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Solidworks memory doesn't dump 2

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CADShark

CADShark

Mechanical
Oct 2, 2003
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Has anybody experienced their physical memory be eaten by solidworks. What i mean is that once you close a part, drawing, etc... solidworks doesn't dump the memory allocated for opening that specific file. Also has anyone notice how much mem it actually takes to open SW. Mine uses 200 to 230mb RAM.

"Perfection - a result of many mistakes."
BJH
 
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Yeah, I've seen this. From what I understand, this is probably more of a Windows issue than a SW issue--Windows frequently maintains what's in memory for a given application until that application is closed. So if you shut down SW, the memory is freed again. (I think Windows is really what manages all memory.)



Jeff Mowry
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
 
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Mine also starts up with about 240Mbyte of RAM (only Add-ins that are turned on: PDMWorks, SolidWorks Toolbox, Toolbox Browser and Solidworks Utilities).

However, as I open and close models and get all the way back to the base window with no part open it drops to about 51Mbyte of RAM.

So, I'm not seeing a memory leak. My system is WinXP SP2 and only 1Gbyte of RAM.

FYI
 
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It drops it. Once it looked like it didn't drop it on a large assembly after I closed it until I opened a small part and then it immediately dropped... as seen in Task Manager.
 
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I'm curious as to what tasks I can close in Task Manager to free up some RAM (assuming it will do it) and how to keep them closed. Programs such as Windows Messenger and stuff like that.
 
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(Slightly separate topic)
You can begin by shutting off useless crapware that starts with Windows. I'm just starting to use a program called Ccleaner that was posted about last week sometime (freeware) in which you can easily control crapware that starts in the background when Windows starts. Some of these things are real pigs.

If you have Norton for security, I'd recommend dumping it, since it's a total resource hog. I use Avast for anti-virus and ZoneAlarm (free) as a firewall (on the other side of a wireless router).



Jeff Mowry
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
 
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I have solidworks processes that continue to run after shut down and they don't shut down until I end the process myself. I noticed this the first time when I went to start SW and it gave me a message about not being able to start a journal file because another instance of SW was running when in fact there wasn't.
 
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First, thanks to everyone who responded.

Theo...if I open a big assembly then close it, most of the time I only get about half back of what it took to open it.

But the strange thing is that sometimes I'll open a file (drawing, part or assembly) and the RAM will go down.
I currently use a HP xw6400, 2G RAM, 2.0Mhz dual core Xeon with Nvidia quadro fx 1500 (256 ram)& Win XP sp2.

"Perfection - a result of many mistakes."
BJH
 
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I have been working on an Excel sheet that lists some of the processes I find from Customers that need shut down or removed. I have been planning on posting that some time, but have never had a chance to on my site. But I always used regcleaner -
That and hijack this -
These two are great pieces of software that get into the registry and removes those programs that don't show up in your start menu, but keep starting up.

As for the memory issue mine goes down, but only about half way. I have never seen it any different then that in recently years and I am presently running 3GB.

SoilentG With only running 1GB of memory you are sharing some of that with windows, so you are probably getting more back because you don't have a lot and Windows needs about half that to run. IF you got 2 or more GB or ram, I bet you would see the same thing we do.

Best Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP [pc2]
faq731-376
 
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heh, I wish I had 2Gbyte too... my manager offered to upgrade me but since my system is a P4, 2.8GHz I said no since I don't want more money sunk into this PoS so I can justify a Core Duo or better system sooner.

I also see that that memory doesn't always drop fully until I open another part or drawing that is small.
 
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I'd recommend looking into the /3GB switch, even if you've only got 1GB of RAM. This is a trick (I believe CorBlimeyLimey has mentioned) that will improve your real available RAM even if you only have 512MB of RAM. Do a search on all the possible ramifications of altering your boot.ini file for making the switch. And I don't think you want to try it unless you have Win XP, SP 2.

Check it out, reclaim RAM from the Windows pig.



Jeff Mowry
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
 
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What I mean from reclaim RAM is that it doesn't automatically give Windows half your RAM as a default allocation. So if Windows really only needs 200MB of RAM, you don't lose 500MB of 1GB of RAM, but can use 800MB of RAM instead of 500MB of RAM for applications such as SolidWorks.



Jeff Mowry
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
 
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