laggish UI - panels

[ANDREW007CZ]

I am not sure whether is this bug, but it bugs me anyway, so posting.

FreeCommander XE 2019 Build 790a 32-bit public
W 10 Pro 1809

Everytime I maximize (recall from bar) FC, it takes like a second or two before UI establish. I tried to take screenshot but it show already one panel working but they both need some time to show. Before that I can only see black (as the left panel on the shot).
Can this be ressolved other way - so its somethink specific to my machine (I7-4702MQ, 12GBram, HD4600 + 850MGTX) or is that normal behaviour of FC?



Thanks for making FreeCommander, actually I like it more than Totalcmd!

[Dreamer]

It's not normal, when I switch from minimized to window, I can't see anything, when switching from minimized to maximized window, sometime I can see the window blinks - with white in my case, I'm using dark color cheme, but it's very fast, almost invisible.

Try to upgrade GPU drivers and perhaps test with default settings (how to - below).

[Marek]

Can this be ressolved other way - so its somethink specific to my machine (I7-4702MQ, 12GBram, HD4600 + 850MGTX) or is that normal behaviour of FC?

I have observed the problem on some PCs. In particular, if detail view is used.
I have already searched for causes and solutions - unfortunately so far unsuccessful.

[Karol]

No problem at all on Windows 7.

[ANDREW007CZ]

Thank you for your replies!
My post, however, wasn't just about those delayed panels showings. But also that the whole program is (sorry for this) laggish, sluggish. Scrolling is very slow, opening folders and anything else seems like having some sort of delay. Very noticeable delay.

I'm not having that delay in normal explorer.
Also rightclick menu shows a lot later in FC than in normal explorer.

Is there any fix, please?
Or is the 64-bit version faster??

[Dreamer]

I don't think the 64-bit version could solve this. Try to disable Avast antivirus, or even close other programs.

[Marek]

I agree with Dreamer, your problem will be probably not solved with the 64 bit version.
Have you checked the CPU Utilization?
Could you for testing:
- Disable "Folder->Size of folders" if active
- Switch off the auto refresh

[ANDREW007CZ]

Thank you for replies!

I've checked CPU util. and it's when for example scrolling hard at most 30%. When scrolling it's usually the scrollbar the first that move and then the content laggs in.
Non of tips did help, unfortunately. Tried switching off Avast, also settings things.

[Emmortal]

I'm seeing the same on multiple different PC's, one being a relatively high-performance PC (GeForce 1660 Ti, 16GB Ram, Ryzen 5) - the program just seems quite laggy when doing certain things, particularly anything that refreshes the program window(s) on screen. My guess is it's because it's using software only to render the windows rather than the GPU but I'm no programmer.

I recorded my screen to show the issue. It's worse when the program is full-screen for some reason, and you can REALLY see the lag dragging the window to resize it.

https://youtu.be/ZdjE66pmE-E

[Odamn-Ete]

I would think that the difference in lag of UI rendering between Windows Explorer and FC is a matter of perception.
Use Case:

I navigate to a Folder in FC in which over 16700 files and over 70 folders are contained, the throbber is visible and it takes up to a minute until the throbber disappears and I can navigate accordingly.

If I open the same folder in Windows Explorer, it appears to open without delay. But, if I scroll down, you can see that values are missing in some of the columns, which are then updated consecutively. Only after scrolling down to the end, is all file information gathered and there is no noticeable delay in UI rendering.

I would assume that the delay with FC is due to the fact that FC gathers all file information (column values) before rendering the UI, explorer only gathers a portion of the file information in the beginning and renders the UI consecutively.

Marek, if you can apply the algorithm that Windows Explorer uses, you'll have a more responsive UI.

Another Use Case where UI lagging is very noticeable, is when a compare has been performed. I'm taking about after the compare procedure has ended. When ca. 16000 files are highlighted, scrolling is not smooth, but incremental, as if it is taking a while for FC to translate mouse scroll wheel movements or clicks on the scrollbar.

I don't think it should be a solution to disable auto refresh. It would be better to separate the UI rendering from the gathering of file information. Gather file information in a background process, store it in memory, access it only when a new portion of the UI needs to be rendered, as in scrolling down.

Don't misunderstand me Marek, my suggestions above are just ideas. I don't have deeper knowledge of your source code and am basically guessing.
I am baffled and impressed by your software. FC is the software I use the most, every day. I can't imagine having to use my computer without it. Although I've been using it for years, I still haven't used nor discovered all the functionality you have packed into FreeCommander. You've done an unsurpassed job creating this software and I am sure, that it can only become better. Thank you!

FreeCommander XE 2019 Build 804 64-bit donor
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Version 1903 Build 18362.449

[Emmortal]

One thing I've noticed - when using the program at work, the scrolling is quick and snappy in details mode, even in a folder (including network folders) with lots of files & folders. Yes, minimizing and maximizing and resizing the window still shows some of the lag as shown in my video, but for day-to-day work I've never noticed an issue - it works as it should.

At work I'm using a portable install AND it's on a laptop using the built-in Intel graphics (HD Graphics 620); at home, both my laptop and desktop are using dedicated nVidia graphics. So much more powerful graphics systems, yet WAY worse performance. It's quite strange.

I have an old HTPC that I don't really use anymore but is still hooked up which is running an AMD A6 APU, might boot that up and see how that works; see if it's something to do with dedicated graphics?

[Forez]

I also have this problem; now on my slow Windows 10 Enterprise x64 18362. But:

A] I thought that it was just another manifestation of my Windows 10 being laggish in overall; or that it was coming out from the fact that I was unable to install dedicated drivers to my graphics card

B] I see such blackness for something like half a second so it does not bother me that much

[ANDREW007CZ]

So for me loading times when I refresh FC from taskbar are much greater. It usually takes 2.5 sec.
Also scrolling is still an issue even with updated version 804 beta public. Very laggy.

[Emmortal]

The scrolling issue for me seems to have been (mostly, there's still a little) related to DisplayFusion. If you have that installed, try exiting it and see if it persists.

[ANDREW007CZ]

Well I bought a new computer with 8-core i9 and the problem is gone. It takes a blink to load the panels now. The process is the same but it takes about 0,1 sec to load now. So this is not an issue for me anymore. I only experience it on my laptop with i5 7gen U processor. But it is OK to wait a little longer, I guess.