Cannot run Audacity "Audacity is already running" error

[hejmadis]

I have been using Audacity for about 8 months and I haven't had a problem before this. When I try to open Audacity, or any .aup project, the application does not open. The first time I click on my Audacity shortcut, it acts like it is thinking, then no Audacity box pops up on the screen. When I click the shortcut again, it gives me the "Audacity is Already running" error.

in Task Manager (Windows 7) It shows an Audacity process running, but does not show Audacity in the Applications list.
I have restarted my computer, to no effect.

The last time I was working in Audacity was 10/21 evening, and all was working fine then.
Please help... I have a deadline this Wednesday(10/27), and I have 3 recordings I need to separate into different tracks!!

[kozikowski]

Is Audacity running minimized? Is there an icon on the "Start" menu bar along the bottom (assuming you didn't change it)? It's not supposed to wake up minimized, but I guess anything possible.

Koz

[hejmadis]

Yes, I do have it in the taskbar below, and maybe it was, but it seems to have fixed itself. I rebooted again in desperation, and then my computer was sitting idle for a while. Just now when I checked based on your post, Audacity was showing minimized. The odd thing is that it wasn't showing up there before. Could it be just an incredibly slow start up of the application?
Anyway, I will let you know if it recurs.
Thanks!
Shanta

[hejmadis]

Okay, this is strange: It happened again. Working from the hypothesis that it was remedied by the computer being idle, I put the computer to sleep and then woke it up again. When the computer woke up, Audacity was running. Has anyone else ever seen something like this?

[kozikowski]

You can have a very extended Audacity startup if you have a very large collection of plugins. One or two badly coded plugins can bring Audacity to its knees.

Edit > Preferences > Effects > Deselect all the effects and restart Audacity. Let us know.

Koz

[hejmadis]

Very quick startup that time, thanks! I'll repost if it gives me another extended startup.

[billw58]

Try turning on the LADSPA and Nyquist effects, exit and start again and see if you still get the quick startup.

-- Bill