9.2.1735 PRO - Freezes consistently - must CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart EMC

1

This problem first started happening when they went to version 8, and doesn’t really appear it has ever been resolved. See previous post regarding basically the same exact issue.

This issue has continued to happen since my previous post while on the older 9.2 version, but just haven’t had time to report, I’m now on the current 9.2.1735 version (Pro license). I think EMC is having issue connecting to my business gmail account and instead of it trying to reconnect, it just locks up. Usually happens right when I click “send” or when I add a new name/email address to the TO/CC/BCC field and it attempts to search for the contact. When the issue happens, EMC locks solid, and the only way to get going again is to CTRL+ALT+DEL to force app to close & then reopen EMC. Sometimes happens again within only a few minutes of reopening. The problem happens so consistently that I’ve just learned to start copy/pasting the body of my email into a separate Word doc before I add any names and before I click send!

Worth noting: I’m running Windows 10 Pro & connecting to company network through a VPN. The commercial gmail account that EMC connects to is not affected by whether/not I’m going through the VPN connection; however, turning off VPN and/or my antivirus is not an option.

2

My EMClient is continuing to crash about once per hour. About to try doing a full uninstall/reinstall after backing up my database.

Question about backing up my database: does it save all of my folders/signatures/associated email account connections, quick text inserts, etc? Or am I going to have to re-create all of that again from scratch?

Is there a link to the exact procedure just to make sure I don’t miss a step?

3

Have had this issue since version 8 update (Pro License). When I try to send a message or any random “action” (adding a contact, etc) - about once per hour I will get “This operation may take a while to complete. Please be Patient.” - freezes completely. The only way out is to CTRL+ALT+DELETE and re-open.

I’ve posted several times about this since it started happening and so far no luck - it’s obvious that the normal updates & bug fixes are not fixing the problem. I am currently on the 9.2.1735
version and it’s as bad or worse than it’s ever been. I just saw in release history that there is a new update (9.2.2038.0 ) and I think before “updating” it may be better for me to do a complete uninstall/reinstall based on the previous track record of updates…

  • Route of problem is definitely not my internet speed.
  • Possibly could be because constantly on VPN?
  • Have run with antivirus on/off - makes no difference.
  • Could be because linked to commercial Gmail account - not sure?

From what I’ve read, the next step to try & fix is to do a backup, then a compact/repair or just skip right to a full uninstall/reinstall which is what I’m leaning toward.

Before I do this, I have a quick question about backing up my database: Does it save all of my folders/signatures/associated email account connections, quick text inserts, etc? Or am I going to have to re-create all of that again from scratch?

Regarding the database backup & re-install: Is there a link to the exact procedure just to make sure I don’t miss a step?

Probably a dumb question, but before I reinstall, I noticed that the release history only shows the new version as a “service update” and the only other download option I see is “free download” - is there a different place I’m supposed to be downloading the pro version that I have licenses for? Want to make sure I’m installing the pro version and not just the free version (or is this as simple as adding in my activation key credentials to “upgrade” the free version download??)

Any other help on how to fix this problem without having to do a full reinstall (and hopefully not a full rebuild of all of my signatures, quick-texts, etc) is greatly appreciated. Every second I spend on this is costing me time and money at this point.

4

@HMer

Regarding the database backup & re-install: Is there a link to the exact procedure just to make sure I don’t miss a step?

Before I do this, I have a quick question about backing up my database: Does it save all of my folders/signatures/associated email account connections, quick text inserts, etc? Or am I going to have to re-create all of that again from scratch?

If you use the built-in eM Client backup, it backs up everything in eM Client. So will be exactly the same if you need to restore it.

To manually backup for PC go to “Menu / Backup” or for Mac go to “File / Backup”. You can see when the backup is complete in “Show Operations” via the dropdown on the right of Refresh.

If you want to try reinstalling eM Client do the following.

Close eM Client and uninstall eM Client… “Don’t delete the database” when asked on the uninstall wizard for Windows.

Then download the latest V9.2.2038 from the release history page and reinstall and see if that fixes it.

is there a different place I’m supposed to be downloading the pro version that I have licenses for?

The free and Pro version are the same download. It’s only the License that keeps all the features enabled after the initial 30 days.

Note: If you purchased eM Client from the Windows Store, then you reinstall eM Client from the store and not the release history page.

This operation may take a while to complete. Please be Patient.” - freezes completely.

This might be possibly related to your eg: Internet connection & it’s delaying for some reason, so could be why you are getting that please be patient error.

Suggest to do a speedtest and check that your internet speed is still at your usual speed.

Lastly you might possibly have an error in your mail database, so if your Internet connection speed is normal speed, then you could try running the repair manually to see if it makes any difference.

So if you have eM Client for Windows, do the following. Backup eM Client before running the repair incase of any issues.

Close eM Client and open a “Dos prompt” and run the following command -

“C:\Program Files (x86)\eM Client\MailClient.exe” /dbrepair

5

Out of curiosity, what are the minimum internet speed requirements?
There is something fairly unique about our internet connection in that it is a rural 5G point to point network which could potentially be the underlying issue (jumping from tower to tower or sub-par speed?). It’s definitely not as fast as fiber or direct wire, but it’s not slow either (currently getting about 25mb down and 6mb up - should be more than plenty to run email).

If tower/signal/band-jumping could be the issue: Do you know if there is a bug-fix in the works to “re-establish connection” in situations like this without it completely freezing/crashing? I have set up 2 other email software options for redundancy while waiting on EMC to start back up, and of my 3 options, EMC is the only one having issue with intermittent freezing.

6

It’s definitely not as fast as fiber or direct wire, but it’s not slow either (currently getting about 25mb down and 6mb up - should be more than plenty to run email.

Yes as long as “it’s a constant” download and upload speed, that should be fine.

If tower/signal/band-jumping could be the issue: Do you know if there is a bug-fix in the works to “re-establish connection” in situations.

Can you elaborate on that ?. Eg: Do you drop d/l or u/l speed or loose connection at anytime?

.

7

I’m sure there are d/u consistency issues with the point-to-point because from time to time I will notice that my VPN will need to reconnect (occasionally it will need to reconnect 1-2x per day but not every day like what’s happening in EMC). On every other software, any wireless inconsistency may be noticeable as a “glitch”, but it always picks right back up and keeps sending 0’s & 1’s back & forth… If that’s the potential issue - it’s bringing EMC to its knees consistently.

Now that you mention - this is likely the issue that needs some attention (a smoother crash-free reconnection), because I have noticed that when I am in the office on a hard-line connection, EMC does not crash whatsoever. Any inconsistency in speed/connection aren’t even bad enough to affect my VOIP phone connection through computer - I’m on the phone all day with almost no issues.

8

I have noticed that when I am in the office on a hard-line connection, EMC does not crash whatsoever.

So it then does sound like the “non hard wired connection is the issue” and sounds like there is too much latency or not constant / stable enough on your mobile data connection to keep eM Client working properly.

Most mail programs normally need good stable data streams or they will usually stop working.

I’m sure there are d/u consistency issues with the point-to-point because from time to time I will notice that my VPN will need to reconnect (occasionally it will need to reconnect 1-2x per day but not every day like what’s happening in EMC.

VPNs have been known to cause issues with many mail clients including eM Client, so reccomend you also completely disable that to test as well.

9

Never have this issue with Outlook or Thunderbird whatsoever. I use both of them as a redundancy for different accounts while waiting on EMC to restart. I prefer EMC though due to its features. However, there is something different about how the other mail programs handle packet loss and/or reconnection, making EMC inferior in that regard.

Same as above - VPN hasn’t caused an issue whatsoever with my other email software in comparison. I can’t not be connected to my VPN - need it to connect to my company servers.

1 Like
10

This morning I fresh booted, opened EM Client, and the very first email I tried to send locked EMC up solid (per the numerous posts above). That’s it - I’m officially done and migrating away from EM Client. I purchased a pro licensed software, and over almost a year of posting about this same consistent freezing issue, I’ve received no actual tech help from any of the actual developers who could easily fix this issue that I can consistently recreate about every 30 minutes.

Over the past several months, EMC has been so unstable that I was having to CTRL+ALT+DEL to force it to restart almost hourly. It was already happening so consistently that I was making it a practice to draft my emails in Word doc before pasting into the emails to be sent! Over the past couple of weeks, I have now set up all of my email signatures and copied all of my drafts, quick texts, etc over to Outlook which has not frozen up on me even once over the past two weeks. Regardless of my sub-par internet connection, VPN active 12+ hours per day, and antivirus in full effect, somehow Outlook has run flawlessly while I can’t even get EMC to work for an hour without locking up. I hate Outlook, but I also have to be able to work!

It looks like the only thing I will ever be using my Pro EMC for in the future is for sending out mass emails. If an actual developer wants to contact me to debug and fix the problem, I would love to see this software operate better, because I honestly did like all the features; but due to the consistent freezing, it’s costing me money at this point, so I have to move on.

It’s been a good run EMC. Will always miss how smoothly EMC 7 ran, but this looks like good-bye for now.

Below is the link to one of my earlier posts about this same issue - could probably be merged into this thread if an admin reads this. At the time of the first post in Feb of 2023, the problem had already been going on for several months (If I remember correctly, it started around the time of the EMC 8 upgrade & was even worse after the EMC 9 upgrade.)