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OPTIMIZE APPLICATION AND DRAWING FILE PERFORMANCE

There are many factors that could impact the startup of the AutoCAD program
along with the time it takes to open and save drawing files.

This topic outlines some of the factors that could impact the performance of the
AutoCAD program during startup along with the opening and saving of a drawing
file. For additional information on why you might be having performance issues
with the AutoCAD program and drawing files, see the AutoCAD Support and Learning
page on the Autodesk Knowledge Network.


APPLICATION STARTUP

The startup of the application can be impacted by:

Hardware configuration

The speed of the processor (CPU), amount of physical and graphical memory, and
the graphics card in your workstation all factor into the overall performance of
the AutoCAD program.

When choosing a workstation to run the AutoCAD program, make sure to consider
the types of objects you work with in a drawing and the size of the files that
you work on. Drawings containing 3D objects require more physical and graphical
memory than those that contain 2D objects only, but all types of objects in a
drawing benefit from the use of a high-performance discrete non-gaming graphics
card that can take advantage of hardware acceleration and other graphics
features.

Hardware acceleration can improve, such features as:

 * Display regeneration
 * Viewing 2D and 3D objects; panning, zooming, orbiting
 * Object selection
 * Hatching
 * Uncompressed textures and lighting

For information on hardware performance and acceleration, see

 * About Evaluating and Improving Hardware Performance
 * To Work With Graphics Performance Tuning
 * Hardware Acceleration Troubleshooting Reference
 * How to configure Autodesk software to use high performance graphics

Note: You can use the Performance Feedback Tool (PMSTART command) to record
information about a reproducible performance problem and send that information
to Autodesk for evaluation. The reported information can then be used to improve
the software. For more information on the Performance Feedback Tool, see About
Providing Performance Feedback.
Windows operating system (OS)

There are settings in the Windows OS that can impact the performance of both the
OS and AutoCAD program.

Here are some OS settings that might impact performance:

 * Amount of virtual memory available
 * Amount of free disk space and number of temporary files
 * Graphics cache

For information on improving performance of the OS and AutoCAD program, see

 * About Memory Tuning
 * About Improving Windows Performance

AutoCAD customization

The ability to customize the AutoCAD program provides you with virtually endless
opportunities to improve your productivity. However, based on how the program is
customized, the customization could introduce some performance issues.

The following provides some areas to look at if you are experiencing performance
problems during startup:

 * User profiles - User profiles are great for letting the AutoCAD program know
   where to find the standard support files along with any of your custom files.
   If you are experiencing a slow startup time and migrated your user profile
   from a previous release, try starting AutoCAD with a new profile. It is
   possible that the user profile contains a missing path or setting that has
   resulted in the creation of a bad user profile. For information on user
   profiles and resetting a user profile, see About Saving Program Settings as
   Profiles and To Reset and Set the Default User Profile Current.
 * Too many executable files - Executable files, such as AutoLISP source (LSP)
   files, ObjectARX (CRX/ARX) files, and Managed .NET (DLL) files, extend the
   functionality of the AutoCAD program to improve your productivity. However,
   loading too many of these files during startup can result in the slowdown of
   the application and reduce available system resources. Consider demand
   loading your applications when they are needed rather than at startup. See
   About Auto-Loading and Running AutoLISP Routines for information on demand
   loading AutoLISP programs or the Developer Documentation for information on
   demand loading ObjectARX and Managed .NET applications.
 * Broken LNK files - Shortcut link (LNK) files can have an impact on the
   startup of the AutoCAD program. AutoCAD supports the ability to utilize LNK
   files to map folders for some of its support and setting paths. During
   startup, AutoCAD tries to resolve the paths identified in any LNK files. If
   the path no longer exists it might take some time before the program stops
   trying to resolve the path.
 * Missing or invalid plot path - Plotter configuration (PC3) files are used to
   configure physical and virtual plot devices. Older PC3 files migrated from an
   earlier release might use a device or network plot queue that no longer
   exists. Even though you might not be using the device, AutoCAD still tries to
   verify all devices associated with any PC3 files.


OPENING A DRAWING

Drawing files can contain 2D/3D geometry and annotation along with external
referenced files to represent your design. When you open a drawing, there are
several factors that can affect how long it takes to open.

Here are some of the features that might help to speed up opening a drawing
file:

 * Partial opening of a drawing - Drawing files can be partially opened which
   can improve performance when working with large drawing files. For more
   information, see About Opening Part of a Large Drawing.
 * External references and xrefs - Externally referenced files, such as images
   and xrefs, make it easy to reuse the same design information and reduce
   errors across many drawings. If your drawings contain many referenced files,
   consider whether the files are always needed or not. Unload referenced files
   that you don't always need and detach those references you no longer need.
   See About Improving Performance When Using Xrefs for more information.
 * Audit and recover - It is possible that part of a drawing file has become
   invalid which can impact the opening of the drawing along with the overall
   drawing's stability. The Drawing Audit and Recovery features can help
   identify and fix issues with the drawing. For information on the Drawing
   Audit and Recovery features of the AutoCAD program, see About Repairing
   Damaged Drawing Files.


SAVING A DRAWING

As drawings grow in complexity and size, they take longer to save. There are
several factors that can impact save time.

Here are some of the features that might help to reduce the time it takes to
save changes to a drawing file and reduce its size:

 * Incremental saves - Incremental saves reduce the amount of time it takes to
   save changes to large files by appending changes to the end of the file. This
   feature can cause the file to increase in size. See About Reducing the Time
   to Save a Drawing for more information.
 * Drawing file format - Use the latest drawing file format for best performance
   when saving your drawings. Saving to an earlier drawing file format could
   result in longer file save and open times. See About Saving Drawings to
   Previous Drawing File Formats and About Large Object Limits and Drawing File
   Compatibility for information on what might happen to a drawing saved to an
   earlier format.
 * Unused named objects - Layers, block definitions, and styles that aren't
   being used can take up additional file space. For information on how to
   remove an unused named object, see To Purge All Unused Layers.
 * Overlapping geometry - Overlapping objects can result in an increase to the
   size of the drawing file. See To Delete Duplicate Objects for information on
   how to remove overlapping and duplicate objects.

RELATED CONCEPTS

 * About Evaluating and Improving Hardware Performance
 * About Providing Performance Feedback
 * Hardware Acceleration Troubleshooting Reference
 * About Memory Tuning
 * About Improving Windows Performance
 * About Saving Program Settings as Profiles
 * About Auto-Loading and Running AutoLISP Routines
 * About Opening Drawings
 * About Opening Part of a Large Drawing
 * About Improving Performance When Using Xrefs
 * About Repairing Damaged Drawing Files
 * About Large Object Limits and Drawing File Compatibility
 * About Saving Drawings
 * About Reducing the Time to Save a Drawing
 * About Drawing (DWG) File Changes
 * About Saving Drawings to Previous Drawing File Formats
 * FAQ: Does this AutoCAD Release Use a New Drawing File Format?
 * FAQ: How Can I Improve the Performance of an AutoCAD-based Product?

RELATED INFORMATION

 * How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD


WAS THIS INFORMATION HELPFUL?

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