Slow loading time with x6 Ultimate

[furface00]

Hello,

I find that PSP X6 Ultimate takes an inordinate amount of time to load on my computer. I am running win 7 home premium 64 bit, 12 gb RAM, Intel i3-2100, 3.10 ghz, 500gb hd with 280 gb open.

I timed the response of PSP X6. From the double click to start the program until I could use the software, it took 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Is there any way to shorten this startup time?

Thanks

David

[tedarchibald]

I have the same problem on similar hardware.
The time to load and display image is about 3 to 4 minutes.

This version X6 was advertised as faster and that was the PRIMARY reason that I upgraded.
The ability to load faster is quite important because I do not have pgm loaded all the time and only when I need it.

It may be my computer but I have cleaned it up as much as I am able.

I would appreciate some help on this also.

Or maybe I will investigate alternatives.

[Ken Berry]

I don't there is much you can do about it -- though I have to say 3 - 4 minutes seems very excessive, and I can't account for it. I too think it takes a fairly long time to start up X6, though I have just measured it with a stopwatch, Ted, on a computer not dissimilar to yours, operating Win 7. It took 27 seconds to open fully.

I am talking here about the first time I open VS on a computer after booting up. If I close VS and want to use PSP later, it opens much more quickly if I haven't rebooted the computer in the meantime. Again I just measured it on that computer and it took 6 seconds.

On another less powerful computer (an i3) but with Windows 8.1, it took 15 seconds to open after a fresh reboot, and again 6 to reopen again in the same boot period. Much more acceptable

The delay in both the Win 7 and 8.1 machines is certainly annoying to me, even though for me it opens much more quickly than for you, but I have learned to live with it.

Have you tried things like right clicking the icon and opening as Administrator? Or opening its Properties and making it run in XP-compatible mode? These things shouldn't be necessary, I know, but may be worth exploring nonetheless...

[furface00]

In searching for some options with this issue, I chanced upon a group that was experiencing similar long load times with X6. They were not able to resolve the issue but what was pointed out was that X6 seems to scan through your entire computer looking for files each time it opens.

I did a search on my computer just for jpg and I have over 7900 images. This does not include my RAW images.

I might try moving some of these files to an external hard drive to see if the loading time improves, but what a pain.

In comparison to my Adobe PS6 Extended the difference is very dramatic. It opens in 15-20 seconds, and the same with Lightroom 5. Lightroom only does an inventory on the folders I choose.
I’ll try moving some files and see what happens.

[Radim]

On my old office computer with Windows XP it took me 24sec to start Edit mode which I use most.
To start into another mode, especially Manage can take long time according number of images...

Try reinstall PSP X6.

--
Few days ago in forum I read about slow down of PSP when you have a lot of user scripts.

[furface00]

I timed the loading of X6 in Edit mode from a fresh boot. 1 minute 25 seconds from the double click to the software ready for inputs. Way to long. I will be moving some of my image files and will provide input on the time.

[MarkZ]

In searching for some options with this issue, I chanced upon a group that was experiencing similar long load times with X6. They were not able to resolve the issue but what was pointed out was that X6 seems to scan through your entire computer looking for files each time it opens.

This is a shot in the dark.

Since it appears that the long load time is related to the number of images; in Manage tab, do you use Collections or Computer in the navigator? Does it make a difference if you have a small number of folders in Collections and have selected Collections when you exit then restart?

You may want to delete/rename ImageDB.db in C:\Users\your name\AppData\Local\Corel PaintShop Pro\16.0\Database when you try these options. The db gets recreated the next time you start.

[hartpaul]

Just for some comparisons I did a test using X6 32 and 64 bit.
Double click the desktop icon to start the program and start a timer straight after. Hover the mouse over the New Button and click.Stop the timer when the New Document dialog window opens.
Laptop 1 5ys old, CPU Gh 2.20 x 2 (duo) Win 7 Home Premium SP1.
32 bit - 40 seconds from a cold start (after bootup) and 10 sec with rerun.
64 bit - 33 sec and 9 sec.

Laptop 1 month old CPU 2.40Gh x 8 Win 7 Pro SP1.
32bit - 33 and 7
64 bit - 21 and 7

Main Desktop 2.67 Gh x 4 XP Home SP3
32 bit 55 and 21

All machines running with Zone Alarm and AVG.

In all cases I have stopped cataloging and ue and open only in Edit mode.

The XP was the slowest of the lot with X6, but the fastest with Jasc PSP8 at 6 and 3 sec.

So I have X6 operating with three laptops (one I am using as a test machine to check out the effects of SP before I install them on my working machine, and a Desktop with two boot drives one running XP and the other Win 7 . In no cases was the time longer than 59 seconds.

[furface00]

This is a shot in the dark.

Since it appears that the long load time is related to the number of images; in Manage tab, do you use Collections or Computer in the navigator? Does it make a difference if you have a small number of folders in Collections and have selected Collections when you exit then restart?

You may want to delete/rename ImageDB.db in C:\Users\your name\AppData\Local\Corel PaintShop Pro\16.0\Database when you try these options. The db gets recreated the next time you start.

MarkZ, You hit the nail on the head.

Here are my loading times for Manage:
After fresh boot: Collection, 1m 15s; Computer, 1m 43s
After first opening of program: Collection, 29s; Computer, 32s
After renaming ImageDB : Collection, 6 sec; Computer, 6 sec

So it would appear that flushing out that database file works. The difference between the two files are as follows: Old imageDB 13,307 kb New ImageDB 98kb.

I wonder exactly what this file does and if it slows down the software so dramatically perhaps Corel need to be made aware?

[MarkZ]

I'm happy to hear that this helped - I was not aware the degree to which it would.

As far as I can tell, the database collects and stores information about the images that you access. Not sure under what circumstances. From my experience, if you use Collections with a limited number of the folders you use most often, the database stays small - likely only information from the folders you use is stored. I suspect that if you use Computer it may go through all the images in Computer. It probably accesses that db looking for updates when you open PSP, so if the db is large it takes a while.

[furface00]

I will give your suggestions a try. Thanks for your help Mark, I really appreciate having this software work a little faster. Have you notified Corel of what you have found?

[MarkZ]

I will give your suggestions a try. Thanks for your help Mark, I really appreciate having this software work a little faster. Have you notified Corel of what you have found?

The db is working as designed, I believe. Unfortunately, I have never seen information from Corel about how to make the program work faster or the sort of maintenance one may do on it from time to time - for example, if one is short of storage getting rid of redundant Thumbs. Poking around on your own or this forum are the only sources for looking under the hood that I know of. It is difficult to get through to Corel other than when there is a beta test and in this case I think there is nothing to report.

[Jan Shim]

Is there a difference between ultimate and non-ultimate version of X6 in the number of modules it loads to memory during start up?

I have a standard PSP X6 and it loads from mouse click to ready to use state in 3.7 seconds. (I have workspace configured to start in Editor mode).

I use Faststone Image Viewer to manage all my images. When I need to work on an image, I hit 'E' to send the image to PSP X6 for editing. The time it takes from pressing E to image appearing in X6 is 5.8 seconds. Image is a 5D Mark III JPEG Large (5760x3840 9.35MB)

My PC runs Windows 7 64-bit, Intel Core i7-3770K 4.4GHz, 16GB 1866MHz RAM, Boot and secondary drives both Crucial m4 SSD.

[Tadjio]

Is there a difference between ultimate and non-ultimate version of X6 in the number of modules it loads to memory during start up?

There is no difference.

[AmbassadorSarek]

I am using Pro x7 (17.4.0.11 x64). Start time was tens of seconds. ImageDB was 12 MB. Deleting ImageDB, adjusting scope of managed files, and opening in EDIT tab reduced start time to just a few seconds. Thanks for the great advice.