Vitamibe D won't start up after previously working

[PaulMalcontent]

Have enjoyed Vitamine D for a year. Today my computer crashed and rebooted with chkdsk.
After checking all drives Vitamine D won't start up. It however is working because I can hear the notification sound, but can't get to open the programm (and see something).

I have deleted and re-installed. It however still does not open.

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks from the Netherlands.

Paul

[Semper Vaporo]

You might provide some more info for the Techs, to save some time when they get here...

From your comment about chkdsk I assume you are using a PC, but it would be good to know what verion of the operating system you are using (XP, Vista, 7, etc.) (Unless MAC also has a chkdsk, in which case some of my comments below will need some slight re-interpretation!)

Here are some other help threads that might provide you with an "Ah HA!" moment:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=149

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=168

Also, see the Reference guide:

http://www.vitamindvideo.com/support/re ... _tips.html

for info on what processes you should see running using Windows Task Manager.

The main process ("Vitamin D Video") must have gotten started in order for the subprocesses ("Vitamin D Agent") to get started, but it may have aborted for some reason or it may still be active but hidden somehow.

Is the program listed in the Task Bar (usually at the bottom of the screen)? If so, click on it to bring it to the fore.
Using the Task Manager "Applications" tab, do you see it listed there? If so, right-click on the name and select "Switch To" to see if it will display.
Is the main process listed in the "Processes" tab of Task Manager? There should be 1 with the "Vitamin D Video" name and 4 plus 1 for each camera instances of the "Vitamin D Agent" subprocesses. Do they show CPU activity? (especially the Vitamin D Video one.)

It could be that the main program won't show until it has cleaned up a database that has gotten corrupted and is stuck doing that and may or may not ever come out of it. You may need to manually delete the database and configuration files. Windows "Uninstall" typically leaves these files behind and a reinstall may not clean them up. You will find some of them in the "Vitamin D" subfolder in the "Program Files" (or "Program Files 86") folder and some in the "Users" space (the exact path to it is dependant on the version of Windows!)

Other things to consider:

Have you determined what caused the computer to crash? Drive or other hardware failure, overheating, etc. (I recently found my surveillance PC showing a black screen and the fan was running full bore. Had to pull the battery and the AC to get it to stop and reboot. I have discovered that I lost the WiFi interface and at least one of the USB port controllers. )

Did the crash occur during or shortly after an update of some sort (antivirus, firewall, etc.)?

Did you install or update a supposedly unrelated program? (I had a problem many years ago where two users were having to reinstall their desired program at the start of their work shift as each of the installs broke the other program!)

[ryan]

Thanks for the great reply Semper!

In addition I would ask if in the task manager there is a "Vitamin D Video" process running, or just "Vitamin D Agent" processes? If there is a Vitamin D Video process, the UI is running, but something might be placing it off screen. It should still be showing up in your task bar, in which case you should be able to right click and choose 'move' and then use the arrow keys or your mouse to try to position it on screen? Maximize might do the trick as well.

If everything fails I would suggest deleting (or temporarily moving) the VDV data directory as suggested in the first post that Semper linked.

Hope that helps,
- ryan