XP 64 bit for a office computer

[jlqrb]

I am built a system for my fathers business a few weeks ago and he is using Adobe programs to do a lot of the work he does. He some times gets jobs that require him to print out a image that is 6 feet tall. He told me today that he is getting virtual memory errors and slow down when he is working with images this big in Adobe Illustrator.

He is having me build him another system right now that was mainly going to be used for the filing side of the business. He said that he was good using the computer I sent him the other week for the filing and have me build him a computer with more memory for the graphics design.

 

I was wondering which option is best for this situation or even if putting more memory in his computer is going to improve the situation.

 

I was thinking of using windows pro 64 bit and getting him 8gb of memory and that I think should be enough for what ever he need to do. I was worried about drivers issues with 64 bit though.

 

The other option is to just send him another 2gb kit and have win 32 cap it below 4gb.

 

I was wondering what option is best or if there is a 3rd option ?

 

I have very limited knowledge of Adobe so I don't know what will let them run it at it's best under the circumstances they are using it under.

 

Thanks

[wevsspot]

jl,

 

First, there isn't any way that I would use a 64-bit Windows OS right now, not Vista and especially not something that Microsoft has thrown to the curbside (i.e. XP 64-bit).

 

The first thing you need to do is make sure that the Adobe Scratch Disk is not set as the same disk that your paging file is on (this will help greatly, but requires two physical disks or at least two partitions on a single disk).

 

The second thing to look at is how much physical memory you have allocated to Adobe. I haven't used Illustrator in a while, but use Photoshop Elements a bunch. You should be able to find these settings by opening Adobe, click the Edit button, scroll down to Preferences, select the Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk to change settings. You can also change the amount of physical memory allocated to Adobe on the next tab below titled Memory and Image Cache.

 

The third thing you need to do is physically increase the amount of RAM in your dad's computer. Two gigabyte should do the trick, but if you want to add more that's ok too (since you already understand the 32-bit limitation on 4gb of RAM).

 

Fourth, you might experiment with the current Windows page file size. You can find tons of thoughts on page file management all over the internet. Happy reading. Or, if you'd like, PM me and I'll walk you through changing the min. and max. values on your page file size.

 

Regards,

[uneedav8]

I am built a system for my fathers business a few weeks ago and he is using Adobe programs to do a lot of the work he does. He some times gets jobs that require him to print out a image that is 6 feet tall. He told me today that he is getting virtual memory errors and slow down when he is working with images this big in Adobe Illustrator.

He is having me build him another system right now that was mainly going to be used for the filing side of the business. He said that he was good using the computer I sent him the other week for the filing and have me build him a computer with more memory for the graphics design.

 

I was wondering which option is best for this situation or even if putting more memory in his computer is going to improve the situation.

 

I was thinking of using windows pro 64 bit and getting him 8gb of memory and that I think should be enough for what ever he need to do. I was worried about drivers issues with 64 bit though.

 

The other option is to just send him another 2gb kit and have win 32 cap it below 4gb.

 

I was wondering what option is best or if there is a 3rd option ?

 

I have very limited knowledge of Adobe so I don't know what will let them run it at it's best under the circumstances they are using it under.

 

Thanks

 

 

I think you might want to play around with the settings in windows as well as illustrator before you purchase anything. With photoshop and illustrator, the memory allocation and the scratch disk location seem to play a big role in the programs performance.You may want to play around with the windows page file....maybe even putting it on a separate HD. On my G5 mac, I have the OS on it's own drive....and have another hard drive that is partition in 3 small parts. I set the small partitions to be dedication for scratch disk for photoshop and illustrator. I set the programs to use 75% of my 4 gigs of RAM. Even though there is enough RAM in the machine for the program....it may still may get virtual memory errors. I have done a lot of graphic design through college and for fun on my macs and windows machines. I usually like to set up the the scratch disk on separate HD's. I think even with 8 gigs of RAM, files the size your dad is dealing with will still slow down....but the virtual memory errors shouldn't really be happening. I don't think I have delt with files like the ones your dad is dealing with but I frequently work and print 50-80mb files without seeing virtual memory issues. The 64 bit OS would be great to support added memory but I would only consider that if all your dads printer have 64 bit drivers. It kind of sucks adobes suite is still 32 bit. I would just play around with the settings first and see how it goes. If still no go....them maybe borrow another 2 gigs from another machine to see if anything improves. Here is a link that gives you more info about performance in illustrator.....good luck and thanks again for those cables:)

 

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewConten...20782&sliceId=2

[Angry_Games]

The ONLY 64-bit Microsoft I would even think of installing is something like their Enterprise Windows 2003 Server, but for a business?

 

Not on your life. Businesses are mission-critical and that means you have to have stability and reliability, not something you are likely to get with any XP-type 64-bit OS, and damn sure not Vista anything, no matter how many bits.

 

In your situation, I'd install 4GB of RAM and make sure you have the BIOS set properly to allow Windows to see whatever it will see (3.25GB to 3.75GB). Always remember, 4GB of RAM in XP 32-bit will still be 4GB of RAM. Anything over the 3.25-3.75GB (this always depends on your motherboard/BIOS for the most part as to which number you will get lol) is still there, and Windows is still using it, but isn't allowing you to control how to use it. Generally it reserves those extra MB's for hardware or other functions.

 

Let's put it this way: for my business, and needing Adobe products and such, I'd stick with mature, stable 32-bit Windows XP and 4GB of RAM and not worry about it for another year or two when the concensus is 64-bit is now a viable, stable, reliable, heavily-supported alternative to 32-bit anything as long as there is 64-bit native stable, reliable, heavily-supported software to go with it.

 

And before all that nonsense, I'd read the two posts above mine and do that stuff first.

[ReelFiles]

Also you might want to consider switching to a faster hard drive like a Raptor, that in conjunction with the extra RAM should make a nice difference.

[jlqrb]

I am going to send them another 2gb kit of memory and a new hard drive for the scratch disk.

 

What kind of hard drive should I get for the scratch disk ? does it matter if it is a smaller hard drive ? I have a extra 36gb Raptor that I could send them but I am not sure if that would make for a good scratch disk.

Also if I do send them that drive should I tell them to install Adobe on that drive as well or should they just use it as a scratch disk ?

[wevsspot]

The 36gb Raptor would make a fine scratch disk (especially since you already have it and there wouldn't be any further costs involved). But you might consider the configuration I've recommended below.

 

The primary consideration here is that Adobe exist on one disk or partition, your scratch disk on another and your paging file on yet another. For me, that has always yielded the best performance, and I've never had virtual memory errors when running in this configuration.

 

On a business system with two hdd's here is how I would configure;

 

Primary hdd = Two partitions / Use the first partition for Windows and Applications / Use the second partition for Adobe Scratch Disk

 

Raptor hdd = Windows Page File and critical backups