[R] Step Function Freezing R

[J Dougherty]

On Friday 13 November 2009 07:17:28 am Jgabriel wrote:
> I can't fully answer all these questions, but I'll do my best - There
> have not been any updates of Windows, and I did not update R during
> the period, although I did reinstall it after the problem started.
> There have been no changes to Norton or any other software that uses
> system resources in that way. The one thing I can think of is that I
> installed a program called Digitizer (creates data tables/ csds from
> visually analyzing line charts) around the same time it started
> freezing. I have completely uninstalled it and deleted all related
> files. The problem should not be with the data, which is fine. I am
> running Windows XP Professional and Excel 2007. I have allowed the
> process to run overnight on two separate occasions. The first time it
> was completely frozen and there was no progress. Last night it
> actually made progress, but the fact remains that a process that used
> to take an hour at the most still has not even halfway completed after
> over 8 hours. I even installed extra RAM on the system so that there
> is more than when the process used to work. I agree that it is
> probably a change in software, but I can't figure out what has changed
> or what I can do about it.
>
OK, from what you are saying, it seems clear the problem is a system problem 
rather than an R issue.  MS issues patches every month, so there may not have 
been upgrades, but there could still be systemic changes.   As regards R, did 
you update R?  How big is the data table?  Has it grown?  Did you or someone 
else alter the available memory to R by an environment setting?  Have you 
searched "Memory" in R help and manuals?  Is this computer yours, or is it 
used by others who may have altered settings?  These are all questions that 
may be pertinent.  Good luck.


JWDougherty