CPU at 100% when opening my project

[A.Drazkowski]

We are currently using RoboHelp 2019 Classic but trying to upgrade to the new UI RoboHelp 2019. The program opens without a problem and my project has successfully converted, but when I try and open the upgraded project my CPU hits 100% and it takes around an hour for the project to successfully open. Our project is large (around 4,000 files) but it opens in RoboHelp 2019 Classic without issue and without taking an hour. I'm fairly sure the issue is on our end since the company has a lot of security precautions in place, but I'm not having a lot of luck narrowing down where the issue is and what I can do to make it go away.

Yesterday I noticed there are 5 Adobe RoboHelp 2019 background processes running which use up a lot of my CPU. Can anyone tell me what those background processes do? I'm hoping if I can identify the areas where RoboHelp is having issues, then maybe our help desk can work with me to find a solution.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

First, have you applied the latest patch? Next, where are the project files located - network or local C:\ drive? Is there any source control at play here? Was RH installed as a local Admin user with full rights to the C:\ drive?

[Edit] - have you told your anti-virus to lay off scanning RH  project files?

[A.Drazkowski]

We are at 2019.0.14, that is the highest version my company has approved. The files are located on my C:\ drive. We're using GitHub as source control but it's not connected to RoboHelp directly.

I don't have any kind of admin rights and there's no way to add exceptions to my anti-virus. Those are locked by my company at the moment. I may see if IT can test those options for me.

[A.Drazkowski]

As an update, we've tried opening the project as a local admin, tried turning off the File Director program, and tried turning off the anti-virus program. We also tried opening the project from within the C drive (My Documents) and from the C drive root. Nothing has changed how RoboHelp 2019 reacts to trying to open our project. I think I'm down to trying to troubleshoot something from within the project, but I have no idea what it could be.

[Peter Grainge]

How long does it take to open the supplied About RoboHelp sample project? If it's more than a few seconds that suggests it's an environment issue.

What's the size of the project in terms of the number of topics?

[A.Drazkowski]

The sample project opens in about a minute so it's looking like a project issue. I'm just confused because it opens fine in Classic RoboHelp 2019.

We have about 4,000 topics in the project right now which is 8,000 files in Classic RoboHelp. We're working on slimming down a little but it's a work in progress.

[Amebr]

Crikey! That officially counts as a large project in my books. 🙂 

You could perform a test on a copy of the upgraded project. Delete 80% of the topics using file explorer and see if it opens faster. Although maybe wait for @Peter Grainge to respond if this is a good idea or not - he's more familiar with New UI than I am.

[Peter Grainge]

Why do you conclude it is a project issue? I gave you the 2020 sample project name but I just opened 2019 New UI and clicked RoboHelp Reimagined on the Starter Screen. It took less than ten seconds so the fact it is taking you a minute suggests it is your environment. That said, it could also be the project, a combination. 

My own approach to troubleshooting this would be to test the RoboHelp Reimagined project opening it from the Starter Screen so that there is a like for like comparison. If that is still taking way more then ten seconds, then you need to work with your IT guys on that aspect. Can they install a trial version on a standard Windows 10 installation with just anti-virus software on it, open RoboHelp to start the trial, then disconnect from your network? Try both the sample project on that as well as your live project. What are the times then?

I have seen some larger projects that do take time but nothing like an hour. The other thing I would be doing is creating a new project and importing say 100 topics or thereabouts. Import from the 2019 New UI version rather than from the Classic version. How does that perform?

Can you share the project? If you can, then see the Contact page on my site and send the project as instructed there. Do make sure you include a link to this thread and please do not email the project direct.

[Peter Grainge]

Also, where is the project on your C drive? Try with the project somewhere like C:\Project_Name so that it is directly off the root.

[Peter Grainge]

Alternative approach. With the project closed, delete the contents of the .rh folder. Then reopen the project. It will take some time when you first open the project but thereafter should be better.

If it is not please take a screenshot showing RoboHelp using the resources and insert it in this thread using the camera icon.

If you cannot share with me, can you share with Adobe?

[Peter Grainge]

Have you resolved this? I contacted Adobe and they are willing to look at the project if you can share it. If you can, let us know and I will get details of how to share it.

[A.Drazkowski]

I am still having this problem, but I haven't had any time to work on it further this week. We're lucky that our project works fine in Classic so we're still working normally. To answer some questions:

- The project is being stored on the root of the C drive - c:/robohelp_kc/project name.

- I tested the Learn a Latte project and it opened in about 30 seconds. I'm sure there are parts of our system that slow it down, there are security and data backup programs installed on a standard laptop I can't turn off. 

I'm going to do some testing with importing files and seeing if that solves the problem. My boss is reluctant to share our project as is for an internal site. We are talking with our internal Adobe SME right now, but if she can't find a fix I will reach out to Adobe IT. Thanks for all your ideas! I've attached a picture of my task manager when it's trying to open our RoboHelp project. If someone has any idea what these different processes are trying to accomplish it might help to highlight where our issue is.

[Peter Grainge]

My boss is reluctant to share our project as is for an internal site.

OK if you don't want to share it with another user albeit it would be direct with me and not accessible to anyone else. Also I also said if you cannot share with me, could you share with Adobe.

We are talking with our internal Adobe SME right now, but if she can't find a fix I will reach out to Adobe IT. 

You will only be able to access Support. I have been in touch with Adobe development on this and it is they who want to see your project and who Support would have to go to. I would suggest you come back here if you will share direct with Adobe and let us know that. They can then reach out to you Confidentiality.

[Peter Grainge]

It would be interesting to know if this was fixed and how. It could be useful to others.

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