"Robert Coe" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:10:55 -0800, "Alan Justice"

wrote:
: I have recently started editing digital files and it is very slow (RAW:
16
: MP, 24 MB). (Slides were slow too, but now I end up with many more
shots.)
: I have many hundreds of images to edit after a shoot. I use Canon
software
: that came with the 1D Mk4 (ver. 3.8.1.0, 2010).

I assume you're talking about Digital Photo Professional. The current
version
is 3.11.4.10. You may want to get the latest "software updater" from the
Canon
site and install it.

: It takes about 2 minutes to load 1000 images into the display when I
click
: on the folder. This makes it impractical to go back and forth between
: different folders.

I assume you're talking about folders in the computer and not folders on
the
CF card. Constantly referring to the card would slow you down
considerably.

I assume also that when you refer to the "display", you mean the "Edit
Image
Window". 1000 images is a pretty large number for DPP to handle that way,
especially since your RAW files are pretty big. So don't try to bring them
all
up at the same time. One way to keep track of them more efficiently might
be
to create subfolders for different parts of the shoot. (You can create
them
from within DPP or in Windows Explorer.)

: To best evaluate images I display most of them full screen. It takes
over
: 3 sec to load a single picture to full frame. That's about 1 hour just
: waiting, assuming I only want to look at each full frame once.

You won't notice it as much if you don't bring them into the Edit Image
Window
as full screen, but instead blow each one up as needed. (I think you may
mean
"100% view" instead of "full screen", but I think the effect is the same
either way.)

: Is my computer the slow part, the software, or what? And if hardware
will
: help, should I worry more about processor speed or RAM?

RAM, I think, although 2GB should be enough if you're not running a lot of
other software at the same time. A faster computer might help a little,
but I
really suspect that your problem is the time it takes DPP to establish the
Edit Image Window, so try the suggestions above first.

: I also need another 2 TB of disk space and the same for backup, and I
don't
: know if this computer will handle it, so I may need a new computer
anyway.

Depends on the hardware configuration and the availability of free slots
in
the case. Without seeing your machine, I can't advise you sensibly.

If you do get a new (Windows) computer, it will be Windows 7, rather than
XP.
You may be tempted to get the 64-bit version, since that takes better
advantage of the computer's CPU speed. But there's no 64-bit version of
DPP,
so it won't run any faster under the 64-bit OS than under the 32-bit
version.
Also, I've had some problems running DPP on one of my 64-bit computers.
Without going into gory detail, I think it's unlikely that you'd encounter
those problems, but AFAIK they never occur with the 32-bit OS.

: I have a Dell with Pentium 4 Processor, 2.8 GHz with 2 GB SDRAM, Win XP.

I guess that's pretty much what I use at home (an Optiplex GX-620),
although I
run Windows Server 2003 rather than XP. At work I have DPP installed on
several computers of various speeds (I'm a computer system manager), but
haven't noticed much of a performance difference among them.

Bob

I found that whether I have 1 or 1000 images in a folder, it still takes
over 3 sec to load a single one at full frame. I double click the thumbnail
and it's full frame. Then I will CTRL-1 or CTRL-2 to see it closer up when
needed. The latter part is not as slow as the initial full frame.

Thanks for comments.