Margaret Maher is a Senior Analyst with ESRI and author of Lining Up Data in ArcGIS: A Guide to Map Projections. She's compiled an extensive list of ArcGIS Desktop System Tuning Tips and provided it to us via Structure Development GIS Analyst and ACC GIS graduate Rebecca Broadbent.
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, 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.
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, then 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.
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 Securtity Essentials, Kaspersky, Avast, AVG, and others.
13] If ArcMap or ArcCatalog crash with a "Serious Application Error", two different things can occur:
a) If the user sends the error report to Esri, the error report will not be saved on the computer. Instead the error report will be received by development at Esri and analyzed there. You will not receive any feedback about the error or source of the problem, but this WILL help Esri improve the software.
b) if the error report is NOT sent to Esri, the error report will be saved at:
C:\users\<user_name>\AppData\Local\Esri\ErrorReports.
The file will have a .DMP extension, and will be around 300-500 KB. Esri Support Analysts also have software to analyze these reports and may be able to provide information about the source of the error.
Go to the path above, zip several of the DMP files that have been generated from this crash and send them to Esri so that the analyst working on the case can analyze them and possibly identify a source for the problem.
14] 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, saving the output, and sending me the file will allow me to analyse your system, and see if any specific process on the computer 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 zip the PML file. Since the file will no doubt exceed our 10 MB limit on email attachments, I will send you two additional emails which contain the URL, user name and password to upload the ZIP file to our incoming secure FTP site if it is necessary to run this test.
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