I never had a problem with P5 or previous patches for it, but SR4 causes my Poser launch times to more than double. Pre-SR4, it would take about 3 minutes to launch P5 the first time after a bootup of my system (W2K), and about 30 to 40 seconds for subsequent launches. Now it takes about 5 to 6 minutes to launch initially and about 3 minutes or more for subsequent launches. Anyone else experience this problem or have a suggested fix?

I am having the same problem. 3 minutes on a one gig Win XP machine. But I would rather have the slow start-up time and a program that never crashes, than a fast start-up after each crash. Other than the slow start-up I am happy with SR4.

Hmmm. I found just the opposite, it boots quicker, and at least a few of the problems are fixed. Had to reset the preferences, but that's about all. I even boned a prop today, something that always gave a crash before. Like I said, some problems are fixed. And the firefly is faster, but it still doesn't make me like it.

Spent 2 hrs downloading the thing then winzip refused to unpack it! Will have to try again. My experience of previous SRs is that they have made a great improvement - don't like the sound of this slow startup though. Poser must be the slowest starting program I use as it is.

Yeah mine starts up slower too maybe 2 to 3 min, with WIN XP PRO, it seems to me that render time is longer with the production settings, and the cloth room is slower and does strange things, one time the arms on the dress didnt move with the figure a couple of times it stopped calculating 3 to 5 frames before the end. I still have and SR3 back up on another hard drive that Im thinking about using instead, I`m hopeing there will be a SR4.1

my start time is doubled as well, other than that I haven't noticed any improvements or things going wrong yet... then again I haven't had a single problem with P5 since the first service pack was released.

Hopefully some of those nice folks from Curious Labs will drop in on this post and offer a suggestion for fixing the load-time problem with SR4 (if there is a fix). Strange that some are experiencing it and some not, independent of the OS being used. By the way, I installed it in my Poser 5 "Root" file, which on my system is C:/Program Files/Metacreations/Poser 5. I assume putiing it in the Poser 5 folder is correct rather than installing it in just the Metacreations folder, yes?

It doesn`t take any longer to load on my computer with sr4 only about a minute, I use windows 98. I would say to anyone using windows xp to upgrade to windows 98, now ha ha ha The first part of this message is serious, by the way.

LOL @ xantor! I noticed an increase in load times also. I never timed my previous setup so there's no sense in timing this one, but the increase is noticeable. XP Pro, dual 1.7 Xeons, 1 gig o ram, 50meg free HD space.

The above should read, "50GIG of free HD space." Sheese.

There are 2 variants of the .xml files (in the ui folder) - depending on... we're not sure... But with the invention of the logic to remove Content Paradise we became aware that some xml files were different. And these directly influence what's loaded and in what order. First thought was that either the very early versions were some how different, or that the patch path was different, depending if you went SR1, SR2<"betas">, SR2, etc., or straight to SR. Given that CL is reportedly suggesting re-install and patch to SR3 or 4 directly to some, this might suggest that the issue is with SR2... But this is all hypothesis. As Poser is clearly very buggy, it's of course not possible to predict behaviour, as repeatability just isn't ever there in buggy apps.

Does anyone know how to remove the content`s paradise or a link for it?

PoserPros, in the Poser 5 Tips & Tricks, as a "Stickie" - at least that's the easiest one to find.

Thank you, layingback

Getting back on topic of this thread, Curious Labs responded to my email regarding the load-time problem with SR4 (yes, they ARE responsive), but unfortunately the only fix seems to be to uninstall and re-install Poser 5 then apply the SR4 patch. This sends chills up my spine because the last time I did this it took several days worth of work to retune my zillion gigs of Poser files and tweaks to the my preferred version of "original" condition (also caused problems from registration and serial number hassles, given that my P5 was an upgrade from PPP, which was an upgrade from Poser 4). Sigh... Before I take the plunge, has anyone successfully managed to install Poser 5 over itself then apply just the latest patch? Might this work, or might it "inherit" problem files that the re-install would have eliminated?

It said in another message that you shouldn`t re-install p5 over itself as that leaves some ini and prefs files from the first one. That was someone quoting what curious labs said.

Bummer. I was afraid of that. Oh well, guess I'll do the uninstall/re-install thing. (I'd Better check my stock of sedatives first.) Has anyone who has uninstalled then reinstalled P5 that came in the form of an update for Poser 4/PPP had nightmares dealing with re-registration, acceptance of serial numbers, etc.?

I have an idea, tell me if this will work? Install Poser clean on another PC. Patch with SR4. Copy all the information in the folder where the .exe is over the information on your current installation of Poser. That way you patch the installation, without touching your libraries or other parts of the program. Will this work?

Your are indeed a creative thinker, numanoid. Thank you for the suggestion. Not being a techie, your idea seems plausable to me, but, not being a techie, I don't know if there are files outside of the Poser directory (in the Windows System folder, or the Registry, etc.) that may be impacted (properly or improperly) or not. Anyone else more technically gifted than I am have a thought to share about this?

WARNING, I've not tried this, but... I would only move the "content" folders. Within Runtime - no need to move anything outside of that - move Geometries, Libraries, Reflection Maps and textures. They are all folders that you install products into. If you've installed Python scripts, you may need move them -perhaps individually from /Python/poserscripts. Do NOT copy over things like ui and prefs - that's where the xml and the like are - which is possibly the "bits" left over from SR2. (It was a topic of some concern back in the public "beta" of SR2 that new files were being added, but nothing deleted.) Take it cautiously and if everything works, you moved enough. BTW, when you install Poser 5.0, apply SR4 before you even think of starting Poser 5 (no need to start all that copy protection code up that's going to be undone by the SR). If you've already installed the Figures SR, you may not need to apply it again (the fixes should move over with your content). Otherwise apply it last, after you've moved your content over (else you'll undo the update).

One hour the first time loading, down to 30 minutes now... Def. improvement, LOL!