Hi,

I just bought a new computer (3ghz,1g ram,160g hd)for the main purpose of having one machine to run lengthy queries on, and having a second one free to be able to do things like surfing. Problem is my new computer keeps freezing before it will complete a query.

As per Dell, I reinstalled the system - no help. Then I reinstalled a clean version of XP without any other Dell crap - the query went further, but froze again at 98% complete (about 4hours). I did have Zone Alarm Suite running each time, so I'm going to shut that down next time. (Maybe need to uninstall it?) I've read where ZA could somehow be related.

Running DB Direct queries is cpu intensive as my older machine (1.9ghz 512ram)would sometimes max out at over 90%, but it would still always complete the queries. The new one's cpu for ES max's out at about 55%. Seems the issue could be some sort of a memory leak as the mem usage showed 386.756 the last time it froze.

A friend suggested I reset/move the paging file. ???

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

W

Hi Win
Sorry to hear about the machine. I don't know anything, but I read often how virus detection programs can cause problems when loading other programs so maybe it does the same with long runs, like a query. Usually they are easy to turn off temporarily.
Lots of luck.
Jerry

Win,

I feel a little bit of your pain. I really don't like XP's memory manager. When I use ES and load data cards it takes a while for it to release the memory that ES and the cards used. So it eventually dumps to the paging file, but until XP is satisfied other apps take forever to load/run. I might have said it was ES itself, but I did not experience the problem on an Windows Me machine so it must be the O/S.

I'll make a couple of recommendations: moving the paging file won't help unless you have a separate physical disk. However, you might want to change the size of the swap file. Go to System Properties (you could right click on the My Computer icon and select properties); click the advanced tab; under Performance click Settings then Advanced. At the bottom click Change. With 1GB of Ram I would set the Initial size and Maximum size to 2048. XP will not try to resize your swap file (faster performance, slightly) and you should have enough room in the file for paging.

Just a thought. If I think of anything else that might work I will let you know.

HH

Jerry and HH,

Thanks very much for the feedback guys.

I've now stopped all other running programs including the anti-virus (ZA), and have just reset the swap file to 2048.

Will run a test tonight and let you know how it goes.

Regards, W

Hi HH
Thanks for the post. I don't have any problems now but will save your post for future reference if needed. Lots of good info there.
Jerry

Hi Win,

I need a little clarification. You say you are doing queries but you say that you are using DB Direct. Technically speaking, DB Direct doesn't do queries -- it takes data from EquiSim's formula views and does INSERTS into a database.

That said - what is the operation that you are doing which takes so long? Is it exporting using DB Direct, or is it a query using some other DB front end? If it is EXPORTING, is it possible to use smaller sets of cards? That is, specify several smaller sets instead of one gigantic one - of course, I should also ask approx. how many cards are you feeding DB Direct at once?

It is also possible that you might be getting hung up because of just one card that is causing some problem. I've never seen this before with DB Direct, but I suppose its possible.

First thing - just let me know if the problem occurs when doing a DB Direct export, or if you are indeed doing some sort of query.

Jerry and HH,

I thought the problem was solved. Ran a 4hr20m "query" last night that completed. That was the first completion, after the first dozen or so froze.

The swap file increase had to have corrected the problem.

I was a happy camper this morning.

So before going to work, to verify, I started DB Direct again with the exact same template and cards. Came home tonight and found that it froze again after exporting for less than 2 hrs.

Maybe I should have rebooted my machine before the 2nd run as it was probably low on resources?

At this point I wish there was a way to know if the issue is due to a hardware problem in the new Dell. Any way to tell, or should I just try to return/exchange the new machine?

Thanks for your help, W

Hi Nathan, Thanks for stepping in.

What actually happens is DB Direct freezes during a long export. No error message, just hangs and I have to use task manager to end the program.

I guess what I'm doing is not technically a query, but it's my low tech version of running queries. That is, I set up templates to pick horses that meet certain form and odds criteria. Then DB Direct exports the results to Access. There I have columns that total up the number of horses, bets, wins, win%, payoffs, roi, etc., which can also be broken down by dates, track, distance and lots more.

I suppose in the standard query, all the information is pulled into a DB and then you query the DB.

For quite a while I've been using DB Direct this way with no problems (On my other computer). When I want to test new ideas, I like to run it across a large sample. Hence, running 37,000 races thru a template with DB Direct runs over 4 hours.

As you asked, I could cut the sample into shorter chunks, but I prefer not to, since it would take even more time.

Definitely not getting hung on one card, as it freezes at different times and places. The exact same template and cards run through my other computer with no problem.

I didn't think of this as being an ES problem, but would appreciate it if you could offer an educated guess as to whether I might have a software or hardware problem.

W

Hi Win
As everything works in the old machine and I guess you are using xp there also, I would exchange the machine.
It is way past my knowledge of things. I had an old Lotus 123 worksheet than did a similar thing many years ago. Some time work, some time not. When I upgraded my machine the next time all was well.
Lots of luck
Jerry

There's a chance that it is something to do with hyperthreading, dual processor machines, and/or multi-core stuff. EquiSim has never been tested on any of these types of processors.

If you have such a processor(s), you also should have an option in your computer's BIOS settings to disable these features. It's worth a shot to disable everything so you only have a single processor running (with no hyperthreading).