V5 veeerrry sloow to start up...

dcrandall wrote on 5/5/2004, 8:29 AM

I too would like to know the resolution to this problem. I think it has to do with the process "wowexec.exe" because, if I kill this process, Vegas 5 and/or DVDA2 will open immediately.

-Dan

BJ_M wrote on 5/5/2004, 12:15 PM

wowexec.exe is for 16bit proccess ..

do you have "load last project" UNchecked in options? (suggested)

dcrandall wrote on 5/5/2004, 12:37 PM

"do you have "load last project" UNchecked in options? (suggested) "

Yes, it's unchecked.
I guess the question is: Why is Vegas 5 loading "wowexec.exe" on startup?

BJ_M wrote on 5/5/2004, 1:42 PM

good question -- i checked here and wowexec doesnt load on starting vegas ..

or if it does --it never showed in taskmanager

dcrandall wrote on 5/5/2004, 2:39 PM

Funny, on my system, (P4, 1.8Ghz, WinXP-Home), wowexec.exe does load upon starting Vegas 5 or DVDA2. (It doesn't load when starting Vegas 4 though).

Sony? A little help here would be appreciated.

-Dan

rique wrote on 5/5/2004, 2:51 PM

Yes, I mentioned this in another thread last week. I also have the problem of V5 hanging on second and subsequent startup attempts. Kill wowexec.exe and V5 starts right up.

PDB wrote on 5/5/2004, 3:51 PM

OK, just thought I'd put some data behind this..

Just timed the start up: my stats...
First start up = 14 seconds
(closed the app and opened a second time)
wait for it.....
second start up = 20 MINUTES!!! and counting (I gave up after looking at the splash screen and clock for 20 minutes so killed the infimous wowexec.exe and V5 came right up...)

Probably not the most scientific of tests but one of the more boring ones in my experience...

So, how does one prevent wowexec.exe from doing its thing?? (I'm beginning to get suspicious about exactly what the wow factor is behind this wowexec.exe - no prizes for guessing....)

[r]Evolution wrote on 5/6/2004, 8:14 PM

I don't know about the wowexec.exe but I too was having this problem. It was discussed in a couple of other threads. Hopefully you guys will SEARCH for this topic. There IS an answer to your problem.

--trying not to give the answer so that people will start SEARCHING the forums before posting the same questions that have been asked & resolved time and time again-- <-- who do I think I am?

It worked for me and others to update our Graphics Card & Audio Card Drivers. I run an inVidia and an Echo card. I believe I also heard mention of ATI Driver updates solving this too. So with that I would check for these 2 driver updates. If it doesn't solve the problem for you same as it did for others, at least your drivers will be up to date... meaning, trying this fix will not hurt your computer.

dcrandall wrote on 5/6/2004, 8:56 PM

Lamont Dennis,

Thank you for trying to help. But, I did see those previous posts, my drivers are up to date (I just checked), and, for me, it's not that Vegas 5 is slow to open... it doesn't open at all after the first time (Vegas Flash screen stays on display) unless I first kill the wowexec.exe process that Vegas 5 starts, on my system, the first time it loads. (wowexec.exe does not close when Vegas is shut down)
I think this is a very different problem. I would like to know why Vegas 5 is loading wowexec.exe (a 16-bit compatiblity program) on my system. I'm guessing it does not load it on yours?

PS: I have modified the registry to keep wowexec.exe from loading, (Vegas 5 now loads every time), but this does not solve the problem. (I also will not be able to run 16-bit windows programs with wowexec.exe disabled)

-Dan

Hunter wrote on 5/6/2004, 10:03 PM

Here is a discription of what wow does, maybe you can make something from it. Sounds like you have some 16-bit program runinng.

Hunter

wowexec.exe
"Windows on Windows Executable environment process, or more specifically Win16 on Win32 – it runs on Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003. WOWEXEC is started by NTVDM. As explained elsewhere on these pages, NTVDM is itself started every time you run a 16-bit program (this may be a DOS program, a Windows 3.1 program, or even a program designed for Windows 9x/NT4 but which has a mixture of 16-bit and 32-bit programming code)."

Recommendation :
Leave alone – see NTVDM for more details.

ntvdm.exe
"Windows NT Virtual DOS Machine – Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003. Whenever you start a DOS or 16-bit Windows program (Windows 3.1 software, or a program designed for Win9x/NT4 but which has a mixture of 32-bit and 16-bit programming code) under Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003, that 16-bit program gets run by the Windows NT Virtual DOS Machine, NTVDM, which basically emulates a DOS/16-bit environment so that your program can run. There will be a different instance of NTVDM running for each DOS/16-bit program that you run. (Note that NTVDM in turns starts a different process called WOWEXEC)."

Recommendation :
If NTVDM is in your Task List, you have a DOS or 16-bit program running. If it is twice in your Task List, you have two DOS or 16-bit programs running, etc... Leave alone; as soon as you close your running DOS/16-bit program(s), NTVDM will disappear from your Task List under Windows 2000/XP/2003 although it will remain in your Task List under Windows NT4 – under NT4 this is by design to ensure that the next 16-bit program you run loads faster.

PDB wrote on 5/7/2004, 2:12 AM

"Hopefully you guys will SEARCH for this topic"
Lamont_Dennis, I did try the search function but failed miserably...I will try harder next time, but at least I acknowledged the fact that I was almost positive the topic had come up...Having said that, I appreciate your pointer to a possible solution... :-)
However, and this is my problem exclusively, my backround in computers/hardware/drivers and 'whathaveyou' is limited to say the least, so my first challenge it would seem is to find out what I need updating (but don't worry about that, I LOVE a challenge..)

Neverthelss, and probably just out of curiosity, what exactly has changed in V5 that causes this for some and not for others, and more to the point, why does V4 open without a glitch on the same machine? As I say, I am clueless when it comes to these things, but it does seem slightly strange: I would have thought Sony would have put out a specific recommendation for updating drivers etc if this was going to be of issue...
Come to think of it, I don't even know what a 16 bit programme is: the only thing that has changed on my computer since I downloaded v5 is precisely that, that it now has V5 (well and DVDA). So why is it now loading this wowexec.exe? or if it was doing so before, it certainly wasn't interfering with anything else, as in V4 for example...

Oh well, the mysteries of computers....and to think I read modern languages and literature as a degree....

Best regards,

Paul.

dcrandall wrote on 5/7/2004, 6:16 AM

"Sounds like you have some 16-bit program runinng"

Not unless Vegas 5 is a 16-bit program. (Thouigh, it is beginning to look like my computer recognizes Vegas 5 as a 16-bit program)
I can watch the Task Manager while Vegas 5 loads and up comes NTVDM and wowexec.exe. This should not, in itself, be a major problem but it seems a second instance of Vegas 5 cannot be started if wowexec.exe is running.

Hunter wrote on 5/7/2004, 8:26 AM

You should remember that Task Man is not showing all processes running. How do you connect - Cable DSL dial-up, By default Vegas tries to connect at start up.

Do you have a USB drive or other USB products that need a program/driver to be installed. Vegas looks at USB and 1394 at start up. My CD storage tower wakes up every time I start Vegas.

Or Vegas has some wierd 16-bit need and it has a conflict with your system, only SoNy could tell us. But some how I doubt they will.

ps the only time I see wowexec is when error reporting is up

dcrandall wrote on 5/7/2004, 9:41 AM

I have submitted this problem to Sony Tech Support and am awaiting their answer.

-Dan

Orcatek wrote on 5/7/2004, 4:51 PM

What version of windows are you running under. I am under XP Pro and it does not start wowexec.

If you check the properties on the start item for Vegas, make sure it is not trying to run it in one of the available compatiability modes.

dcrandall wrote on 5/7/2004, 6:12 PM

I'm running under XP Home. Good suggestion about checking the shortcut properties for compatibility mode. I checked and, unfortunately, that is not the problem. Thanks for the suggestion.

-Dan

VOGuy wrote on 5/8/2004, 4:58 PM

As a sporadic user of Vegas, It's good to hear others have been having this problem. It didn't seem serious, but is sure bothered me. If nobody had said anything, it would have meant a couple hours exchanging memory, scanning my drives, etc.

Thanks -- I'll wait for official word from Sony/Vegas. (Or a tested and effective work-around by the smart folks in here.)

Travis
Travis Voice Over Services www.announcing.biz

earthrisers wrote on 5/8/2004, 5:18 PM

Just adding my 2 cents to the din...

That "extra" executable does start up when I start Vegas, and slows me down as it does the other folks who've reported it.

Ernie

wcoxe1 wrote on 5/9/2004, 4:12 PM

They may be referring to the attempt by Vegas to "Call Home" and check for newer versions, unless you have unchecked that "option." That may or may not be a 16-bit sub-program. Who knows? If in doubt, uncheck it.

earthrisers wrote on 5/9/2004, 5:10 PM

Confirming what wcoxe1 said...

I just went in and un-checked the General Preference about "Use Net Notify to stay informed about Sony products." Then I exited from Vegas and manually killed the "wow" process that Vegas had left behind.

Started Vegas again, and it started with no delay -- and the "wow" process apparently did NOT get started up.
Conclusion: Do NOT allow Vegas to use Net Notify to keep you informed about Sony products.

earthrisers wrote on 5/9/2004, 5:21 PM

Well, after posting that suppressing wowexec.exe solved the "slow startup" problem, I left Vegas and re-started it yet again.

This time it came up much more slowly than the time before -- took about a minute, as opposed to the first-launch time of about 5 seconds. And during the time it was coming up, the Vegas splash screen "stuck" in front of any other application I tried to display (e-mail, or web, or whatever).

The come-up time was not as long as the LOTS OF MINUTES other posters reported in this thread, but not fast. Apparently something a bit more random than the presence or absence of wowexec is involved here...

ON THE THIRD HAND... as I type this, I notice my system as a whole just slowed down -- mouse is sluggish, this message does not appear as fast as I'm typing it, etc. So another possibility is that Vegas isn't at fault at all...

(I don't have the Sasser worm, by the way; at least, Norton antivirus says I don't.)

All is confusion...

rique wrote on 5/9/2004, 5:23 PM

Turning off Use Net Notify gave the impression of working, once, but upon closing and reopening Vegas again, wowexec.exe starts up and Vegas would not finish loading until I ended wowexec.exe. The cycle continues. Vegas will open up one more time, but if I close it and start it again, it freezes because wowexec.exe is back. I rechecked Use Net Notify and Vegas behaves exactly the same.

[r]Evolution wrote on 5/17/2004, 4:41 PM

The plague is spreading:

I started VEGAS 5 today... guess what?.... WOWEXEC.EXE!

I have not been having this problem since I updated my drivers. I guess it's back. If I kill the wowexec.exe in task manager VEGAS opens. If I leave it... I can be waiting up to 15 minutes.

SONY?

dcrandall wrote on 5/17/2004, 5:04 PM

Today, I received an email from Sony Tech Support informing me that Engineering is attempting to reproduce the problem. They also requested that I supply any information about my system, (HP Pavilion 780n, 1.8GHz P4, 512MB RAM), that I believe may prove helpful to them. I'm not sure what I can tell them.
In the mean time, I have edited the registry to keep wowexec.exe from loading.

-Dan