How often is it normal for AutoCAD to Freeze?

I'm a draftsman at an office. The computer wasn't bought specifically with CAD in mind. I find that it freezes/delays several times each hour... within the last 10 minutes it froze 3 times!

I should define what I mean by "freeze"- I mean that the screen goes gray, the program says "Not Responding" at the top, the little "wait" icon will come on... usually this will go on for half a minute until 2 minutes...

It usually happens when switching between Layouts (I guess it takes a long time for the VPs to regenerate?), when I do the MA command, and random times like that. Also, movement around Layouts are very staccato as well.

Now, is this a "normal" waiting time? Or does the tech department need to buy me a new computer? I'm only here 2 months and I'm the only draftsman and it's my first job... I don't want to make waves, but on the other hand these constant starts-and-pauses are driving me crazy. Are these standard and I'm just being impatient?

The tech people doubled my RAM from 4 Gigs to 8 the other week, and while the freezing's happening less often, it's still happening.

Here are the computer specs:

Windows 7 Professional

HP Elite 7300 Series MT

Intel Core TM @ i5-2400 CPU 3.10 GHz

8.00 GB RAM

Graphics card (I believe?): Intel ® HD Graphics Family

should run smoothly with 1/2 that spec imo.

the freezing i suspect is not spec related. something is not quite right - either software set-up, hardware set-up or hardware fault.

everything running at standard speed? tring slowing cpu & ram clock speeds if you can. check graphics card settings.

try taking out the original 4GB sticks of RAM - it may be faulty

I think the original RAM got taken out when they doubled them....

I'll check into CPU and RAM clock speeds, thanks

That is certainly not normal. It shouldn't crash more than once or twice a day (on a bad day).

Your computer specifications look fine. Perhaps try a repair or reinstall of AutoCad?

How big are the files you are working on?

I wouldn't say that AutoCAD's crashing, it's just stopping-and-starting all the time and it's annoying

Look, I dunno, maybe freezes of half a minute or 2 are normal?

Right now I have 2 files open at the same time, one is 3720 KB, the other is 3523 KB.

In my experience AutoCAD usually freezes when it is looking for a file it can't find.

Try going to 'options > files' and checking that all your file paths are pointing to areas on your network that exist. Plot files (.PC3 files) are the usual culprit.

Next - look for referenced files such as Xrefs.

Finally, consider file size. Here's a few options for cleaning up DWG files:http://cadsetterout.com/autocad-tutorials/how-to-optimize-your-autocad-dwgs/

AutoCAD should not be freezing at all with the system you are using. If you are experiencing freeze ups then some possible causes are...

1) A bad install.

2) Paths to files is messed up or abnormally long.

3) Your drawings suffer from scalelist bloat.

4) You have the CommCenter enabled.

5) Your files are abnormally large (filled with useless linetypes, etc.).

6) The setting for "hardware acceleration" is incorrect.

7) Your system is using an entry level onboard graphics chip instead of a dedicated graphics card.

I could probably come up with another five possibilities easily.

panning quickly & when zoomed right out with all snaps on and a command active can make it work hard....

Graphics card (I believe?): Intel ® HD Graphics Family

Sounds like onboard graphics, not card?

Pablo-

I like the XRefs possibility, my file referenced a bunch of other graphics that never came through. I've detached them in the XR panel and I hope that'll speed up performance.

Plus, that link you sent is GOLD, I've done a few of their tips so far. Hopefully it will work!

All-

What I garner from the rest of you is that I should try to get a fresh install of AutoCAD before they go along and buy a whole new computer... The tech people tried putting in a different graphics card but for some reason it wouldn't take.

Before going down that road try a REPAIR first. If that doesn't fix things do a REINSTALL. If that doesn't work then you may have to do a complete UNINSTALL followed by a new install. There is a specific procedure to follow, as per AutoDesk recommendations, for preparing one's system for a clean install. You can find the instructions at the AutoDesk website.

What exactly was the problem with the new graphics card? What card were they trying to install? Who recommended the card? Was it checked against the hardware list at AutoDesk? Your IT department doesn't appear equipped to support you in a way that will benefit the company. Maybe you can suggest they get a high school computer geek to come in and fix what they can't.

It is your onboard graphics card that is most of your problem. Is your Hardware Acceleration on or off? You probably do not have the that option for an onboard graphics card. What driver are you using? On command line 3DCONFIG.

HP site shows these for options for graphics cards.

When the tech guy came to reinstall, it was decided that the best course of action would be to switch versions. So, my boss (with her more current laptop) has 2014, and I've now got AutoCAD 2009.

Today's my first day using it, so I hope the freezing issues have stopped. I'm shedding a tear for regressing a few years, oh well...

The tech guys didn't know why the other graphic cards didn't work, btw.

I just installed a newer card in my computer and had to update the BIOS.

Why didn't they just get you a new computer so you could continue using 2014?

So AutoCAD 2009 was even worse!!!

Literally, every 3-4 minutes I was forced to stop and wait for the program.

Finally, my superiors called an AutoCAD expert (instead of the in-house tech people), and he told them to reinstall the onboard graphic cards drivers and chip set.

Well, since then, things have been going MUCH more smoothly!

True, I haven't started working yet again on the heavier files, but in the meantime the computer is running very smoothly. I believe that was the issue. The computer itself had a problem with its motherboard that wouldn't let us install a better graphics card.

Now, I wish I had AutoCAD 2014 again, but I'm not willing to make a fuss. But I'm grateful that it's going smoother. (My bosses don't even ask me how I'm doing, they ask me how my COMPUTER is doing, since they know my moods are so dependent on its performance!)

Thank you to everyone for your advice, you definitely helped me convince my superiors that there was something out of the normal going on.

I am feeling happy to have such useful place for learning..

This is really helpful for me and I hope that now it will much easier for me to have authentic answers of my each question.

Update:

Out of nowhere, AutoCAD 2009 started bugging out... FATAL ERROR every few minutes, and at this point FATAL ERROR every time I even open a file.

Apparently AutoCAD 2009 is not meant for Win7, it's meant for WinXP.

Needless to say, my superiors have finally decided to get me a new computer, complete with a stronger graphics card. Mission accomplished!

Autocad 2009 should work fine on Windows 7, but hey, don't rock the boat, UPGRADE!

I would assume either you reinstall your autocad,or the entire operating system if you experience the same freeze in other programs like media player or it is a hardware problem,I had a similar problem only to b told that the harddrive was damaged,whn it ws replaced it performed at 1st class...