RoboHelp 8 runs slow when using network drive...

[Robo_Newbie]

I have several users at my business that have upgraded from RoboHelp X5 to RoboHelp 8. They are reporting that when they work on projects which are housed on a network drive, RohoHelp performs very slowly (which never seemed to happen before with X5). I have read on several forums that RoboHelp should only be used with projects that are on the local drive, but I cannot find any official recommendation from Adobe about this, nor have I found any explanation as to why the network drive doesn't work well. Has Adobe every officially commented on this, and does anyone know why network drive performance is so lousy? Is there anything that can be done to allow my users to keep on utilizing their network drive without the poor performance? Thanks in advance for any help you folks can provide, I am stumped.

[johndaigle · Accepted solution]

Hi, and welcome, Robo_Newbie

You're about to become Robo_Oldie real quick

Your RoboHelp projects MUST live on a local drive. You can archive them on a network, but NEVER actually open and edit while they are on the network.

The two reasons most people incorrectly assume they should be on the network is because you want to share with other authors and you want to back them up in case your hard drive crashes. Those are valid reasons, but it doesn't work because the .CPD (an Access database cache file) typically becomes corrupted - not to mention the perfomance issues related to LAN latency.

So what most of us do is to either use the free RoboSource Control that comes with RoboHelp or to work out a manual routine of copying your current work to a LAN for safekeeping and establishing a routine with the other authors on who will work on what, when.

Sorry to break the bad news. That's the reality.

John Daigle

Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor

www.showmethedemo.com

[Peter Grainge]

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@petergrainge

[Robo_Newbie]

Thank you both for these quick replies! My users will be disappointed to know that their method of using the network drive as they have in the past will no longer work. But that appears to be the fact of the matter. Well, we will perhaps have to utilize one of the suggested methods for sharing files amonst users. Again, thanks for the fast replies, this has been most helpful. I am marking this question as "answered".