I am using Vista Home Premium on a Toshiba Laptop. I have NOD32 anti-virus and 2 anti-spyware Applications: Webroot-Spysweeper and Lavasoft-AdAwareAE and they are all run daily. My Version of Vista Home Premium is automatically updated and has all the latest Version software.
Lately I have noticed that some Applications seem to Freeze upon being launched in Vista (from the Desktop). I also have the Sysinternals Program. With Sysinternals, I can see that what is happening is that sometimes 2 versions of the same program will launch with a simple Double-Click in the Desktop. Some Applications do not have a problem with Multiple Instances, but others cannot run 2 Instances at the same time. Often, in these Double-Launches, one Instance will be at the User Privilege Level and the other at the Administrator Privilege Level.
This causes the launched Program to appear to Freeze or altenatively the Program Application will run with strange error messages or requests for Privilege Elevation. Upon closing the Application, the second version of it launches normally.
Some Applications never exhibit this behavior and others sometimes exhibit this problem. Sometimes, a launched Application will just "Suspend" upon launch. In Systernals, if I just choose "Resume" on the Right-Click Menu, the Program will continue to launch normally.
What is causing this time-wasting, disfunctional launching issue?
Is yours an OEM Vista installation, btw? In such a case it could be the crapware.
I guess you may be having quite a few start-ups. 2 anti-spys plus maybe an anti-virus too and more. All these programs starting plus their services starting may be leading to random system freezes. Uninstall programs you dont need.
I suggest you download and install freeware WinPatrol (winpatrol.com) and disable all except anti-virus start up items. You can do that via run > msconfig too, but WinPatrol is easier to use. Reboot and see.
Thank you for your reply. Yes, my computer is loaded with music generation and recording applications, but I have removed all those idiot application that came with the OEM version of Windows on my Toshiba X205. Like the shareware video games, AOL, McAfee Trial, Vongo, 50-free music downloads and such. With the trusty Sysinternals (Process Explorer) application I can see what is loaded and running on my machine and I believe most of what is there is more or less useful or direcly related to my installed software or Windows itself.
I was wondering if anyone else out there had ever experienced this same type of strange double-click-double-launch phenomenon and it appears not. At least now I know this is a glitch unique to my own computer.
Mostly Application stall during the UAC-check stage (the "Did you start this application?" dialog box never appears), so likely this is related to UAC somehow or other. As odd as it sounds, I have become accustomed to and even fond of UAC so I am not willing to just turn it off. Over time I have been convinced of the importance of having something tell me whenever a program attempts to launch on my system.
I can more or less work around this glitch by only highlighting the Desktop Application and actually launching it with the Enter Key. So far, it seems that this launch method does not produce the Application-Launch-Stall, the Double-Launch-Run-Glitched or the Double-Launch-Stall issue. And if I get a stall, all I need to do is fire up Sysinternals-Process Explorer and Context-Right Click the Grey-Colored Stalled Process and Click on the Resume Option. That always brings the Stalled Processes back to life.
Thanx again and keep me in mind if you run across something in the future that sheds some light on this issue.
I do not think the problem is yours alone as I am sure that others have had it. This is why I always buy an OS disk and when I get a pc I use Killdisk to kill off any pre-installed applications and programs and then instal just what I want not what others think I want. Sure it takes time to do so, but at least then I am totally sure of every thing that is installed is what I want.