Statistical software slowness?

kronman

Since downloading the Zotero Microsoft Word Add-in, I have noticed significant slowness in my statistical software (STATA) when I run both Word and STATA concurrently. Has anyone had this problem? Any thoughts on how to fix the problem?

Thanks!

ajlyon

That sounds rather odd... Can you remove the Word add-in and confirm that the slowness disappears?

kronman

When I open Word without the add-in, the slowness is much improved (but not absent).

ajlyon

And do you see slowness in other applications than STATA when running Word with the add-in concurrently?

dstillman

There's no need to speculate. Check the Task Manager for CPU usage.

kronman

Well, running them both with other applications too, looking at Task Manager, iTunes is taking 174M of memory, Firefox ~160M, Word 26M, and STATA 6M; but it's STATA that's slow. Even without running STATA, my physical memory is at 75% right now, but the other programs are running fine. Does that help?

dstillman

CPU, not memory.

kronman

The CPU usage ranges between 5-15%, but still STATA is extremely slow.

adamsmith

if your memory is at 75% your computer will tend to slow down - especially as STATA uses a lot of RAM when it's busy with actual calculations - this might be Zotero related insofar as FF uses a lot more memory when javascript is used, which is true for Zotero and the plugin (and for many other sites and applications).
What happens when you close down itunes?
(and if you run serious statistical applications, why don't you upgrade your RAM - it's not like that's expensive anymore).

kronman

Even with only STATA and Word running, STATA becomes very slow, but I can run STATA with Firefox, iTunes, etc. and have no problem. But perhaps you're right that upgrading the RAM will be the best solution.