both computers and fire up CS3…it takes quite a while to start up..not really hanging on any particular thing such as preferences, plugins etc, but when it finally starts (30-45 seconds) everything is slow…slow to open a file, image displays in sections etc. So..I simply restart the computer and PS starts in around 3-4 seconds! I’m wondering what could cause the initial slow startup. This sometimes happens even if the slower computer is not on.
Hitting ctrl/alt/del on the CS3 computer shows quite a number of processes? such as: ctfmon.exe, hkcmd.exe, alg.exe, wdfmgr.exe, SMAgent.exe, mdm.exe, mDNSResponden…, spoolsv.exe (printer?), svhost.exe (four of those listed), lsass.exe, csrss.exe, smss.exe. I know I can (and will) "Google" these to learn what they are, so there’s no need (unless you want to) to tell me about them, unless you feel any are the cause.
Any feedback appreciated…thanks all,
Paul

All those processes are parts of Windows or Windows drivers, I wouldn’t worry about them. There are many hundreds of other processes running too, which you have not listed. Generally the biggest one to slow down PS on a Windows machine is anti-virus software. Sadly, this being essential, there’s not much you can do!

I’m not sure what to suggest, apart from… get rid of Windows and buy a Mac. At both the studios I work with we gave up on PCs a year ago exactly because of this sort of thing.

—

x theSpaceGirl (miranda)

http://www.northleithmill.com

-.-

Kammy has a new home: http://www.bitesizedjapan.com

Thank you for the reply. As stated in my original post, the new computer is not connected to the net, therefore there’s no need for antivirus. A Mac?..not an option for me.
Cheers,
paul

Paul Burdett wrote:

"SpaceGirl" wrote in message

Paul Burdett wrote:

Hi all,

I have CS3 Extended running on a pentium 3GHz, win xp, 2Gb Ram, 116Gb free space on my main drive (C:) and a second hard drive with 278Gb space (a new drive recently installed to use as a back up etc). I also have an older (much slower) computer that is used for the internet etc and is connected to a KVM switch, so that I can use both computers with one monitor/keyboard/mouse. The fast (CS3) computer does not have internet access.
OK..so today I turn on both computers and fire up CS3…it takes quite a while to start up..not really hanging on any particular thing such as preferences, plugins etc, but when it finally starts (30-45 seconds) everything is slow…slow to open a file, image displays in sections etc. So..I simply restart the computer and PS starts in around 3-4 seconds! I’m wondering what could cause the initial slow startup. This sometimes happens even if the slower computer is not on.
Hitting ctrl/alt/del on the CS3 computer shows quite a number of processes? such as: ctfmon.exe, hkcmd.exe, alg.exe, wdfmgr.exe, SMAgent.exe, mdm.exe, mDNSResponden…, spoolsv.exe (printer?), svhost.exe (four of those listed), lsass.exe, csrss.exe, smss.exe. I know I can (and will) "Google" these to learn what they are, so there’s no need (unless you want to) to tell me about them, unless you feel any are the cause.
Any feedback appreciated…thanks all,
Paul

All those processes are parts of Windows or Windows drivers, I wouldn’t worry about them. There are many hundreds of other processes running too, which you have not listed. Generally the biggest one to slow down PS on a Windows machine is anti-virus software. Sadly, this being essential, there’s not much you can do!

I’m not sure what to suggest, apart from… get rid of Windows and buy a Mac. At both the studios I work with we gave up on PCs a year ago exactly because of this sort of thing.

—

x theSpaceGirl (miranda)

http://www.northleithmill.com

-.-

Kammy has a new home: http://www.bitesizedjapan.com

Thank you for the reply. As stated in my original post, the new computer is not connected to the net, therefore there’s no need for antivirus. A Mac?..not an option for me.
Cheers,
paul

Well a Windows machine always needs antivirus. Okay so it may not be on the net, but you EVER put a CD into it… or USB stick, your MP3 player… anything. It needs protecting 🙂

Blah anyway I really can’t think of anything. Check the basics; latest video driver & all other drivers etc. Defragment the drive. Check that the scratch disks are okay

—

x theSpaceGirl (miranda)

http://www.northleithmill.com

-.-

Kammy has a new home: http://www.bitesizedjapan.com

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

[re slow startup and performance]

Since CS3 starts up nicely after a fresh reboot, I’d check for other processes using a lot of CPU, memory, handles, or i/o requests. It will take a bit of sleuthing, but you can do it from task manager by clicking on the various columns to see who is hogging the system.

Spacegirl’s guess of virus checking software was a good one, since this is a common problem. Other possibilities include running a web server in the background, shared file access from another system, and other shared resources such as a too-high priority bittorrent process in the background.

Thank you for the reply. As stated in my original post, the new computer is not connected to the net, therefore there’s no need for antivirus.

A Mac?..not an option for me.

LOL.
—
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

[re slow startup and performance]

Since CS3 starts up nicely after a fresh reboot, I’d check for other processes using a lot of CPU, memory, handles, or i/o requests. It will take a bit of sleuthing, but you can do it from task manager by clicking on the various columns to see who is hogging the system.
Spacegirl’s guess of virus checking software was a good one, since this is a common problem. Other possibilities include running a web server in the background, shared file access from another system, and other shared resources such as a too-high priority bittorrent process in the background.

Thank you for the reply. As stated in my original post, the new computer is not connected to the net, therefore there’s no need for antivirus.

A Mac?..not an option for me.

LOL.
—
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

Hi Mike,

I’ll check the task manager, and reort back.
Cheers,
Paul

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

[re slow startup and performance]

Since CS3 starts up nicely after a fresh reboot, I’d check for other processes using a lot of CPU, memory, handles, or i/o requests. It will take a bit of sleuthing, but you can do it from task manager by clicking on the various columns to see who is hogging the system.
Spacegirl’s guess of virus checking software was a good one, since this is a common problem. Other possibilities include running a web server in the background, shared file access from another system, and other shared resources such as a too-high priority bittorrent process in the background.

Thank you for the reply. As stated in my original post, the new computer is not connected to the net, therefore there’s no need for antivirus.

A Mac?..not an option for me.

LOL.
—
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

Hi Mike,

I’ll check the task manager, and reort back. (sorry..report back!)lol Cheers,
Paul

Hi Mike,

I often read your threads on this newsgroup, and respect your advice. Anyhow, I just opened CS3…it opens in around 4-5 seconds which I think is pretty fast! I do note that after using CS3 for a while and then try to open say 10 jpegs I’ll get the "reading jpeg" progress bar. If I then close CS3 down and launch again, I can open 10 photos quite quickly. I must admit I don’t fully understand the Task Manager, but here’s what mine shows after opening CS3:

Processes tab:

ctfmon.exe Admin
E_S4I3F2.exe Admin
point32.exe Admin
hkcmd.exe Admin
explorer.exe Admin
alg.exe Local Services
wdfmgr.exe Local Services
svhost.exe System
SMAgent.exe System
mdm.exe System
mDNSResponder System
spoolsv.exe Local Services
svhost.exe Network Service
svhost.exe System ***
svhost.exe Network Service
svhost.exe System
lsass.exe System
services.exe winlogon.exe System
csrss.exe System
smss.exe System
system System
System Idle process System

I note that all of the above have memory useage of less than 5000K except explorer.exe which is 23332K and svhost.exe (***above) which is 17444K.

Performance tab:

cpu: 0%
PF useage: 216Mb

Totals: Physical memory (k) total 2087660
handles 5739
threads 333
processes 28

commit charge (k)

total 220816

Networking tab:

no active networking sadaptors found.

So, I hope this helps diagnose any problem, although I must admit that CS3 is very fast 90% of the time, so mybe my concerns are not warranted? Cheers,
Paul

P.S. The CS3 computer is not connected to the net and basically only runs CS3 and some music software. I guess I could install Adaware and virus software, but I’m not sure they’re necessary?

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

[re slow startup and performance]

Since CS3 starts up nicely after a fresh reboot, I’d check for other processes using a lot of CPU, memory, handles, or i/o requests. It will take a bit of sleuthing, but you can do it from task manager by clicking on the various columns to see who is hogging the system.
Spacegirl’s guess of virus checking software was a good one, since this is a common problem. Other possibilities include running a web server in the background, shared file access from another system, and other shared resources such as a too-high priority bittorrent process in the background.

Thank you for the reply. As stated in my original post, the new computer is not connected to the net, therefore there’s no need for antivirus.

A Mac?..not an option for me.

LOL.
—
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

Hi Mike,

I’ll check the task manager, and reort back. (sorry..report back!)lol Cheers,
Paul

Hi Mike,

I often read your threads on this newsgroup, and respect your advice. Anyhow, I just opened CS3…it opens in around 4-5 seconds which I think is pretty fast! I do note that after using CS3 for a while and then try to open say 10 jpegs I’ll get the "reading jpeg" progress bar. If I then close CS3 down and launch again, I can open 10 photos quite quickly. I must admit I don’t fully understand the Task Manager, but here’s what mine shows after opening CS3:

Processes tab:

ctfmon.exe Admin
E_S4I3F2.exe Admin
point32.exe Admin
hkcmd.exe Admin
explorer.exe Admin
alg.exe Local Services
wdfmgr.exe Local Services
svhost.exe System
SMAgent.exe System
mdm.exe System
mDNSResponder System
spoolsv.exe Local Services
svhost.exe Network Service
svhost.exe System ***
svhost.exe Network Service
svhost.exe System
lsass.exe System
services.exe winlogon.exe System
csrss.exe System
smss.exe System
system System
System Idle process System

I note that all of the above have memory useage of less than 5000K except explorer.exe which is 23332K and svhost.exe (***above) which is 17444K.

Performance tab:

cpu: 0%
PF useage: 216Mb

Totals: Physical memory (k) total 2087660
handles 5739
threads 333
processes 28

commit charge (k)

total 220816

Networking tab:

no active networking sadaptors found.

So, I hope this helps diagnose any problem, although I must admit that CS3 is very fast 90% of the time, so mybe my concerns are not warranted? Cheers,
Paul

P.S. The CS3 computer is not connected to the net and basically only runs CS3 and some music software. I guess I could install Adaware and virus software, but I’m not sure they’re necessary?

Sorry Mike…forgot to ask about "web server in

the background, shared file access from another system, and other shared resources such as a too-high priority bittorrent process in the background". What are these???

I have two computers connected via a KVM switch…2 computers/one mouse/keyboard/monitor…but only the non CS3 computer is internet connected.

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

[re slow performance with CS3]
I don’t see anything unusual in the task manager list, and as you say there is no conspicuous consumption of cpu, memory, i/o requests, or handles. The next place to look is in the Event Log. To access this you may need to enable showing of the Admin Tools folder in the Start Menu options.

Once you have the system event log selected, look for red circled X’s, which could be an indication of trouble. A recoverable disk error is an example of something that could cause the sort of problem you are describing. —
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

"Paul Burdett" wrote in message

[re slow performance with CS3]
I don’t see anything unusual in the task manager list, and as you say there is no conspicuous consumption of cpu, memory, i/o requests, or handles. The next place to look is in the Event Log. To access this you may need to enable showing of the Admin Tools folder in the Start Menu options.

Once you have the system event log selected, look for red circled X’s, which could be an indication of trouble. A recoverable disk error is an example of something that could cause the sort of problem you are describing.
—
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

Hi Mike,
Thanks for that. I checked and there were a few red X’s…some related to PS, others Office 2007…right clicking on properties gives some info..but not sure what it all means! Anyhow…CS3 is very fast 90% of the time so I’m not too worried (life’s too short!)
Cheers,
Paul