Optimizing Peachtree's Performance
The size of your company's data, your system's configuration settings and memory capacity, and the number of applications that are running at the same time on your computer can all affect Peachtree's performance. Here are some suggestions for optimizing Peachtree's performance and to help clean up the Windows environment:
1. Quantity of data. The size of your company's data can significantly affect the speed at which the data can be processed. For instance, a company with a grand total file size of 2 Megabytes (2048 KB) will run much faster than a company that is 10 Megabytes (10,240 KB). You can determine how much data is in your company (in KB) by opening Peachtree, going to Help, Customer Support and Service and File Statistics. This window will show you the size of each of your data files and the total size of the company at the bottom.
The only way to keep your file size at a minimum is to periodically purge data from closed fiscal years. Please refer to your User's Guide or on-line help inside the Peachtree program for specific purging instructions and criteria.
2. Memory: If you have already purged data and/or the size of your company data is minimal, then check your system resources. The amount of RAM and the processor speed will affect the speed of all programs that run on your machine.
The most recent
version of Peachtree Accounting (Windows
version) requires a minimum of 64 Megabytes (MB) of RAM but 128 Megabytes (MB) or more is recommended. An IBM Compatible PC with a Pentium II Processor of 350 MHz or higher is also required.
3. Hard drive space.
- Peachtree recommends the following amount of free hard disk space in order for the program to function properly.
- If on a single computer or workstation, minimum of 100 Megabytes of free disk space.
- If on a server computer, minimum of 100 Megabytes of free disk space per workstation.
- Delete temporary files to free up hard disk space using the following steps:
If using Windows 98/NT:
- From Windows Explorer, click on the C drive to highlight it. On the menu bar, select Tools, Find, Files or folders.
- In the Named box, type *.tmp and click the Find Now button.
- Once the search has finished, go to Edit, Select All, and then File, Delete.
If using Windows XP/2000/ME
- From Windows Explorer, click on the C drive to highlight it. On the toolbar, click on the Search button.
- In the All or Part of the File name box, type *.tmp and click the Search Now button.
- Once the search has finished, go to Edit, Select All, and then File, Delete.
Note: The temp files mentioned above are not program files. They are files that are created for a specific purpose and then are deleted when the program is closed. Some files are not deleted when they are no longer required and must be removed manually.
4. Turn Off Smart Data Entry Options and Recalculate Cash Balance Automatically in PeachtreeElecting not to use the Smart Data Entry options and the Recalculate Cash Balance Automatically feature under Options, Global may increase Peachtree's processing speed in some lookup boxes. Turning these options off will have an effect if you have a particularly large company or a large inventory file.
5. Running Scandisk and Defrag
- If using Windows 98/ME, run the utility called Scandisk. (This utility is not an option in Windows NT/2000). Scandisk checks your hard drive for damaged files. Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and select ScanDisk. Please select the THOROUGH method of Scandisk to be run on the C drive. If any bad or lost allocation units are found, contact the person in charge of hardware support or refer to your DOS documentation to help you with these errors.
- If using Windows NT/2000/XP, go to Start, Run, and type CHKDSK. Similar to Scandisk, Chkdsk checks your hard drive for damaged files. If any bad or lost allocation units are found, contact the person in charge of hardware support or refer to your Windows documentation to help you with these errors.
- If using Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, run the utility called Disk Defragmenter. (This utility is not an option in Windows NT). Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and select Disk Defragmenter.
Note: The above utilities may take a long time to run. Before starting the above utilities, make sure you have time to wait for the process to complete. Please do not interrupt the utilities once started. It would be best to run these utilities at the end of the day or over a weekend to prevent interrupting normal business activities. You or your hardware support person must address any errors detected on your hard drive in the above steps before you continue. Steps 4 through 6 may require assistance from your hardware technician if you are not comfortable running these utilities.
6. How to clean out your Startup folder to prevent memory conflicts at startup.
- Go to Start/Settings/Taskbar
- Click on the Start Menu Programs Tab
- Choose Remove. A list of items under the Start Menu Programs will display.
- Find the folder named Startup and click on the ‘+’ to open it.
- A list of items under Startup will display. Highlight each item, one at a time, and click on Remove.
- Click on Close and then OK to return to the Windows desktop.
7. Verify that the Task list is empty. (Close all other programs)
If you have followed the above instructions, your Task List will probably be empty. To be sure:
- Close all programs except Windows.
- Press CTRL-ALT-DEL. Your Task List will display in a box labeled Close Programs.
- One at a time, highlight each item on the list and select End Task until only Explorer and Systray are left. You will have to press CTRL-ALT-DEL each time that you end task on a program to return to the box.
- Click on CANCEL to exit out of the Task Manager.
Note: Any programs that were ended through the Task Manager will reappear each time you reboot your computer. To stop them from loading permanently, please consult a Computer Technician or the individual software/hardware manuals.
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