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Never used a Leica SP2, but can offer some NT advice/comments based on symptoms & other replies...


=========
>When we look at what's saved on the C drive, the files do not
>add up to 1.99 GB (which is how much space the computer says is filled).

-- sounds like hidden files are perhaps not being taken into consideration.  To see hidden files, open an explorer window (windows explorer, not internet explorer), click "view", "options...", "show all files".

=========

>Dear Susan, I recomand you to increase the RAM memory of your PC until 1 GB and try to have a couple of GB frees in the hard disk partition in which you are running the LSP2 program. With this, we have solved "crashing" problems in our Leica SP2.

-- The most likely culprit among hidden files for taking a large amount of drive space is your page file(s) (pagefile.sys).  Page files are variable size by default; you may want to reduce the limit and/or set it for static size.  The fact that a large amount of RAM solved the problem in this case may indicate that an increasing page file wasn't leaving enough disk space for other system operations, causing the crash.  Only problem is, pagefile limit required (by convention) normally increases along with the amount of physical memory.  However, with large amounts of physical memory, this no longer holds true for most applications - If you install a lot of RAM (say, more than 512MB), don't hesitate to try setting the minimum pagefile size well below the windows "recommended" setting (I wouldn't try going below about 128 MB, though).  If you get a lot of "disk thrashing" and/or a noticeable lag, raise the bar a bit, restart, & try again.

=========

>The problem was the size of the user profile folders in
>the WinNT folder in the shared Users folder on the C drive.

>Deleting the temp files as suggested by Dave also seems to be critical.

-- User profile and home directory paths can be changed to another drive/partition with enough room, to better support multiple users.

-- temp file paths can be edited in "environment variables", and moved to a drive/partition with more room as well.  User variables TEMP and TMP (each user has temp files) should move with the profile path, but this may not be the case in NT 4, I don't remember - change the path manually if necessary.  In addition, there is another TEMP (the system has it's own temp file) path that should be changed in "system variables".
=========

Hope this helps,
-Kevin
------------------------------------------------
Kevin Frischmann, Laboratory Manager
Microscopy & Imaging Facility
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024-5192 USA

Phone:  212-313-7975
Fax:    212-496-3480
email:  [log in to unmask]
------------------------------------------------

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>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>
>Haven't had this problem on our SP2, but have had it on a computer running
>a digital camera.  The problem was the size of the user profile folders in
>the WinNT folder in the shared Users folder on the C drive.  Solved by
>making sure that only the bare essentials were stored in these files, and
>that shortcut to files in daily use, etc. were stored with user login files
>on the data drive, which for us is drive E.
>
>For this reason, I haven't set up individual user profiles on our SP2, we
>just have a general login, which has worked fine for 2 years at least.  I
>think this is only a problem under NT where you have a limited size of C
>drive.
>
>cheers,
>Rosemary
>
>Dr Rosemary White               [log in to unmask]
>Microscopy Centre               fax     61- 2 6246 5000
>CSIRO Plant Industry            ph.     61- 2 6246 5475 or
>GPO Box 1600            mob.  61- 0402 835 973
>Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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At 10:28 AM 3/3/03 +1300, Jacqui Ross wrote:
>Search the CONFOCAL archive at http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal Hi Susan,
>
>We also have these problems and have to clear out the D drive regularly which is where all our user files are. We have a single user login even though we are running on NT. Deleting the temp files as suggested by Dave also seems to be critical. These files build up hugely in a relatively short time. Once this is done, everything seems to be OK.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Jacqui.
>
>Susanna Castel wrote:
>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at <http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal Dear Susan, I recomand you to increase the RAM memory of your PC until 1 GB and try to have a couple of GB frees in the hard disk partition in which you are running the LSP2 program. With this, we have solved "crashing" problems in our Leica SP2. The new version of the software is also more stable than the older  Regards,  Susanna    Susanna Castel, Ph.D.
>>Confocal Microscopy and Cellular Micromanipulation
>>SCT, University of Barcelona
>>Barcelona Science Park
>>Josep Samitier, 1-3.
>>08028 Spain
>>Ph. + 34 93 403 46 55
>>Fax. +34 93 403 72 06
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>Puhalla, Susan
>>To: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>>Sent: Friday, February 28, 2003 1:45 PM
>>Subject: Leica SP2 hard drive problems
>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>><http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>>
>>Does anyone experience frequent crashes with their Leica SP2 computer? Our C
>>drive seems to mysteriously fill up so there is not enough hard drive to run
>>the programs. When we look at what's saved on the C drive, the files do not
>>add up to 1.99 GB (which is how much space the computer says is filled).
>>Now, we only have 477MB left and it's not enough to run the software and the
>>computer seems to keep crashing as a result. All images are saved on the D
>>drive and there are no images saved on the C drive. This happens every
>>couple of months and then the problem is mysteriously resolved. But, now we
>>seem to be at the point where the computer won't even start up.
>>
>>Susan Puhalla
>>Microscopy Research Assistant
>>MRC Clinical Sciences Centre
>>Room 5003
>>Hammersmith Hospital
>>DuCane Road
>>London W12 ONN
>>UK
>>Telephone: 020 8383 8528
>>Email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>>Website: <http://www.csc.mrc.ac.uk/Microscopy/home.html>http://www.csc.mrc.ac.uk/Microscopy/home.html
>
>Jacqueline Ross
>Biomedical Imaging Research Unit
>Division of Anatomy with Radiology
>Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences
>The University of Auckland
>Private Bag 92019
>Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
>
>Tel: 64 9 373 7599 Ext 87438
>Fax: 64 9 373 7484
>
><http://www.health.auckland.ac.nz/biru/>http://www.health.auckland.ac.nz/biru/
>
>