VoiceAttack Launching Only As Background Process

[zeroxgen]

Installed VoiceAttack, but when launching, it only runs as a background process. It also while running eats up 25% of my cpu. When launching, it gives me the window for improper shutdown, but even when attempting to boot with everything disabled it still just doesn't open the window. When alt-tabbing I can see that a VoiceAttack window is "open" but clicking on it does nothing. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, restarted my computer, run in admin, run in Windows 8 compatibility, but no dice.

[Gary]

This is the first time anybody has mentioned this type of behavior with VoiceAttack.  A cursory Google search turned up this article: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance-winpc/desktop-app-runs-as-background-process/fa51895c-be5d-44cf-8b41-3c3f1c836739

Hope that helps!

[zeroxgen]

Sorry Gary, VoiceAttack doesn't even show up as a possible app that can run as a background process in the link you sent.

[zeroxgen]

For context,
VoiceAttack shows up as a background process, but no window is open, and is eating up a massive amount of cpu
http://puu.sh/GPUbJ/e94f2da224.png
As can be seen here
http://puu.sh/GPUbn/1553c0a58f.png

The window can be "seen" when we alt tab
https://puu.sh/GPUcP/255b55ebfc.jpg
But tabbing to it does nothing.

[Gary]

Sorry - was answering that from my phone earlier.  Here are some more questions and suggestions:

Is VA running, but minimized to your system tray (bottom-right corner of your main screen)?

Do you have a multiple monitor setup that Windows is reporting as active (but is not actually active)?  You can try running VA with the -relocate to have VA restored to your main monitor.

When launching VA, hold down Ctrl + Shift.  This will bring up the, 'Load Options' screen.  This will allow you to try disabling various items to see if anything changes.  You may need to try nuking your settings to see if something has gotten borked up in there.

As far as the high process load, there are usually only two things that cause that - the Windows speech engine or a pack/plugin/inline function.  We can look into that once you can get your UI to come up.

[zeroxgen]

It is not minimized to my system tray, I am running on a multiple monitor setup but it is active. How would I go about running -relocate just in case?

When running as administrator after force quitting from task manager I get the UI that notifies me of an improper shutdown, but I can't even get this to happen consistently. Even when I tick every box and disable everything, VoiceAttack still doesn't boot correctly. I have tried uninstalling, but if there is a way I could fully and cleanly reset everything I'd be willing to try that too.

[Gary]

When VA is running, does the icon show up in your task bar at the bottom of the screen?  If so, right click on that and click, 'Relocate to primary display' (forgot about that bit).

[zeroxgen]

Unfortunately it does not, which is why I was confused it was still running as a background process.

[zeroxgen]

I tried installing an older version of VoiceAttack, but I am only able to run VoiceAttack 1.5 versions, and even when running these the program immediately freezes upon opening the UI.

[Gary]

What is the latest version of VoiceAttack you've tried?

[Pfeil]

Given the behavior it's quite possible there isn't, but is there a "VoiceAttackFault.txt" file in the installation directory? If so, what are its contents?

[zeroxgen]

I've been using 1.8.7 to which I have all the weird problems, the latest version that can open a GUI that I've found is 1.6.9. This freezes immediately on startup, even when I disable everything using CTRL SHIFT. Neither version generates a VoiceAttackFault.txt either.

[Pfeil]

Normally it shouldn't cause something like this, but just in case, try moving the contents of the following folders (while VoiceAttack isn't running) somewhere else (E.G. your desktop, just keep them around in a different folder):

Code: [Select]

%localappdata%\VoiceAttack.com

Code: [Select]

%Appdata%\VoiceAttack
You can hold the Windows key on your keyboard, press the R key, paste one of the above paths into the "Open" field of the "Run" dialog, then click "OK" (or press Enter) to open that folder.


After moving the contents of both folders, try uninstalling, then installing v1.5.7 and checking whether that starts.

[zeroxgen]

Tried that, but still freezes on startup, and still no fault.txt for some reason.

[Gary]

Just to be clear, you've nuked your settings from Load Options, right?

You can try renaming your .dat file to see if there's something loading up that's out of sorts.  To do this, you'll just need to kill VoiceAttack.  Then, go into C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Roaming\VoiceAttack and rename VoiceAttack.dat to, say, VoiceAttack.old.  Run VA and see if that changes anything.  If not, make sure to put your .dat file's name back to VoiceAttack.dat.

Edit - or follow Pfeil's instructions above to relocate the folder.

If neither of those fix the issue, this is going to be an underlying system issue that's not accounted for, and would need to be fixed locally.  You should try doing a system file scan to see if there's anything immediately apparent: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system    (make sure to do both the sfc and the dism steps).  You'll also want to try reinstalling .Net framework 4.7.2.  These are the steps I would take, at least (system file scan should be done periodically, even if you don't perceive any issues with your setup).

[Vallfender]

Hello everyone. I am also having the same problem, however, even following the entire tutorial, installing both Steam and direct does not work. Has anyone found a solution to this problem? Tks

[Gary]

Have you done any of the steps listed above, Vallfender?

[Vallfender]

Good night Gary. Yes, I did all the steps, including the additional steps on the Windows website. The only alternative I have left is to format my machine and see what happens because I've done a lot of research and nothing has been satisfactory so far. But okay, I'll do it tomorrow and return if there was a solution to the problem or not. As soon as I resolve, I make the purchase through Steam.

[Vallfender]

Good night Gary. Yes, I did all the steps, including the additional steps on the Windows website. The only alternative I have left is to format my machine and see what happens because I've done a lot of research and nothing has been satisfactory so far. But okay, I'll do it tomorrow and return if there was a solution to the problem or not. As soon as I resolve, I make the purchase through Steam.

Good afternoon Gary. I've already managed to solve the problem with Voice Attack. I actually had to format my machine because there was a registry break within the files of Windows itself. With that, only a clean installation of the OS solved the problem. Thank you for your attention and soon I will purchase this fantastic program.