ACT 1.1 MAC:  Optimizing ACT! 1.1 for Macintosh

Posted by TechSupport

Support Question:  Optimizing ACT! 1.1 for Macintosh

Support for ACT! 1.1- MAC*

The contents of articles are Copyright (c) Sage Software 2007.

This documents explains how to optimize your computer in order to run ACT!.

Disclaimer:
This article was written about products for which Sage Software, Inc. no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered “as is” and will no longer be updated. If you need assistance with issues pertaining to an unsupported product, please refer your questions to the ACT! Online Community or to an ACT! Certified Consultant. For more information regarding currently supported versions of ACT!, please see our Obsolescence Policy

Allocating more memory to ACT!

NOTE:
More memory can be allocated to ACT! while in the Finder. This will give ACT! more memory to perform its functions, and can be an important means of increasing performance as the database files get larger.

To increase the amount of memory allocated to ACT!

While in the Finder, locate the ACT! application icon and click once on it.
Choose File, Get Info.
In the resulting "ACT! Info" window, locate the "Memory Requirements" box.
In System 7.1 and later, set the minimum size to 2000 and the preferred size to 2500; in System 7.0.1 and earlier, set the current size to 2500.

NOTE:
These settings may be adjusted higher as the situation requires.

Placing ACT! at the root level of the hard drive

Because of the method ACT! uses to find the various files and folders related to we recommend that the ACT! folder be located at the root level of the hard drive (the level that appears when the hard drive is first opened; the same level as the System Folder).

Location of ACT! files

We recommend that all files remain in the folders where the ACT! application places them. This enables ACT! to locate the files much more quickly, as ACT! defaults to these folders when performing specific functions. For example, when you wish to edit a report template, ACT! defaults to the "Reports" folder to locate the template.

Performing database maintenance

Due to the dynamic nature of ACT! databases, performing periodic maintenance is very important. If you perform maintenance weekly, your ACT! database will perform better and be less likely to develop problems. To perform maintenance on your entire database, follow these steps:

Choose File, Open and select the database to perform maintenance on.
Choose Lookup, Everyone if you are not already in the Group "Everyone."
Choose File, Maintenance.
Select "Compress and Reindex Database" from the list of options, and click OK.

NOTE:
Notes and the history can be purged (all or a selected date range) for the selected group of contacts when performing a compress and reindex. Smaller groups can be created for purging notes and history by using the Lookup feature.

For File Repair and Data Recovery, visit File Repair / Data Recovery