Lightroom 5 slowing down?

[The goblin]

Hi,

I have been using lightroom 5 for over a year now, but just recently it seems a little sluggish. Usually whenever I did anything or clicked on a photo in the filmstrip it would change/ do it straight away, now it takes a few seconds to think about it! I have a fairly high spec PC and according to my brother it shouldn't be slowing down!

Basic info
Intel Core i7 - 3.20GHz
16GB RAM
Windows 7 Professional with service pack 1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti

LR5 is up to date.

I am also now running Norton antivirus.

Any hints or tips to get it back up to speed greatly appreciated.

 

[neil_g]

open up task manager and watch the graphs when it slows down. do the CPU or RAM graphs max out at all? i would expect not with such a spec to be honest.

disk getting full?

anything changed around the time it started to slow?

 

[Swanseajack]

I previously used Norton and I found it slowed my computer down a lot, I changed to ESET and I found this didn't. If you have the Norton disk / serial number, remove the software and see what happens.

 

[drounding]

Perhaps you can set exclusions to Norton AV, not monitor the LR5 cat or exe files.

 

[Bob_a]

Check your data disk and SSD boot disk to see if they are getting full. I set my automatic backup to once per week but need to purge backup files every three months or else my SSD boot drive (I have previews and backups on my boot SSD) will fill up.

 

[theurbanclown]

How many presets have you got, compared to 12 months ago?

 

[The goblin]

open up task manager and watch the graphs when it slows down. do the CPU or RAM graphs max out at all? i would expect not with such a spec to be honest.

disk getting full?

anything changed around the time it started to slow?

Hi Neil, I've been running LR with the task manager open, the RAM sits relatively stable at about 6GB. The CPU usage is all over the place! When I'm doing basic editing it fluctuates around 40%, when I select another photo it spikes, once up to 94% but then drops down.

I've checked the disks, the SSD has 85GB free of 255GB capacity. The hard drive has 436GB free of a capacity of 1.34TB (partitioned drive) the other part is 524GB and it's pretty empty. I have started going through my files and having a clear out. Really need to actually get my arse in gear and buy some kind of external set up. Still dithering over a NAS!

I can't remember doing anything specific. The main things last year were replacing the graphics card after the old one died and plugging in my old monitor to have a two monitor set up, would that affect it?

 

[The goblin]

I previously used Norton and I found it slowed my computer down a lot, I changed to ESET and I found this didn't. If you have the Norton disk / serial number, remove the software and see what happens.

I had Norton years ago, then switched to something else, then I had the Microsoft protection until my brother installed Norton again in October. I haven't got a clue with virus protection and just do what my geek friends/ family suggest!

Perhaps you can set exclusions to Norton AV, not monitor the LR5 cat or exe files.

I would not have a scooby how to do this. Maybe off to Google it.

Check your data disk and SSD boot disk to see if they are getting full. I set my automatic backup to once per week but need to purge backup files every three months or else my SSD boot drive (I have previews and backups on my boot SSD) will fill up.

Figures are above. The backup part about Boot discs may as well be Russian to me :dummy1: I back up to my external HDD, but not automatically!

How many presets have you got, compared to 12 months ago?

Mmmmmm, I have three user presets! This would imply I am not efficient and should maybe set up more, doh! But when I do click on the one I use all the time the CPU usage has quite a jump!

 

[Bob_a]

I was referring to automatic catalog backups that are produced by Lightroom at the frequency you've set under Edit -> Catalog Settings -> General tab, not your system backups. Those are located wherever you have your Catalog located. For speed the catalog and previews should always be on a fast internal drive ... an SSD if possible. I have mine set to backup once per week (which is likely the default), and at over 1.2 GB each it eats up drive space after a few months. In the dropdown there's an option to even do it daily. The issue with LR is they don't have an automated way to purge old backups so you need to go into the folder they're plunked in and cull them manually.

 

[JonathanRyan]

How many presets have you got, compared to 12 months ago?

Exactly this. It really shouldn't do, but I've noticed that with a lot of presets loaded LR5 can slow down considerably.

ETA: oh you have 3. That doesn't seem like a lot

 

[The goblin]

I was referring to automatic catalog backups that are produced by Lightroom at the frequency you've set under Edit -> Catalog Settings -> General tab, not your system backups. Those are located wherever you have your Catalog located. For speed the catalog and previews should always be on a fast internal drive ... an SSD if possible. I have mine set to backup once per week (which is likely the default), and at over 1.2 GB each it eats up drive space after a few months. In the dropdown there's an option to even do it daily. The issue with LR is they don't have an automated way to purge old backups so you need to go into the folder they're plunked in and cull them manually.

Yep I have mine to back up daily, and I do manually go in and delete it. I usually keep the last four backups.

Exactly this. It really shouldn't do, but I've noticed that with a lot of presets loaded LR5 can slow down considerably.

ETA: oh you have 3. That doesn't seem like a lot

Yes, I haven't really got into using the presets on a regular basis. I have one which is a general all over tweak that seems to do what I want. Even though I have been using LR for over a year, I feel there is still a lot to learn!

 

[Bob_a]

Just checking, but your catalog and previews aren't on an external drive ... correct? LR would be pretty slow if that were the case.

I have a feeling it's Norton causing your pain though

 

[The goblin]

Just checking, but your catalog and previews aren't on an external drive ... correct? LR would be pretty slow if that were the case.

I have a feeling it's Norton causing your pain though

No, my catalogue is on the main drive on the PC but not on the SSD. I will investigate Norton and see about removing it if it is the cause! Thank you.

 

[Mikesphotaes]

I too suspect Norton but you would be much quicker storing your catalog on the SSD.