copying files PM5 freezing

[ciconia]

Hi everybody,

I am using the newest Version of PM5 on my Win10 PC. I have been using Photo Mechanic since many years and am very happy with its performance. However, I currently have a Problem which is quite annoying. I very often must copy files from one Folder to another. I right click on a photo or a selection of photos, go to Copy photo ... in the context menu. In the Copy Options I select Copy to this Folder and enter a Folder of my choice. Perhaps it is important also to mention that all my files are stored on a network drive (NAS). When I now click Copy the file is copied correctly, but the program freezes for about 10-20 seconds. Only then the copy Dialog disappears, and it takes another 5 to 10 seconds before I can start working again with PM5.

Is there any solution to this problem?

Thank and best regards
Holger Schulz

[Kirk Baker]

Holger,

I am using the newest Version of PM5 on my Win10 PC. I have been using Photo Mechanic since many years and am very happy with its performance. However, I currently have a Problem which is quite annoying. I very often must copy files from one Folder to another. I right click on a photo or a selection of photos, go to Copy photo ... in the context menu. In the Copy Options I select Copy to this Folder and enter a Folder of my choice. Perhaps it is important also to mention that all my files are stored on a network drive (NAS). When I now click Copy the file is copied correctly, but the program freezes for about 10-20 seconds. Only then the copy Dialog disappears, and it takes another 5 to 10 seconds before I can start working again with PM5.

This won't solve your problem, but I would like to know if you copy photos from a local drive to a local drive (perhaps into another folder on the same local drive) do the delays still occur?

Thanks,

-Kirk

[ciconia]

No, Kirk, there is no difference. I tried it from local to local, from local to NAS and from NAS to local. It takes always around 10 seconds before I can continue working. It seems to get slower if I have opened many Folders in PM5.
Holger

[ciconia]

I forgot: My local harddrive is a SSD 500 GB

[ciconia]

One more hint which might help locating the Problem:
On my PC all my Software is opening quickly within one or two seconds. If I start PM5 it takes more than one Minute before it opens.
Holger

[Kirk Baker]

One more hint which might help locating the Problem:
On my PC all my Software is opening quickly within one or two seconds. If I start PM5 it takes more than one Minute before it opens.
Holger

When you finish copying, then folders are rescanned for changes.  The more folders you have open, the longer this takes.  Which sorting method do you use on your folders?

As for startup time, the Navigator and Favorites populate their trees and restore the previously opened folders.  This also takes time, especially on network drives.

-Kirk

[ciconia]

Thank you, this might be the Problem: I have opened in the favourites and in the Navigator my Folder tree with hundreds of subfolders and thousands of files. You think that this could be the reason for the slow start of the program? Should I Close down the favourites and Navigator Prior to closing PM5?

My Folders are sorted by filename. I sometimes have 30-50 Folders opened as contact sheets. Even after closing all of them the copying process is still very slow. Should I regularly empty some Cache?

Holger

[ciconia]

You are right, Kirk, if I have opened my Folder trees in the Navigator and have only one Folder open, it still takes up to 10 seconds after copying until I can start working again. If I Close the Folder tree in the Navigator and only leave open one Folder as a contact sheet, the PC is ready immediately after copying! Also Startup is very fast, if folder trees in Navigator and favourites are closed.

Great to know a way to speed up the copying process. Is there another possibility to make copying faster without  always closing down the Folder trees? Sometimes I Need Access to different Folders simultaneously. And is there a way to automatically Limit the number of open Folders (contact Sheets), lets say to a Maximum of 5? Or to Close the old ones if I open a new one?

Thanks a lot
Holger

[Kirk Baker]

Holger,

You are right, Kirk, if I have opened my Folder trees in the Navigator and have only one Folder open, it still takes up to 10 seconds after copying until I can start working again. If I Close the Folder tree in the Navigator and only leave open one Folder as a contact sheet, the PC is ready immediately after copying! Also Startup is very fast, if folder trees in Navigator and favourites are closed.

Great to know a way to speed up the copying process. Is there another possibility to make copying faster without  always closing down the Folder trees? Sometimes I Need Access to different Folders simultaneously. And is there a way to automatically Limit the number of open Folders (contact Sheets), lets say to a Maximum of 5? Or to Close the old ones if I open a new one?

No, there is no feature that limits the number of folders that can be opened or restored.

-Kirk

[ciconia]

OK, Kirk, thanks a lot for your help. I know now what caused my Problems and I can work accordingly. I have shut down completely the Favourit panel, as I dont really Need it, and I Close the Folder tree of the Navigator Prior to each shutdown. I also found in the preferences under Launching the possibility to set for contact Sheets "single click replaces current contact sheet". This is OK for me because I normally go through my Folders one after one and it helps a lot with the copy delay if only one Folder is open.
Cheers, Holger

[Soizic]

Thanks Ciconia, very interesting

[Jan Normandale]

I'm having this problem. It seems to be based on how many images are in a folder. Small folders of 100 images or less take a very short time vs folders with 100 - 300 images of 20mb each. Here's my set up.