Loading slowly in Windows 10

[Ty]

I doubt that this is a bug, but I'm using this forum in case it is.

I've been using XnView for a long time—i.e., through versions of Windows beginning with XP—and I don't recall ever thinking "why does it take so long to load?"

Now, using Windows 10, I think that every time I use the program. And by "use" I mean:

a) Click on the XnView icon to execute it directly

b) Double-click on a JPG or PNG file, for which XnView is the default program.

In both cases, XnView takes quite a bit longer to load than most of the other (many) programs on my PC.

The only exception occurs when I've just used the program, then exit, then reload. That reload is very quick, I assume because all or some of the program is cached.

In fairness, I will say that XnView is not the only program on my PC to exhibit this behavior. All Microsoft Office (2010) programs load very quickly (1 or 2 seconds), as do most other programs. But a few, including XnView, load very slowly.

Any ideas about what's going on here, and if it's something in XnView that needs attention? This is in no way a major problem, is nothing more than a minor annoyance. Thanks in advance for whatever comments you might make.

[xnview]

no i don't knwo, could try to rename the Plugins folder?

[Ty]

Thanks for the idea, Pierre. Unfortunately, renaming the Plugins folder made no difference.

[cday]

You are using XnView 'Classic' are you, not XnViewMP which is notably slower to open even on Windows 7?

[Ty]

Hi cday--Yes, am using Classic. Am not opposed to switching to MP. Is there a discussion somewhere comparing the two versions?

[cday]

Yes, am using Classic. Am not opposed to switching to MP. Is there a discussion somewhere comparing the two versions?

I'm sure there is at least one, but the forum librarian is the master of locating relevant threads...

But XnViewMP is notable slower to open in my experience than XnView 'Classic'...

[Ty]

Thanks cday. I found the post "What's different in XnView MP [Full List]" by budz45, which is an excellent in-depth description of MP. Unfortunately, I didn't see a compact listing of the things I most particularly care about: what does MP do better than Classic (i.e., reasons to switch), and what does it do worse (reasons not to). In any case, thanks for your comments. I definitely won't be switching to MP to try to solve the loading-speed problem.

[cday]

Thanks cday. I found the post "What's different in XnView MP [Full List]" by budz45, which is an excellent in-depth description of MP. Unfortunately, I didn't see a compact listing of the things I most particularly care about: what does MP do better than Classic (i.e., reasons to switch), and what does it do worse (reasons not to). In any case, thanks for your comments. I definitely won't be switching to MP to try to solve the loading-speed problem.

As your XnView 'Classic' loading speed problem is presently unexplained, it might be worth installing XnViewMP to take a look anyway, as tests can sometimes unexpectedly shed light on a problem...

With regard to XnViewMP, which of course is still evolving and in beta, the principle features are that it is cross-platform, supports Unicode filenames, has enhanced browser functions and has a new, fresh interface that has been widely acclaimed.

[XnTriq]

Does the delay persist when you disable Launch Browser at Startup (Tools » Options... » General » Operations » Startup) and Check update (Tools » Options... » System integration » Integration), Ty?

Do you have any network drives attached? That's something that always slows down everything, it seems, even if it's just enumerating it and not opening into it.

???

And not just network drives, but also other slow devices, like cell phones or USB drives, or a malfunctioning card reader.

Network drives are the fastest way to make your Core2Duo perform like a 486 with the turbo off, though.

Check your Network folder. Sometimes shares and printers from long-gone PCs are stored there and some programs pick them up. I haven't seen it happen on 7 yet, just XP, but it's a possibility. If I click on the Network in the folder pane when I open XnView, I get the long hang too.

• Delay every time I open XnView
• is there a way to speed up startup?
• XNView slow to start first time
• Windows: UNC paths vs mapped drives [MP]
• XnView MP checking all drives on load causing spinup on each [MP]

[Ty]

Hey Triq.... Thanks for the excellent suggestions and links. The problem was NOT "check for updates," but turning off "open browser" seems to have done the triq . Also, per the other gentleman's idea, I DO have a slow USB drive attached. Great ideas and links, thanks.

HOWEVER, those things would seem to deal only with the case of starting XnView from its icon. Any ideas on what could account for unusual slowness when double-clicking a JPG or PNG?

[XnTriq]

Hey Triq.... Thanks for the excellent suggestions and links. The problem was NOT "check for updates," but turning off "open browser" seems to have done the triq .

LL

HOWEVER, those things would seem to deal only with the case of starting XnView from its icon. Any ideas on what could account for unusual slowness when double-clicking a JPG or PNG?

Possible culprits:

• Use ICC Embedded Profile (JPEG/TIFF)- Very slow (Tools » Options... » General » ICC)
• Synchronize Browser selection with current View (Tools » Options... » Browser » Browser)
• Read one image ahead (Tools » Options... » View » Misc.)

PS: You may also want to purge your MRUs (Tools » Options... » Interface » Interface » Recent lists) to prevent XnView from looking for deleted files.

[lesbarry]

In XnView MP I unchecked "Check integrity of catalog at startup" and that reduced startup time from several minutes to a couple of seconds.

Find it in Settings, under Catalog / Catalog / Check integrity of catalog at startup.

[Ty]

Wow. How cool that somebody replied to a question from 14 years ago! Thank you Lesbarry. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry.

I've only had MP installed for a few years, and I believe that the "Check integrity of catalog at startup" is OFF by default. So my images load quickly, from either running MP and opening an image or executing the image without MP already running.

In any case, thanks again for the feedback.