Improving Performance of ArcMap and AutoCad

by By Chas Scripter (Washington), Debbie Kaiser, and Mike Hansen
February 2007

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Improving Performance of ArcMap and AutoCad (PDF; 87 KB)

Have you ever wondered why ArcMap takes so long to open, or why there's a long delay when you open Help in ArcMap? It's not due to your 'slow computer' or Outlook/Exchange - it's because of the way McAfee is configured, along with how some of your settings are configured on your computer. Three areas affecting performance and the steps you can take to improve the performance of your computer are outlined on the following web pages.

1. McAfee VirusScan
2. Virtual Memory
3. Visual Effects

1. McAfee VirusScan

McAfee VirusScan is currently configured to scan nearly all files as they are written to the hard drive and again each time files are accessed from the hard drive. This scanning also includes most system, program and application files. It has been proven through multiple testing that if the McAfee settings are changed to eliminate the unnecessary and redundant file scanning, ArcMap or ArcGIS Help will open in 3 to 5 seconds instead of 40 or more. Until there's a global change in the default McAfee settings, here are the instructions for changing your McAfee settings and the folders that you may change:

a) Double-click to open the McAfee shield on your taskbar.
b) Click on Properties.
c) In the new window click on All Processes.
d) Click on the Detection tab.
e) Click on the Exclusions buttons.
f) Click on Add, and then click on Browse to locate and exclude the folders listed below (see Folders and Sub-Folders to be Excluded.) You may not have all of these folders and that is ok. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT EXCLUDE ANY OTHER FOLDERS!
g) After selecting the folder, check the box for 'Also exclude sub-folders'.
h) Uncheck the box for “When to Exclude 'On write' “ (so that files are still scanned when written to disk) Please note that the exclusions list will remain as set even after rebooting.
i) Click on OK until you've closed all McAfee windows.

2. Virtual Memory

The amount of virtual memory on your computer also needs to be set at the system maximum to allow ArcMap to run efficiently. This procedure requires administrative permissions on your computer, so you may need to have Information technology do this for you.

a) To change the virtual memory, right-click on “My computer” and go to properties.
b) Select the Advanced tab, and click on “Settings” under “Performance”.
c) Select the advanced tab, and click “Change” under “Virtual Memory”.
d) Under “Custom size, change the amount to 4000 for both initial and maximum size. And click ok. (This value will dedicate about 4 GB of your hard drive as virtual memory and enable much better performance of memory intensive programs such as ArcGIS and AutoCAD.

3. Visual Effects

As a final note, you can change the visual effects of your computer and this too, will improve the performance. This change is most effective on laptops, resulting in about a 10 percent improvement of performance. The desktop improvement is smaller, about 5 percent. This edit is optional as you may prefer the default appearance. Follow Steps 2a and 2b as noted for setting the virtual memory.

Select the “Visual Effects” tab, and click on “Adjust for best performance”. Click OK to save.

After you have made all the changes as outlined in these 3 steps, you may notice that first time you open ArcMap, it will not seem to be as fast as you had anticipated. Not to worry! Just close ArcMap and reopen. Each time ArcMap is opened AFTER the first time each day, it will be much faster.

One last word of advice. If you are doing significant work in ArcMap, do a complete shutdown on your computer at least once a week. Shutting down during lunch and allowing the Hard Drive to come to a complete rest, will allow the memory to clean out the temporary files. You will find that allowing your computer to take a noontime “nap” will refresh its performance after lunch! Just remember to leave your computer on at night as mandated, by doing a restart. If you intensively use ArcMap and notice a slowdown, a complete shutdown at any time will fully release obligated memory and restore performance.

You're now ready to enjoy faster application response times!

Last Modified: 08/15/2008