Xara takes my computer down :(

[Judi A]

One thing I found out is some programs and plug-ins place themselves as a startup program for no conceivable reason. AOL's AIM does this. Removing it from the start-up has no adverse effect on how the program runs. Keeping it there does lower your resources.

I am on win98 SE. To find out what behind the scene programs load everytime you reboot. Go to Accessories/system tools/ system information/ software enviroment/ startup programs.

Xara may use a lot of resources when using a lot of bevels/ blends etc. but it is really good at giving it back after you exit it. I find the biggest drain comes from browsing the internet and e-mail and after closing them they give very little of the resources they used back.

[defunkt]

ok, I must say, I'm really suprised with the reaction my thread has gotten so far, thanks for the suggestions, everyone..

Because the problem only seemed to start occuring after I installed the newest patch, I've de-installed and re-installed from the Cd at the moment. It's working really well now, so let's hope it stays that way...


BTW, i have 256 MB ram and a Matrox g400 max

i don't think it's crashing because of bevels/blends, as I use them rarely (I'm more the straight vector guy [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] )

Stijn
www.defunkt.net

[williama]

As well as your physical memory, Windows uses a paging file on your hard disk. By default, it will be sized to be a little bit bigger than your system memory. You'll notice a definate improvement if you make this file bigger (I have mine set to 600MB).

To change the settings:
Right-Click on "My Computer"
Select "Properties"
Pick the "Advanced" tab
Click the "Performance Options" button
In the "Virtual Memory" section, click on "Change"
You can now adjust the minimum and maximum values for the file.

You'll get better results if you defragment your disk before you do this, so that the file gets a large block of space on the disk without being broken up. Norton Speed Disk will also defragment the paging file for you.

The minumum size allowed is the size of your physical memory. I have 256MB RAM, and my settings are 600MB Min, 800MB Max. You'll get even better results if you can put it on a disk other than the one that the OS is stored on.

[Carol Y.]

Well, I've deleted and installed my new Xara X about 20 times. First time around was a problem with my font file - finally fixed. But Xara wouldn't install until it was fixed. The new problem is a "Serious" error regarding access. Since I'm still waiting to hear from Xara about the minor font problem which kept me from installing the program, I don't think I'll bother them with a "Serious" access error. I've uninstalled. I've followed Judi's suggestions, I've reinstalled. I feel the problem started when I downloaded a lot of the brushes from the swap page. Problem ONLY when trying to use brushes or lines. Any suggestions for a fix?

[caraman1]

I had nothing but problems when I D/L brushes from the swap page. I deleted all of them and now Xara works just fine again.

Dennis

<a href=http://www.djart.com>DJArt & Design</a>

[roman]

Test StayAlive (for 95, 98 & 2000) which can be found at: http://www.tfi-technology.com/

Install it, draw something and do something to crash xara.. for me browsing through clipart gallery crashes the xara perfectly [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

If the deadly error message appears just select Xara X application in Stay Alive taskmonitor and click on recover button.

Pray, say abracadabra, or just take a sip of Earl grey and...

After recovery the Xara application button should start to blink on taskbar. Now close the killing mesage window and save your work.

Roman [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[smorg]

I like to perform "maintenance" on my 'puter once a week: that includes a virus scan with updated definitions, scan disk, defragging your hard drive, disk cleanup under System Tools (you'd be surprised at how much drive space gets eaten up by browser cache files), and RegCleaner/RegClean. RegCleaner is freeware (from www.nonags.com) out of Finland and turns the registry into English. Every document/file opened is usually listed as an orphan and registry performance can slow down over time searching for the files. RegClean is Microsoft's unsupported registry cleaner and works without interference by the user. Both are worth installing and using on a regular basis

[roman]

yesterday xara crashed twice... and saving out didn't work .. once it worked but immediately after the file opening the Xara fainted.. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]