There are far more application issues to enumerate that are caused, at least in part, by insufficient system resources. When we speak of resources we typically mean RAM, processor, hard disk space, video RAM, etc. System resources are shared between all applications that are running, and even some that are no longer running (which is why a periodic reboot is highly recommended).
One of the best ways to visualize your resource usage is to use Performance Monitor. Here is an example of the real-time data this tool will provide:
Each graph line is referred to as a counter. Some of these counter quantities are quite complex and probably only make sense to a seasoned Windows software programmer. Aside from those, there are a few basic counters that everyone should keep an eye on, especially when systems start showing signs of instability. Based on the time-history of your resources, you can see where you might be running into hardware bottlenecks.
One way to start this utility is through windows Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Performance (Reliability and Performance in Windows Vista). What you will see is a default selection of counters and a dull grey background. All colors and appearances can be set up later to conform to personal preferences.
Right-click in the graph area, select the command "Add counters..." This is how we will add graphed counters. Here are some that I recommend:
% Disk Time - Percentage of time the disk was busy with read/write requests 
Available MBytes - Amount of physical memory (in MB) available to processes running on the computer 
% Committed Bytes in Use - Percentage of paging file size being used 
% User Time - Percentage of time the processor spends in processing mode designed for applications, environment subsystems, and integral subsystems
Once these counters are added, the scale and color should be adjusted for graphing purposes. I typically set the y-scale maximum to 3000, depending on maximum memory. I also scale percentage counters by a factor of 10, thus maximum usage would correspond to 1000 on the y-scale. These settings are available by right-clicking and choosing "Properties..." anywhere on the graph area.
The three basic quantities in which we are interested include RAM, processor, and disk usage. These three counters will allow you to pinpoint any hardware bottlenecks. For example, is the %Disk time always pegged at 100 percent while you wait for a rebuild? This might indicate a full HD, low system RAM (increased page file usage), fragmented file system, etc...
One of the most important things to watch is Available MBytes. SolidWorks, and all Windows applications, require large amounts of RAM to run properly. The more files we open and the more applications we start, the lower the available RAM. Many Windows applications don't fully release the RAM they used after closing, so after a day of work it's a good idea to shut down and reboot clean the next morning. Watch this counter to learn how your operations use your RAM.
To make life easy, I've zipped a Performance Monitor Configuration file that can be downloaded and simply clicked on to see all of the settings I've been recommending. Fill out the form linked here to access the file.
Depending on your understanding of Windows architecture, you may want to investigate adding additional or different counters. Each counter has an explanation when you go through the add procedure. Some of these get fairly complex and I admit I certainly don't understand all of them.
Brian Zias
Application Engineer
Alignex, Inc.