PSP X9 slow start

[cronos42]

And I mean really slow. Ridiculously so. One to two minutes (from an SSD). Previously I owned X6 and that started in seconds (from a HDD). Using PSP X9 19.2.0.7 x64 now. I have been looking around for solutions...

1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBIw3zlXfLw (explaining how to add corel.com and other domains to your hosts file so they resolve to 127.0.0.1) No improvement
2) Setting the default workspace to Edit instead of Manage. No improvement.
3) Disabling the Splash Screen. No improvement. In fact, when it is enabled I actually get to see what causes the slowdown, which is seems to be updating the cache.
4) Setting the Manage screen to "Collections" instead of "Computer". No improvement.
5) Deleting the ImageDB file from %userprofile%/AppData/Local. No improvement.
6) Added all my drives (C, D and E) to Preferences > General Program Preferences > Manage > Uncataloged Folders. No improvement.

I am close to my wits' end.

While I am at it...how can I disable the incessant exit window advising me to update to the latest version of PSP? Right now I am more inclined to de-install everything and go back to X6.

[Ken Berry]

Please have a look at this recent thread on the same subject: http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php ... 44#p349344

[cronos42]

Unfortunately that thread doesn't offer any solutions either.

[JoeB]

Unfortunately that thread doesn't offer any solutions either.

That depends on what you mean. That thread contains several possible reasons for slowdown of PSP - e.g., the Windows 10 Creators Update has been blamed in that - and other - threads, as well as whether or not you have Collections or Computer set in Manage mode. So while it doesn't offer a solution to every user with every system, it at least points to some possibilities. You haven't indicated whether or not your situation fits any of the possibilities offered in that thread.

[cronos42]

I think a piece of end user software should work properly and not require extensive workarounds. I tried all the things in my original post, of which a few are mentioned in that other thread.
I decided to upgrade to 2018 Ultimate. Guess what? The same insanely long loading/starting time. Felt like € 50 down the drain. I radically decided to uninstall everything and revert to the previous version I'd used most satisfactorily (on Windows 7), PSP X6. Guess what? Ultra long loading times. In fact it even hung on opening the 'File' menu.
I guess the conclusion is that it's a Windows 10 Creators Update problem. Which sucks, right?

[flagpole]

It may not be Corel's fault. But it's certainly their problem.

[cronos42]

It may not be Corel's fault. But it's certainly their problem.

I couldn't agree more. There must be thousands of people affected by this problem.

[JoeB]

My feeling, based on various posts, is that it is indeed a problem caused by the Creators Update, at least for most people having the issue. Yes, program creators do have a responsibility to make their software compatible with operating systems, but since Windows 10 was released, and with the various forced updates that keep popping up, it can be a challenge for software companies to keep up with the changes these updates cause to systems and the issues they can create. That is especially so because the stated main reason for forced updates by Microsoft is to constantly fix perceived security holes. And doing so often causes the new security protocols to do more checking on how programs are interacting with the system before passing them on for use by the system. This could be one of the reasons for the slowdowns. Just speculation, of course.

I don't have Windows 10 so don't know what - if any - exception rules it has. If it had a way to except trusted programs from security checks (which you would only do after the program has already first been run and can be trusted) then using that exception for PSP would be one way to troubleshoot and see if that is, indeed, what is causing the slowdowns.

[dwalby2]

Jeez, I avoided the W10 free upgrade and am so glad I did. Now I need to figure out how to permanently disable updates when I finally get stuck buying a new computer with W10 installed.

FWIW, my Win8 desktop with PSP 2018 ultimate launches in 5-7 seconds from a spinner drive, which is a bit slower than my Photoshop Elements which starts in about 3 seconds. If I had to wait 1-2 minutes I'd be throwing the thing through some front office window up at MSFT HQ.

[Ken Berry]

Now I need to figure out how to permanently disable updates when I finally get stuck buying a new computer with W10 installed.

Well good luck with that. You will make a fortune if you find a way. Microsoft has hardwired updates into Win 10. With the Home edition you have little choice, and often the updates are installed when your computer is left in stand-by mode. The only way around them is to uninstall the update, but it comes back later to bite you!

Win 10 Pro allows you to delay updates -- I have only 1 computer with the Pro version. But frankly the delay seems to be a matter of courtesy rather than something that works in the longer term.

But if you ever do update, and find a way around them, please let us know!

[flagpole]

Jeez, I avoided the W10 free upgrade and am so glad I did. Now I need to figure out how to permanently disable updates when I finally get stuck buying a new computer with W10 installed.

FWIW, my Win8 desktop with PSP 2018 ultimate launches in 5-7 seconds from a spinner drive, which is a bit slower than my Photoshop Elements which starts in about 3 seconds. If I had to wait 1-2 minutes I'd be throwing the thing through some front office window up at MSFT HQ.

There is no way to disable the automatic updates in the Home edition of Windows 10. You can uninstall them after they have installed if you download a tool to do so but not before.

I also wouldn't advise doing so.

[jimbeaux]

I'm having the exact same issue(s).

I've tried all of the offered workarounds that I've found with no change in slow start times. In fact, I completely uninstalled X9 using the Corel provided cleanup tool and reinstalled X9 -- but this time both the 64bit and 32bit versions as someone mentioned that the 32 bit version doesn't seem to have the same issue.

Nope. Same problems with both versions. The 32bit version took 5 minutes 14 seconds to start, the 64bit version took 5 minutes and 1 second to start (based on the log files stored in the system temp folder).

BTW - Not only is the start time VERY slow, different features / functions are initially slow as well. Once a feature has been used it seems to be just fine (during the same run session that is).

And yes, these problems started with the Windows 10 Creator Update version 1709 pushed onto my system 11/27/2017. No other program on my system seems to have been affected.

In fact, I was going to upgrade to Paintshop Pro 2018, but have read that it is also showing the same symptoms. So apparently no help there.

Hopefully Corel will step up and give us some information concerning this even if it to tell us that we are just plain out-of-luck.

[bruce1951]

A couple of comments!!

Re the slow start up. I'm only using PSPx8 but the slow start up seems to have been an issue for some time. My x8 starts in 4 - 5 seconds first time and 2 - 3 seconds subsequent times. However I never have folders with large amounts of files/images. Maybe those with large folders full of many images are suffering due to PSP building cache. It would be interesting to have someone test this by closing PSP while using a folder with only a very few images. Then see if PSP starts up any faster.

Re Win 10 automatic updates. I'm in a situation where my old laptop died and I need to buy a new one. It will have Win 10 on it. So that frightens me. I have done many Google searches and have found many 'work around' for automatic up dates. Do these not work?

bruce

[flagpole]

You would be crazy to disable automatic updates.

It's a security issue.

[juergen]

Yes:

https://security.googleblog.com/2015/07 ... urity.html