Why does MATLAB run slower when the HELP browser is open?

I would like to know why MATLAB runs slower when the HELP browser is open.

I would like to know how to make MATLAB start up faster.

The MATLAB Desktop occasionally takes a long time to start up, slowing down MATLAB's launch time.

Other applications seem to be slowed down when I open MATLAB.

MATLAB also seems to use up all my system memory.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

In Release 12 (MATLAB 6.0) we have implemented a new HELP browser. The new browser allows context sensitive help, such as Contents, Index, Search, and Favorites. It requires roughly 12MB of RAM in addition to the 30MB-40MB that MATLAB uses. The HELP browser remains in memory even after it is closed (or "X"ed) so that in consequent requests for help, the browser will not have to be relaunched (which may take 5-20 sec.).

The only way to remove the browser from memory is to close and restart MATLAB.

If you are experiencing a decrease in performance in your computations, be sure to close and restart MATLAB without reopening the HELP browser.