I recall we have discussed this privately before, but I just wonder with the newest version of Camsoft CNC Professional, whether progress has been made towards making the controller run well in Win2000 or even WinXP. The reason I ask, is because of the package you advertise on your site, which indicates that you have pared down the list of running applications, in order to optimize performance.

Is this something that users can do as well, by comparing a list of what services are running and shutting down the non-essentials on their own computers running the controller?

I am a little concerned, I guess, about having to keep a working copy of Win98 going.....forever? :D

Thanks.

Hu,

Actually both Win98 and XP work well and is a matter of personal performance.

The CamSoft installation CD offers Win98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP drivers. The motion card has it's own 32 bit DSP processor that handles motion separately from the Windows OS.

You should reduce the number of services and background programs running that are not needed as a recommendation. Most of us here use either Win 2000 or XP but there are 20+ computers here running every OS.

Here is a break down of OS currently being used today.

1. Windows XP 57.55%
2. Windows 98 19.03%
3. Windows 2000 13.60%
4. Windows ME 4.14%
5. Windows 95 2.38%
6. Windows NT 1.14%
7. Macintosh OS 0.78% <less than 1%
8. Linux 0.67% <less than 1%

Tech Support
CamSoft Corp.
(909) 674-8100
support@camsoftcorp.com
www.cnccontrols.com

Lets face it...they don't call it WINDOZ for nothing. It is a big bloated OS. But it has to be to make it easier for those newbie users out there. They need to be able to download music and get emails without having to worry about configuring anything. To do this, the OS has to do a lot of thing behind the scenes which means it has to run as much as possible so that these features are available wihtout the need for configuration.

I have noticed that Window XP runs a bit faster and boots up quicker. But to get the best performance, you need to tweak your system. Do go ahead and disable those service that aren't being used. But be carefull. Disable a service that windows needs and you may find some applications complaining that services they need are not running or in worse case scenario find yourself staring at the "Blue Screen of Death". Make sure to check the dependancies of the services before you disable.

Also, when you buy your computer from some of thes Big name brand places, they put alot of their applications on the system. For example, Compaq puts on applications to make it easier for you to restore the system if it hangs or for diagnstics. Cool features but it consumes resources. Some of these applicaitons launch at boot up and then quite but they leave DLL open in memory. Disable what you can from automatically launching at windows startup.

OH....Also disable all that fancy XP GUI stuff. Do you really need all that window animation and 3D stuff. Or all those cool windows GUI effects. Disabeling these also makes Windows faster. Use windows Classic configuration.

I've been lurking quite a bit, whilst I work on my diy cnc mill. Absorbing the vast amount of knowledge here, but at last found something I might be able to contribute.

http://www.blackviper.com/

This site explains all of the services running under XP/2000 that are really not required and offers downloadable files to eliminate those unnecessary services. Read carefully, but I believe you'll find it quite worthwhile and usually a nice improvement.

Thanks CliffHiker. That's the kind of reference thing I need :)

Originally posted by cliffhiker
I've been lurking quite a bit, whilst I work on my diy cnc mill. Absorbing the vast amount of knowledge here, but at last found something I might be able to contribute.

http://www.blackviper.com/

This site explains all of the services running under XP/2000 that are really not required and offers downloadable files to eliminate those unnecessary services. Read carefully, but I believe you'll find it quite worthwhile and usually a nice improvement.

MAN YOU HIT A HOME RUN WITH THIS POST, this was just what i was lookinh for!

Aw shucks... <blush> ...

Seems to be some interest in having Win XP/2000 perform as best as possible, want those pulses as fast as possible<grin>. So I did a quick search on CNCZone and didn't find any references to spyware or adware which can slow a system immensely. If you've never run one of the programs to detect & delete such software, please do. We've seen many nice fast systems brought to their knees by these unconscionable intrustions. I think you'll be shocked to see who's tracking your movements about the web. Two excellent freebies are:

www.lavasoft.com adaware personal
www.safer-networking.org spybot

Also many programs install their own 'updaters' or 'quick launchers' that are really unnecessary. Do you really want winzip, realmedia, etc, etc, running, consuming memory & cpu just so they'll start a few milliseconds quicker or can detect an update, or worse yet report back on you so they can target you with more 'offers'.

Hit control-alt-delete then choose Task Manager, note the programs & services running. Then go to

www.windowsstartup.com

and check each one. Take out everything that really isn't necessary.

ps... (if you want more... just ask... long time performance freak here, been overclocking since the early 80's)

The only thing CNCzone puts on your computer is a cookie, NO spyware here.

Originally posted by cliffhiker
I've been lurking quite a bit, whilst I work on my diy cnc mill. Absorbing the vast amount of knowledge here, but at last found something I might be able to contribute.

http://www.blackviper.com/

This site explains all of the services running under XP/2000 that are really not required and offers downloadable files to eliminate those unnecessary services. Read carefully, but I believe you'll find it quite worthwhile and usually a nice improvement.

I've highlighted the most important part of Cliff's post.

Before "tinkering" I'd reccomend getting an Image program like Norton Ghost or Drive Image and making a full backup as some of the "service hacks" can make Win XP turn it's toes up.

I've spent way too much time "tinkering" with my games system and have managed to kill it in every conceivable way possible and use Ghost to bail me out when I get it wrong.

CNCadmin

Just curious...what types of servers does cnczone run on? Linux or Windows? What application to you use for the bulliten board? Is it commercial or custom?

Paul, there's an idea. Sell bags of CNCZONE cookies! Get a good recipe and retire rich! :D

Great idea. :)

Originally posted by HuFlungDung
Paul, there's an idea. Sell bags of CNCZONE cookies! Get a good recipe and retire rich! :D

CNC Zone Pasta Sauce by "Paul" ;)!

The leanest and possibly quickest operating system may not be the latest offered by Microsoft...
This is a site dedicated to CNC right? Not gaming or even CAD.

Computer Numerical Control... What is the point of haveing functions that have nothing to do with creating motion through servo systems?

Do we have to give up ANY speed in trade for some of those functions?
If you do, then I say, you're using your CNC for the wrong thing. And machine tool builders are focused on the wrong features if performance takes a back seat to advanced features (other than high speed motion control).

check out a performance comparision between some popular brands:

http://cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=898&perpage=12&pagenumber=6

Interesting?

Scott,

I would have to say that I expect to be able to design a model, modify it, write programs for it, modify the programs for it, do file maintenance, never DNC, and do smooth cutting at high feedrates (I don't expect I'll ever actually get into High speed machining), and to do this all on one computer.

While this is going on, I don't really have to listen to music while I burn DVD movies during an online video conference while doing a virus scan and disk defrag :D But, I do expect quite a bit of utility from a single computer.

The kind of high speed motion control that I am talking about is just not possible with current affordable PC hardware IF:

Quote from HuFlungDung:
You want to "design a model, modify it, write programs for it, modify the programs for it do file maintenance, never DNC" AND do smooth cutting motion control!

If indisputable proof can be offered to show that outstanding high speed, accurate, motion control WILL SUFFER, "IF" you try to do everything above on your PC based control while it is making parts, would you consider doing all the things above on another PC dedicated for that purpose instead?
I mean, a high performance PC these days may run you 2-3k right?
A CNC machine with a PC based control is gonna be worth 50k at least...

Personally, I'd rather use my PC in a quiet office next to the shop anyway, where I can concentrate better. Plus, my PC is barely fast enough to do the 3D Model anyway (if your designs are complex at all) let alone ask it to do all the high speed machining too...

Just my opinion, and food for thought,

Oh, for sure, I wouldn't attempt to do anything except let the cnc controller run, when the machine is busy. But, in choice of operating systems (which this thread is about), it is probably necessary to have a few extra services running in the background, just so you can do other stuff when the controller has paused. The trick is running with the minimum of services and still have the essentials running to do those other things I mentioned, as required.

Like you, I'd like to do all the main cadcam work in a quiet office somewhere. But, when its time to run the first part, I'd like to have a copy of OneCNC (or what have you) available to run, right in the controller computer, so I can quickly modify my machining methods as I see fit. At least, that is what I dream of doing :)

I'm inclined to put another PC on the bench near the CNC for all the things you mentioned, plus G-Code simulation to eliminate dry running, paperless set up documentation, spc & data collection...

All this while the CNC is making parts, that's what it's for.

My point on this thread is that many machine tool builders choice of operating systems for their CNC machines have been shaped by customer requests. Windows operating systems, no matter how trimmed down they are, may not be right for high performance CNC machine control.

We need to be real careful what we ask for, there may be a trade off in performance.

Personally, I don't want anything to compromise performance!