PSP X4 - Process will not unload on exit on Win8.1

[torindkflt]

Greetings. I have Paint Shop Pro X4, have been using it for a couple years now. Last year, I purchased a new laptop that came with Windows 8 preinstalled on it. Now, on Windows 8, PSP X4 ran perfectly fine, no problems whatsoever. Then I updated to Windows 8.1, and ever since that update I've been having a very annoying problem.

If I leave PSP open for an extended amount of time (I don't know exactly how long, but I'd say at least 15 minutes), and then try to close it, the program window will indeed close. BUT, the process will not unload from memory. If I open Task Manager, "Corel PaintShop Pro.exe" will still be listed under the Details tab, despite the fact that the program window has closed. No matter how long I wait (I've waited over 12 hours in some cases), it will not unload until I either do End Task on it or reboot the computer. What's really frustrating is that I cannot open PSP again while this remnant process is still in memory, so it's gotten to the point now where I have to leave PSP running the entire time I have my computer on, because I've also noticed that repeatedly doing End Task on it tends to mess with the settings.

I have already tried disabling the "Allow cataloging to complete after exiting" setting, this did not help. I've tried various different iterations of compatibility mode and also running it as administrator, no dice. I have tried disabling the antivirus (Avast), and I even made sure to disable Windows Defender just to be certain I had no AV possibly conflicting, this still did not help. I have all current updates installed for both PSP and Windows. As I said, this started once I upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, prior to that it worked perfectly fine on Windows 7 and vanilla Windows 8. I even tried testing it on a clean install (Freshly formatted blank hard drive) of the Windows 10 technical preview not only on my main computer, but also an entirely different computer...same problem. It's like Windows 8.1+ added something that is preventing the PSP process from unloading on exit. But, like I said, the weird thing is how it only does it if you leave PSP open for longer than a certain amount of time, which I'd estimate is about 15 minutes. It does not seem to matter how many images or what image formats I open while running PSP, it has this problem regardless of whether I open a dozen random images, or none at all.

I've been dealing with this problem for many months now. Rolling back to Windows 8 is not an option. I've been trying the trial for X7 and it seems to be working fine, but I'd like to try to fix what I currently have before spending any more money on yet a newer version (X4 is only three years old for crying out loud). I would GREATLY appreciate any advice on this issue.

Thank you.

[steve_g1bbs]

I have the same problem - a fix would be nice.

[MarkZ]

I remember this coming up before but can't remember what the fix was. Don't know if this will work but have you tried resetting the program? Save your workspace. Hold the shift key while opening X4. You will be asked if you want to go back to original settings. This has worked for me with a variety of problems.

[torindkflt]

I have attempted resetting the program, as well as doing a repair install from the Control Panel and uninstalling then reinstalling multiple times. Nothing I have tried seems to help, unfortunately. As I said, it's also doing this from a clean, new install on the Windows 10 technical preview (which is also a clean new install).