How to have Poker Tracker not bog your computer

[J_B]

What this will do is make poker tracker run at Low priority. What this means (for the non nerds) is that all the other programs on your computer will get priority over this one. So, PT will only run when there is left over processing power.

This WILL make PT run slower. But, it will keep it from stealing your CPU when you need to click on a table.

This is if you installed to the default location.

How to do it:

In the Start Menu right click the poker tracker icon and click properties.

Click on the Shortcut tab in not already up.

Change the traget to:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c start "Poker Tracker" /low "C:\Program Files\Poker Tracker V2\ptrack2.exe"

Click OK

If you are unsure that you will get it right, make a copy of the PT shortcut first!!! I take no responsibility if you installed somewhere else.

The last portion in quotes is the path to the Poker Tracker executable. Yours may be different. If so, change the one above before pasting.


If this is usful to your, maybe send me some $$$. LOL, yeh, right!

GL

JB

[MicroBob]

I've changed the priority to 'low' on the 'processed' menu on the thingee that comes up when i hit cntrl-alt-del.

I assume this accomplishes the same thing.


Low priority for ptracker only works sometimes believe it or not.
I'm still trying to figure out why it bogs everything down sometimes and doesn't create ANY problems at all during other times.

it seems potentially related to page-refreshes on mozilla-firefox.

it is NOT related to compacting the database or running GT+ and is only kind of related to the number of hands I have played in a given session. it's very weird.

[J_B]

Yep, this basicly does the same things as going into task manager and changing it.

The reason why you still get bogged is that PT is doing A LOT of drive activity at the time. Check your hard drive light and it will probably be on almost solid. The solution to that is lots of RAM - and it may still do it.

JB

[J_B]

Also, if you have a large database, turn off Auto-rate. this will help speed things up.

[memphis57]

Thanks, I'll try that. I presume the same principle applies to other programs as well, What other choices are there for the /low switch? /high, I would guess, any middle values?

[2ndGoat]

i believe you should be able to use the following as priority options:

Realtime
High
AboveNormal
Normal
BelowNormal
Low

I'm not sure about this, but I suspect if every other process on your computer is running at "normal," it may not make any difference whether you set one process to BelowNormal or Low. That is, priorities in the Windows OS may only matter in that they've more or less important than some other process, not how how much more. Could be wrong.

2nd

[Shoe]

is this for XP only, or do all the operating systems work like this?

[J_B]

This works with 2000, NT, and XP. Not certain about 98.

DO NOT set a process to REALTIME unless you really know what you are doing!

Windows explorer normally runs at High priority. most other items usually run at normal o low (for services.)

JB

[J_B]

[ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure about this, but I suspect if every other process on your computer is running at "normal," it may not make any difference whether you set one process to BelowNormal or Low. That is, priorities in the Windows OS may only matter in that they've more or less important than some other process, not how how much more. Could be wrong.

2nd

[/ QUOTE ]

Where this comes into play is when you have 2 processes which are competing. For instance, PT want to use the whole processor and cause your machine to freeze.

Not going to get way into details here, but I will say that it definately does make a difference.

[sumdumguy]

[ QUOTE ]
Check your hard drive light and it will probably be on almost solid. The solution to that is lots of RAM - and it may still do it.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm curious.. will a more modern system with an 8MB buffer or SATA drive improve speed much?