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>Problem: When I open Windows, my system resources are at 80%
>free. When I open Word 6.0c, the resources drop immediately to
>62%. After I open a document and putz around a little, I m down to
>46-49%. I d like to improve the resource drain.
Your problem is common to Windows and Word users around the world. Users
have been screaming about this ever since Word 6 came out. All the
application in Office 4.2 use a lot GDI resources.
The Graphic Device Interface (GDI) is the resource bottleneck. This is a
dedicated memory block (Only 64 K bytes) that Windows provides for
applications to access the display. The amount GDI used is not the only
problem.
In the On-Line Help for the Microsoft's System Meter we are warned of
applications that are "badly behaved". This is a program that doesn't
release all of the GDI resources when you turn it off. Word is one of these
badly behaved applications. If you open and close Word several times you
will find that GDI resource decreasing. There are some utilities that help
with this problem (I don't have any of them.), but it easier to just close
Windows and restart.
Here are a couple other things that will help a little:
1. Open the menu Tools, select Options, and the General tab. Turn the 3D
Dialog and Display Effects off. This will reclaim 2% to 4% of your GDI
resources.
2. The amount of resources use is effected by the Display Device Driver.
Check with Dell to see if you have the most up-to-date drivers.
>I think that about a 10% hit on resources for Word would be
>reasonable, but maybe I m asking too much??? I d like to know
>what others think/do.
Microsoft saz, Windows 95 will fix all! It's hard ti ty[e wuth yout fingets
crissed!
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Jim Brandenberger
jbranden -at- p02 -dot- il50 -dot- micro -dot- honeywell -dot- com
Innovation is never having to say, "Me, too!"
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