Sudden issues with Xara Designer Pro X10

[Toonicorn]

Hi everybody!

Well, I was trying to ink in a drawing this afternoon using my Xara Designer Pro X10, and had the following issues:

1. I kept getting an "access violation" error when I tried to open a document I'd first edited in Photoshop. Never had that problem before.

2. While I was inking in my drawing, suddenly the pen reactions, etc. slowed down considerably. I would draw a line, nothing would happen for a second, and then the line I drew would appear. Everything was fine the last time I used Xara.

I'm guessing that Xara has somehow become corrupted, and I need to uninstall-reinstall (ugh). I wrote down my Xara serial number - but in case that doesn't work, what do I do?


Thanks for any advice you can give me. BTW, after having so much trouble with Xara, I did a Disk Cleanup/Defrag for my Windows 10. That didn't help much, unfortunately... :P

[Boy]

Before doing something as drastic as reinstalling the program, you might want to first see if a restart or reboot would work.

[Chris M]

This could be a Windows problem more than a Xara problem. What you're describing sounds like a RAM issue. Try the following:

Check for updates (10 can do weird things if it thinks you are trying to ignore it). Settings > Updates

If you have a desktop, power off and unplug the mains power for 30 seconds. If laptop, power off, unplug, remove battery and press and hold the power button (as if you're trying to start it) for 30 seconds.

If that does nothing, check for updated drivers for your pen and graphics, although Windows should do this in the update process.

[Toonicorn]

Thanks, gang. Well, I've tried everything - updated Windows (also updated Nvidia - an update had been sitting there apparently since December), updated my Wacom tablet driver, tried unplugging the computer, etc. - nothing worked. Xara is VERY laggy (even takes a long time to close!) Actually, since I installed it on my newish computer, it's always been a little slow to open, but it always worked - until now. Now it's virtually unusable. My Photoshop Elements 4 program, by contrast, works just fine - I can draw in it with no trouble.

I also cleaned up my desktop a bit - put various files sitting there into folders (does that save space?) I don't know what to do now. Xara is now pretty useless. EVERY function of it is slow now. Could it be corrupted?

[Chris M]

Logic dictates that if a similar piece of software (PS) is working as expected and no other software issues are apparent, then yes, it looks like Xara itself has a problem.
Straw grabbing and blind guessing time.
Lots of tabs open in Xara?
Project open with 3rd party plugin?

[Toonicorn]

Logic dictates that if a similar piece of software (PS) is working as expected and no other software issues are apparent, then yes, it looks like Xara itself has a problem.
Straw grabbing and blind guessing time.
Lots of tabs open in Xara?
Project open with 3rd party plugin?

Hi Chris!

Hmm...what do you mean by "lots of tabs open in Xara"? And "project open with 3rd party plugin"? I'm not particularly computer-literate - I just know what I know, LOL. The drawing I'm inking in was edited a bit in PS4 Elements, that's it, if that helps.

I wonder if Xara's backup files (of my previous drawings) are overloaded? Is there a way to clear them?

Also - I'm wondering...my Xara X10 software previously ran on my old computer, which was 32-bit. My new one is 64, and I believe I set Xara X10 for 64-bit when I installed it into my new computer. I noticed from the first that Xara ran a little differently...could that be an issue? (Grasping at straws, as you say...)

[Chris M]

Tabs is probably not the correct terminology, but see the pic attached.
3rd party plugins like PS plugins and the like. I find I can tell a difference if I've over used the mold tool or the bevel tool for instance.

What's the size of the bit you imported from PS? If you delete it does everything spring back to normal?

[Toonicorn]

Tabs is probably not the correct terminology, but see the pic attached.
3rd party plugins like PS plugins and the like. I find I can tell a difference if I've over used the mold tool or the bevel tool for instance.

What's the size of the bit you imported from PS? If you delete it does everything spring back to normal?

Huh, well, what do you know - I went back into Xara and deleted the image I was inking in - and then opened a new blank page and starting drawing on it - no problems. Cool! Thanks, Chris! But I have to say it's puzzling - the image is in pencil, black and white only, and its size according to PS4 is 3300 pixels by 2550 pixels/8.03m 300 pixels/inch resolution, page size 8.5x11. Is that too big?

[Chris M]

I wonder if Xara's backup files (of my previous drawings) are overloaded? Is there a way to clear them?

Also - I'm wondering...my Xara X10 software previously ran on my old computer, which was 32-bit. My new one is 64, and I believe I set Xara X10 for 64-bit when I installed it into my new computer. I noticed from the first that Xara ran a little differently...could that be an issue? (Grasping at straws, as you say...)

The backup files won't be the issue as they're just sat there doing nothing, much like waiting at the bus stop doesn't make the bus late.

I can't even begin to guess at the x64 part as I don't have any dealings with version 10. The best I can offer applies to all software: x64 out performs x32, and, if an x86 (32bit) program starts, then it should perform correctly in an x64 environment.

[Chris M]

Ah, you fixed it before I posted. Excellent.

The size I was referring to was file size (kb, mb etc) as I was convinced it was a memory issue (RAM). Doesn't matter now...if it ain't broke, don't fix it.