In Windows XP:

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel and double-click System.
3. Click the Advanced tab and then select Settings in the Performance section.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and in the Virtual memory section, click Change.
5. From the Drive list, select a hard drive that has 1.5 times the amount of your computer's installed RAM. For example, if your computer has 512 MB of RAM, select a hard drive that has at least 1 GB of free hard drive space, or 768 MB for Windows XP. For best performance, choose a hard drive not used for the Photoshop scratch disk(s).
6. In the Paging File Size for Selected Drive section, select Custom size (Windows XP only), and in the Initial Size box, enter a value equal to the twice the amount of your computer's installed RAM.
7. In the Maximum Size box, enter a value equal to four times the amount of your computer's installed RAM.
8. Click Set and then click OK.
   
   Note: For the best performance, the Paging File should be on a separate, empty, de-fragmented hard disk.
9. Click to close the System Control Panel Applet (Windows XP).
10. To restart Windows, click Yes in the System Settings Change dialog box.

In Windows Vista:

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start > Control Panel, and double-click System.
3. Choose Advanced System Settings in the Tasks list.
4. Select the Advanced tab and click Settings in the Performance section.
5. Select the Advanced tab and click Change.
6. Usually it's best to allow Windows to manage the paging file. However, for the better performance, the Windows paging file should be on a different hard disk from the Photoshop scratch disk. To manage the paging file manually, set it to a different drive from the Photoshop scratch disk by deselecting Automatically Manage Paging File Size For All Drives.
7. Click each hard disk letter to show the available space on that drive. Select a hard drive that has three times the amount of your computer's installed RAM and that doesn't contain a scratch disk.
8. Select Custom Size, and type the amount of your physical RAM plus 300 MB in the Initial Size box. Type 3 times the amount of your computer's installed RAM into the Maximum Size box. Click Set, and then click OK. Continue to click OK to exit all dialog boxes.
9. Restart your computer: If you have applications open, select Restart Later, close your applications, then restart Windows. Otherwise, click Restart Now.

Applications running in the background

Some applications may compete for memory with Photoshop and cause slowdowns or system errors. Before starting Photoshop, disable other applications, including startup items (items that start automatically with Windows).

In Windows XP:

Disable startup items:

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start > Run, and type msconfig in the Open box. Click OK.
3. Click the Startup tab, and click Disable All.
4. Select any startup items that are essential for testing the problem. If you are unsure whether an item is essential, leave it deselected (disabled).
5. Click OK, and restart Windows.
   
   Note: Depending on settings in the System Configuration utility, a System Configuration utility dialog box may appear after the restart asking you if you want to continue in Selective Startup mode. If this occurs, click OK once to close the message dialog box. Click OK again to quit the System Configuration utility. Click Exit Without Restart.
6. Right-click icons in the Notification Area (called the System Tray in earlier versions of Windows) to close or disable any startup items that are still active.

Then, try to re-create the problem:

• If the performance of Photoshop increases, one or more of the disabled startup items is conflicting with Photoshop. Reenable startup items one at a time, testing each time until you determine which item conflicts with Photoshop. Then contact that item's developer for an update, if available.
• If the performance doesn't change, startup items aren't the cause and you can reenable them.

To reenable startup items:

1. Choose Start > Run, and type msconfig in the Open box. Click OK.
2. Click the Startup tab, and click Enable All.
3. Click OK, and restart Windows.

In Windows Vista:

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start, type msconfig in the Search text box, and press Enter.
3. Write down all unselected items under the Startup and Services tabs.
4. Click the General tab, and choose Selective Startup.
5. Click the Startup tab and select Disable All.
6. Click Apply, and restart Windows for the changes to take effect.
   
   Note: Upon restart, you'll be notified that the System Configuration utility has made changes to the way that Windows starts up. Click OK. When the System Configuration utility appears, click Cancel.
7. Right-click icons in the Notification Area and close or disable any startup items that are still active.

Then, try to re-create the problem:

• If the performance of Photoshop increases, one or more of the disabled startup items is conflicting with Photoshop. Reenable startup items one at a time, testing each time until you determine which item conflicts with Photoshop. Then contact that item's developer for an update, if available.
• If the performance doesn't change, startup items aren't the cause and you can reenable them.

To reenable startup items:

1. Choose Start > and type msconfig in the Search text box, and press Enter.
2. Click the Startup tab, and click Enable All.
3. Click OK, and restart Windows Vista.

Hardware

Photoshop performance is limited by the hardware you use: faster the processors or hard disks allow for faster image information processing. Other hardware options, such as installing additional RAM, using a multiprocessor system, or using optimized and defragmented disks, can also improve performance.

Processor speed

Image information processing speed is limited by the speed of the computer's processor, or CPU (Central Processing Unit). Photoshop requires a Pentium 4 or faster processor.

All Photoshop features are faster on a multiprocessor system, although some can take greater advantage of the multiprocessor system's capabilities than others.

Installed RAM

Photoshop requires that the available RAM is several times the size of each image, depending on how you use the application. If Photoshop has insufficient memory, it uses hard-disk space (scratch disk) to process information. Because accessing information in memory is faster than accessing information on a hard disk, Photoshop is fastest when it can process all or most image information in memory (RAM), without using the scratch disk. Allocate enough memory to Photoshop to accommodate your largest image file.

To check use of memory for Photoshop, open the Efficiency Indicator by choosing Show > Efficiency from the pop-up menu on the status bar of your image. This indicator displays the percentage of time Photoshop spends completing an operation instead of reading or writing the scratch disk. If the value is less than 95-100%, then Photoshop is using the scratch disk and, therefore, is operating more slowly than necessary. If the efficiency is around 60%, you'll see a large performance increase by changing your RAM allocation or adding RAM.

Hard disks

Since Photoshop reads and writes image information while working on an image, the faster the access speed of the disk containing your image or the scratch disk, the faster Photoshop can process image information. To improve Photoshop performance, work on files saved on disks with fast access speeds, such as an internal hard disk, rather than those with slow access speeds, such as a network server (hard disk accessed over a network) or removable media, for example, Zip disks. Removable media often have slower access times and are more easily damaged than nonremovable disks.

Keywords : Tutorials, Mezzoforce Tutorials, Optimize performance, Photoshop CS3, Windows XP, Vista, guide

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