Why does paint.net take so long to open on my new laptop?

[fylmxd]

I recently made a big jump when it comes to laptop specs. My old laptop was a 2015~ mid-range and my new one is a slightly high-tier 2021 laptop. I downloaded paint.net (non-ms store version), moved my plugins and filetypes from my old laptop to my new one, and put them in their respective folders.

 

However, I've noticed just how long paint.net takes to load in comparison to my old laptop. My old one would load the app within 2-3 seconds at any given time, while my new laptop takes around 8-10 seconds on the first 1-2 times that I open it, and then it's mostly fine afterwards.

 

 

So, what gives?

 

 

-----

 

Here's a spec comparison if needed.

 

Old laptop:

- i5-5200U

- 8GB DDR3 1600MHz

- Intel Integrated Graphics and an AMD Radeon R5 M330

- 200GB SSD for boot (partitioned, 120GB C Drive)

New laptop:

- i7-11370H

- 16GB DDR4 3200MHz

- Intel Integrated Graphics and an RTX 3060 (6GB)

- 1TB SSD (boot + storage)

[toe_head2001]

Please post the diagnostic information found within paint.net.

 

Settings -> Diagnostics -> Copy to clipboard

[Ego Eram Reputo]

How many plugins do you have installed?

[Rick Brewster]

Have you tried 4.3 yet? It uses .NET 5, which is a pretty major platform shift from .NET 4.8. Performance should be better.

 

 

[fylmxd]

12 hours ago, toe_head2001 said:

Please post the diagnostic information found within paint.net.

 

Settings -> Diagnostics -> Copy to clipboard

 

Here you go.

[fylmxd]

10 hours ago, Ego Eram Reputo said:

How many plugins do you have installed?

quite a few, same as the ones installed on my old laptop. I see 227 DLL's in my Effects folder for paint.net

[fylmxd]

5 hours ago, Rick Brewster said:

Have you tried 4.3 yet? It uses .NET 5, which is a pretty major platform shift from .NET 4.8. Performance should be better.

 

 

I'll check it out, thanks!

[fylmxd]

Hey, just looked through my settings.

 

Loading plugin errors can slow down the time it takes paint.net to boot, right?

 

[Rick Brewster]

Plugins are loaded in the background. Shouldn't add too much to startup time. Having lots of custom shapes will certainly slow things down.

 

You can dig into this deeper by enabling tracing. Go to Start -> Run, then type in paintdotnet:/enableTracing=c:\pdn.trace (or substitute an appropriate location for the trace file).

 

Then, open up Chrome and navigate to chrome://tracing. Then drag-and-drop the trace file onto the window.

 

You'll see something like this, and you can use W A S D to zoom in/out and move left/right. The segment that marks "startup complete" is MainForm::OnShown (that is, startup is complete at the end of that bar). If there's something taking too long, it will probably show up as a bar that is obviously "way too long."

 

Go ahead and ZIP up the file and attach it to a reply and I can also look at it.

 

[fylmxd]

On 8/9/2021 at 8:02 PM, Rick Brewster said:

Plugins are loaded in the background. Shouldn't add too much to startup time. Having lots of custom shapes will certainly slow things down.

 

You can dig into this deeper by enabling tracing. Go to Start -> Run, then type in paintdotnet:/enableTracing=c:\pdn.trace (or substitute an appropriate location for the trace file).

 

Then, open up Chrome and navigate to chrome://tracing. Then drag-and-drop the trace file onto the window.

 

You'll see something like this, and you can use W A S D to zoom in/out and move left/right. The segment that marks "startup complete" is MainForm::OnShown (that is, startup is complete at the end of that bar). If there's something taking too long, it will probably show up as a bar that is obviously "way too long."

 

Go ahead and ZIP up the file and attach it to a reply and I can also look at it.

 

hm, i can't find a trace file in my c drive. what exactly should i be looking for?

[Rick Brewster]

I can't see what folder you've got open there. I presume C:\ ? That's where the file should go ... you'd see an error at startup. Make sure you've exited Paint.NET before relaunching it with that command I gave. You'll also need to exit Paint.NET in order to do anything with the trace file.

[fylmxd]

2 hours ago, Rick Brewster said:

I can't see what folder you've got open there. I presume C:\ ? That's where the file should go ... you'd see an error at startup. Make sure you've exited Paint.NET before relaunching it with that command I gave. You'll also need to exit Paint.NET in order to do anything with the trace file.

it runs the command successfully and opens an instance of paint.net, but i can't seem to find any trace file in my c drive?

I also tried substituting the c path with some other folder (i.e. the "Files Folder" you saw in the screenshot I sent), but I get an error saying it doesn't recognize the type of image.

[null54]

3 hours ago, fylmxd said:

it runs the command successfully and opens an instance of paint.net, but i can't seem to find any trace file in my c drive?

 

The command in @Rick Brewster post has a typo, it should be paintdotnet:/enableTracing:c:\pdn.trace.

[AndrewDavid]

I thought that was the case but I couldn't figure it out. We are not out of the woods yet though. @null54's suggestion results in this for me:

 

[Rick Brewster]

That means you need to find a location that you can write to, and use that path. For instance, I might use c:\users\rick\pdn.trace

[AndrewDavid]

OK @Rick Brewster I got it to work. I have administrate privileges' but I don't always get permission. (ITS A WINDOWS THING)

 

 

 

Have a look and see how it performs on this low end machine. BTW - I like the /disablePlugins switch

Physical Memory                                              8,143 MB

CPU                                                          Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460  CPU @ 3.20GHz

Edited September 9, 2021 by AndrewDavid
Removed upload

[Rick Brewster]

@AndrewDavid are you also having slow startup?

[AndrewDavid]

Not in my opinion. (669 Plugins). Adding the new switch cuts startup in half. 

[Rick Brewster]

The "new switch" as in /disablePlugins?

[AndrewDavid]

1 hour ago, Rick Brewster said:

The "new switch" as in /disablePlugins?

Yes

[Rick Brewster]

8 hours ago, AndrewDavid said:

OK @Rick Brewster I got it to work. I have administrate privileges' but I don't always get permission. (ITS A WINDOWS THING)

 

pdn.zip 88.74 kB · 2 downloads

 

Have a look and see how it performs on this low end machine. BTW - I like the /disablePlugins switch

Physical Memory                                              8,143 MB

CPU                                                          Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460  CPU @ 3.20GHz

 

IIRC you also have an HDD, not an SSD? That will definitely hurt startup times with a lot of plugins, especially cold startup (not cached, "first launch" after awhile / after reboot).

[AndrewDavid]

@Rick Brewster You get what you pay for  ($750 Canadian 3 years ago)

Once I see the desktops come with Win 11, it will be time for an upgrade. A SSD and 16 MB Ram will be on the list.

Can you believe I'm still on an 19" monitor?