Slightly disturbing turn of events

me_again wrote on 8/27/2020, 3:48 AM

Greetings,

I've always had the feeling that inanimate objects don't like me (e.g. screwdrivers not where I left them, 2 minute job taking 30, fuel filler cap not opening on car when on the forecourt with people watching but works perfectly at home, you know the sort of thing) and now it's the turn of MEP 2020.

For years I've updated MEP with each release and each one seems to carry on the bugs of the old version so I decided some weeks ago not to renew this years update service until the new version was released and others can comment on it pointing out the pitfalls and possible benefits. Selfish I know but I done a lot of moaning in the past about MEP bugs

recently I've had untold numbers of emails from Magix saying I need to update the service contract, which expired end of July this year, and every time I start MEP a nag screen pops up about updating to most recent version of the Update Service for my Software. I know I can disable it or even update the Update Service but my choice at the moment is not to.

OK, after that preamble - the slightly concerning problem.

In a morning I boot up my computer and recently, for a few days now, MEP loads on booting as though I'd actually clicked on it to open.Today I thought I would find out why.

I checked in the startup folder and there was no MEP in there. I checked everything that I could find on Google about auto starting programs in Windows, all to no avail.

So I booted the computer and again there was MEP with it's pop up screen about updating the updater but now also an offer get MEP 2021 (incidentally for £5 less that the offers I had in emails recently but that's beside the point).These I closed.

I used MEP for a short while then closed it and opened Task Manager to again check the startup programs and noticed that, although I had closed MEP in the "correct" manner there was still a "Magix Video Deluxe Plus" running in background processes using 0% CPU and 377.9 Mb memory. I assumed at first that MEP was doing something with the Store as it has done since version 2020 but the CPU or memory never altered. So I ended that MEP program and rebooted the computer.

On reboot MEP did not auto load so I loaded it, let it run for 5 minutes then closed it. Magix Video Deluxe plus was left running in background services. I left it there and rebooted.

MEP auto loaded! I've tried several times today to cure this. MEP is always left running in background services after the main program is closed and if I don't manually end it MEP auto loads after booting and if I do end it it doesn't.

Now this is where my paranoia kicks in. Is this a ploy by the MEP Masters to gain my attention or is it just another inanimate object trying to annoy me - and succeeding may I add? It could just be a coincidental corruption in the installation but the timing is too good.

AndyW

Comments

CubeAce wrote on 8/27/2020, 4:29 AM

@me_again

Hi.

You could just tick the 'Do not show me this again', or if paranoid you could uninstal the app.

Ray.

johnebaker wrote on 8/27/2020, 6:29 AM

@me_again

Hi Andy

. . . . screwdrivers not where I left them, 2 minute job taking 30, fuel filler cap not opening on car when on the forecourt with people watching but works perfectly at home, you know the sort of thing . . . .

That is Murphy's Law - totally unavoidable and unpredictable.

As @CubeAce has commented the Update Notifier can be uninstalled, however if you are using Camera MX and use it to transfer images and video from mobile to PC you need this, if so then you can turn off all notifications within the Update Notifier as shown below.

HTH

John EB

me_again wrote on 8/27/2020, 8:43 AM

Greetings,

I decided to uninstall Updater and check marked the "do not show this message again" on the new update screen, but I knew what the result would be before I did it - there is still videodeluxe.exe showing in background processes after MEP has exited.

In fact, as can been seen from the attached pic, I can now open and exit MEP as many times as I like and more and more videodeluxe.exe's stay in Background tasks. This, id I remember correctly from earlier is impossible as a pop-up screen usually appears saying that a version of MEP is already running and do I really want to open another one.

As a matter of interest I've left the the 4 files open and I'm going to reboot the PC, just to see if MEP tries to open 4 times.

AndyW

eddit - forgot to add picture

me_again wrote on 8/27/2020, 8:55 AM

Absolutely brilliant!

MEP did indeed try to load 4 times, with the Magix is already started popup appearing 3 times as well as the main startpage making 1 real load and 3 attempted loads.

AndyW

shgrude wrote on 8/27/2020, 9:21 AM

@me_again

Have you tried starting and closing MEP once and then leave the PC on overnight (ensuring the powersettings do not kick in and put PC in sleep) to see if MEP eventually closes?

CubeAce wrote on 8/27/2020, 9:24 AM

@me_again

Hi Andy.

Did you use 'Restart' to boot your PC or 'shutdown'? To clear your previous session you should use 'Restart'.

Ray.

me_again wrote on 8/27/2020, 9:59 AM

@shgrude

Not overnight but I left the PC on when I went out this morning at 10:30 and when I got back at 1:15 pm videodeluxe.exe was still running with 0% CPU and 54.2 Mb memory. I will leave it overnight though.

@CubeAce

Both.

It gives every impression of the Store spinning disk problem caused by a previous update except there is no spinning disk, no CPU activity and no memory used and no program hesitation or hanging. And of course there is multiple instances of videodeluxe.exe that remain loaded - which is of course impossible under normal circumstances.

And when I right click on videodeluxe.exe within Background Processes in Task Manager to open file location it does take me to videodeluxe.exe within Program Files/Magix/Movie Edit Pro/2020.

I'll carry on investigating. There has to be a reason.

AndyW

browj2 wrote on 8/27/2020, 10:14 AM

@me_again

Hi,

You are likely caught in the Store update problem. If you can, let MEP run for an hour or so. Exit. Do not shut down the computer until you see that MEP is no longer in the background processes. I have had this problem a couple of times and it would last maybe a week before going away.

I also got the update messages. For the Update Notifier (gives popup message at lower right after starting computer), you can open it and disable messages about any or all of the programs, or you can simply remove the app.

For the Update messages upon opening MEP, I kept checking the box to not see it again, but there it was...until a few days ago. The message stopped, just when I actually wanted to see it. Go figure.

John CB

me_again wrote on 8/27/2020, 10:53 AM

@browj2

Thanks for that John. All the signs of being in a loop are there except for the lack of CPU activity and the memory usage staying constant. Still doesn't explain how multiple instances of MEP can still be in the Background processes.

HOWEVER - I finished a small project this afternoon and, whilst the program was to all intents and purposes working normally during the editing, the playback in the video monito was jumpy and effect rendition previews were poor to say the least. Thinking this was connected to the "problem", I checked the program settings and, for some reason or another, the Video Mode in Display Options had changed to Compatibilty Mode without any help from me.

I changed it back to Standard Mode and the jumpiness unsurprisingly disappeared.

I then went into Task Manager to end the Videodeluxe.exe that had recently been left hanging around after exiting and it wasn't there.

So whatever was causing the problem, it either coincidentally sorted itself out at exactly the same time I changed the Video Mode from Compatibilty to Standard (could that really be the answer?) or the Gremlins decided to give me back my sanity. or maybe it was the store problem after all even though there was lack of activity.

Either way, until the next time, thanks for your suggestions.

AndyW

CubeAce wrote on 8/27/2020, 11:11 AM

@me_again

Hi Andy.

If you open MEP again and now look at the MB usage count and see if it has increased considerably, then it would seem it was still sorting store content as John suggested.

Ray.

me_again wrote on 8/29/2020, 6:13 AM

Greetings,

Just in case anybody is interested, I've can confirm that the problem only happens when Video Mode is set to Compatibilty. All is well when Standard Mode is checked.

That's with my system anyway - as described in my signature.

AndyW