Does not show in system tray a start up

parkd1 · January 27, 2009, 08:57:44 PM

Can you check to see if it shows in system tray at start up. It does load up at start up though. Looks to be random.

Jeremy Collake · February 01, 2009, 12:48:29 PM

Yea, I had another report of that. I am investigating it and fixing it in this beta series. Thanks for the report.

parkd1 · February 01, 2009, 01:41:02 PM

Np. Love the program Keeps getting better and better.

Jeremy Collake · February 01, 2009, 02:38:56 PM

I tracked down the cause to another problem when 'Exit GUI on window close' is enabled. Sigh. Can you confirm this?

Thanks

parkd1 · February 02, 2009, 10:24:45 AM

I have had it crash on exit like twice but seems to be fine now. Just have to see if the new fix takes care of it.

Jeremy Collake · February 02, 2009, 11:27:40 AM

I am going to be uploading the new beta in a few minutes, it should take care of the problem. Please let me know how it goes.

parkd1 · February 23, 2009, 10:24:16 AM

I is still doing it. I have not tried the latest beta to see if that fixes it. Have 3.46.2 installed. Will try the latest beta.

Jeremy Collake · February 23, 2009, 04:32:50 PM

Hmm, yes please do let me know how it does. The latest final should have fixed the problem. Perhaps there is something else going on. I will investigate further.

parkd1 · February 24, 2009, 10:26:39 AM

So far so good. I will keep an eye on it to see if it dose it again. You looking into should help too. Keep up the great work.

parkd1 · February 26, 2009, 09:04:40 PM

It just happened with 3.48. I will try 3.48.1 and see what happens.

Jeremy Collake · February 27, 2009, 01:33:52 PM

Ok, thanks. To be clear, are we talking about the crash at exit now or the disappearance of the system tray icon?

parkd1 · February 28, 2009, 11:47:40 AM

Disappearance of the system tray icon when windows starts up.

Jeremy Collake · March 01, 2009, 12:36:09 PM

Ok, I thought so, was just making sure

. When I had went back and read this thread, it seemed unclear.

I think I may have see this occur once, but am not sure if it was because I had accidentally closed the GUI with 'exit when GUI closed' enabled or not. I haven't seen it occur again. Never fear, I will find out what is going on sooner or later here. It's a strange phenomenon to be sure.

parkd1 · March 01, 2009, 10:49:55 PM

Looks good so far. I just saw new version so will give that a try and keep my eye on it.

parkd1 · March 02, 2009, 10:09:34 AM

Just booted the up this morning and it is not showing.

Jeremy Collake · March 03, 2009, 12:07:34 PM

Quote from: parkd1 on March 02, 2009, 10:09:34 AM
Just booted the up this morning and it is not showing.

Ok, thanks. I'll post here as soon as I've made a fix that I think will work. Until then, I think it's safe to assume that new versions won't fix this bug. I suppose I could accidentally fix it, but that seems unlikely ;o.

parkd1 · March 12, 2009, 10:40:17 AM

It is doing it with version 3.52 too. Thanks.

Jeremy Collake · March 12, 2009, 11:00:04 AM

I'm really sorry I haven't fixed this yet, I just haven't reproduced it. I don't mean to let you down, I hope to figure it out soon. In the meantime, if you disable 'Exit GUI on window close', does everything work as it should? Perhaps that can be a temporary work-around until I finally figure out what in the heck is going on.

A quick series of new questions: I long ago fixed an issue where it disappeared right after startup. Is it now disappearing sometime later than that? Also, when you restart Process Lasso, does it still later disappear? Also, does explorer.exe on your system ever crash? Process Lasso is designed to restore its system tray icon on crashes of explorer, and perhaps that is malfunctioning. Also, did you try an uninstall and reinstall?

Jeremy Collake · March 12, 2009, 11:05:21 AM

You might also try removing the /tray parameter, if it exists, from the HKCU (or HKLM) Windows/CurrentVersion/Run value for Process Lasso. I am experimenting with that now.. giving this whole issue a fresh look. I need to get this fixed up before you get too frustrated with me ;o.

If I'm confused on any details of the problem, or your setup, please correct me, as I've got a lot to keep up with and maybe the issue is I'm misunderstanding the reported trouble. As I understand it: It disappears at startup (only) when 'Exit on GUI window close' is enabled? Right?

parkd1 · March 12, 2009, 11:30:23 AM

Here is some added info that may help. I do have Sp2 RC for vista installed. I will try what you said and see if that helps too.

parkd1 · March 12, 2009, 11:34:03 AM

No it stays. It Just does not show when I reboot and power up the computer.

Jeremy Collake · March 12, 2009, 11:36:21 AM

Quote from: parkd1 on March 12, 2009, 11:34:03 AM
No it stays. It Just does not show when I reboot and power up the computer.

Ok, thanks. I am going to work again on this issue right now. My goal will be to fix it today.

Jeremy Collake · March 12, 2009, 11:45:44 AM

Interesting. It only occurring at startup is a good clue to the cause. A few more questions while I have you here, to try to reproduce the behavior. I am testing in Vista /w SP2 RC2 right now, attempting to see it occur. Don't worry with trying that /tray parameter suggestion I made, I have already tried it.

1. Have you disabled UAC, or is it still active?
1a. If so, are you running Process Lasso with HIGHEST rights or NORMAL rights (show all user processes, or not)?
2. Are there any other users logged into the system?
3. Do you have any special third-party software you might think may be relevant (just guessing, anything unusual)? Something that also starts at login?
4. Does explorer tend to crash on your system, even rarely?
5. Does this not happen every restart? You seemed to suggest it didn't before.. I'm unsure?
6. Do you now if it also happens if you simply logoff and log back in, instead of full restarts? (I'd imagine logoff/logon is the same)
7. Are there any error events in your system application event log?

Thanks!

Jeremy Collake · March 12, 2009, 12:04:07 PM

Btw, my current theories are these:

1. Explorer.exe is silently crashing and restarting (does the taskbar disappear briefly by chance?) at a point in the Process Lasso startup process that prevents it from recreating its system tray icon.
2. Something other software is blocking automatic startup of Process Lasso (i.e. an anti-malware application like Windows Defender). But, if something is interfering should let you know about this interference.
3. Process Lasso is crashing, but if this happened you should have seen a crash message.

Jeremy Collake · March 12, 2009, 12:26:15 PM

The only way I've reproduced this is when Windows Defender blocks it at startup because Process Lasso is configured with highest rights. I assumed this wasn't what the report was about, but I guess I should ask if there is any possibility this is what is happening?

parkd1 · March 12, 2009, 01:03:51 PM

Hmmmmm. I have all set to below normal on start up. UAC is disabled. No other user are logged on. I am the only one. There are no errors at startup. Far as I know explorer.exe is not silently crashing and restarting. It seems to not do this all the time what makes this hard to know what is the cause at startup.

RDMTECH · March 13, 2009, 10:17:23 AM

Are you using 32 or 64 bit Vista?

parkd1 · March 13, 2009, 10:47:30 AM

I am using 32. I get WdiServiceHost and WdiSystemHost service hang at startup.

RDMTECH · March 13, 2009, 10:58:25 AM

Do you have an ATI video card? I've seen this attributed to bad ATI drivers. Please download and install the latest drivers/control center if you do.

parkd1 · March 13, 2009, 11:56:53 AM

No, I do not have a ATI card. Mine is NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS.

RDMTECH · March 13, 2009, 12:19:06 PM

The gist of the article was make sure you have the latest video driver as they have seen issues between those services and video drivers.

Or you can install Vista SP3 (Windows 7)

parkd1 · March 13, 2009, 12:43:42 PM

I have the latest driver installed. I keep all my drivers updated. I plan on moving to windows 7 when it comes out.

RDMTECH · March 13, 2009, 12:48:26 PM

May I suggest you start investigating Windows 7 when the release canidate is released in early April?

I've been running it as my primary OS for a few months now and I love it. It is waaaaaay better than Vista. All my Vista drivers work and I haven't run into any compatibility issues with my applications. Right now I'm running build 7057 which is a build or two away from RC1.

parkd1 · March 13, 2009, 01:05:40 PM

What is way cool. Can not wait.

parkd1 · March 13, 2009, 01:08:38 PM

What version will the RC be of windows 7? I am running Vista Ultimate. Will I be able to upgrade to RC or have to wait for final?

RDMTECH · March 13, 2009, 04:12:16 PM

I don't know what build number the RC will be. I would imagine maybe 7060 or higher.

You can upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 RC Ultimate. Then when Windows 7 final is released you can upgrade from the RC. I've been upgrading Windows 7 builds from Vista Ultimate.

parkd1 · March 22, 2009, 10:41:13 AM

How is it going on this one?

Jeremy Collake · March 22, 2009, 02:47:47 PM

Quote from: parkd1 on March 22, 2009, 10:41:13 AM
How is it going on this one?

Honestly, I still don't have any answers ;(. I haven't reproduced it in any of my test beds, nor do I have any particularly good theories on how it would occur. I also don't know if the problem is specific to your system, or one many users see.

There is still the possibility that I'll stumble upon the cause, but at this point I am in desperate need of additional clues. I encourage you to continue investigating there, and see if you discover any clues that might be helpful.

I am sorry I haven't been able to resolve this for you. It isn't for a lack of effort, it is simply that I have no answers at this point ;(.

parkd1 · March 22, 2009, 03:50:41 PM

That's ok. All we can is keep an eye on it. Maybe someone else will have this too and be able to help. Not really a big deal. I just kill and restart and all is good. Maybe SP2 will help or windows 7 just have to wait and see.

Hotrod · March 22, 2009, 05:31:13 PM

I have also experienced this on my system intermittently (WinXP Home SP3). I have PL configured to load at user login and only have myself as Admin as the sole user on the system. Usually all I have to do is log off and log back on to fix it. Typically it happens after a restart or shutdown/reboot. I assume it is just a timing issue. I had asked when I first started viewing the forum if PL could be made to be one of the first processes started upon bootup so that other processes could benefit from it's function. I still want it to start as early as possible, but I wonder if it needs to delay start up just a tad or maybe wait for specific processes to start before it does to work properly?

Jeremy Collake · March 24, 2009, 06:03:54 PM

Hmm..interesting. It does sound like some sort of timing issue... or at least the timing is what causes the errata to manifest. I don't reboot or logoff or restart much, so perhaps that is why I've never seen it. My test beds are bare bones, so perhaps they aren't as affected (or maybe I haven't done enough logging off or restarts).

I can try playing with the start order, or delaying initialization a little while. However, I'd rather know the cause before I try work-arounds.

Jeremy Collake · June 30, 2009, 04:01:49 PM

While working on PL v3.61.1 beta, I think I've finally discovered the possible cause of this problem. Its manifestation depends on timing and specific system conditions (and other software installed), so it makes a lot of sense. I make a fix in v3.61.1, then back-port it to the last final build if all goes well.

Jeremy Collake · June 30, 2009, 05:09:15 PM

I am pretty sure errata could have possible manifested under certain conditions, so I'm throwing out a quick update to the last final, v3.60.7. This update will include this fix. Let us hope it is the fix those who've seen this issue have been waiting for

.

The new beta version won't have this fix until v3.61.1. I hope to have that version released in a few hours, though I still have a good bit more work to do.

parkd1 · June 30, 2009, 11:41:47 PM

Thanks will give it a try and see if it fixes the bug.

parkd1 · July 01, 2009, 10:13:44 AM

Grrrrr that did not fix it.

Jeremy Collake · July 01, 2009, 01:27:02 PM

Ok, thanks for testing. Maybe I'll come across some other possibility as there may be similar bugs lurking around. I will keep you updated.

Hotrod · October 26, 2010, 02:00:48 PM

I have a Dell Inspiron 1545 Core 2 Duo Laptop with 4G RAM and Windows 7 X64. The PL icon was disappearing at startup about 50% of the time. The final fix that made this work was to access the Task Scheduler entries for startup @ login. I found the default entries for both the Governor and the GUI were both set to not start when on battery power. I unchecked these as i want them to start no matter what. The other change i made was to add the /recovertrayicon switch to the command line. I got this from the extra recover tray Icon exe that you included in the start menu options...but i removed the /showwindow switch since this is actually not necessary or even desired. This seems to have fixed the problem 100% of the time. I write this here in case anyone else has this problem. This is the ultimate fix. Maybe Jeremy can work out another way, but this works for now.

Jeremy Collake · October 26, 2010, 02:09:50 PM

Thank you Hotrod, that is very helpful! It may allow me to finally track down the true cause.

Ironically, the switch (and subsequent behavior) you request to be removed is something other people have been pressuring me to remove anyway -- and I promised to do. So, I will go ahead and do that in the next build.

So, for now, at least we'll apparently have a work-around --- which I'll take in the absence of a definitive known cause. I tried again to address this in v4.00.06 RC1, but apparently failed ;(. It seems to be influenced by startup timing.

Jeremy Collake · October 26, 2010, 02:22:57 PM

I think I finally found the true cause

. I was on the right path, but missed a part. That last clue finally did it for me

. Thanks!

It was, as I long suspected, a race condition on the main window creation and system tray window creation. I now have a proper event so any other thread needing that main window won't try anything until the main window is fully initialized.

Scott · November 15, 2010, 09:44:08 PM

Not sure where this fits in, but I have the exact opposite issue now. I can't say in what beta build this cropped up in, but it was very recently. I'm now running 4.00.15 and I can't get the main window to appear normally when launched.

That is, when I run ProcessLasso.exe, it goes right to the tray, and I have to restore it from there to show the window. It doesn't matter if I use the /showwindow switch, the /tray switch, or none at all.

I don't have "Close window to system tray" enabled.

Is there a way to run ProcessLasso.exe and have the window shown right away?