Project takes a lot of time to save

[Tansy]

Hi,
My project is 500+ pages long in PDF output, and it takes several minutes to save. The source project folder is over 1GB. Is there a way to make the project save quicker? I cannot make the document shorter. My computer is pretty recent, RAM 12 GB. And still the saving time..

[Tim Green]

Hi Tansy,

When you say save, do you mean just saving the project with CTRL+S when you have made some changes, or are you talking about publishing, i.e. exporting the finished product? If you are just saving, there are a couple of things that could be involved:

Embedded Images:
If your topics contain embedded images they massively bloat the topic size and can also slow down editing generally. You should always convert embedded images to external files. Identify them by clicking on them: If they don't turn negative when selected, they are embedded. You can also locate them with the Report tool by generating a full report and searching for the word "embedded" in the report. To convert, right-click on the image and select the convert option.

Saving on a network or remote drive:
If your project is on a network drive or mapped remote drive it will take much longer to save. If possible, always edit your projects on a local drive on your own computer.

Orphaned network references:
Slow loading and saving performance is often caused by orphaned network references in your project to locations on the network that no longer exist, and it may be made worse by embedded images in your project, which can also slow down editing. This can apply in particular to image file references if the Project Search Path contains orphaned network references. Windows networks take a very long time to resolve invalid network references. In your project go to the following locations and delete any references to network locations that are no longer valid:

* Project Explorer > Configuration > Common Properties > Project Search Path
* Project Explorer > Configuration > Common Properties > Help Windows: HTML Help Options
* File > Recent projects (delete any projects shown in red that no longer exist)

Linked snippets:
Linked snippets use a fair amount of resources, particularly if they are stored on network drives. If you have a lot of them it can slow down project management. If possible, store all linked resources on local drives.

[Tansy]

Hi Tim,
Thanks for your response.
By saving I mean just saving the project with CTRL+S after making some changes, I try to save as often as possible not to lose any data, so a couple minutes waiting time at every CTRL+S operation slows me down a lot.

Embedded Images:
If your topics contain embedded images they massively bloat the topic size and can also slow down editing generally. You should always convert embedded images to external files. Identify them by clicking on them: If they don't turn negative when selected, they are embedded. You can also locate them with the Report tool by generating a full report and searching for the word "embedded" in the report. To convert, right-click on the image and select the convert option.

No embedded images

Saving on a network or remote drive:
If your project is on a network drive or mapped remote drive it will take much longer to save. If possible, always edit your projects on a local drive on your own computer.

I always save locally, so not an issue here.

Orphaned network references:
Slow loading and saving performance is often caused by orphaned network references in your project to locations on the network that no longer exist, and it may be made worse by embedded images in your project, which can also slow down editing. This can apply in particular to image file references if the Project Search Path contains orphaned network references. Windows networks take a very long time to resolve invalid network references. In your project go to the following locations and delete any references to network locations that are no longer valid:

* Project Explorer > Configuration > Common Properties > Project Search Path
* Project Explorer > Configuration > Common Properties > Help Windows: HTML Help Options
* File > Recent projects (delete any projects shown in red that no longer exist)

Looks like no oprhaned network references either. The only tool I didn't find was * Project Explorer > Configuration > Common Properties > Help Windows: HTML Help Options, my Common properties does not have the Help Windows item.

Linked snippets:
Linked snippets use a fair amount of resources, particularly if they are stored on network drives. If you have a lot of them it can slow down project management. If possible, store all linked resources on local drives.

No linked snippets.
Is there a way to remove unused images or some other unused data I am not aware of?

[Tim Green]

Hi Tansy,

Is there a way to remove unused images or some other unused data I am not aware of?

Unused images shouldn't make saving slower. However, you can find them and move them to a different folder by running a full report with the Report Tool. The option to move the images will then be at the bottom of the report.

What could also slow down saving and performance is if you have too many image folders in your Project Search Path. Generally, more than five is probably too many as it forces Help+Manual to search through many folders in different every time it looks for an image. You can consolidate your image folders easily by moving all your images to a single or just a couple of folders. Then delete all your older Search Path references and replace them with one reference to the new folder/s. Ideally your image folder/s should be inside your project folder. Then you can move the entire project with the images without having to change any search path references.

Also: Are you working on a single-file project (.HMXZ) or an uncompressed project (.HMXP)? Uncompressed is much more efficient, since when saving you only need to save the topics and other files where there are actually changes. It is also much safer, since it is then not possible for a Windows error while saving to trash your entire project.

If none of these things apply it's probably just a slow computer/drive combination.

The only tool I didn't find was * Project Explorer > Configuration > Common Properties > Help Windows: HTML Help Options, my Common properties does not have the Help Windows item.

Sorry, that has been moved to Publishing > Microsoft HTML Help, since help windows are now only relevant in CHM.