MEP 2010 - painfully slow to use

[SteveR...]

In the last few weeks, we've installed MEP 2010 (an upgrade from 2008) on all computers in our office. 2008 wasn't great, we were hoping for an improvement by going to 64 bit and adding RAM, but we didn't get it. This software is just terrible to use. Is there something we can do to speed it up? We do have some computers with dual quad-core processors, but they don't seem to run any faster than the other machines. Typical computer specs are below.

Everything about 2010 is just painfully slow. There seems to be a lag of 1/2 second to 3 or 4 seconds for every task you do, from editing text to selecting simple devices like receptacles and circuiting. Anytime anyone selects a receptacle (for instance), there is about a 1.5 to 2 second lag before the computer will respond again. Opening files takes minutes, and occasionally it will take so long that you give up and shut down the software (after waiting 10 to 15 minutes). Every process is so painfully slow it seems like our CAD guys spend less than half of their time working and the majority of their time waiting on computers. It is maddening to spend nearly six figures on software and have it operate so poorly.

The file sizes that we are working with are generally in the 1MB to 1.5MB range, typically with 2 to 5 other drawings inserted by x-ref.

Typical Computer specs:
Quad Core Xeon 3.2GHZ processor (Dell Precision 690)
6GB RAM
Windows 7, 64 bit, fresh install
Video: ATI Fire GL V3400

What can we do to speed up the process? Are there settings/features/menus or something else we can disable to make AutoCAD faster? When I open files from projects we did 8 years ago without all of the object oriented devices (receps, fixtures, circuiting, etc.), the files open in seconds and they are very easy to use.

[state]

I was having the exact issues described in the original post. I tried many of the fixes listed here and elsewhere. None worked.

Drawings took 40-50 seconds to open. Alt-tabbing between drawings took 4-5 seconds. Trimming of walls took 4-5 seconds. Etc. No exaggeration, literally 4-5 seconds.

I recently rebuilt my computer and reinstalled the OS for other reasons than AutoCAD. I work on a domain and decided to test AutoCAD before connecting to the domain to see if my problems were network related. They were not. I installed AutoCAD MEP 2010 x64 on the user created during Win7x64 setup. I still had the exact problem.

But, when I connected to the domain, and therefore created a new user, all of the problems were gone. The same drawings open in 5-10 seconds. Trims are instantaneous. Everything is back to the speed of the old versions, if not faster.

From my experience, it seems to be user related. Possibly the user profile AutoCAD is installed to has something created in that profile that causes the problem. Once you create a new user that "something" must not be duplicated in the new user's profile.

If you're suffering from these problems, try creating a new user on the computer and log in as that new user and open and test AutoCAD.

I hope this helps anyone having the same issues.

[Martin__Schmid]

Hi State-

This is exactly what I meant in by Apr 1 post:
>I've seen cases where a bad profile (sometimes a Windows profile, sometimes the AutoCAD profile pushed to many users) causes poor performance problems (sometimes causing file open problems, sometimes causing general UI responsiveness).

Do you still happen to have the 'good' and the 'bad' user configurations on the machine? I'm not sure exactly how we would go about trying to replicate this internally (that isn't really my job to figure out!)... seems it would be a challenge to decouple the user profile from the domain... but what do I know :). However, if you still have these configurations, perhaps I can try to find the right resources that would know what to do with them.

File open times taking 40-50 seconds instead of 5-10 seconds is something that may warrant further validation... it doesn't seem to be a problem with the software itself, rather seems to be some dependency in the OS somehow.

[state]

I do still have both profiles.

I just tested again to be sure. I logged off and then logged into the original account and tested. I then logged off and then back into the new domain account. Results are below:

Original account:
Launch AutoCAD MEP 2010 = 21 seconds
Open 1MB 2010 format xref-floorplan-N drawing on network drive = 35.5 seconds
Fillet two walls with a radius of 0 = 6 seconds
Undo fillet = 9 seconds

New domain account:
Launch AutoCAD MEP 2010 = 11 seconds
Open 1MB 2010 format xref-floorplan-N drawing on network drive = 4.5 seconds
Fillet two walls with a radius of 0 = ~ 1/2 second
Undo fillet = ~ 1/2 second

Also, keep in mind that the network access under a domain account is not the fix. Before rebuilding my computer, I installed and used 2010 MEP under the domain account and had the exact same poor performance. I hope that doesn't confuse the issue.

To clarify, whether the offending account is a domain account or a local account is not the issue. When installing AutoCAD 2010 MEP on Win7x64 in the domain account, I had very slow performance. When installing AutoCAD 2010 MEP on Win7x64 in a local account, I had very slow performance.

Performance went back to normal when I installed AutoCAD under the local account but run it from a domain account. My guess is the reverse would yield the same results. Edited by: state@qualityeng.com on Apr 13, 2010 2:39 PM

[state]

Also, this is on a fresh install of Windows 7 x64 and AutoCAD MEP 2010.

I don't believe it's due to a corrupt profile. Unless AutoCAD corrupts them during install. The slow performance has happened with several different installs on both fresh and used Windows 7 installs. Edited by: state@qualityeng.com on Apr 13, 2010 2:42 PM

[Martin__Schmid]

Hi State-

Thanks for the posts...

I don't know if it's 'corruption' per se... but clearly there is something somewhere that causes some havoc, your example of fillet walls being 0.5 sec vs 6 sec is a great example. Do others have other similar findings?

Cheers-
MS

[billw]

Martin,

ACAD MEP 2010 is painfully slow, works fine on Vista x64 ACAD MEP, but I just put it on my fresh X64 Windows 7 with ACAD MEP updates etc and I am embarrassed at the speed, especially when I have a training class tomorrow.

I took a project navigator project the medical research biulding from Autodesks AOTC books and repathed the project in ACAD MEP x64 with windows vista the project pathed in under 1 minute. I then took the same project with Win 7 x64 ACAD MEP and the same 75 files took over 10 mins. to path.

I have a feeling this is ACAD MEP and a Win 7 issue, has nothing to do with nVidia or other drivers.

thanks

William Wright

[Martin__Schmid]

Thanks for the post, Bill.. I don't have Win 7 myself, so I can make a comparison... I don't think the issue is Win 7 specific, as other users have indicated other OSs have been problematic as well. My suspicions are that there are different factors on different machines with different hardware... most of the comments I've heard elsewhere for Win 7 have been favorable. Have you by chance tried the same repathing on AutoCAD MEP 2011 with Win 7?

[state]

FYI, for me, MEP 2011 x64 on Win7 x64 gives none of the slow performance problems of MEP 2010 x64.

[Anonymous]

I'm having the slow issue, but what's more frustrating is I keep on getting fatal errors when I try to move ductwork or piping. Sometimes the program would just crash randomly.

I have a 16 page error log and that's only 1/3 of the errors that I experience. When prompted to send an error report to Autodesk, I send the error report. I send 20-30 a day easily. I don't think anybody Autodesk cares if their product is bad once it's released to the public.

[dazataz]

From a different persspective - I';m using 2011 Autocad (part of a Mechanical/Inventor Suite) and when using a profile that points to all local files, the local run (detached from network server) is incredibly slow... particularly when initiating a command (or an unknown one) through hotkeys for the first time in each session. Seems that it disappears after it stumbles for 20 seconds on the first call. The next hotkey call of the command is lightning fast. When attached to the network, the malfunction does NOT exist, even using th esame profile.

It definately has nothing to do with dwg - so, unfortunately, we users don't even attempt to send a CER as Autodesk will just keep pestering you for useless data months later. I just bombard my reseller, who has since turned a deaf ear my way.

Sounds to me to be a conflict in the registry - but how do mear mortals fix that?

Martin, care to come up with real suggestions?

[INTOOCAD]

I know this is an old post, but have to ask if anyone has found any solutions to this....

Have to agree with the majority on this thread that I really think it is the software and not the hardware and all of the other lame excuses that have been given.

I think Autodesk needs to determine what MEP platform they really want to push and stick with one of them and not have AutoCAD MEP, RevitMEP, and AutoCAD Plant-3D. I think they have grown too fast and can not support all the varieties of software packages they have....

Can someone even submit a support ticket without having a subscription? Why do we need to pay for a subscription for a product that does not work out of the box? I think the price of the software is too much to begin with, let alone the software support.

We have began to look at other options and looking at Bentley software seems to be a blessing....

[genem]

I am using 2010 MEP daily, and I like how fast it is. Seems to scoot right along for me.

[jschultz]

Autocad MEP (2011-2-013) electrical is fast until you put a ccts in the drawing.

Then when you add a panelboard schedule or a luminaire schedule it gets painfully slow.

I tried the new profile trick. It did not help