Autodesk 12812-051462-9011 User Guide 3 - Page 2619

■ If you have not defragmented your system recently, 3ds Max could exhibit a slower start time. Defragmenting the system can also streamline the loading of large files that tend to swap to virtual memory. Files Take a Long Time to Open The size of a file often defines how quickly it loads into 3ds Max. However, if you notice an increase in load time from one design session to another, it could be an indication that 3ds Max is not finding enough memory to operate efficiently or that the file needs to be optimized. The first thing to check is your system memory allocation. Per the 3ds Max system requirements, you should have a minimum of 256 MB of physical memory (RAM) and 300 MB of swap space. Recommended RAM is 1 GB with a 2 GB swap file. Here's how to check your memory and swap-file allocations. To check RAM and swap-file allocation on Windows 2000: 1 Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and choose Properties from the menu. This opens the System Properties dialog. On the General panel, you should see information about your computer. The amount of RAM should be listed on this panel. NOTE The RAM may be displayed in kilobytes (KB) instead of megabytes (MB). 2 Open the Advanced panel, and click the Performance Options button. The Performance Options dialog is displayed. 3 Check the "Total Paging File Size For All Drives" setting in the Virtual Memory group. If you have 256 MB of RAM, you should set the Virtual Memory to approximately three times the RAM, or 768 MB. To check RAM and swap-file allocation on Windows XP: 1 Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and choose Properties from the menu. This opens the System Properties dialog. On the General tab, you should see information about your computer. The amount of RAM should be listed on this panel. 7874 | Chapter 28 Troubleshooting 3ds Max