I noticed while using ACR with CS3 in windows xp as well as ACR with CS4 in vista 64 that the program would (will) often slow down in the middle of an editting session, after several minutes of brisk performance. I've always used fast machines and lots of RAM (8 gigs currently) with these programs, so it seems to me that some kind of OS issue is at fault.

I've poked around the net a bit, and I haven't found any unifying answer to this problem. Is a "RAM leak" likely? (I've turned off as much of the vista fluff as I know how, per tweakhound.com recommendations). Is there some background service that pops up and eats up RAM? I don't know much about what most background services do, so I never shut them down on a whim. How about an ACR issue? Any suggestions appreciated.

John

When you say "an editing session" are you referring to working on a single image? Or groups of images where you close the ACR dialog and re-open it several times? Are you using local corrections?

I don't remember specifcally if the problem arose during local correction use w/ CS4, but I know the problem happened w/ CS3. I do remember that it happened in CS4 when I was simply moving exposure, WB, ect. sliders around (I might have already applied local corrections- don't know). Also, there may have been a few additional pictures in the sidebar, but I was only working on one at a time.

What gets me is that the problem has happened after several (15-30) minutes of use, during which time all of the controls were snappy and crisp. It just seems like something is degenerating, but I have no idea what. A complete reboot would cure the problem, although I don't think a simple restart of ACR made any difference- that's why I'm leaning toward some kind of RAM leak. How do I check for that?

John

Try downloading sysinternal's Process Explorer:

http://live.sysinternals.com

Do you have AV active while processing? Just a thought .....

Thanks for the link- I'll give it a shot. What do you mean by "AV"?

AV=AntiVirus

Most have "Guard" functions enabled by default which tests all files it sees independent of an actual computer virus "scan", so it can eat up a lot of CPU cycles, if implemented too conservatively.

button,

At the risk of stating the obvious, but having gone through exactly the same problem as you (see this thread> http://forums.adobe.com/message/1210521#1210521 ) are you still on ACR 5.3? If so, that could be you're problem. I have the same spec as you - Vista x64, 8Gb RAM, CS4 - and it runs like a train.

D.