Photostory 2014 Deluxe Hanging

nancyandbob wrote on 8/23/2018, 2:50 AM

I'm running Photostory version 13.0.5.94 (UDC2) on a custom PC, with plenty of everything. Windows 10.

Until this evening, everything was working fine. No crashes, running fast.

For some reason, under "Help" I clicked on Online Update, and basically said to apply the update now, not later. Continued with project I had been working on. Some hours later, I saved it (Cntrl S) and did an ALT F4 to close. Nothing happened. Been fighting this for an hour now, so some details are getting fuzzy, but . . .

With everything but Photostory closed, did Restart. Shut down was very slow. When it restarted, system surprised me with the small window that says (paraphrasing) "Do you want Photostory to be able to make changes?" I clicked "No". I've started Photostory 2014 several times and it seems to hang forever once I've made my choice on the initial screen. In order to get it "unlocked", I've gone to Task Manager, selected MagixOfa Helper-Module (32 bit), noticing that it's showing from about 14.8% - 15.5% CPU usage, and then clicked "End task". A few seconds later, Photostory again becomes responsive. Just now, after trying to open the MPH file I was working on, I got a "A request for memory has been turned down" message. I clicked OK and the same thing happened again six times. Then it suddenly opened the project file.

I've exited the program several times now, by forcing shutdown within Task Manager, trying to figure out what's going on, but I'm clueless. I do have the option of using my 2018 Version 17.1.4.152 (UDP3) but frankly, so far I like the 2014 version better.

Any idea what has happened and how to cure it? I'm getting more than a little annoyed?

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 8/23/2018, 3:18 AM

@nancyandbob

. . . . I've exited the program several times now, by forcing shutdown within Task Manager . . .

Was this because the program would not close?

I suspect that the forced shut downs have corrupted the installation settings or the patch update has not completed correctly when you forced a restart - try the following:

Open Photostory and start an empty project
Select File, Settings, Reset program settings to default
Select File, Settings, Program, Options tab and turn on Hide news and save
Select Help, Update online
Download and install the update

If that does not fix the problem then I would suggest you re-install Photostory following this procedure, however before you do check that the installer is still available:

Browse to the Magix.com website
click the My Account icon top right of the home page and login
Select My Products

you should now see your registered products serial number and a download link.

HTH

John EB

nancyandbob wrote on 8/23/2018, 4:23 PM

John - Tried to do the reset. Gave it an hour or so to complete before killing the helper module. That seemed to "release" Photostory. No idea whether it completed what it was supposed to have done. Then went ahead and did Hide News. Clicked Help / Online Update. Photostory window frozen. Helper module using about 15% of CPU. Seems to be doing something, whether looping or whatever I can't tell. Down to 12% briefly. 30 minutes later, Helper module is still "doing something" and screen is frozen, waiting for completion. I'm going to kill Helper. Helper killed. "Major Program Update" screen popped up and reports ". . . no updates . . . ." Clicked "Close". Menus are again active and Helper has restarted, showing no activity. Going to attempt ALT F4 exit. Nothing is open in Photostory, although I realize that it has created an empty project. Did Alt F4 one time only; nothing else. Watching Helper in Task Manager. Running 5% - 7%. Going to kill helper shortly. Magix Photos showing 0.1% CPU a couple times. Patience is short. Killed the Helper; Photostory screen immediately disappeared.

Going to try uninstall / reinstall. Hopefully this afternoon or evening.

Thanks for the guidance. Will let you know what happens.

I still have the photos2014deluxe_dlm.exe file. Just re-downloaded; assume it's the same thing.

nancyandbob wrote on 8/23/2018, 9:39 PM

I'm starting the uninstall. Noticed that there are a dozen or so Photostory 2014 programs listed in addition to the primary one. I'm assuming (a scary concept) that I need to uninstall the ones below the primary one first.

nancyandbob wrote on 8/23/2018, 11:53 PM

Completed the Uninstall and did new install. Went very smoothly. Also did the scannow with no errors. I do encounter one strange thing however. I get the following message when opening a project:"A request for memory has been turned down. It is possible that there is no more free memory or an internal error has occurred." I click OK and the message pops up again. This process repeats 4 times and then the project loads fast. Watching Task Manager at the same time, total memory usage is only about 25% - 30%. Minor inconvenience, but perplexing. Your thoughts?