another lagging/freezing problem while using HEM

[shuman]

http://www.holdemmanager.net/faq/afm....aspx?faqid=60

I would suggest you do the majority of the things in this thread: http://www.holdemmanager.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=11194

Some of the most important things, imo:

- Remove the WinnerName, WinnerCards and WinnerWon from the Options > Hands View Column Selecto
- Turning off logging and deleting existing logs
- Vacuum/Full/Analyze, then Reindex - http://www.holdemmanager.net/faq/afm...aspx?faqid=163
- Defrag last and make sure you stop the postgresql service before you defrag. I personally use Smart Defrag.
- Do a Cold Boot (Shut Down > Start) before you use HM again

Hello. Back on 12/02/2009 I posted a new thread under "1.09.03" about my computer's lagging/freezing issues while using HEM while multi-tabling 8-16 NLHE cash game tables on Full Tilt Poker. I took the advice quoted above, and I actually did and/or continue to do the following points:
- Remove the WinnerName, WinnerCards and WinnerWon from the Options > Hands View Column Selector
- Turning off logging and deleting existing logs
- Vacuum/Full/Analyze, then Reindex (I do these after EVERY session)
- Defrag last and make sure you stop the postgresql service before you defrag. I personally use Smart Defrag. (I actually use Piriform Defraggler instead of Smart Defrag, based on the recommendation in the top 10 points. Should I try using Smart?)
-Do a Cold Boot (Shut Down > Start) before you use HM again

I also did the following:
-Right mouse click on Desktop>Properties>Settings>Advanced>Troubleshoot> Hardware Acceleration>None (I moved bar all way to LEFT)

After doing all of these tips, everything was fine for about a week. Then, 3 days ago, I started having the following problems EVERY time I used HEM on Full Tilt Poker...

...I start by opening HEM. Then, I open Full Tilt Poker and open one cash game table and start "Auto Importing" in HEM. Then, I open the maximum tables FTP will allow you to open, which is 18 (all the while I am either sitting down or waitlisting on these tables). I then "Sit Out" at all tables until ALL of the HUDs appear on ALL the tables. Then, I begin playing, and will usually be playing anywhere from 8-16 tables at the same time.

However, 3 days ago, some NEW problems started occurring EVERY session. First, as the HUDs start appearing on the tables, at some point the tables on my secondary computer monitor become disjointed/frozen from the tables on my primary monitor. My mouse pointer will NOT even appear on the secondary frozen monitor. I've found that the only way to fix this problem is to click STOP "Auto Import" and to right-click the spade icon in the lower right-hand corner of the screen and click EXIT. Then, I have to re-start "Auto-Import." Then, the tables on my secondary monitor are fine.

Second, even after all of the HUDs are up and running, I have been experiencing very laggy performance as soon as I begin playing and throughout my entire sessions. My computer has also frozen several times.

The only things I can think of that I may have done differently 3 days ago to cause these new problems is the following:
-I used Piriform Defraggler and defragmented my hard drive one time WITHOUT stopping PostgreSQL.
-I performed an Antivirus scan with Symantec.

I don't know what else to do, and I just can't play poker right now with so much lagging occurring. It causes me too much frustration from my hands getting folded on account of my timer running down and my not being to act on my hands. Not to mention, all of the money I've lost.

Short of getting a new computer, is there anything I can do with my current Dell Latitude laptop?

Windows XP Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 3
Pentium 4-M CPU 2.20 GHz, 2.19 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
Hardrive: Used Space: 13.9 GB/ Free Space: 23.3 GB
HEM version: 1.09.03 (2 weeks ago I tried going back to 1.09 Beta 41, but that version made my computer want to freeze more often than 1.09.03)
HEM: 2 million total hands saved for 15,000 players, 260,000 hands of which are mine

I am so frustrated right now, if you could please help me with these problems I would really appreciate it.

Thank you.

ps/Edit--I went to Dell's website to see if there are any Driver updates for my computer. There are 73 possible update files, 8 of which they "Recommend" I download (I've included each of them in parentheses after the Categories), and the rest are "Optional". The categories in which the files are located include: Applications (1), Audio, Bios (1), CD/DVD (5), Chipset, Communication, Diagnostics, IDE & EIDE Controllers (1), Input Device Drivers, Network, Patches and Fixes, System Utilities, Systems Management, and Video. Should I download ALL of the "Recommended" Driver updates?

Under the following Top 10 HEM Performace Increase Tips thread link: http://www.holdemmanager.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=11194, tip #4 suggests "Update your Windows (use Microsoft Update) and update all system drivers (including your mainboard and videocard driver!)." So, do you know which of the above available driver updates for my computer would be included in this recommendation?

Also, should I also do the following tip that's posted in the same link of Top 10: HEM performance increase tips?

--11.2 Optimize Windows for "best performance" (in Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Setting/Visual Effects).

[Patvs]

10 things that can ONLY help:

-1 Is Symantec still running in the background? If so turn it off.

-2 You laptop.. needs at least 2 GB of RAM.
-3 Make sure in the Control Panel-->POWER OPTIONS--> it is set to Home/Office Desk and NOT to Portable/Laptop or Minimal Power Management

-4 And you will benefit from a new harddisk, as I think your current harddisk has a max speed of:
seq 40/40
512k 30/30
4k <1/<1
(if it's lower than this, defrag CAN get it back up to speed...: You could do a benchmark speedtest of your harddisk,

-5 and see if there is a performance difference using Smart Defrag vs Defraggler: with CrystalDiskMark

-6 Purge many hands using the observed hand history configuration--->purge
-7 Upgrade to 1.10 beta 3b

-8 Install all DELL hardware/bios/driver updates.

-9 Optimize Windows for "best performance" (in Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Setting/Visual Effects).

-10 buy a NEW computer.. what's taking you so long?

[shuman]

Hey Patvs,

-1 Is Symantec still running in the background? If so turn it off.

I'm not sure if Symantec is still running in the background. How would I check, and if it is running, how do I turn if off?

I think it may be running because sometimes it's Auto-Protect feature pops up and says that it has deleted a BackDoor.Trojan. In the past it deleted files like HMHud.exe or HMImport.exe, and more recently A00749xx.exe. When this happens, I re-download the latest version of HEM just to be safe.

I just went into Symantec Antivirus>Configure>File System Auto-Protect>Options>"checked" Exclude selected files and folders>Exclusion>Files/Folders>C:>Program Files>"checked" PostgreSQL & RVG Software

Do you think this will now prevent Symantec from deleting the previously mentioned files now as a Backdoor.Trojan?

-3 Make sure in the Control Panel-->POWER OPTIONS--> it is set to Home/Office Desk and NOT to Portable/Laptop or Minimal Power Management

Ok, I did this. How does this change/improve performance? Just wondering. All I noticed is that it changes Settings for When computer is: Plugged in
Turn off monitor: stays the same at After 20 mins
Turn off hard disks: from After 30 mins to Never
System standby: from After 15 mins to Never

-4 And you will benefit from a new harddisk, as I think your current harddisk has a max speed of:
seq 40/40
512k 30/30
4k <1/<1
(if it's lower than this, defrag CAN get it back up to speed...: You could do a benchmark speedtest of your harddisk, with CrystalDiskMark

I downloaded CrystalDiskMark 2.2 via the link you provided and did a benchmark speedtest. Results were:
Seq: 22/20
512k: 15/16
4k: 0.33/0.53

I ran it at the default Test Number 5 and Test Size 100 MB. Should I change these 2 values when I run the test. I have no idea what they mean.

-8 Install all DELL hardware/bios/driver updates.

So, are you saying I should download all 73 of the posssible driver update files in all of the available categories I mentioned above, even if they are just "Optional"? I am confused as to whether only some or all of the following categories are considered hardware: Applications (1), Audio, Bios (1), CD/DVD (5), Chipset, Communication, Diagnostics, IDE & EIDE Controllers (1), Input Device Drivers, Network, Patches and Fixes, System Utilities, Systems Management, and Video.


I'll try all the other steps as well.

-10 buy a NEW computer.. what's taking you so long?

I've just been procrastinating Don't really know why. It's cost me at least $1000 from this old laptop freezing during hands. I'm still going to have my friend build a new PC for me, but I want to try and get some of the particular parts (2x SSD 80 GB hardisks, fast regular harddisk, and video card), after I figure out exactly which ones I want, for the best deals I can find online. I just haven't sat down and researched them yet. I'll eventually let you know what I go with in that other thread.

I actually just received a Sony Vaio laptop (4 GB RAM, Core 2 Duo Processor) using my player points, so I hope to use that instead of my current crappy laptop when Sony finally mails me my Windows 7 upgrade kit, at least until I have my new PC built with the SSD's.

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate all the help.

[Patvs]

oh and -11: Turn off indexing on your harddisk, and turn off "compress this drive to save disk space"!

Adding the folders to Symantec Antivirus>Configure>File System Auto-Protect>Options>"checked" Exclude selected files and folders>Exclusion>Files/Folders>C:>Program Files>"checked" PostgreSQL & RVG Software will solve that problem.

But... Symantec can still slow down your computer during imports if it's still scanning (or trying to scan) every .txt handhistory file. Also add every folder that has handhistory files (including your archive folder) to the "exlcude folders" list.

The POWER OPTION... probably has no effect on your laptop.. but, the latest
computers (both laptop and desktop) have harddisks where the performance is influenced by this setting. For example the Western Digital Caviar GREEN when power options are set to ECONOMY = a slow (energy efficient 5400 RPM drive), but when set to HIGH PERFORMANCE = suddenly becomes a fast 7200 RPM drive (which will drain your laptop battery a lot faster).

I downloaded CrystalDiskMark 2.2 via the link you provided and did a benchmark speedtest. Results were:
Seq: 22/20
512k: 15/16
4k: 0.33/0.53

These are horrible results. (they are normal results for a laptop with a 4 yr old harddisk, but the latest generation 7200 RPM harddisks are 4x as fast.... not to mention SSDs which are even faster) (your 5x 100 MB test setttings were fine) Hopefully with a proper defrag (and my #11 tip) you can get the results to 30/30, 20/20, 0.50/0.50 (still horrible, but at least percentage-wise an improvement)

Just install ALL SYSTEM UPDATES. You can skip the OPTIONALS ones for now. Take a screenshot of that list.. which ones are optional?

[shuman]

Just install ALL SYSTEM UPDATES. You can skip the OPTIONALS ones for now. Take a screenshot of that list.. which ones are optional?

Sorry, but could you please tell me how to take a screenshot? I don't know how to do it. I'm not sure I can fit much into one screenshot though. I might be able to fit the 8 "Recommended" update files in one screenshot, but probably not all 73.

There are 73 possible driver update files, 8 of which DELL "Recommends" I download (I've included the number of "Recommended" files in parentheses after the corresponding Categories below), and the rest (65 files) are "Optional".

The categories in which the update files are located include: Applications (1), Audio, Bios (1), CD/DVD (5), Chipset, Communication, Diagnostics, IDE & EIDE Controllers (1), Input Device Drivers, Network, Patches and Fixes, System Utilities, Systems Management, and Video.

So, if you can tell me how to take a screenshot, I'll try to do that for the 8 "Recommended" files, or I'll just type out or copy/paste them into another post.

Thanks.

[shuman]

11: Turn off indexing on your harddisk

For this when I open My Computer>right click on C:>Properties>"uncheck" Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching>Apply...

...a popup screen then says:

Confirm Attribute Changes

You have chosen to make the following attribute changes:
disable content indexing

Do you want to apply this change to C:\ only, or do you want to apply it to all subfolders and files as well?

I can "check"--Apply changes to C:\ only
OR
I can "check"--Apply changes to C:\, subfolders and files

Which one of these 2 options should I check?

Thanks.

[Patvs]

apply it to all subfolders and files


Will it install ALL updates automatically (like Windows update), or you have to manually download them one by one?
If automatic.. just INSTALL ALL.
If manually, just install the 8 recommended

Edit: screenshot: click Prt Scr on your keyboard (next to scroll lock), now open PS Paint and click CRTL-V in Paint (=paste) and it should paste a screenshot of your desktop in Paint which you can than save as a jpg file.

[shuman]

Will it install ALL updates automatically (like Windows update), or you have to manually download them one by one?
If automatic.. just INSTALL ALL.
If manually, just install the 8 recommended

I have to individually select each update, and then I can download all of the files I've selected at the same time.

Edit: screenshot: click Prt Scr on your keyboard (next to scroll lock), now open PS Paint and click CRTL-V in Paint (=paste) and it should paste a screenshot of your desktop in Paint which you can than save as a jpg file.

I took and saved the snapshot, but how do I get the saved jpg file into one of these Quick Reply posts? If I click on the icon "Insert Image" a popup appears that says:

Explorer User Prompt
Script Prompt:
Please enter the URL of your image:
http://

I'd like to have you look at the snapshot of the 8 Recommended driver updates before I actually download them.

Thanks.

[Patvs]

Start with these (3)
-Dell Driver 1.80/A29
-BIOS update
-and the IDE - HGST Firmware

The CD/DVD firmware has no influence on performance.

[shuman]

Patvs,

Start with these (3)
-Dell Driver 1.80/A29
-BIOS update
-and the IDE - HGST Firmware

Ok, so I downloaded the above "Recommended" driver updates. I guess I'll wait before downloading any of the "Optional" updates.

I think I've done almost everything I can do for now with this old computer. I'll still try to purge some old observed hand history files. Another question I have now is about the Symantec's Auto-Protect feature pop up that says it has deleted a BackDoor.Trojan. It had happend 2 more times within the past hour, even after I did the following:

"open" Symantec Antivirus>Configure>File System Auto-Protect>Options>"checked" Exclude selected files and folders>Exclusion>Files/Folders>C:>Program Files>"checked" PostgreSQL & RVG Software

But... Symantec can still slow down your computer during imports if it's still scanning (or trying to scan) every .txt handhistory file. Also add every folder that has handhistory files (including your archive folder) to the "exclude folders" list.

Could it be happening because of my old PokerTracker2 .txt handhistory files? Maybe I need to add those associated files to the above exclusion list. Only thing I can think of.

Also, when I'm playing poker, should I disable Symantec's Auto-Protect feature by doing the following..."open" Symantec AntiVirus>Configure>File System Auto-Protect>"uncheck" Enable Auto-Protect>OK


Now, with my newer and faster Sony laptop, after I receive the Windows 7 update kit in a few weeks, should I perform most of the performance adjustments that I've recently made with this old Dell laptop? Or, would most of these alterations be unnecessary on the faster computer?

Thanks again.