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Topic: «AWM 6.2 problems in Vista , User Account Control requires admin login » on forum: Technical Support   Views: 14708
 
sunspot NA
Registered user
 
 Posts: 2
Joined: 07/15/2010
Posted: 07/15/2010 17:46:47
 
 
 I'm running Actual Window Manager 6.1 on a Win Vista system with SP2.  I'm running it as a limited user rather than admin user.  Problems noted with software:

If I view a windows media video file using Windows Media Player 11, a new mfpmp.exe process is added to the Task Manager process list each time a new video is opened. mfpmp.exe ONLY starts up when viewing SOME videos with a *.wmv extension.  It doesn't start up for any other type of video than a *.WMV.  Not all WMV files startup the mfpmp.exe and only some of them do, but those that do have this problem.  The Windows Task Manager refers to the process as:

"Media Foundation Protected Pipeline EXE".

The mfpmp.exe process also properly self terminates when Actual Window Manager is not running. The only way to clean up the process list that is cluttered with unwanted mfpmp.exe processes while AWM is running is to open Task Manager and manually End each extra process, which is extremely inconvenient.  

If you view a lot of *.wmv video files with Windows Media Player, this is a HUGE problem, because your process list will fill up with hundreds of extra mfpmp.exe processes even after Media Player is completely terminated.

Things I tried to fix it that didn't fix the problem:

a.  Turning off Default window settings, turning off Virtual Desktops, and even adding Windows Media Player to the Exclusions list does not correct the problem.

b.  Stopping AWM but leaving it in the tray.

The only thing that makes the extra mfpmp.exe problem completely go away is to ensure that AWM does not start at startup.  If it automatically ran at starup, even exiting it will not make the problem go away.  You have to login fresh and have AWM set NOT to run automatically at startup before the problem won't happen.

This problem is not unique to the AWM.  ATI's Hydravision, which performs some of the same functions, also has the same problem.  
http://ati-hydravision.software.informer.com/

I had to dump that program and may have to dump yours too if you can't fix this problem.

CONCLUSION

This problem is a MAJOR bugs in the program rendering it completely useless for those who want to view videos and run Virtual Desktops.

I love the other features of the program, but these flaws are enough to make it totally unacceptable if they can't or won't be fixed.

What should I do?  Ask for my money back because the program I just bought today is worthless as it stands now for the purposes it was intended?

I also submitted this problem to the contact page of this website and was asked by Tatiana Jack to place AWM in the logging mode during the problem.  I will do that and the next post will contain the info from the log.  I will also submit the log file to Tatiana Jack via email to help him reproduce and isolate and subsequently fix the problem.
 
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sunspot NA
Registered user
 
 Posts: 2
Joined: 07/15/2010
Posted: 07/16/2010 10:34:17
 
 
 Tatiana,

Thank you for getting back to me quickly. I have been playing with how to reproduce the problem consistently. Here are the steps within Vista SP2.

1. Create two virtual desktops: Primary and Secondary and enable virtual desktops within AWM.
2. Set AWM to load at startup.
3. Login to Windows and let the login complete and cpu utilization settle down to zero.
4. Download the following file to your local hard drive:
http://famguardian.org/Subjects/GunControl/Articles/FlashlightGun.wmv

5. Open Windows Explorer by right clicking on the START button and selecting "Explore"
6. Navigate to the file you downloaded above.
7. Right click on the Start Bar at the bottom and sel ect "Task Manager". The "Windows Task Manager" window will appear.
8. On the "Windows Task Manager" window, click on the "Processes" tab so you can watch the process list.
9. Go back to the Windows Explorer window.
10. Double click on the file above "FlashlightGun.wmv" and watch the Process List as the program starts. Look for "mfpmp.exe" to appear in the process list and watch how many times it appears. In the stable state, it should only appear ONCE.
11. Start Internet Explorer 8.
12. On the actual tools menus at the top of Internet Explorer 8, select "Move to Desktop" and select "Secondary". IE8 should disappear fr om your Primary Desktop and move to the Secondary Desktop.
13. Close Windows Media Player. Look at the process list. There should be no mfpmp.exe processes left there.
14. Go to the Windows Explorer and again double click on "FlashlightGun.wmv" and watch the process list.
15. This time, the behavior will be different. mfpmp.exe will appear TWICE not once.
16. Stop the video and exit Windows Media Player. One of the mfpmp.exe processes will disappear, leaving one orphan behind that never terminates.
17. Go to the Secondary virtual desktop where Windows Explorer 8 is.
18. On the AWM menu at the top of the IE8 window, move the select "Move to Desktop" and select Primary.
19. Go to the Windows Task Manager Window, right click on the "mfpmp.exe" orphan process and select "End Process".
20. Next, go to the Windows Explorer and double click again on "FlashlightGun.wmv" and watch the process list again.
21. This time, you will see mfpmp.exe show up twice, and after the video starts, only one instance will be left instead of two.
22. Terminate Windows Media Player and watch the process list. All instances of mfpmp.exe should disappear. Sometimes it doesn't, and I don't know why. The only way to get rid of the extra mfpmp.exe process at this point is to terminate AWM by right clicking on the tray and selecting "Exit".

We also sent the log files to tech support during the time that there are orphaned mfpmp.exe processes produced in the task list, at step 15. We sent the configuration to tech support as you requested, AFTER logging was turned off.

In short, it appears to us that the problem only happens when:
1.  Virtual Desktops are enabled.
2.  There is a program running on the virtual desktop OTHER than the desktop you are using Windows Media Player on.

Please advise when you have corrected this problem.
 
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