Change is an interesting thing. Sometimes it happens quickly, other times it happens so slowly you do not really notice it. Then all of sudden you see it, and think.."when did THAT happen?".
I have had a few of those "When did that happen" moments recently, but I am only going to talk about one of them today.
A few weeks ago, I was popping around SL, shopping, playing with a few new vehicles I acquired, and just generally having a good time. I had been noticing things were taking longer to render, but had not really paid that much attention to it. Then I had my moment. When it took my new home over 20 minutes to render, I knew something was wrong.
So I started out on my quest to find the problem. I did all the things I have done in the past to get rid of lag problems. I cleared my cache. I checked all my drivers for updates. I made sure Windows had all its updates. I ran a full virus scan. I ran a full spyware scan. I made sure some other program had not snuck into my startup groups that might be running in the background. I did the works.
As you may have deduced, I have had a LOT of experience dealing with lag in SL. Not only from my side, but helping friends deal with thiers also. I am a research maniac, so when faced with a technical problem, I start digging, and don't stop until I am satisfied that there IS no solution, or I find it.
The quick end to this story, is that I am no longer lagging, in any significant way. But for those who are interested, I thought I would share what I did to get here.
As I said, I started by looking around my system, to see what needed to be updated. I learned many many...many...years ago, that before you dive into any sort of tech problem, always check for updated software. I cannot tell you how many times I spent hours, if not days trying to solve a problem, then I finally would call the company and hear "oh, we fixed that in version x.y". Always check for Windows and driver updates.
Virus scans. I happen to use AVG (http://free.grisoft.com) for my virus protection. I started using it with my clients many years ago, when Norton Antivirus finally became unusable for most people. AVG does a great job, and does not try and take over my computer. It is free for home/personal use, and updates on a daily basis.
Spyware: I use Spybot (http://www.safer-networking.org ). I load up the tea-timer option, which is resident. It monitors the parts of the system that programs like to sneak into so they can load each time Windows does. It can be a bit technical in its messages, but at least I know when something is trying to sneak in. Spybot is also free, but does not update automatically. I usually run a full scan about once every two week, after I manually update its signature files.
Auto loading: There are many programs that will tell you what is loading each time Windows loads up, but I just use msconfig. If I dont recognize a file that is loading, I just google it, and can usually find out what it is pretty darn fast. You can run msconfig by clicking on the "Start" button, then "run" and type in "msconfig" (without the "'s). The "startup" tab will show you all the programs that are loading on startup.
Combofix: This is an amazing little program. I was told about it by another IT friend, and it has saved my bacon a few times. It is able to remove stuff most antivirus's cannot. Download it from http://bleepingcomputer.com Exit all of your programs, then just run it. It will shut down most of the things running in the background, and scan for some very nasty stuff. It will reboot your system, so be prepared for that. Everybody should run this program. You can download it from http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix
Free Space: Check your hard drive for free available space. If you click on "My Computer", you should see all your hard drives. Then go to the View Menu, and click on "details". It will show you the total size of your drive, and the free space. If you are under 1 gig, you may have a problem. If you can, try freeing up some space, or upgrade to a larger hard drive.
Defragmenting: I stopped doing this on a regular basis about 5 years ago. Starting in Windows XP, Microsoft built in a rudimentary defragger. Basically it means that Windows does some stuff that helps applications load faster after a few runs. But even given that, over time your files definitly become fragmented on the hard drive. This can cause a general slowdown of loading files, especially large files Ii.e. pictures, movies, graphics files, textures, etc). I started using a free defragger called "defraggler" a little while ago, and I really do like it (http://www.defraggler.com). One of the nice features it has is the ability to defrag only the free space, or even just a file or a folder. I have defragged just the SL cache folder, and I do notice a difference on things loading.
Memory: Memory is like money: You can never have too much. If you computer is low on memory, then it is working VERY hard to do all the things you are asking of it. Quickest way to check: Right mouseclick on "My Computer" (either on the desktop, or in the start menu), and then click "properties". The tabbed box that comes up should be defaulted onto the "General" Tab. At the bottom of that window, it should tell you all sorts of techie info, including how much RAM you have. If you have less then 1 gig, you are really pushing things. The cheapest thing you can do to upgrade your computer is to put in the maximum amount of RAM that your system can handle. You will be amazed at how much faster things run when you have enough RAM.
Graphics/Video Cards: If you are running a Desktop computer, this can be another fairly inexpensive upgrade to your system (If you are on a laptop, you are most likely stuck with what you have, sorry). Many systems come with "built-in" graphics, usually an "Intel" graphics chip. These are usually very basic, and while they do work, they are about as slow as you can get. If you are going to look for an upgrade, you first have to know what type of card your system will take, which can get somewhat technical (i.e. PCI slot, PCI-Express Slot, AGI, etc). What I can tell you is that the more ram you get on the video card, the better. Also, you do not need to spend more than maybe $150 US Dollars for a card that will be MORE than enough for almost everybody (Graphic designers, engineers, animators are the exceptions). I have purchased some very nice video cards with 512 megs of ram for around $80.
More on Graphics: There are two major Video Card Manufacturers out there. ATI and Nvidia. I have used both brands, and while each have thier issues at times, both run very well. I have used ATI cards longer than Nvidia has been around, but I have had lots of experience with the NVidia's also and have not been disappointed. It's hard for me to tell you exactly which one to get, because if you have every tried to compare these brands, its enough to drive you to drink with all the chipsets and model numbers etc. I tend to look at the memory, and the price. I have not been disappointed yet.
Second Life: This is where it gets interesting. This will be part 2. Stay tuned
I have had a few of those "When did that happen" moments recently, but I am only going to talk about one of them today.
A few weeks ago, I was popping around SL, shopping, playing with a few new vehicles I acquired, and just generally having a good time. I had been noticing things were taking longer to render, but had not really paid that much attention to it. Then I had my moment. When it took my new home over 20 minutes to render, I knew something was wrong.
So I started out on my quest to find the problem. I did all the things I have done in the past to get rid of lag problems. I cleared my cache. I checked all my drivers for updates. I made sure Windows had all its updates. I ran a full virus scan. I ran a full spyware scan. I made sure some other program had not snuck into my startup groups that might be running in the background. I did the works.
As you may have deduced, I have had a LOT of experience dealing with lag in SL. Not only from my side, but helping friends deal with thiers also. I am a research maniac, so when faced with a technical problem, I start digging, and don't stop until I am satisfied that there IS no solution, or I find it.
The quick end to this story, is that I am no longer lagging, in any significant way. But for those who are interested, I thought I would share what I did to get here.
As I said, I started by looking around my system, to see what needed to be updated. I learned many many...many...years ago, that before you dive into any sort of tech problem, always check for updated software. I cannot tell you how many times I spent hours, if not days trying to solve a problem, then I finally would call the company and hear "oh, we fixed that in version x.y". Always check for Windows and driver updates.
Virus scans. I happen to use AVG (http://free.grisoft.com) for my virus protection. I started using it with my clients many years ago, when Norton Antivirus finally became unusable for most people. AVG does a great job, and does not try and take over my computer. It is free for home/personal use, and updates on a daily basis.
Spyware: I use Spybot (http://www.safer-networking.org ). I load up the tea-timer option, which is resident. It monitors the parts of the system that programs like to sneak into so they can load each time Windows does. It can be a bit technical in its messages, but at least I know when something is trying to sneak in. Spybot is also free, but does not update automatically. I usually run a full scan about once every two week, after I manually update its signature files.
Auto loading: There are many programs that will tell you what is loading each time Windows loads up, but I just use msconfig. If I dont recognize a file that is loading, I just google it, and can usually find out what it is pretty darn fast. You can run msconfig by clicking on the "Start" button, then "run" and type in "msconfig" (without the "'s). The "startup" tab will show you all the programs that are loading on startup.
Combofix: This is an amazing little program. I was told about it by another IT friend, and it has saved my bacon a few times. It is able to remove stuff most antivirus's cannot. Download it from http://bleepingcomputer.com Exit all of your programs, then just run it. It will shut down most of the things running in the background, and scan for some very nasty stuff. It will reboot your system, so be prepared for that. Everybody should run this program. You can download it from http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix
Free Space: Check your hard drive for free available space. If you click on "My Computer", you should see all your hard drives. Then go to the View Menu, and click on "details". It will show you the total size of your drive, and the free space. If you are under 1 gig, you may have a problem. If you can, try freeing up some space, or upgrade to a larger hard drive.
Defragmenting: I stopped doing this on a regular basis about 5 years ago. Starting in Windows XP, Microsoft built in a rudimentary defragger. Basically it means that Windows does some stuff that helps applications load faster after a few runs. But even given that, over time your files definitly become fragmented on the hard drive. This can cause a general slowdown of loading files, especially large files Ii.e. pictures, movies, graphics files, textures, etc). I started using a free defragger called "defraggler" a little while ago, and I really do like it (http://www.defraggler.com). One of the nice features it has is the ability to defrag only the free space, or even just a file or a folder. I have defragged just the SL cache folder, and I do notice a difference on things loading.
Memory: Memory is like money: You can never have too much. If you computer is low on memory, then it is working VERY hard to do all the things you are asking of it. Quickest way to check: Right mouseclick on "My Computer" (either on the desktop, or in the start menu), and then click "properties". The tabbed box that comes up should be defaulted onto the "General" Tab. At the bottom of that window, it should tell you all sorts of techie info, including how much RAM you have. If you have less then 1 gig, you are really pushing things. The cheapest thing you can do to upgrade your computer is to put in the maximum amount of RAM that your system can handle. You will be amazed at how much faster things run when you have enough RAM.
Graphics/Video Cards: If you are running a Desktop computer, this can be another fairly inexpensive upgrade to your system (If you are on a laptop, you are most likely stuck with what you have, sorry). Many systems come with "built-in" graphics, usually an "Intel" graphics chip. These are usually very basic, and while they do work, they are about as slow as you can get. If you are going to look for an upgrade, you first have to know what type of card your system will take, which can get somewhat technical (i.e. PCI slot, PCI-Express Slot, AGI, etc). What I can tell you is that the more ram you get on the video card, the better. Also, you do not need to spend more than maybe $150 US Dollars for a card that will be MORE than enough for almost everybody (Graphic designers, engineers, animators are the exceptions). I have purchased some very nice video cards with 512 megs of ram for around $80.
More on Graphics: There are two major Video Card Manufacturers out there. ATI and Nvidia. I have used both brands, and while each have thier issues at times, both run very well. I have used ATI cards longer than Nvidia has been around, but I have had lots of experience with the NVidia's also and have not been disappointed. It's hard for me to tell you exactly which one to get, because if you have every tried to compare these brands, its enough to drive you to drink with all the chipsets and model numbers etc. I tend to look at the memory, and the price. I have not been disappointed yet.
Second Life: This is where it gets interesting. This will be part 2. Stay tuned
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