PM very slow to launch.etc

[tom]

I am using latest version of PM (4.4.3) on my Win XP home edition equipped desktop with plenty or RAM, etc.  Recently, PM is taking almost 2 minutes to launch and each subsequent operation is taking far too long compared to prior use.  I've uninstalled and re-installed, rebooted soft and full,...nothing seems to help.  I've done full scans for spyware/spybots etc. and nothing is running in the background that I can detect.
Also recently PM has been crashing while I'm operating it along with PhotoShop...message says something like 'sorry, Photo Mechanic has encountered a problem and must close'

Oddly, the same program on my laptop with Win XP Pro, launches quickly, works fast and doesn't crash.

What's going on?
Thanks, Tom

[Kirk Baker]

I am using latest version of PM (4.4.3) on my Win XP home edition equipped desktop with plenty or RAM, etc.  Recently, PM is taking almost 2 minutes to launch and each subsequent operation is taking far too long compared to prior use.  I've uninstalled and re-installed, rebooted soft and full,...nothing seems to help.  I've done full scans for spyware/spybots etc. and nothing is running in the background that I can detect.
Also recently PM has been crashing while I'm operating it along with PhotoShop...message says something like 'sorry, Photo Mechanic has encountered a problem and must close'

Oddly, the same program on my laptop with Win XP Pro, launches quickly, works fast and doesn't crash.

What's going on?

I have really no idea.  If PM took two minutes to launch on my development systems, I would fix it so it wouldn't take forever to launch.  What is different about your desktop system compared to your laptop system?  Have you tried going back to an earlier version on the desktop system?

-Kirk

[tom]

Did following: Un-installed program and reinstalled 2X. Then, rebooted. Ran Spybot S&D, AdAware SE, Windows Registry Repair Pro, CCleaner Pro and a  Microsoft fixer called sfc /scannow. 
Launched PM 4.2 went to Camerabits.com downloaded new copy of 4.3.3 & installed.
Launched from desktop icon, program opened in about 60 seconds. I think this might be a resonable amount of time given the nature of image-editing software.
Program operations like 'open file' also worked normally, no long hang-ups.
Closed program, then relaunched taking about 45-to-60 seconds to open.
Possibly, something was steppin' on PM. I hope it keeps working OK.

[Kirk Baker]

Did following: Un-installed program and reinstalled 2X. Then, rebooted. Ran Spybot S&D, AdAware SE, Windows Registry Repair Pro, CCleaner Pro and a  Microsoft fixer called sfc /scannow. 
Launched PM 4.2 went to Camerabits.com downloaded new copy of 4.3.3 & installed.
Launched from desktop icon, program opened in about 60 seconds. I think this might be a resonable amount of time given the nature of image-editing software.
Program operations like 'open file' also worked normally, no long hang-ups.
Closed program, then relaunched taking about 45-to-60 seconds to open.
Possibly, something was steppin' on PM. I hope it keeps working OK.

It takes seven seconds to relaunch on my system.  Eighteen seconds on a fresh reboot.  This particular system is three years old.

The greatest thing that affects the startup time of PM is your cache settings.  I always have my cache get emptied on exit.  If you keep a large cache around then PM has to reconnect with all of the cache files (it's just a scan for files: it doesn't load them) but this still can take time.

What are your cache settings (Preferences->Caching)?

-Kirk

[FairfieldPhoto]

I am getting the same behavior.  90 seconds to start PM is not unusual.

My cache settings are Disk Cache:512
Reserve 100Mb
Empty cash on Exit is ON
Remove cached files is OFF
Memory cache size 64

I am still on 4.4.3 for the live/production PC.

When PM is loading, the splash screen is up, but the HDD access light on the PC only flickers occasionally.

CPU usage (measured by Windows Task Manager) runs along at 4%-6% during the long wait for PM to finish loading.

Hope this helps.

-Mike

[Tony Fiorda]

Kirk,

The only times I've seen PM take a excessive time to start is when I've closed it and left the pointer in the Navigator Pane on a drive that is remote from the system I am using.  For instance, on my laptop I have a mapped network drive X: and I've left that drive highlighted AND it is for some reason not available.  PM then (I am assuming) is waiting for the OS SMB timer to time out and then all is normal.  If I have Navigator pointing to a local drive, I have never had a problem.

Tony...

[kbell]

I am using latest version of PM (4.4.3) on my Win XP home edition equipped desktop with plenty or RAM, etc.  Recently, PM is taking almost 2 minutes to launch and each subsequent operation is taking far too long compared to prior use.  I've uninstalled and re-installed, rebooted soft and full,...nothing seems to help.  I've done full scans for spyware/spybots etc. and nothing is running in the background that I can detect.
Also recently PM has been crashing while I'm operating it along with PhotoShop...message says something like 'sorry, Photo Mechanic has encountered a problem and must close'

Oddly, the same program on my laptop with Win XP Pro, launches quickly, works fast and doesn't crash.

Tom,

Navigator saves the state of the tree and tries to restore that state when you start PM.

If you have Navigator displaying folders on a network when you close the program, the next time you start it will go out to the network and enumerate those folders as it's restoring the state of the tree.  This can be a relatively slow process.

I don't know if this is your problem, but if you do have Navigator open to display network drives when you exit PM, I am interested to know if PM will start faster if you collapse the folder tree before you exit PM, then try starting again.

I would also like to know if you are working with local files or network files in Photoshop when you see those crashes.

Thanks,
Kathy

[Colin Hackley]

Kathy,

I haven't seen any difference in start up times with the folder tree collapsed prior to shut down.

Kirk: Is there currently a way to tell PM to look for local drives only? I've had this problem for some time and it can be really vexing on deadline, especially when working off network. I think PM takes 30 seconds or so as it searches for each of the drives it last listed in the file tree. If there are several drives on your network you can be in for quite a wait.

It would be great to be able to tell PM to look for all drives on the network or only for A-F for example. Most of the drives on my company's network are at the bottom of the alphabet so being able to eliminate them from the search list would be a big time saver.

Thanks,

Colin

[Kirk Baker]

Colin,

Kirk: Is there currently a way to tell PM to look for local drives only? I've had this problem for some time and it can be really vexing on deadline, especially when working off network. I think PM takes 30 seconds or so as it searches for each of the drives it last listed in the file tree. If there are several drives on your network you can be in for quite a wait.

No, there is currently no way to do this.

-Kirk

[FairfieldPhoto]

My longest wait was over 3 minutes. 

When I am in a "hurry" now, I use Windows Explorer first to disconnect all network drives that I don't need.  Since a lot of time I am culling/organizing off the network, I don't need ANY mapped network drives.  PM starts right up then and just hums along.

When I am back connected, I make sure the necessary drives are reconnected.

-Mike

[kbell]

My longest wait was over 3 minutes. 

When I am in a "hurry" now, I use Windows Explorer first to disconnect all network drives that I don't need.  Since a lot of time I am culling/organizing off the network, I don't need ANY mapped network drives.  PM starts right up then and just hums along.

Mike,

This is a complicated issue for us.  The problem is not specific to PM, it is a Windows issue and the nature of the problem can differ depending on what networking software is being used and whether the network servers are running different versions of Windows than the client machines.

In the latest build of PM (4.4.3.3 or later) the Navigator won't verify any folders until the first access, and Network neighborhood is collapsed upon program exit to help minimize this problem.

Microsoft has several items in their support database relating to this same problem and they have two suggested solutions.  One is to, as you suggested, disconnect all mapped drives before switching to a new location where those drives aren't available.  They also recommend unchecking the "Reconnect at logon" checkbox.  This will speed up not only PM, but Windows startup and other applications as well.

The other thing they suggest is for your network administrator to implement a logon script that makes all the drive connections when the machine starts up.  This script will only run when you are connected to your network and subsequent accesses to those drives from any application will be faster.

Windows Vista has some enhancements that are designed to deal with the slow network connections issue.

- Kathy

[Marty Ojaste]

Here is a trick I use;

- Add all the highest level folders of all the places where I have photos to the favourites.
- Then close down the navigator window,
- Then exit.

When you come back in, it will be faster... until you need the navigator window for the remote drives, then it will be as slow as it was before.

BTW: you can't add a disk to favourites, only sub-folders.