Problem opening and running LBB

[RNBW]

I have just treated myself to a new laptop running windows 11 with an Intel Core Ultra 9.

It takes about a minute to open LBB and then running a program is a bit hit and miss as to how long it takes to start up. Sometimes it doesn't start at all.

Any ideas? Is there a problem with the Ultra 9 chip?

Is the problem with BB4W? No problems so far with BBCSDL2.

[guest]

It takes about a minute to open LBB and then running a program is a bit hit and miss as to how long it takes to start up. Sometimes it doesn't start at all.

That sounds suspiciously like a virus scanner taking a long time to verify that it's safe to run. Can you try whitelisting the folder in which LBB is installed to see if that helps?

LBB runs fine on this Windows 11 laptop (Intel vPRO i7) but I only use Windows Security (previously Windows Defender) for malware protection. I'd strongly advise not using McAfee or Norton.

[RNBW]

It takes about a minute to open LBB and then running a program is a bit hit and miss as to how long it takes to start up. Sometimes it doesn't start at all.

That sounds suspiciously like a virus scanner taking a long time to verify that it's safe to run. Can you try whitelisting the folder in which LBB is installed to see if that helps?

LBB runs fine on this Windows 11 laptop (Intel vPRO i7) but I only use Windows Security (previously Windows Defender) for malware protection. I'd strongly advise not using McAfee or Norton.

I use Eset. It was recommended by the Security Manager at a well known engineering company.

However, I've tried it with Eset, with Windows Security and with both disabled. There was no difference.

I ran the same LBB program in the LBB Editor and LB Workshop and the result was similar. LBB Editor took about a minute to open and LB Workshop opened immediately. However, the LBB Program took about a minute to open, but worked OK when it did.

I also tried BBC Basic for Windows. This opened immediately and I loaded the SHEET program This took about a minute to open, but worked OK when it did.

I have also an Address Book written in LBB and is executable. This takes a similar time to open but works fine when open.

I wondered if it was BB4W that was the problem. I believe it is 32bit and I wondered if this could be struggling with the Ultra 9 processor. Possibly not, because LB Workshop is 32bit and I've tried Purebasic 32bit and both load instantly.

[guest]

I believe it is 32bit and I wondered if this could be struggling with the Ultra 9 processor.

Struggling? x86-series processors (from both Intel and AMD) can be switched to a 32-bit mode, with no performance penalty - they run 32-bit code as fast as a 32-bit CPU would (faster, in fact, given that there are no modern 32-bit-only CPUs with which they can be compared).

Check using Task Manager what is happening during the initial start-up delay. What process is actually taking up the CPU time?

Bear in mind that BBC BASIC for Windows still runs in Windows 95 as confirmed by the screenshot below. This proves that it's as 'standard' and 'compliant' a 32-bit Windows application as it's possible to have!

bbcwin95.png (230.43 KiB) Viewed 1391 times

[RNBW]

There is little happening in Task Manager processes when opening LBB or running a program. Nothing stands out in the Task Manager Processes. I am only running Task Manager and LBB.

I don't have similar problems with other programs. Liberty Basic, for example, loads up instantly and running programs also also occurs very quickly. I am testing the same programs in LBB and LB.

This has only started to happen after recent Windows 11 updates. Unfortunately, I can't use Windows Restore to go back to an earlier version because I have been removing several applications and each time one of applications is removed the program I use to delete the application sets up a new restore point.

It's a mystery to me.

[guest]

I don't have similar problems with other programs.

So don't use LB Booster! It became obsolete some years ago, when Liberty BASIC 5 was finally released, and resolved most of the issues that LBB was designed to tackle. Are there any ways at all in which LBB is superior to LB5? It seems unlikely.

At the risk of repeating myself, BBC BASIC for Windows (on which LB Booster is based) is a very straightforward and compliant Win32 application, so much so that it will even run in Windows 95! The only respect in which it's a little unusual is that it's mostly written in assembly language.

Long delays at start-up, in Windows, are almost always caused by an anti-virus suite uploading the executable to a central server for checking. They can usually be overcome either my whitelisting or by uploading the executable for analysis.

If you see little activity in Task Manager during the delay, it is suggestive of just such a cause.

[RNBW]

Have you tried using LB5?
It's far from the finished article and progress in development is very slow. It may be that at some time in the future, when it is finally developed out of the Beta stage, it will be superior to LBB.
Until then LB 4.5.1 is better than LB5 as is LBB.
My intention is to clone my computer and then reinstate Windows 11 and see if that resolves the problem. It worked OK when I first installed LBB on it.

[guest]

Have you tried using LB5?

No, but when I last took an interest - some years ago now - LB5 was actively being developed so I assumed it must be pretty stable and functional by now. A quick web search finds a 64-bit version released earlier this year, with the only non-functional feature stated to be CALLDLL (I know from my own experience with BBC BASIC that the 64-bit Windows ABI causes complications when calling OS API functions).

[RNBW]

Unfortunately, I think Carl Gundel has been sidetracked by other things recently and he is also trying to make LB5 multi-platform. He hasn't found a replacement for Stylebits, which makes text alignment in a Textbox difficult. I recently set this task and no firm result was found by senior members. My conclusion was to leave LB5 until it was further developed.

[RNBW]

I've now cloned the hard drive and set up the cloned SSD in my laptop.
Just tried it out and, as expected witha cloned drive, no difference.

Next step was to Reset Windows.
LBB worked fine with this and was as sprightly as before.
Downside: a number of my applications didn't work correctly, or not at all, including some that I use a great deal. The original Reset didn't include the Sep 2025 24H2 update. I installed this and there were no changes to operation. My feeling is that it was this update that caused the problem.

Decision: refit the original SSD in my laptop and put up with problems with LBB and we'll see what happens after the next update. If necessary, I can always use my old laptop if I need to use LBB.