Really weird problem

[db]

This past week, FM (v8.7 individual) has started acting really strange. I would click to start the program and after a couple seconds of the hour glass, I would get nothing. The program wouldn't start. The fm.exe process is running but the program wasn't available. At first I thought it was corrupted somehow, so I uninstalled and reinstalled but the same problem keeps happening. Finally, if I wait long enough (3-5 minutes) the program appears.

But now if I want to run a report the same sort of thing happends. I click on report, choose the report I want and BAM FM locks up solid. Again, however, if I wait 3-5 minutes the report properties window will appear. I can download prices, see various graphs, etc., just fine. But the initial startup and the reports are really screwed up bad.

I'm at a total loss as to what I can do. Like I said, I've already uninstalled and reinstalled (downloaded the latest everything), I've rebooted, but nothing seems to work.

Help!

[Mark]

Hi db,

I'm not sure what the problem is, but please check how many windows you have open. After the program starts, look under the "Window" menu. Do you have a lot of open windows? If so, please do a "Window / Close all Reports" and also a "Window / Close all Graphs". Save your portfolio with "File / Save Portfolio", and then try re-starting Fund Manager. For some additional background on this, please read this FAQ:

http://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/faq_window_flickering.php

If that doesn't solve the problem, please let me know.

[db]

Hi Mark,

No joy. It even does it when freshly installed and the portfolio wizard comes up in the first screen.

I don't know if this will help you problem solve but I took a look at the process memory use while waiting and this pattern seems pretty consistent:

Start program at 6:09pm: 5316k
6:11pm: 5440k
6:13pm: Program comes to life 12872k


db

[Mark]

Hi db,

This is rather strange, I'm not sure what is going wrong. Did this start suddenly, or has it been worsening gradually?

The Fund Manager process should be using less than 2MB if you don't have a portfolio open. Yours starts off at 5MB, and ends up at 12. Are you sure you don't have a portfolio open? Please try this:

1. Start FM
2. Select "File / Close Portfolio"
3. Select "File / Exit", and then re-start FM.

Does it still start slowly? If you exit all of your other programs, does this make a difference on the speed?

[db]

Hi Mark,

This started happening Friday and has remained a problem. I just installed FM on my wife's computer fresh and had the same problem! albeit the wait is a lot less as she has the new computer (intel duo-core 1.6ghz) I'm running an old Pentium 4 1.8ghz.

On my wife's computer the process initially used 3464k
after almost exactly 1 minute, the program window appeared and used 4068k. This is without any investments or portfolios available to the program other than the sample data that comes with the install.

Both systems are using WinXP Home.

[db]

Hi Mark,

OK - now it's being inconsistent. I just got back to my PC and FM started up normally. I've started FM at least 30 times in the past two days and have rebooted a dozen times or so in testing things out. Now for no reason it's starting up normally (good grief!).

Any way, I closed the portfolio and checked the option to not open the last portfolio at startup. I restarted FM and memory usage is 6524k with nothing open. It goes up to 13604 with the port open.

db

[Mark]

Hi db,

I just tested the memory usage on an XP machine here, and it does use between 5 and 6MB when there is nothing open. The 2MB number was what I observed on Vista. I'm not sure why there is such a difference, but it must be something to do with the operating system.

I couldn't tell you why it was slow before, and is fast now. If it happens again, I would also check to see what other processes you have running. Do you run anti-virus software? It might be worth scanning your computer, to make sure you don't have a virus. Something doesn't seem right there...