Speed

[Mark Goodson]

Hello,
First thing in the morning when the computer is switched on it seems very willing to access different parts of programs very quickly, but around midday if I try to change direction within a program it takes an age. Fr'instance say I'm using Microsoft Word 'Inbox' after lunch and want to access 'Contacts' which is in the same program to verify an address, say, it takes an age to change from contacts to 'Mail'. Then around tea time it reverts to being quite quick. Is this normal or is it just me?
Cheers,
Mark.

[Jon]

First - "Word" Inbox and Contacts? Do you mean "Outlook"?

Assuming you do mean Outlook, and are using Word as your editor for it, are you also connecting to an Exchange Server, with your mailbox on that server? If so, what you're probably seeing is network congestion when everybody's in and accessing the network along with their mail.

[Mark Goodson]

Well - err - yes and no.
I am indeed using Outlook which is connected through Google but I assumed that Google was only used when actually receiving or transmitting messages, and that the fact that the Internet becomes congested during the peak hours, should not affect the speed with which a program like MS Outlook switches from one section of itself to another within its data.
Unless of course, the data is not held within the computer's memory but is accessed on line, which seems to be what your're telling me.
If that is the case is there any way in which the data can be held within the computer, because presumably that data isn't backed up during the regular backup sessions?
Cheers,
Mark.

[Jon]

Google Mail? Is Outlook configured to connect to Google via IMAP or POP? If it's configured as IMAP, then there's a message store on the server, and it probably is checking there to see if the PC information is out-of-date. If it's POP, every time you check your mail it's all downloaded to your PC, so subsequent views of it are "free", but you won't be able to see the messages on another machine.

[Mark Goodson]

No, Google Mail isn't used at all Google is only used as a search engine, - it's simply Ms Outlook which is used for correspondence - and therefore presumably POP.
I have recently acquired another (laptop) computer, an Acer Aspire One which is equipped with Outlook Express 6, and therefore presumably wouldn't access Outlook data anyway, though equally presumably it would receive e-mail traffic, which would then be in the Acer's memory.
So as far as I can see, the time of day shouldn't affect the speed with which Outlook changes from "Contacts" to "Mail", but it seems to do so, which is irritating, no more than that.
Cheers,
Mark.

[Jon]

Then how is Outlook connected through Google?

I am indeed using Outlook which is connected through Google but I assumed that Google was only used when actually receiving or transmitting messages, and that the fact that the Internet becomes congested during the peak hours, should not affect the speed with which a program like MS Outlook switches from one section of itself to another within its data.

If You're not using Google as the mail host, are you connecting to an Exchange server? If you are, then it would also be sensitive to  network load.

If you are connecting  to an Exchange server, it can be configured to allow OE to POP download the mail from the server; it'd then be local and you wouldn't have network problems like you seem to be experiencing.

[Ian in Northampton]

I think I know what Mark may be referring to, although I don't know the answer.  We may be barking up the wrong tree in looking at online traffic.

Not too long ago, Outlook would hang for quite a long time whenever I attached something to an email.  It didn't used to take so long - it used to be pretty much instantaneous.  My guess is that the subroutine (as we used to call them in assembler days...) has become somehow corrupt, and reinstalling Outlook would probably fix the problem.  However, it's never irritated me enough for me to do so.  At a guess, I'd say the 'open contacts' subroutine in Mark's copy of Outlook may also have become corrupt in some way, and, depending on a range of other factors, may take an excessive amount of time to execute.

Just a thought...

[Jon]

I might buy that, Ian, except it is bad around mid-day but not early or late in the day; that suggests an outside factor, not a corrupt file (DLL, nowadays) or hard drive problem.

[Ian in Northampton]

Jon, I take your point.  I just wonder if it's to do with the mix of programs Mark has running at particular times of the day.  For example, if he switches off his PC overnight, things should be pretty speedy in the morning - but as new programs/processes get loaded during the day, they might impact that Outlook subroutine. I admit, that doesn't really explain why it speeds up again in the evening.

[Dr Keyboard]

Low blood sugar - have a good breakfast, a decent lunch and you'll be fine.
Wait, your PC you say not you? OK, just restart it when it slows down and see what happens. Also, if it's just online stuff slowing down well, the Internet gets crowded from European midday onwards when the Americans wake up and start crowding the tubes with their nonsense.

[Michael]

Cosmic waves

[Mark Goodson]

Thanks for getting the site on line again, Doc., and of course for the dietry advice as well.
In fact despite all the confusion I've generated, it's probable that Ian has hit the nail on the head as I do switch off the computer at night, and tend to clear the decks again at around midday, which may account for the fact that the speed seems to be restored in the afternoon. Curiously I  don't recall this happening with the previous set up which sported two processors, not the 'dual processors' as at present. But that could well be another of my gaffes.
All the same I still have the impression that when large lumps of memory is required, as in perking up photos using Paintshop or whatever,  the present setup is a lot slower than the previous chunk of hardware.
Which doesn't matter too much because the camera isn't used so much these days.
So finally, thanks to all for patience and sensible comment.
Cheers,
Mark.

P.s. I'm trying to get an icon at the end of the first sentance, but it doesn't show up on the preview, but that's where it's meant to be. M.