Tips to improve your Mitchell Estimating Performance

This blog article has been written by Ken Clapp, Mitchell’s product manager for Mitchell Estimating.

I’m confident most of you reading this blog have at one time or another installed Mitchell Estimating in your repair shop. Did you know that when we install Mitchell Estimating for you, there are a few things we specifically look for that ultimately improve the performance of Mitchell Estimating on your computer?

To make sure you all know what these key items are, I have listed them below so that all of you can perform a few simple system checks that will significantly improve your Mitchell Estimating performance.

1. For network installs, add the mapped drive to the local intranet list in Internet Explorer, enabling you to avoid the security warning every time you launch Mitchell Estimating.
2. Make sure all PCs are using a gigabit Ethernet connection and are configured properly.
3. Run the basic PC performance checks (CPU speed, RAM, disk free space, and fragmentation). Disk defrag is important on Windows XP machines because it does not run automatically, and if you hard drive is fragmented; it will slow down your computer if not run frequently. If you are using a Windows 7 computer, Defrag is set to run automatically and is not a concern. If you’re not sure how to defrag your computer, instructions can be found here.
4. Check your anti-virus instructions and ensure the following exclusions are in place (both the folder and file). In addition, make sure any modifications are acceptable with your security policies before modifying your anti-virus settings.

a.       For Windows XP or Windows 2003 Server:  (not intended as a complete list)

M:\Mitchell;

C:\Mitchell;

C:\Windows\mitchell.ini;

C:\Program Files\Mitchell;

C:\Windows\System32\Spool

b.      For Windows 7 Professional or Windows 2008 Server: (not intended as a complete list)

M:\Mitchell;

C:\Mitchell;

C:\ProgramData\Mitchell;

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mitchell;

C:\Windows\System32\Spool 

(M: = mapped drive for multi-user versions of UltraMate.)

c.       Please also add the following file extension exclusions for UltraMate:

k00; k01; k02; k03; k04; k05; k06; k07; k08; k09; k10; k11; k12; k13; k14; k15; k16; key; dat; dbd; d00; d01; d02; d03; d04; d05; d06; d07; d08; d09; d10; d11; d12; d13; d14; d15; d16

We’re constantly working on improving your experience with Mitchell Estimating, and are always looking for ways to make your job easier. I hope that these simple tips can enhance your current performance, and please keep checking back for more tips.