ArcMAP 10.5 Slow Performance

[TerryAdams]

Hello All,

We have just updated from ArcGIS 10.3 to ArcGIS 10.5.

Suffering from very slow performance in ArcMAP now with certain things.  I've completely re-made MXD's from scratch under 10.5 that I had under 10.3 to remove possible changeover issues.

When I simply tick on/off layers it takes a long time (1 minute or more) to update the display or give me control of ArcMap back.

When I save edits - long time to do that (2 minutes or more) 

When I change a layer from editable to not editable - long time (1 minute) to do that.

I'd have maybe 10 layers in the MXD with JPEG 2000 aerial photo loaded in - but not displayed. 

Arc Catalog displays layers quickly - as you'd expect.   Loading one or 2 layers into ArcMAP also seems ok.  But more than that *really* seems to slow it down.  I never had extremely slow responses like this under 10.3.

We're putting in a support call but just wondering if anyone else has noticed this - and might know what the cause is.   Data sits in SQL 2012 with ARCSDE.   

[MargaretMaher]

I am sorry this is an issue for so many of our customers.  I have copied here a list of suggestions and recommendations I have compiled over my 17 years in Tech Support that have helped a lot of users improve performance with ArcGIS Desktop.  This is not the complete list, but these are all really useful for troubleshooting performance issues:

Note that these are all valuable troubleshooting techniques that have resolved a multitude of

problems in ArcGIS Desktop for many users.  I would recommend keeping the list and applying

many of the suggestions as preventative measures, even if no problems are occurring.

1]  First of all, the quickest and easiest thing to try is to have another user log into the

computer, and see if performance is equally poor for another user.  If it is NOT, have the IT

department replace the user profile for the original user.  If the other user also has the same

problem, continue reading.

2]  With ArcMap and ArcCatalog both closed, use Windows Explorer to access the path below:

C:\Program Files(x86)\Common Files\ArcGIS\Desktop10.x\Configuration\CATID

In this  context, "Desktop10.x" may be Desktop10.0; Desktop10.1; Desktop10.2, Desktop 10.3,

Desktop 10.4, or any combination thereof. Within each Desktop10.x folder that exists, open the

folder named "Configuration" and rename the CATID folder within it.  The CATID folder contains

files which have the extension .ECFG.  These files will initialize some Esri extensions such as

Business Analyst, but may also exist for unsupported 3rd party applications that have been

installed on the computer, either at the current version, or previously.  Since these

applications are not tested or certified by Esri, they can prevent ArcGIS from operating

correctly. Renaming the CATID folder(s) will not remove these applications, but will prevent

ArcGIS from initializing them on startup.

The Desktop 10.x folder in which the CATID folder resides indicates the version of ArcGIS

Desktop at which the custom application was installed.  A 3rd party plugin may function without

a problem for 2 or even 3 version, then with a new install cause ArcMap to crash, or even fail

to start up.

It may be necessary to run a repair on the install of ArcGIS Desktop, but in most cases this

step is not necessary.

DO NOT LOOK FOR ANY OTHER FILES, WHICH HAVE AN ECFG EXTENSION, IN ANY OTHER LOCATION ON YOUR

COMPUTER.  THE LOCATION  LISTED IS VERY SPECIFIC AND IS RELATED ONLY TO THE ISSUE DESCRIBED

ABOVE.  Other files with an ECFG extension may exist on your computer in other locations but

these are not involved in this issue.

3]  After performing the above step, restart ArcMap and go to Customize > Add-In Manager.  If

any add-ins exist on the computer, other than the Esri Add-In that allows  access to ArcGIS

Online, delete it.

4]  Click on your Start button, and in the "Search programs and files" box, type in the letters

UAC.  Open the User Account Control Settings dialog.  Change the value to "Never notify" if you

have permissions to do so.  If not, have one of your IT staff change this setting for you.

5]  To improve performance in ArcMap, do the following:
a)  On a weekly basis, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System tools, and run Disk

Cleanup, followed by the Disk Defragmenter.  I run the Disk Cleanup on both my machines a few

minutes before I leave on Friday afternoon.  I delete the unnecessary files, then start the

Disk Defragmenter before I leave for the weekend.  On Monday morning when I  come in, I reboot

both  my computers, so they are cleaned up and ready to go.  Windows 7 generates a huge number

of temporary files, and does not clean these up, so this is essential. WARNING:  DO NOT RUN

DISK DEFRAGMENTER ON A SOLID STATE HARD DRIVE!
b)  In ArcMap go to Customize > ArcMap Options > Display Cache tab, and clear the display cache

if it is larger than 0.  The display cache is useful when using online imagery or data in the

current session, but saves by default when the ArcMap session is closed.  Several hundred MBs

of cached imagery will impact performance.
c)  In ArcMap go to Geoprocessing > Geoprocessing Options, and uncheck "Enable" for Background

Processing.  This is personal preference, but running a process in the background takes quite a

bit longer than in the foreground.  Usually a  process that will take several hours can be run

overnight, rather than when the user is present.  Also, if an error occurs I want to see it

immediately.
d)  In the same dialog, change the "Geoprocessing Results" to save for a shorter time than 2

weeks.  When starting ArcMap or ArcCatalog, all saved results are validated during the startup

process.  If you run a lot of Geoprocessing tools this can take an excessive amount of time.

Save the MXD to save the above changes to your Normal.mxt ArcMap template.

6]  Minimize the number of network connections in ArcMap.  Each time ArcMap starts up, ALL the

network connections to GIS data sources must be validated.  If many connections exist, this can

be very time-consuming.  Also, when creating a connection to a data source, create the

connection at the lowest level in the directory structure that will allow the data to open.

7]  Start components of ArcGIS Desktop from Start > Programs.  Desktop shortcuts used to start

the program can become corrupted and result in strange behavior in the application.

8]  when you have downloaded a fresh copy of ArcGIS Desktop or other software from the Esri

website, run the Checksum utility on the ISO (installer) file to validate the download before

installing the program.  Checksum instructions and download can be accessed at the link below:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/software-tools/ht/file-checksum-integrity-verifier.htm

9]  If problems are occurring when opening old MXDs created at previous versions of ArcGIS,

apply the MXD Doctor utility.  This utility will generate a new copy of the MXD if possible and

copy over all valid features.

10]  If VBA code was used to create an MXD in a previous version of ArcGIS, the MXD will return

errors and will not open.  The MXD Doctor may enable the MXD to open, so that the objects in

the map created with VBA scripting can be deleted.

11]  If ArcMap documents are very slow to open, apply the Document Defragmenter utility, which

can be found at Start > All  Programs > ArcGIS > Desktop tools.  The defragmenter will remove

bits and pieces of object that were held in memory from an edit session for example.  Typically

this utility will reduce the size of a bloated MXD by 50% or more, greatly speeding up opening

the file.

12]  Certain virus scanning programs have been identified as causing problems with ArcMap,

including crashes on opening.  Make a note of the virus scanning program on the computer, and

white list ArcGIS Desktop in the the virus scanning program.  These may include Malware Bytes,

Microsoft Security Essentials, Kaspersky, Avast, AVG, Cylance, and others.

13]  For serious performance issues, Process Monitor can be used to identify software on the

computer or network that are consuming resources so that ArcMap cannot operate at maximum

efficiency.

Download Process Monitor from the link below, then run the application while working on the

process in ArcMap to capture what is going on with the computer.

Process Monitor will record every operation being performed on the computer, and the amount of

time each operation takes.  The PML files created by this application can contains hundreds of

thousands or millions of entries, since they record times of events to the 1/10-millionth of a

second.  Installing and running this application  wil allow you to see if any specific process

on thecomputer is interfering with ArcGIS Desktop.  The utility can be downloaded at:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645

Download and unpack the ZIP file to C:\Program Files\Process Monitor.

To run Process Monitor, turn off ALL applications - Internet Explorer or other internet access

application, email, instant messaging, etc. - that are running on your computer.  The files

generated by this program are massive, and we must avoid reporting irrelevant processes.

Start ArcMap and get ArcMap set up to run the process where you are experiencing the problem.

Go to C:\Program Files\Process Monitor and double click procmon.exe to start the application.

After Process Monitor has started up, continue your operations in ArcMap for two to three

minutes, so ProcMon has time to capture the problem in the process, but prevent the file from

becoming so huge that it is unmanageable.

In Process Monitor, click File and uncheck Capture Events.

Save the report in the native PML format and reopen the PML file by double clicking.  There is

information online about how to work with these files.

=======================================

Good luck and hope these suggestions will help all of you.

[AndresCastillo]

Thank you Margaret.

Excellent notes on troubleshooting ArcMap slow performance.