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SolidWorks freezes my system

Question asked by 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009
Latest reply on Jul 23, 2009 by Gerald Davis

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Hello all,

I have the following issue with SolidWorks 2009

From time to time (sometimes 3 times/week or 3 times/day) SolidWorks is freezing my system and takes me 15-25 minutes to save my work and restart the computer. It happens when I either switch between open documents, want to save, find reference, edit a feature…, so it is random and I can’t pin point the exact problem that causes this to happen.

If I look in Task Manager in Windows -> Processes tab -> Memory usage, is showing that SW dumps all the memory used and then it takes it back. To better explain, when I encounter the problem, Memory Usage for SW is 10,000K and going up. If I wait long enough (to rich over 650,000K) my system might become to life again.

I got in touch with my customer support, I even took a video of the phenomenon but they came back and told me that I have a clean system and they can’t see any problem.

I tried without success:

- upgrade firmware, software and drivers

- upgrade framework

- working on local drive

- fresh install of SW by removing all the reg keys

This is getting very frustrating and I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing something like this or if anyone can give me a solution to this problem (besides get rid of SW).

My system

XP Professional XP64 SP2

Intel® Core™ 2Duo CPU

E8400 @3.00GHz

2.99 GHz 3.93 GB of RAM

Video NVidia Quadro FX 3500

SW2009 SP 4

Thank you!

Cristian

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Charles Culp Jul 23, 2009 10:36 AM

Which video card driver are you using? Do you have the advanced 3D settings set to Solidworks Default?

Which mouse are you using, and do you have special drivers installed for that?

Are you using a 3D controller, like a space pilot?

Which Solidworks add-ins are you running?

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1-HDSC6U @ Charles Culp on Jul 23, 2009 10:44 AM

Thank you for such a prompt response.

Video card driver: 6.14.11.7846 Driver Date 11/5/2008

3D settings: - Dassault Systems CATIA compatible. I don't have SW as an option.

I have a Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical. I don't have special drivers for this.

I am not using a 3D controller.

No Add-Ins used.

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Charles Culp @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 11:13 AM

Do you have a Dell system?

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1-HDSC6U @ Charles Culp on Jul 23, 2009 11:32 AM

No.

Hope this helps:

OS Name Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional x64 Edition
Version 5.2.3790 Service Pack 2 Build 3790
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name SOLIDWORKS5
System Manufacturer INTEL_
System Model DQ3510J_
System Type x64-based PC
Processor EM64T Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2993 Mhz
Processor EM64T Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2993 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Intel Corp. JOQ3510J.86A.1056.2009.0427.2004, 4/27/2009
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.2.3790.3959 (srv03_sp2_rtm.070216-1710)"
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Total Physical Memory 4,026.02 MB
Available Physical Memory 3.23 GB
Total Virtual Memory 7.63 GB
Available Virtual Memory 7.22 GB
Page File Space 3.93 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

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Charles Culp @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 11:40 AM

First I would try different video drivers. I got the list below from http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/videocardtesting.html

nVidia
	OS	Driver	Date	Version	Notes
Quadro FX 3500	WinXP x64	6.14.11.8246	04/03/2009	2009
	WinXP x64	6.14.11.7551	09/30/2008	2009
	WinXP x64	6.14.11.6265	05/11/2008	2009

I would start with the 8246 and see if that helps.

If not I have to hope that a hardware expert from SW corp. can put in some input here, or someone who has a similar system. It sounds like you have most of the typical issues taken care of already.

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Ed Gebo @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 4:24 PM

you could try moving your pagefile.sys (currently on C) to another drive (if you have one) or another partition (if one is available). This might help!!!

Edited: I should add you move the file using your OS's Advanced / Performance Option Settings. We can give you more instructions if you wanted to try it.

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Gerald Davis @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 1:50 PM

cfustos@sealstrip.com wrote:

Video card driver: 6.14.11.7846 Driver Date 11/5/2008
3D settings: - Dassault Systems CATIA compatible....

I've had better success with my FX3700 using "let the application decide" instead of CATIA compatible.

Have you tried running with Software OpenGL to verify that the freezing problem is video hardware/driver related?

My crash rate also dropped when I uninstalled the Intellimouse software and reverted to a generic mouse driver.

As a really really long shot, you might try swapping your memory sticks around on your mother board. RAM failures cause weird system behavior - just reseating the sticks sometimes makes the mysterious vanish.

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7 Replies

Charles Culp Jul 23, 2009 10:36 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Which video card driver are you using? Do you have the advanced 3D settings set to Solidworks Default?

Which mouse are you using, and do you have special drivers installed for that?

Are you using a 3D controller, like a space pilot?

Which Solidworks add-ins are you running?
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- 1-HDSC6U @ Charles Culp on Jul 23, 2009 10:44 AM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Thank you for such a prompt response.
  
  Video card driver: 6.14.11.7846 Driver Date 11/5/2008
  3D settings: - Dassault Systems CATIA compatible. I don't have SW as an option.
  I have a Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical. I don't have special drivers for this.
  I am not using a 3D controller.
  No Add-Ins used.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - Charles Culp @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 11:13 AM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    Do you have a Dell system?
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
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    - 1-HDSC6U @ Charles Culp on Jul 23, 2009 11:32 AM
      Mark Correct
      Correct Answer
      No.
      Hope this helps:
      
      OS Name Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional x64 Edition
      Version 5.2.3790 Service Pack 2 Build 3790
      Other OS Description Not Available
      OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
      System Name SOLIDWORKS5
      System Manufacturer INTEL_
      System Model DQ3510J_
      System Type x64-based PC
      Processor EM64T Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2993 Mhz
      Processor EM64T Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2993 Mhz
      BIOS Version/Date Intel Corp. JOQ3510J.86A.1056.2009.0427.2004, 4/27/2009
      SMBIOS Version 2.4
      Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
      System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
      Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
      Locale United States
      Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.2.3790.3959 (srv03_sp2_rtm.070216-1710)"
      Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
      Total Physical Memory 4,026.02 MB
      Available Physical Memory 3.23 GB
      Total Virtual Memory 7.63 GB
      Available Virtual Memory 7.22 GB
      Page File Space 3.93 GB
      Page File C:\pagefile.sys
      Like • Show 0 Likes0
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      - Charles Culp @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 11:40 AM
        Mark Correct
        Correct Answer
        First I would try different video drivers. I got the list below from http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/videocardtesting.html
        
        nVidia
        OS Driver Date Version Notes
        Quadro FX 3500 WinXP x64 6.14.11.8246 04/03/2009 2009
        WinXP x64 6.14.11.7551 09/30/2008 2009
        WinXP x64 6.14.11.6265 05/11/2008 2009
        
        I would start with the 8246 and see if that helps.
        
        If not I have to hope that a hardware expert from SW corp. can put in some input here, or someone who has a similar system. It sounds like you have most of the typical issues taken care of already.
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
      - Ed Gebo @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 4:24 PM
        Mark Correct
        Correct Answer
        you could try moving your pagefile.sys (currently on C) to another drive (if you have one) or another partition (if one is available). This might help!!!
        
        Edited: I should add you move the file using your OS's Advanced / Performance Option Settings. We can give you more instructions if you wanted to try it.
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
  - Gerald Davis @ 1-HDSC6U on Jul 23, 2009 1:50 PM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    cfustos@sealstrip.com wrote:
    
    Video card driver: 6.14.11.7846 Driver Date 11/5/2008
    3D settings: - Dassault Systems CATIA compatible....
    
    I've had better success with my FX3700 using "let the application decide" instead of CATIA compatible.
    
    Have you tried running with Software OpenGL to verify that the freezing problem is video hardware/driver related?
    
    My crash rate also dropped when I uninstalled the Intellimouse software and reverted to a generic mouse driver.
    
    As a really really long shot, you might try swapping your memory sticks around on your mother board. RAM failures cause weird system behavior - just reseating the sticks sometimes makes the mysterious vanish.
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions

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