Thanks to a bit more testing, I have figured out that the problem is being
caused because I am opening datasets stored on a network drive.
Steve
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ed Bassin [SMTP:[email protected]]
> Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 10:10 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: st: RE: RE: Re: memory management in Win2000
>
> I don't have a solution to your issue but I regularly open 300-500MB
> datasets using Stata 7 on Win2K at rates around 150-200MB/minute. The
> machines on which that occurs have RAID 5 arrays and 2GB or more of
> physical
> memory, but that shouldn't explain this big of a difference.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steven Stillman
> (LMPG)
> Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 1:21 AM
> To: '[email protected]'
> Subject: st: RE: Re: memory management in Win2000
>
> Sorry, I should have been a bit clearer here. I am using stata 7 with
> stata
> 7 format datasets. I am not using virtual memory with at least 100m of
> physical memory available after opening a 240m dataset. The problem is
> with
> the initial allocation of physical memory that occurs when I open stata
> for
> the first time. This is just plain slow taking approx. 1min to allocate
> each 20m. I am assuming this has to do with win2000 and my particular
> motherboard, etc. and nothing to do with Stata but I was hoping that some
> experts out there might have a solution for speeding things up.
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
> PS I am about to install stata 8 so we will soon see if this helps speeds
> things up.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [email protected] [SMTP:[email protected]]
> > Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 3:46 AM
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: st: Re: memory management in Win2000
> >
> > Steven Stillman <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >>This is more of a windows questions than a stata question. I
> > >>frequently work on large datasets (150-200m) on a Pent IIII PC w/
> > >>Win2000 and 512m
> > ram.
> > >>I find that it takes a long time (3-5 minutes) for these large
> > >>datasets
> > to
> > >>initial open (stata is very fast once the datasets are loaded).
> > >>Does
> > anyone
> > >>have any suggestions on how to get Win2000 to allocate memory
> > >>quicker to stata (this seems to be what holds things up)? I was
> > >>thinking that ala
> > Unix
> > >>there might be a way to assign a fixed block of ram to stata instead
> > >>of
> > it
> > >>being dynamically reallocated every time a dataset is opened.
> >
> > And Friedrich Huebler <[email protected]> had this suggestion:
> >
> > >Do you use Stata 8 with a dataset from an earlier version of Stata?
> > >Try to convert the dataset to Stata 8 format and see if it takes less
> > >time to open.
> >
> > This suggestion is a very good one. Using the latest format of dataset
> > for your version of Stata is always faster.
> >
> > Another suggestion:
> > Due to the fact that it takes so long and that the size of the dataset
> > is already a large percentage of the physical RAM (200/512), the odds
> > are that Windows is being forced to use virtual memory. You can verify
> > this by using the Windows Task Manager (typically you can right-click
> > on the task bar to bring up the Task Manager; Ctrl-Alt-Del is another
> > way to get to it). On the Task Manager, there is a tab for Performance
> > and on this tab is a couple of tables showing memory usage. If your
> > Total Commit Charge memory is higher than your Total Physical memory,
> > you are in a state where Windows is forced to use virtual memory.
> >
> > You can *probably* witness the problem by viewing the Available
> > Physical Memory _during_ the load of the Stata dataset -- it should
> > hover around 6-3Mb as Windows continually swaps memory from Physical
> > to Virtual space.
> >
> > Solutions:
> > 1. Buy more RAM.
> > 2. Close all unnecessary applications while you are working with
> > these
> > large datasets.
> > 3. There are a few more odd tricks that can be done to speed up
> > virtual memory, but may not fix the entire problem:
> > http://www.pureperformance.com/js/showtip.asp?id=22
> >
> >
> > Hope this helps,
> >
> > --Kevin
> > [email protected]
> > *
> > * For searches and help try:
> > * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> > * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> > * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>
> The information contained in this document is intended only for the
> addressee and is not necessarily the views nor the official communication
> of
> the Department of Labour. All final/official papers which are sent from
> the
> Department will be sent by non-electronic means, on appropriate
> letterhead,
> signed by authorised personnel.
> *
> * For searches and help try:
> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>
> *
> * For searches and help try:
> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
The information contained in this document is intended only for the
addressee and is not necessarily the views nor the official
communication of the Department of Labour. All final/official papers
which are sent from the Department will be sent by non-electronic
means, on appropriate letterhead, signed by authorised personnel.
*
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
