Do ModelBuilder or Geoprocessing tasks run slower if screen locked?

Question

Is it true if you are running ModelBuilder or a geoprocessing task on a large raster\vector dataset then locking the computer would that cause the ModelBuilder or any geoprocessing to run slower?

Is it the computer itself? I am running a large raster datasets using ModelBuilder on a different computer machine and I unplugged the network to prevent from reboot or push in such as update patches.

I’d like to hear your comments or tips?

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My work has these Insomina.exe and I'm wondering if this does made the difference to speed up the geoprocessing/model builder work ?

Here is the link: Insomina.exe

Answer 1

I tested your hypothesis with a python script. The attached script creates 500,000 points and buffers them to 5 units. I ran two trials for three runs--one without locking and one with. It appears that locking the desktop does indeed increase the processing time.

# Import system modules
import arcpy, os, time, ctypes
from arcpy import env

env.overwriteOutput = True

# Create random points in an extent defined simply by numbers
outFolder = r"C:\Users\OWNER\Documents\ArcGIS\Default.gdb"
numExtent = "0 0 10000 10000"
numPoints = 500000
outName = "myRandPnts"

start = time.clock()

# Create some random points and buffer them by 5 units
arcpy.CreateRandomPoints_management(outFolder, outName, "", numExtent, numPoints)
arcpy.Buffer_analysis (os.path.join(outFolder, outName), os.path.join(outFolder, "buffers"), 5)

end = time.clock()
final = end - start
print "Trial 1 (no desktop locking) took " + str(final) + " seconds"

# Lock the computer and run trial 2
user32 = ctypes.cdll.LoadLibrary("user32.dll") 
user32.LockWorkStation()

start = time.clock()

# Create some random points and buffer them by 5 units
arcpy.CreateRandomPoints_management(outFolder, outName, "", numExtent, numPoints)
arcpy.Buffer_analysis (os.path.join(outFolder, outName), os.path.join(outFolder, "buffers"), 5)

end = time.clock()
final = end - start
print "Trial 2 (with desktop locking) took " + str(final) + " seconds"