WMM Not Running Optimal

[Monica]

I run a clean and defragged machine...Dell 3.2ghz Pent. 4 with 1mb of RAM,
20" wide format flat panel monitor. With all programs (except Norton AV and
Zone Alarm) closed, WMM is slow to react to commands and playback can be
choppy. I'm using WMM v.5.1, XP2. Is this typical? I have been
considering doubling my RAM. Surely my processor is fast enough. Would
adding more RAM be the answer?
Thanks,
Monica

 

[John Inzer]

I run a clean and defragged machine...Dell 3.2ghz Pent. 4
with 1mb of RAM, 20" wide format flat panel monitor.
With all programs (except Norton AV and Zone Alarm)
closed, WMM is slow to react to commands and playback can
be choppy. I'm using WMM v.5.1, XP2. Is this typical?
I have been considering doubling my RAM. Surely my
processor is fast enough. Would adding more RAM be the
answer?
Thanks,
Monica

=================================
1MB of RAM? Maybe you mean 1GB? And
yes, it's not uncommon for users who work
with video to increase this to 2GB or even
more.

Increasing the size of your swap file can
help also:

(308417) HOW TO: Set Performance Options
in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308417

There is no Movie Maker 5.1 (that's your
Windows version)...I'm guessing you have
Movie Maker ver. 2.1.

Some things that may help:

Try reducing your Graphics Hardware
Acceleration as per the instructions in the
following article. If an improvement is realized...
it's a strong indication that you need to update
your video driver:

(263391) How to Change the Graphics
Hardware Acceleration Setting in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=263391

A hard drive that has at least 50% free space
should result in smoother operation of your
programs.

Disconnect from the net and disable Norton
and ZA before opening Movie Maker.

It's good that you defrag regularly but it's
even better if you run Error Checking before
defragging:

(315265) How to Perform Disk Error Checking
in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265
(check the two boxes..."Automatically fix file
system errors" and "Scan for and attempt
recovery of bad sectors") the utility will run
the next time you restart your computer.
(run error checking repeatedly until it finds
no errors)

Also it's important to keep your temp and
temporary internet files deleted:

(310312) Description of the Disk Cleanup
Tool in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310312

Also the following article explains how to
empty the Temporary Internet Files folder:

(260897) How to Delete the Contents of the
Temporary Internet Files Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=260897

And...the following info previously posted
by MVP Yves Alarie may be useful:

Files downloaded from the internet or e-mail,
may be in a subfolder of your Temporary
Internet Files folder.

The folder name will start with OLK and
there will be a number after OLK. The easiest
way to find this folder is to search for OLK*
and once found open it and see if the files
are there.

Click on Start and Search and then:
All files and folders
More advanced options
Search system folders
Search hidden files and folders
Search subfolders

In the top textbox "All or part..."
type in exactly this OLK*
and click search

This search will take a while but should
return all folders starting with OLK.

Open the folders, change the view to
Thumbnails and see if the unwanted files are
there. If so, just select them and delete. They
will go to your Recycle bin, delete them from
there also. Or, hold the Shift key down when
you delete them in order to prevent them from
going into your Recycle bin.

--

*********Notice***********
This is not tech support
........I am a volunteer.......

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you.

Proceed at your own risk.

John Inzer
Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Need a Web Host?
*******Consider********
Annex Technologies
http://www.annex.com/
**************************

 

[Monica]

Hummm, 1mb of ram just MIGHT be the problem, ya think? <lol> Sorry about
that. Yes, it's 1gb of ram.
Performance was already set to Programs.

I dropped the Hardware Accelerator down two stops and then three stops,
restarting WMM each time. It did NOT solve or help the issues.

My C drive is a (160gb) 145gb capacity with 37.2gb USED (108gb FREE)

Disabled Norton's AV, closed ZA, reopened WMM...no change.

Changed the Virtual Memory from 1533 to 3000 (really didn't know what to
change it to)
and doubled the max as well....no change in WMM. Any harm in leaving
the VM to 3000/6000?

Temp and IE Temp files are kept cleaned. Do a Disk Cleanup about once a
week. This was done yesterday
just prior to starting work on the video.

Search found no OLK* folders

My ATI Radeon software includes Direct 3D settings. I tried moving the Main
Settings slider
from "Balanced" to "Performance. Restarted the computer and tried the
movie and settings again...no change.

Only thing left to try is to check for Disk Error. I will start that
tonight when I go to bed and I guess I'll check Crucial.com
for the price of another GB of ram. Do they still have the best prices?

I'll check Dell (and the Dell newsgroup) for an update for my graphics card,
which, btw, is a Radeon X300 (SE) with 128mb ram.

Monica

 

[John Inzer]

Hummm, 1mb of ram just MIGHT be the problem, ya think?
<lol> Sorry about that. Yes, it's 1gb of ram.
Performance was already set to Programs.

I dropped the Hardware Accelerator down two stops and
then three stops, restarting WMM each time. It did
NOT solve or help the issues.

My C drive is a (160gb) 145gb capacity with 37.2gb USED
(108gb FREE)

Disabled Norton's AV, closed ZA, reopened WMM...no change.

Changed the Virtual Memory from 1533 to 3000 (really
didn't know what to change it to)
and doubled the max as well....no change in WMM. Any
harm in leaving the VM to 3000/6000?

Temp and IE Temp files are kept cleaned. Do a Disk
Cleanup about once a week. This was done yesterday
just prior to starting work on the video.

Search found no OLK* folders

My ATI Radeon software includes Direct 3D settings. I
tried moving the Main Settings slider
from "Balanced" to "Performance. Restarted the
computer and tried the movie and settings again...no
change.

Only thing left to try is to check for Disk Error. I
will start that tonight when I go to bed and I guess
I'll check Crucial.com for the price of another GB of
ram. Do they still have the best prices?

I'll check Dell (and the Dell newsgroup) for an update
for my graphics card, which, btw, is a Radeon X300
(SE) with 128mb ram.

Monica

=============================
Sounds like you are running a well
maintained system. If error checking
fails to find anything, the new RAM might
be your fix.

If the machine runs OK, with the swap
file increase...I would suggest leaving it
as is for now.

And yes, Crucial has a good rep for
quality and price.

If none of the attempts are successful...
the issue may be related to file size,
file complexity, source file formats, and
or codecs.

Sorry to be so vague but this issue is
not easy to cure and if your program
runs successfully with the exception of
being slow and jumpy...you may be doing
the best you can do. Bottom line...if the
finished movie file is successful...you've
accomplished your task.

One last thing, there are regulars in this
group with far more expertise than myself
and hopefully they will jump in with some
ideas.

--

*********Notice***********
This is not tech support
........I am a volunteer.......

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you.

Proceed at your own risk.

John Inzer
Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Need a Web Host?
*******Consider********
Annex Technologies
http://www.annex.com/
**************************

 

[Monica]

John, I forgot to start an error checking scan last night. I'll TRY to
remember tonight. There was a driver update on the ATI site. It's
installed, system rebooted and it didn't help. I am able use WMM and the
saved video does work as intended. I was just really hoping that I could do
something to cause the program to respond better and playback be more
smooth. As I mentioned earlier, I have a 3.2ghz Dell system with 1GB of
ram. My ATI Radeon vid card is 128mb of ram. I think my L2 cache is 2mb.
If I were to update the system ram OR get a new video card, which one do you
think would be more beneficial to video editing? I'm thinking video card,
but I'm certainly open for suggestions
Thanks,
Monica

 

[John Inzer]

John, I forgot to start an error checking scan last
night. I'll TRY to remember tonight. There was a driver
update on the ATI site. It's installed, system rebooted
and it didn't help. I am able use WMM and the saved
video does work as intended. I was just really hoping
that I could do something to cause the program to respond
better and playback be more smooth. As I mentioned
earlier, I have a 3.2ghz Dell system with 1GB of ram. My
ATI Radeon vid card is 128mb of ram. I think my L2 cache
is 2mb. If I were to update the system ram OR get a new
video card, which one do you think would be more
beneficial to video editing? I'm thinking video card,
but I'm certainly open for suggestions
Thanks,
Monica

==============================
I'm not sure that a new video card would
be the solution. I'm thinking I would wait
for the new RAM and see if there is an
improvement.

--

******John Inzer********
**MS Picture It! MVP**

*****Digital Image******
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

*********Notice***********
This is not tech support
........I am a volunteer.......

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you.

Proceed at your own risk.

Need a Web Host?
*******Consider********
Annex Technologies
http://www.annex.com/
**************************