Flare 8 Slow To Start

[abaldwin11]

I was wondering if anyone else is having this same problem. Ever since I've upgraded from 7 to 8 it takes much longer to start the program than it did before. When it starts, the few tabs that are open flicker and move around until the tabs aren’t overlapping any longer. It isn't a deal breaker by no means, just wanting to know if anyone else is experiencing the same issue. If not, I wonder if it didn't install correctly and may need to be uninstalled and then reinstalled.
Thanks!

[LTinker68]

Yeah, I've seen it, but I was blaming it on the enterprise anti-virus program we use which can slow things down when it starts doing something or other (not a full system scan and I didn't initiate a virus scan, so something else that's automated). I don't know if Flare starting triggers the anti-virus program to start something or if it's just a coincidence that its percentage of CPU usage is up at the same time I start Flare.

It's also really slow to respond if you have it minimized and haven't interacted with it in awhile and then try to bring it back full screen.

[abaldwin11]

My CPU doesn't even come close to max out. Even running Flare and several other applications at the same time I'm only running 5-10%. I have plenty of RAM as well, 8GB total. I have the same issue even if nothing else is open and I start up Flare. I too have seen it respond slow when sitting idle for a while. Well at least it isn't just me, so I'm not going to waste my time uninstalling it and reinstalling it. Thanks!

Yeah, I've seen it, but I was blaming it on the enterprise anti-virus program we use which can slow things down when it starts doing something or other (not a full system scan and I didn't initiate a virus scan, so something else that's automated). I don't know if Flare starting triggers the anti-virus program to start something or if it's just a coincidence that its percentage of CPU usage is up at the same time I start Flare.

It's also really slow to respond if you have it minimized and haven't interacted with it in awhile and then try to bring it back full screen.

[RamonS]

When you start Flare, then close it, then start it again, does it start much faster? If yes, then it might suggest (I do not know for sure) that it is in the nature of the implementation of .NET. See this article: http://www.aboutmydot.net/desktop-appli ... ntime.html
.NET allows for compiling code at runtime as this may have some advantages. It is similar to running applications using an interpreter rather than compile them into machine code as it is usually done.
I encounter the same annoying slow start with SQL Management Studio, but after having it run once a restart is usually tremendously faster, which I don't think is entirely due to file caching, although that definitely is contributing.

I'm speculating here, because I do not know how Flare is designed and coded, but in general .NET apps are not speedy. For that you'd need to craft runtime independent executables like how Delphi does it.

[abaldwin11]

I tried closing it and bringing it back up and it opens in just about the same amount of time, maybe a couple of seconds off.

When you start Flare, then close it, then start it again, does it start much faster? If yes, then it might suggest (I do not know for sure) that it is in the nature of the implementation of .NET. See this article: http://www.aboutmydot.net/desktop-appli ... ntime.html
.NET allows for compiling code at runtime as this may have some advantages. It is similar to running applications using an interpreter rather than compile them into machine code as it is usually done.
I encounter the same annoying slow start with SQL Management Studio, but after having it run once a restart is usually tremendously faster, which I don't think is entirely due to file caching, although that definitely is contributing.

I'm speculating here, because I do not know how Flare is designed and coded, but in general .NET apps are not speedy. For that you'd need to craft runtime independent executables like how Delphi does it.

[RamonS]

So much for my theory....what else do you have running on that system?

[abaldwin11]

I mainly have Lotus Notes, Flare, IE8, FireFox, Symantec, and Active Driectory Users and Computers. I have a Windows 7 Pro machine with a Intel Xeon W3550, 8 GB RAM, and a NVIDIA Quadro FX 380.

So much for my theory....what else do you have running on that system?

[RamonS]

Do I assume right that it is W 7 64 bit? If it is 32 bit then the 8 GB RAM don't do you any good as you only have around 3 GB available (32 bit OS cannot address more RAM).
Just for testing, when you turn off Notes, IE, and FF, does that make any difference? How much RAM is available? When did you last clean up the system drive (delete temp files, prefetch files, log files, etc.)? When did you last use a real defragger such as MyDefrag to defrag the drive?

If you covered all these things and it is still slow then I am bit at a loss....although, which mainboard do you use? I came across a bunch of Intel boards that were painfully slow, something I never encountered with AMD chipsets.

[abaldwin11]

Sorry, yes it is 64 bit. I believe the system board is •Intel® Tylersburg 36S, Intel® ICH10R, 1333MHz system bus. I reimaged the computer about 2 months ago. I keep the files cleaned up quite often. The difference in RAM with everything closed vs. open is only 4%, I don't go over 40%.

Do I assume right that it is W 7 64 bit? If it is 32 bit then the 8 GB RAM don't do you any good as you only have around 3 GB available (32 bit OS cannot address more RAM).
Just for testing, when you turn off Notes, IE, and FF, does that make any difference? How much RAM is available? When did you last clean up the system drive (delete temp files, prefetch files, log files, etc.)? When did you last use a real defragger such as MyDefrag to defrag the drive?

If you covered all these things and it is still slow then I am bit at a loss....although, which mainboard do you use? I came across a bunch of Intel boards that were painfully slow, something I never encountered with AMD chipsets.

[RamonS]

How do you then get 8GB on that board? That chipset uses triple channel DDR, so if you take 2GB modules you have 6GB. Maybe there is a way to run it in dual channel mode as well with 2x 4GB modules, but that would take the oomph out of what the chipset and processor are capable of.
Also, the Xeon line is typically intended for a dual-CPU setup. Do you have two of these ones in your box?
Also, which hard drive make/model do you have in there? Is the write cache enabled in Windows?

Then again, when you say v7 started with acceptable speed I doubt that it is a hardware issue. Maybe the analyzer portion of Flare now includes more things that get covered in v8. That process runs when loading a project. Could set Flare not to open a default project and then see if it is as fast as with v7.

I think after that it gets into quite a bit detail and that will take plenty of time. You might be better off with not shutting down Flare so that you don't have to wait for it to start as often.

[techwriter31]

We've found that launching Flare 8 is much slower than Flare 7 as well.

[abaldwin11]

It would help if I was reading the correct line. I have a Lenovo ThinkStation S20 4105 Mfg. Part: 4105P6U. The Motherboard has a chipset of Intel X58. I do have 2 4GB sticks, I do only have one Intel Xeon W3550, the motherboard only supports one CPU from the looks of it. I have a Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 and write cache is enabled. Thanks for taking the time to try to help me out!

How do you then get 8GB on that board? That chipset uses triple channel DDR, so if you take 2GB modules you have 6GB. Maybe there is a way to run it in dual channel mode as well with 2x 4GB modules, but that would take the oomph out of what the chipset and processor are capable of.
Also, the Xeon line is typically intended for a dual-CPU setup. Do you have two of these ones in your box?
Also, which hard drive make/model do you have in there? Is the write cache enabled in Windows?

Then again, when you say v7 started with acceptable speed I doubt that it is a hardware issue. Maybe the analyzer portion of Flare now includes more things that get covered in v8. That process runs when loading a project. Could set Flare not to open a default project and then see if it is as fast as with v7.

I think after that it gets into quite a bit detail and that will take plenty of time. You might be better off with not shutting down Flare so that you don't have to wait for it to start as often.

[RamonS]

I have no explanation for this other than what Lisa suggested (virus scanner). Although the hardware configuration of the system you have is a bit odd, I don't think it is a hardware issue. I run Flare on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 with 4 GB and W7 64 bit and the puppy starts right up. I do not load a default project and as virus scanner I have the Microsoft antivirus.
And it is just Flare that is slow starting up?

[abaldwin11]

Yeah Flare is the only thing that is slow to start, Mimic comes right up with no delay. Like I said before it isn't a deal breaker, and it isn't a painful amount of time. It is just a noticable difference between 7 and 8. With 7 I would click on it from my start menu and the logo would pop up and a couple seconds later I was looking at Flare. Now It takes a few seconds for the logo to pop up (I have to minimize my windows just to see the logo now, it doesn't show up on top of everything else like it did in 7) and about 4x as much for Flare to show up, less than 15-20 seconds. I was just wondering if anyone else was having this issue, or if it was just me.

I have no explanation for this other than what Lisa suggested (virus scanner). Although the hardware configuration of the system you have is a bit odd, I don't think it is a hardware issue. I run Flare on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 with 4 GB and W7 64 bit and the puppy starts right up. I do not load a default project and as virus scanner I have the Microsoft antivirus.
And it is just Flare that is slow starting up?

[Michele]

I'm having the exact same problems Alex mentioned in the first post. Everything in Flare v. 8 seems slow -- including creating new topic files, opening files, viewing tables, etc.

[crdmerge]

me, too...

[ccardimon]

We've found that launching Flare 8 is much slower than Flare 7 as well.

I would agree with this. Way slower.

[Centauri27]

Aha! So it wasn't just me (or my imagination). I find Flare 8 excruciatingly slow to start up--and I just upgraded to a new Core i7 notebook (ranked top 8% worldwide by PCPitstop!) with a freshly installed Win 7 64-bit operating system.

I think MadCap needs to go back to the drawing board in this one.

[ccardimon]

Not the drawing board, but they might pop the hood and check the oil.

[abaldwin11]

I agree, I really like what 8 has brought and look forward towards what else MadCap will add. I just noticed there was a difference in speed and wanted to know if anyone else experienced the same thing.

Not the drawing board, but they might pop the hood and check the oil.

[SteveS]

You know the drill, team...

Bug report: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx, the more who lodge a report, the more likely it will be investigated!

[abaldwin11]

Ok, my bug has been reported.

[DianeP]

Extremely slow Flare 8 launch for me too.

[abaldwin11]

Extremely slow Flare 8 launch for me too.

You should report it as well, the more that do the better the chance for us to get them to look at it.

[ccardimon]

Extremely slow Flare 8 launch for me too.

Me too.