RoboHelp hangs, with 100% CPU whenever I close a topic.

[symmetricalMan]

RoboHelp 8.0.2.208

Windows XP Pro

I have recently installed RH8 and performed the two available updates, bringing it up to 8.0.2.208.

RH8 is installed locally, on my computer only, and I am the only user.

I have been working in RH daily, and have had no major issues, except a little slowness when working across the network (RH is installed locally, but the project was saved to a networked machine).

Over the last two days I've noticed that whenever I close a topic, RH hangs for approximately 10-15 seconds, during which I can't activate or select anything in the UI. This occurs regardless of whether I've actually made any changes to the topic, and regardless of how many topics I have open simultaneously.

Whilst a topic is open, I can edit it without any problems. I can also click on anything in the UI, use any of the menus etc - the hanging problem only occurs when I close a topic.

When working in an open topic, my CPU usage is low; 4-7%, depending on what I'm doing. However, when the 'hanging' occurs, the CPU peaks at 100%, again for 10-15 seconds, after which the CPU drops back down to 'normal' operations and I can continue working.

I have tried creating a new project on my local machine, in case the delay had something to do with RH writing back to the remote location, but the problem persists, regardless.

Thanks

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Projects on a network have long been a no-no, so you get what you get if you insist on working on projects while they are located on a network.

But you seem to have covered your bases by testing with a project that is totally on your local storage media. I suppose I might suggest that you investigate whatever Anti-virus software you are running. Usually these are able to be disabled for a brief period. Five minutes or so. So I'd suggest temporarily disabling the Anti-virus software and see if the situation improves.

You may also want to perform some hard drive maintenance such as a defragmentation along with deleting all temporary files and browser cache. Perhaps it's thrashing as it tries to write the file.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 moments from now - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcererStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[Peter Grainge]

Just one thing to add to Rick's advice, have you tried the supplied sample projects to see if they have the same problem.

You will find the samples at

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 8\RoboHTML\Samples\en_US

or

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2\Adobe RoboHelp 8\RoboHTML\Samples\en_US

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@petergrainge

[symmetricalMan]

Thanks for the quick responses, people.

• Have completed a drive clean-up and defragment - no change.
• Can't disable the Symantec Endpoint Anti-virus here - it's locked down - company policy. I've asked Sys Admin if they can assist.
• Have tried using the sample files - no change.

This morning I'm going to try running RH in a Virtual Machine image. Will post the results.

Cheers.

UPDATE: Ran RH sample in a Windows XP Pro Virtual Machine - works perfectly.

Must be something happening on my machine or network. I'm still open to suggestions, of course. I'll post anything I find too.

UPDATE: Have configured the Symantec to ignore the adobe RH folder and my projects folder (I'm only working locally until I resolve this), but have had no change.

UPDATE: I've now discovered that the hanging also occurs after closing the Hyperlink window (double-click any hyperlink in a topic to see this window).

[Peter Grainge]

Given that this problem is also occurring with the samples (a known quantity) and occurs with all projects, I think I would try an uninstall and reinstall.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[symmetricalMan]

Thanks Peter,

I have tried a complete uninstall/reinstall, including deleting all the related registry keys and folders, with no success. I also tried a system restore prior to when I first installed RH, with no success.

S

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

Get someone else to log on to your machine and try one of the samples.

If that fails, can you try on a non network machine, perhaps your own PC?

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[symmetricalMan]

Thanks Peter,

When I get someone else to log into my computer, RH works perfectly!

Now, why would you have thought of that, and what am I supposed to do about it?

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Peter thought of it because it's relatively common that sometimes your Windows profile causes issues.

I think the fact it works perfectly when someone else logs in is indicative that you might want to consider asking your IT staff to create you a new profile.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 moments from now - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcererStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[symmetricalMan]

Ok, our Systems Admin has recreated my profile and everything is working perfectly now.

It was determined that my profile was not the default domain profile - I'd been working in a non-default domain profile for years, it seems. We don't know why my profile had been setup this way to begin with.

I'm going to flag this issue as 'answered', but I don't believe it's really an answer so much as a work-around, because in our minds we couldn't determine why RH was the only application affected.

If anyone knows why RH was affected by my non-default domain profile, please contribute to this post so that others can benefit from it.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

[Peter Grainge]

Why would I think of it?

Sometimes those old guys sitting in the corner like Statler and Waldorf (the Muppet Show) have something called experience.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[MergeThis]

Har, har, har, ho, ho, har, har...

[Peter Grainge]

Thanks for that post Waldorf!

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[symmetricalMan]

Ha ha ha, and so forth.

The response I was hoping for was "Well, I'd thought about it because it's been known to happen with some Adobe products because of..."

[Peter Grainge]

Sorry but some things in life you know how to fix but don't know why they break.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[MergeThis]

symmetricalMan:

The jollity was directed to Peter in response to his referring to the Muppets' old guys.

Besides, how can we start trashing you if we hardly know you?

Good luck,

Leon

[symmetricalMan]

@Peter: Yeah, I know. I just hate loose ends. It is however working, so that's good.

@MergeThis: Umm... Huh? I hadn't taken offence at all. I was in with the joke re Muppets. Guess my sarcasm doesn't come across well in text form. It's all good.