PowerChurch goes temporarily unresponsive

[Ben_B]

I'm having a problem where when I close any task (for example, Integrated Data Entry or Maintain Personal Profiles), PowerChurch frequently locks up for about 20 seconds. If I click anywhere on PC+ while this is happening, it grays out and the title bar changes to "Not Responding". It doesn't happen every time, but more often than not. Other programs are working fine during these episodes, so I usually switch to e-mail while I wait. It's awfully annoying though. After 15-20 seconds, it comes back and works fine until the next time I close a task. It doesn't lock up on data access or save, just on closing tasks, and there doesn't seem to be any pattern to when it chooses to lock up. There is no local hard disk activity or processor usage and minimal network use. There are only 3 computers on this LAN so bottleneck is not a problem.

This is a LAN installation and from what I can tell the problem only occurs on the network computer, not the server.

Both the server and the networked computer are running Win 7 x64, PC+ version 11.5 with all the maintenance releases. Both computers are well above specs for this program.

Any ideas?

[NeilZ]

OK ... quick question:

how is the Powerchurch network share, shared ??

In the Knowledgebase Article for sharing there's this:

Choose to share the folder on the network. For access choose full control or allow network users to change my files. In Windows Vista, share to other users as "Co-owner". Click Apply and then OK. The folder should have a hand icon under it showing that it is shared.

Win 7+ is somewhat different, but the idea is the same.

[Ben_B]

OK ... quick question:

how is the Powerchurch network share, shared ??

In the Knowledgebase Article for sharing there's this:

Choose to share the folder on the network. For access choose full control or allow network users to change my files. In Windows Vista, share to other users as "Co-owner". Click Apply and then OK. The folder should have a hand icon under it showing that it is shared.

Win 7+ is somewhat different, but the idea is the same.

Thanks, Neil.

The PC+ directory is shared on the server with full control privileges. The network computer has that directory mapped as a network drive. PowerChurch was then installed on the network computer using the netsetup installer.

[NeilZ]

Well .. it was an idea. I was thinking that if it was shared using individual network permissions, that could cause an issue.

Is anyone else working in Powerchurch when this occurs ?

[Zorak]

Oddly enough, we have seen problems in the past when the program directory (\pcplus115\) is shared and mapped, rather than the parent (\powerchurch\). Not saying that is the problem in your case, but it may be worth checking out. Also, that makes it easier when installing updates in the future. When you install pcplus12 into the powerchurch folder on the server, it would already be mapped and shared on the workstations. One less thing to do.

You can also verify that the antivirus/security software on that workstation is not actively scanning network resources (i.e. the server or other computers on the network). That has been known to cause terrible program performance in the past.

[Ben_B]

Is anyone else working in Powerchurch when this occurs ?

Nope, just me.

[Ben_B]

Oddly enough, we have seen problems in the past when the program directory (\pcplus115\) is shared and mapped, rather than the parent (\powerchurch\). Not saying that is the problem in your case, but it may be worth checking out. Also, that makes it easier when installing updates in the future. When you install pcplus12 into the powerchurch folder on the server, it would already be mapped and shared on the workstations. One less thing to do.

You can also verify that the antivirus/security software on that workstation is not actively scanning network resources (i.e. the server or other computers on the network). That has been known to cause terrible program performance in the past.

Interesting! The program is actually installed into a custom directory (simply C:\PowerChurch, no pcplus115 subdirectory). Perhaps that's affecting it.

I've temporarily disabled antivirus to see if that makes a difference.

Having been trying to do data entry for the last few hours, I'm realizing that it's not just when I close a task. It also freezes sometimes when trying to access a drop down list, such as the Title field (Mr., Mrs., etc.). I type a letter and it will instantly lock up, then come back about 20 seconds later and load the list. It also locked when I clicked the "Add" button under Services in a personal profile. Again, 20 seconds later and all was well.

[Ben_B]

I've temporarily disabled antivirus to see if that makes a difference.

Update: completely disabling antivirus had no effect.

[Zorak]

OK, sounds like there might be an issue with the auto-complete data file. The first thing you can do is just reindex. Go to Utilities > Reindex. Choose to reindex all files.

If that doesn't help the problem, you can disable the auto-complete functionality altogether. Go to File > Preferences > User Setup Options. Click on the General tab. Uncheck the "use auto-complete..." option.

[NeilZ]

What you may eventually want to do is create a new PCPLUS115 directory under the Powerchurch directory on your 'server', move all the current files and directories in the Powerchurch directory to the new directory. Then run the netsetup115 program in the Install directory so that the server's registry is updated with the new location.

Then run netsetup115 on the clients to update their systems. This will allow you to keep any new versions of Powerchurch alongside the older version for as long as you may need.

[Ben_B]

OK, sounds like there might be an issue with the auto-complete data file. The first thing you can do is just reindex. Go to Utilities > Reindex. Choose to reindex all files.

If that doesn't help the problem, you can disable the auto-complete functionality altogether. Go to File > Preferences > User Setup Options. Click on the General tab. Uncheck the "use auto-complete..." option.

No luck with either of these solutions, sorry. In fact, it locked up during the reindex, and then it locked up after I clicked OK for disabling auto-complete. Just 20 seconds each time. Is there something it might be trying to access?

Edit to add: I just uninstalled & reinstalled using netsetup on the network computer, in case that might help. It didn't.

[Misty]

We have been having the same issue with PowerChurch temporarily Not Responding. If I close the application and then reopen it, everything's fine for a while. We can't seem to find a pattern for the the unresponsiveness.

Has a resolution for the problem been pinpointed?

[NeilZ]

We have been having the same issue with PowerChurch temporarily Not Responding. If I close the application and then reopen it, everything's fine for a while. We can't seem to find a pattern for the the unresponsiveness.

Has a resolution for the problem been pinpointed?

Again, we need additional information:

What version?
Networked ?
Have you reindexed lately ?
How many users are on at the same time?

[Misty]

Version 11.1
Networked
reindexed yesterday, but doesn't seem to have an effect on this problem
between 2 and 4 users at a time

Numerous times per day for each user, PowerChurchPlus 11.1 adds (Not Responding) to the top of the window after the name of the program. Some times it lasts for a few seconds, sometimes as long as 5-10 minutes. It happens at various stages: sometimes initially opening the program takes several minutes, sometimes it is when accessing existing data, other times when entering new data. We don't seem to see a pattern.

I noticed that on our server, some older versions of Powerchurch still there (PCPLUS7 and PCPLUS8) . They are mapped differently and don't show unless one specifically looks for them.

[Zorak]

This could be caused by antivirus, online backup, or some other active scanning software.

First, make sure any of those types of programs that are running on each workstation and the server/host computer are set to only scan local files. An antivirus program on a workstation that is busy scanning the data files on the server before the program can use them will slow the program down significantly. When you have multiple workstations that are all running at the same time, all needing access to those data files, with the antivirus programs fighting for access to the files on the server, it will bring everything to a screeching halt.