Sudden Performance Drop? Check this out...

[Cruachan 705]

Hi,Stumbled upon this today when I fired up FSX. Thought it might be worth reporting.What the heck?!!! Ages to load, slide show, stuttering, graphic spikes while panning! This is crazy! Sim's suddenly unflyable and yet I knew I hadn't changed anything.I checked Task Manager and found AcroRd32.exe was running. Why? Adobe Reader 8 wasn't running. Not only was this executable running but it was consuming 50% CPU resources and using in excess of 30MB memory!The process was ended and performance was immediately restored. Phew! But why?A little research and I discovered one strong possibility. It seems that if you have opened a pdf file in your browser then the AcroRd32.exe is activated but often doesn't close when no longer required. Hmm! Surprised I haven't come across this before.Anyway, apparently the way to prevent this happening is to follow the instructions as shown on this page:http://www.allscoop.com/tools/acrord32-exe/On this occasion, the above experience coincided with AR8 wanting to update itself. I allowed the update to install so maybe this also was a possible factor and the process was not ended automatically. So, for good measure, I have also disabled the automatic weekly checks for updates:1. Run Adobe Reader2. Click 'Help' and then 'Check for Updates'3. The 'Adobe Updater' window will open.4. Click on 'Preferences' and uncheck 'Automatically check for Adobe updates'5. Click on 'OK'From now on I will update as and when I want to.Hope this has been of some help.MikeEdit: ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 (AM2CPU Board), AMD Athlon 64X2 6400+ (BE,3200MHz,Windsor), Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro, 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 PC2-6400 4-4-4-12(1T) (Dual Channel), (PCI-E)Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB (Catalyst 7.10 WHQL), SB Audigy2 ZS Platinum (Drivers version 5.12.0001.1196 WHQL),Antec NeoHE 650W PSU, Windows XP Home Edition (SP2), DirectX 9.0c

[Guest Nick_N]

Hi Mikethis is part of going through a system and cleaning up startup items and automatic update' items too. There are many programs out there that have an automatic update system in their function and a user should always go to the properties of any software they install and see if this funtion exists. The best way to deal with it if it does exist is go ahead and make sure you have all the updates at the time of software install, but then set the auto update system on MANUAL or NO unless this is a critical software program you definitely need update support for.I even shut down Windows Automatic Update system to prevent scans at boot. I much prefer to take a few moments on the first week of every month and go to Windows Update through IE7 and get everything I need.the more you remove from that "boot" footprint on the system (the right things removed... NOT shutting down all the services which is wrong to do) the better the systen will run

[JSkorna 137]

Mike,Does this change the ASX situation we have been going back and forth on? Just wondering!!Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[Guest JIMJAM]

Like most problems , I stumbled across the answer for this one.I noticed if I opened a read a pilot manual, yes I actually on rare occassion look at them, the sim ran slower.I figured out the reader was causing it.Actually there are alot of "automatic" programs which as a gamer, I HATE.Unless ALL you do is play,alot of these programs are needed and all I can do is use Enditall to close them before I fly.Most of mine do not cause a fps hit but rather those microstutters or in cases like this, where they actually start up,go online and DL something, can cause ctds and freezes.The WORST ever was when I had AOLs McAfee free security program running.Aol is also bad.Oh jeez it was horrible and messed everything up.Thanks for the write up.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Jim,Yes, the same thought occurred to me and that was the first thing I tried..LOL!Sadly, the answer remains in the negative :(Back to the drawing board on that one.Regards,Mike

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Nick,Yes I couldn't agree more. Like you I have disabled automatic updates and only update XP once a month.Most of my software is configured to prevent automatic updating but somehow AR8 slipped throught the net :(Currently, this is what I allow to load at startup:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/190051.jpgMy computer has been on for a few hours and these are the processes running at present:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/190052.jpgIgnore PSP Pro Photo - it's showing because I use it to capture areas of the screen. Normally it wouldn't be running while FSX is active.This config serves me pretty well and FSX, along with all your very helpful XP and FSX tweaks (thank you!), runs just dandy most of the time. As you know, I was bitten by O&O and consequently continue to run my trusty PerfectDisk 2008. In case anyone is wondering, my earlier version of XP SP2 is not compatible with O&O and leads to corruption of the o/s. As you can appreciate, that's an experience I wish to avoid repeating and illustrates the importance of keeping up-to-date full system backups!Regards,MikeEdit: Here's a teaser for you, Nick:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=40512&page=

[Guest mephix]

Hey all,A fellow AVSIM'r recommended this small free program a while ago called "SmartClose 1.1", and it can be downloaded here: http://www.download.com/SmartClose/3000-20...cdlPid=10784166I use it before starting FSX and TrackIR. Just a neat tool that shuts down uneeded processes before playing FSX.

[Mace 1,904]

I don't use Adobe on my FS rigs. We use it at the company because of compliance/compatibility but not at home. I suggest Foxit Reader for your FS box:http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.phpSmaller footprint, no tray/TSR/service/etc.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Rhett,Thanks for the tip. That sure looks to be one very powerful piece of software and the d/l is <3MB!I do have one reservation, however. On the face of it Foxit Reader appears to be free so long as you "Try or buy one offer from your preferred brands". This seems to earn you a free one year licence, but what happens at the start of the second and subsequent years? Will further yearly licences cost me the "regular" $39.00 or do I have to "try or buy... etc" each time?RegardsMike

[Guest AreCee]

Where I work, we have to deal with a lot of "my computer got slow"I see a lot of "updaters" running at startup. Google updater, HP Updater, Apple updater and so on...I've wondered, who is really updating whom? Spyware by any other name is still spyware.

[Mace 1,904]

>>I do have one reservation, however. On the face of it Foxit>Reader appears to be free so long as you "Try or buy one>offer from your preferred brands". This seems to earn you a>free one year licence, but what happens at the start of the>second and subsequent years? Will further yearly licences cost>me the "regular" $39.00 or do I have to "try or buy... etc">each time?>Hmm, I haven't downloaded it in a while. It is still free as far as I know. I would look somewhere else to download, just to be safe. Google "Foxit Reader" and you should find some download sites.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Rhett,Will do... and thanks again!Regards,Mike :)

[FTD1949 0]

Mike, At this very moment I have a PDF open using Mozilla Firefox and am flying the Level D with no performance hit at all so I don't understand why it's happening on your machine. Perhaps it's because you used IE7?Give Firefox a try. I know IE7 eats a lot more memory than Firefox.CraigLian Li PC 65B CaseCorsair HX Series CMPSU-620HX 620W Power SupplyPlextor PX-810SA/SW-BL DVD/CDGiagabyte GA-P35-DS3RCrucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)Arctic Freezer 7 ProIntel E6850 Core 2 Duo 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache @ 3.6 GHzEVGA 7950GT KO 512mb 169.21_forceware whqlSeagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATASeagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATAWinXP Pro SP2

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,Is ASX running in a window behind FSX?Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Craig,Do you see AcroRd32.exe listed as a Process in Task Manager while viewing a pdf file in Firefox? If so, then does it disappear when you exit Firefox?If the answer is 'no' then I would assume that Firefox has its own built in pdf file reader.I've just got used to using IE7 and it seems pretty stable.Mike