When opening a large (51.7 MB plus external references) file in AutoCAD 2011, the program crashes, "winking out" without any notice.

I doubt that the hardware is the problem.  I have a Dell Precision T3400 with Windows XP Pro SP3 and 3 GB of RAM.  The drawing opens in AutoCAD 2004 on the same computer, although it will crash in the same way if I open four or five of the layouts.
 
It seems like it might be some sort of a memory issue and I wonder if there is a setting that I can change to repair the problem.
 
Thank you!BigRed2011-10-06 21:13:01

Sounds like the program is starving for resources.  Bump the memory to 4GB (the max for a 32-bit program) and add the 3GB switch to your boot.ini file.  Maybe, just maybe you'll be able to work with the drawing without overtaxing the system.You might also try tweaking the virtual memory by increasing it to 2.5X-3X the amount of installed RAM.  Set both the min and max values to the same number so Windows will set aside a contiguous portion of your hard drive for the swap file.What do you have a graphics card?  How much onboard vidRAM on the card?Have you purged the drawing?Have you run an Audit on the drawing?Are you using xrefs?  Have you checked for a bloated scalelist?Do you utilize layer filters?How many other programs are running in the background when you are working in AutoCAD?What steps have you taken to troubleshoot the problem so far?

J.C.,
 
Thank you for the response and the shopping list.  I wanted to acknowledge your contribution as trying to remedy this is on a time-available basis and I'm without IT support until Friday.  I'll do what I can and report the results ASAP.BigRed2011-10-10 16:04:33