Get "Improper Shutdown" dialog every time I start VoiceAttack

[aremes]

For some reason lately, every time I start VoiceAttack now, it says it had an "Improper Shutdown" the last time. This happens even if I start it, and then just exit it. I always get the dialog, no matter what. It's never crashed on me either, so I don't know why it keeps saying this.

Any ideas where I should look to find out why it thinks something is wrong?

Using 1.6.1 (was happening on 1.6 as well). I can't remember when it started happening though.

Thanks!

[Gary]

I wonder if there's something hanging.  Are you running any plugins?

[aremes]

No plugins at all.

Hanging?

I'm running Windows 10 Home, if that helps.

[Gary]

In your VoiceAttack installation folder (usually c:\program files (x86)\VoiceAttack), is there a VoiceAttackFault.txt in there?  If so, would it be possible for you to email it to support@voiceattack.com?  I can take a look at it and see if there is something amiss.

[aremes]

Well, there was earlier today when I was trying to figure this out. It had messages about unable to do something with the task or tray. I deleted the file because it didn't seem to update each time I launched, so I thought it was possibly the cause, so I deleted it to see if it would start correctly, and it did not fix it. The file has not appeared again though either, so I'm not sure what to say.  Is there another config or log file or something I can send you? Is there some debug log I can enable to help?

[Gary]

It's possible that an exception is somehow getting logged to the Windows application log.  I'm not sure of that, though.

Could you try running VoiceAttack and then kill it with Task Manager and then run VoiceAttack again to see if the box still comes up?

[aremes]

Yes, if I start VoiceAttack and use Task Manager to "End Task" on it, it gives the "Improper Shutdown" message on restart. I tried it 3 times, it was repeatable. And if I just open it and click the exit button (upper right, or from task bar menu) it also gives the same dialog on restart.

 Where is the Windows 10 log that might show what you're looking for, and I can send it to you?

[bmwflyboy]

Following, I am having the same issue. I uninstalled and reinstalled and still have the warning popping up. I don't have the fault file either.

[Gary]

Wondering if the settings are not getting saved properly on exit.  I'll see if there's something I can do (maybe it's being too aggressive).

[Gary]

I moved some things around to see if it might help.  I put a build out in the, 'unofficial' bin if you want to grab it and try it:  http://www.voiceattack.com/unofficial

Just replace your VA executable with that one  (backup your old one if you want to).

Let me know if that works or not... if so, it stays

[bmwflyboy]

I am afraid I won't be much more help for this one....I clicked on the do not show button cause I got impatient. I did put the new executable in though. I'll let you know if I have problems.

[aremes]

Gary,
Sorry to report, but the new test exe has the same problem. No change in behavior.

[bmwflyboy]

I reset defaults and the warning came back. I am still having it pop up with either exe file as well.

[Savok]

Hello chaps, I'd like to sign in with the same bug.

I had same exact symptoms, but an error log file was generated when I run VoiceAttack as an admin. There is one line in it:

07/12/2016 20:53:59 - Unable to load taskbar: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.

Unfortunately running VA as an admin doesn't solve the problem. What seems to have solved the problem was switching off Minimise to system tray in settings.

I hope this helps!

[aremes]

I can confirm, if I start as administrator then the VoiceAttackFault.txt file appears with that error. Strangely enough, that error appears on startup, not exit.

Also, I confirm that if I *disable* the "Minimize to System Tray", the improper shutdown dialog goes away on subsequent startups.

So it's something with the exception being thrown about the task bar.

[Gary]

You might be on to something, Aremes.  I'll check more into that.

[Gary]

Yup.  That would do it.  There are cases when exiting that the value would not be persisted.  Now that I look at it, I'm not sure why I put the code where I did.  I moved it to a better place.  Hope this works.  I put another build out in the, 'unofficial' bin to see if that helps:  http://www.voiceattack.com/unofficial

Good catch on that.

[aremes]

Hooray! You fixed it! The unofficial binary you just posted works fine!

Thanks a bunch!

[Gary]

Awesome

Thanks for letting me know!