slow performance on Win98 machines 1

[camidon]

I'm having several users that are running Foxpro applications on their machines and they are extremely slow. It's causing them delays of up to 5 minutes to do anything. I'm supposed to be going on site in a couple of weeks so I'm trying to get an idea of what I need to be looking for besides network connectivity. Also, If anyone can point me to any white papers or FAQ's on slow responce in Foxpro that would be appreciated.

Any suggestions will be very helpful.

Chris

 

[rgbean]

Chris,
First check to see if they are running a Virus checker. If so, make sure it's up to date (both code and virus definitions), and verify the scanning configuration. Some have defaults that are over aggresive - e.g. rechecking any file that's changed. This kind of setting will kill any database program, especially if the data files are big.

Rick

 

[camidon]

What if there is no virus checker running. Are there any other problems associated with Foxpro and windows 98? I've heard that in some versions there are some temp file problems that can slow down 98 machines in some cases. Is this a known problem? I havn't been able to find anything on MS' site or on Google so I'm wondering how much validity this claim has.

 

[rgbean]

We have hundreds of systems running VFP applications on Win98 machines and no "regular" problems. Of course it's important that the individual machines be updated with the known patches, and configured properly. They should be regularly defragged and temp files should be configured to be on the local system (in the CONFIG.FPW). The app(s) should also clean up any leftover temp files (one reason I always have a specific directory for FP temp files, rather than using the default Windows directory).

Of course the network can also be a problem depending on the NICs, cabling, topology and the server.

Rick

 

[camidon]

Thank you very much for your help. This is my first exposure to FoxPro related issues. I'm doing some consulting for an out of state company that is having these performance issues on several of their clients workstations and they are telling me that windows 98 is the only common link that they can think of. Hopefully now I will be able to answer their questions when I go on site.

Chris

 

[DEDMOD]

Especially if you've got older machines, getting rid of old temp files is important since they can grow to the point where the hard drive doesn't have enough space to work with.

You might also want to figure out what sort of virtual memory the systems are using. A bad thing which can happen is that all your RAM gets used up on trivial things and so the system starts having to use the hard drive to hold your data which can make it be very slow. Just changing the order programs are loaded into memory can sometimes help.

Dave

 

[camidon]

What would be the best steps to take to determine virtual memory usage and force it to load Foxpro into memory first?

 

[DEDMOD]

You can find the virtual memory settings under start \ control panel \ system \ performance \ virtual memory. Generally it should be left under the computer's control, but sometimes it's been set high for one reason or another and programs get moved into it and slowed down.

I'm going to have to look to find out how to figure out what order programs are loaded. I suspect that if you're going to be using FoxPro programs a lot, if you load then on start-up of the system they'll have plenty of room. BTW, be sure your user's systems have enough regular RAM to run your programs when you've got whatever cursors or views you want to have quick access to opened in memory.

If you're short on memory, you may need to change the programs so that they are dealing with smaller data sets. That is, if your program will let you.

Dave