Using recurring tasks, Project Pro 2003 crashes

[roppy5]

I inputted recurring tasks to account for meetings and daily admin work. But
now, when I go to my resource sheet, Project crashes. I tried this on a
couple of computers with tons of memory and still the same result. Any
ideas? Also, is there a better way to input these types of tasks?

Thanks in advance,

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Rappy5,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

It sounds like some corruption is there. You could try the suggestions in
FAQ Item: 43. File Bloat? - Might be Corruption.

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: http://www.mvps.org/project/.

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
Project MVP

 

[roppy5]

Hi Mike,
Appreciate the reply. I tried your suggestion and the file size did
decrease by about 10% but there is still a significant lag (and/or crash)
when the I switch to any of the resource views. (If I let the computer
"work" for about 10 minutes, it will eventually give me control again). The
plan has about 6000 lines. The plan will later be integrated into a Master
plan which will probably have close to 25000 lines. Is a plan this large
something that Project was meant to handle?

Thanks again,
Tony

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Roppy5,

I have no experience with projects that size - perhaps someone else can step
in with ideas here? Does the symptom occur with other projects on this PC?
Does it occur with other projects on other PCs?

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[roppy5]

Hi Mike,
Thanks again for your response, I really do appreciate it. Actually, some
of the other plans I'm working on are 2-3 thousand lines and there is no lag.
The only difference with those plans is that they haven't incorporated any
recurring tasks which seems to be the bottleneck here. I've tried having
these files opened on several higher end computers and there is still that
lag. I'm trying to figure a workaround but any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[Jerry Arnone, PMP]

Roppy5,

What about deleting the recurring tasks to find out exactly if that is the
problem. I have done a few 30000 line projects by inserting other project
files and I have run into the machine hanging up. Check in task manager and
see if it is using all of the processor. If the processor utilizaiton is
very high then I would remove the recurring task and see if it makes a
difference. If this does not work you could send me the project plans i will
attempt it on one of my machines here that only runs Project. Also, just for
the heck of it check to see if you have tasks that are recurring for the same
resource on the same day at the same time when you merge project plans. I
have had that cause project to freeze up completely and had to cut the power
to get out of the lock up.

 

[roppy5]

Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the response. I have checked task manager and tried removing the
recurring tasks. I'm certain that is where the problem lies. I'd send you
the schedule if I could but it's classified. My dilemma now lies in leveling
the resources since Project basically stalls when in any of the resource
views. I don't trust Project's own leveling option to use at this time. I
wanted to do some of my own personal leveling first. Again, any suggestions
would be helpful and must appreciated.

Thanks again!

 

[Mike Glen]

I suppose you haven't assigned resources to the summary task of the
recurring tasks as opposed to the individual tasks? Project treats
recurring tasks as 1000 priority - ie do not level. If you have overlapping
tasks using the same resources, I can see Project having to make many more
calculations - clutching at straws here If the individual recurring
tasks are of short duration, like meetings, I would be tempted not to assign
resources, or, perhaps, assign them at zero work. Then let the individuals
absorb the extra work.


Mike Glen
Project MVP

 

[roppy5]

Hi Mike,
By letting resources absorb the extra work and assigning zero work for the
recurring tasks... hmmm... that may fix the lag problem but my EVM
calculations would be off. I will try it and see what happens. I generally
don't assign resources to summary tasks as I've noticed the way Project does
its summary tasks calculations.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[Mike Glen]

You're welcome, roppy5 and good luck!

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[roppy5]

Well, I allocated resources to the summary tasks and not the individual
recurring tasks. That solves the lag problem (btw, file size stays pretty
much the same). So, Project can handle files that size. However, whenever
resources are assigned to recurring tasks that have a long duration, my
computer crashes. I've had some team members raise this issue to me today
too. Again, thanks Mike and Jerry for responding to this post!