Decompression (AGAIN!)

I....am...TIRED of these slow ass decompression sequences.

I did NOT sit Guild Wars in Idle for 500mbs of Factions preview content just so I can sit through an Hourf or slow ass decompression screens.

IT is taking me an hour for 650 files. An hour and a half if these files are "suposedly" big. My system isn't slow OR bogged down by any one program at ALL. All GW does is Saturate the processor and sits there. I'm hoping to see some kind of progress BUT NO.

I'm telling you this needs to be fixed. And if no one here can help me then I will harass Anet until they fix it. This is rediculous.


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SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+
Speed : 2.00GHz
Model Number : 3200 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR3000 (estimated)
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Internal Data Cache : 64kB Synchronous, Write-Back, 2-way set, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 512kB ECC Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size

Mainboard
Bus(es) : AGP PCI PCIe USB i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 Processor(s)
MP APIC : No
System BIOS : American Megatrends Inc. 8.12
System : 939Dual-SATA2
Mainboard : 939Dual-SATA2
Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : Acer Labs Incorporated (ALi) ??? (1695)
Front Side Bus Speed : 1x 200MHz (200MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 200MHz (400MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 6800 XT

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : WDC WD800JD-22JN SCSI Disk Device (75GB)
CD-ROM/DVD : _NEC DVD_RW ND-3520AW (CD 48X Rd, 48X Wr) (DVD 6X Rd, 6X Wr)

Logical Storage Devices
1.44MB 3.5" (A : N/A
Main (C : 45GB (16GB, 37% Free Space) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (F : N/A

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 1 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : HID-compliant mouse
Human Interface : USB Human Interface Device

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : Standard Game Port
Device : Creative SB Audigy 2 (WDM)

Power Management
AC Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Network Services
Adapter : ULi PCI Fast Ethernet Controller
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That is my specs. ALL SERVICE PACKS AND ALL UPDATES. ALL DRIVERS UPDATED.

Now explain this to me...

Do you run any anti-virus, and if so which one?

i did 3400+ files and 1+ gig download AND the decompressing in less than 3 hours for all of it

and that was on an athlon 2100+ with 3/4 gig value ram

Are you on dial-up Loviatar?

I get this error from time to time myself.

1st, I was getting an update on warp to town then my DSL dropped and picked up, after that it would take forever. It went away after a time.

It decompress's normally for me know but sometime it does take forever like it use to.

Same here, decompression is SO slow, I've just got onto the new Factions PvE, made a new Ritualist, logged in, first place it's loading, Marketplace, taken a good 10 minutes to decompress it all at 54mbps.

I run Avast and I turn it OFF before playing any online game. All utilities are turned OFF when I game.

Yes, my HD is defragged.
My MFT is fine.
All CHKDSK scans are 100% ok.

My other comp, AXP 2600+ used to decompress like a beast. But I have a superior A64 3200+ and ITs slow as grass grows when decompressing.

What kind of compression did they use?! IT sure isn't zip or zlib, nor TarGZ or BZ2. FOR a 1.6GB file in WinRAR would take no more than a minute or two.

I let it go last time I complained because I thought that this issue was over when I checked again. BUT its Happening AGAIN and THIS TIME I REFUSE TO LET IT GO.

I submitted a Tech Support complaint and I am waiting to see what they have to say before I start E-mailing directly to Anet. And If that doesn't happen then I will pressure Gaile and Frog IN GAME until one of them gets the word out.

I would Just HATE to drive all the way to NC Soft's development headquarters in Dallas just to make them see the issue.

Ok. I found a Workaround until Anet decides to fix it.

Before Zoning, go in to Windowed mode and reduce the size a little. This will take some heat off of the processor from running the full game while trying to decompress the file.

I don't know WHY Anet did it like this but The game shouldn't be saturating the CPU while trying to do other functions.

Your telling me. It took about 1hr to download 1500+ files, I have a fast DSL connection its about 500kb a sec. Just after I finally loaded marketplace got some henchies then tried to leave another 1200+ files, and that was sitting there for 30min on 5%. Now after this I really was pissed at arenanet, so I deleted my factions character and emailed them directly about whats happening. Tell you one thing its not the nicest letter to them but no profanity in it. I also said that if there was a monthly fee for this I would cancel it the very next day.

nope.

MY DOWNLOAD WAS A STEADY 320KBYTES/SEC on a 3meg connection.

i had to decompress and look around everywhere i decompressed to so it took a bit o time.

why do you ask about dial up?

Good news my fan kit for my video card came in (and it runs 3x better then before aka time to overclock - not have done so yet)

Bad News Decompression now locks up my machine.

Here's what I'm doing, delete the gw.dat file and let it re-download.
Suspect one of the update's corrupted it... just like the Faction PvP event did last time.

I thought you took a long time to download...that's all.

I tried that.

After a while, the lock ups will happen again.

I did contact Anet Support on this issue and they are looking into it.(supposedly)

Until then, the workaround I posted works great when doing a first time zone into an area.

It works for me, thanks for posting that work around.
It locks my machine everytime (after a re-load) so far (to the point have to hard reset)
Just in full screen mode. Work around works Thank you.

10000+ files....
Wow I end up reinstalling guild wars and this is what happens...

Omeaga X

What is your page file set to?

I found that if I leave GW running and go afk, when I come back my processor is running at max and the computer takes a long while to respond (with GW using most of the processor's resources). I think this is because GW decompresses while the computer is idle. So I suggest leaving GW running overnight or something so it can do this.

Edit: you need to leave GW running at the login screen for this to work.

I can totally understand the OP's frustration. I am having the exact same problem, any time I enter a new area, my computer sits on the decompressing screen for what seems like an age. Minimising the screen helps sometimes, but not all of the time unfortunately, though maybe my mistake was minimising after entering the area and not before...

I will definately be submitting a report about this at some point today.

Well if you run it all night like that...make sure you minimize it. This way your vid card will not go crazy cooling it's self off.

Hrm, when GW was decompressing files, it only took me no more than 2-3 minutes per decompress session. Not sure exactly why alot of you folks are having it take forever. :/