I have been experiencing a repeating bug in both CorelDRAW and Corel Photopaint. The bug works as follows:
If the program has been running more than a few minutes, it will crash without any notification or error message when accessing the color selector dialog boxes. This happens in both Draw and in Photopaint. The app does not issue any form of warning (aside from freezing momentarily) and just exits, resulting in the loss of all work that has been done since your last save. I have tracked the problem down to a couple of DLL files which throw a .Net exception code. The same errors happen regardless of whether you are using CorelDRAW or Photopaint. The offending DLL's are CrlClr.dll (part of the color subsystem for the Corel suite) mfc140u.dll (part of .Net). The error code is almost always the same, regardless of the offending DLL: "0x c0000005" My primary system is a dual Xeon CPU (twin E5-2670's) with 128GB of ECC RAM, an SSD main drive and dual Quadro 2000's, running Windows 10 Pro (64bit, all updates current). The same problem happens on other machines I have tried the app on (several different machines from Core i7's to i5's with RAM ranging from 8GB up to 16GB, all running Win10 pro), so this is not an issue isolated to my personal hardware. The same exact silent crash happens on all of them, and the same DLL files and error codes are reported in Windows' logs.
This is a show-stopping error that has cost me hours of work and lost money as a result. The problem is repeatable and from what I have seen, it is common with other users in these forums.I contacted Corel tech support by their support chat and the person on the other end had the nerve to tell me that CorelDRAW 2019 is not compatible with Windows 10 Pro, even though it states quite plainly on their website that it is compatible and the fact that literally no professional or business machines run Win10 "home" edition. It was easy to tell that the person honestly had no idea what the problem actually could be and was simply trying to get rid of me. I then tried to talk to tech support on the phone. I was barely through my explanation (see above) before the lady told me that the problem needed to be elevated and that her supervisor would call me back shortly.
THAT WAS A WEEK AGO. I have yet to hear back from Corel on the matter.I have been using CorelDRAW since version 3. Literally for DECADES. I have NEVER seen such a bug that was so easily repeatable and show-stopping. This problem has persisted through THREE updates now. It seems like a relatively easy problem to track down and fix, and given the number of people it effects, I find it mind boggling that Corel has not done something about it yet.What is going on? Why can't you fix this major problem with your software, Corel? You are losing customers over this. You need to make it a priority over adding features or even smaller non-critical bug fixes.
UPDATE:
Nevermind. CorelDRAW is back to crashing in exactly the same way as before. The total removal and reinstall was to no avail since CorelDRAW auto updated itself to Patch #3. Prior to it installing patch #3 without my permission, it was running smooth as silk with no errors for a good 30 hours straight. Since it self-installed the latest patch, it's just as bad as it was to begin with. I have had it crash 4 times on me today alone. I'm done. I give up. Congrats Corel, you've lost a customer. As much as I loath Illustrator, I am forced to start using that software instead. I cannot use your software anymore after using it for over 20 years. I don't know how or why you have made so many poor decisions on this version, but it is no longer tenable to continue fighting with it, just to have it stab me in the back once I get it running properly by installing patches that just break it again. THE PART THAT REALLY BURNS ME UP IS THAT YOU INSTALLED AN UPDATE WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION AND WITHOUT NOTICE. NO SOFTWARE SHOULD SELF UPDATE AND TERMINATE WITHOUT WARNING THE USER FIRST. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR. I had it fixed. It took me hours to do it, but I had it fixed. And then you broke it. I can't do it anymore.Goodbye Corel. It's been great, up until now. I literally feel like I have just lost an old friend. (To clarify: Management has decided that we have spent too much time on trying to get the app to work properly after investing in the program at my request and had declared that Corel is to be uninstalled from all machines and replaced with Adobe products. It is not my decision.)
Sorry to hear this. With the listed system specs it does not surprise me.
David Milisock said:With the listed system specs it does not surprise me.
What's that supposed to mean? I know you just got some bleeding edge tech...but seriously man, that's NOT required to run CorelDraw...never has been. (most of the versions before 2019 run just fine, even on i5 or lower cpus, cruddy video cards, mech hard drives minimal ram etc etc etc).
It's something that has CHANGED in CorelDraw 2019...or quite possibly between that and the constant updates with Windows 10.
Dude I have no technical answers mainly because there a few Xeon systems on the forum but Xeon systems with low end video cards have a high rate of crash or eventual corrupt CD issues.
I'm not at my office right now to see my note pad but I keep track of system specs and serious issues. The big winner is AMD with a close second Xeon. The numbers are impressive.
There are many more AMD issues only because there are a lot more of them. However a very high percentage of Xeon systems with low end and high end display cards have serious issues.
While there are many more AMD systems if memory serves Xeon systems have a higher percentage of system issues. I've been keeping a hash mark record for a very long time.
I don 't care what published specs say, I look at results. Mac's use Xeon and their performance is nothing to talk about, add that to the dedicated use by MAC of AMD video and you get the MAC performance posted here.
We use them but mainly for servers and on some 3D rendering systems.
The i7 and i9 systems built as I've spaced are rock solid and have been all the way back to i3 processors.
David Milisock said:The big winner is AMD
yes, AMD sucks.
Once I settle down into semi-retirement maybe I can figure out why.
The AMD issue is weird because some systems show no symptoms, my wife's system does not. Others are seroiusly dysfunctional.
The Xeon systems almost always are low end or real high end video cards that have issues.
I only know that I have 2 pads 1 AMD the other Xeon, they get hash marks when the forum user post serious system issues. There are plenty of marks over the years.
I have an i5 laptop that was awful, turned out the manufacturer used a $45 hard drive, I replaced it with a $85 Western Digital Black drive and it was vastly improved. However it has a crappy wireless and performance is significantly improved when hard wired.
Xeons are NOT low end by any stretch of the imagination. They are the definition of high end. I'm not sure where that idea came from. This machine is server/workstation grade hardware throughout (down to the SAS controller that the SSD is connected to and error checking RAM). Quadros are not low end either. This is not the first Xeon based system I have used Corel on. My personal home machine is a dual Xeon as well as my previous work computer. I have been using Xeons with ECC RAM exclusively for over a decade and there is no more stable hardware on the planet. Corel has *always* run brilliantly for me on Xeons - until this version. Given that the issues I am having are also present on the i5 an i7 machines in the office, the Xeon is NOT the problem. It's this broken garbage version of the program (2019).
Mac performance is terrible because of Mac OS and the design of their motherboards/bios, not because of Xeons. Apple does nasty tricks with their hardware to enable them to pack it into the stupid pretty cases. Those tricks do things like underclock the CPU to keep the heat down (how else do you think they keep a laptop that's thin as a tablet cool?). Also, the only Macs that use Xeons are their Pro line. All the other machines use i-series CPUs. I have an older Mac Pro at home (before they started their performance hindering nonsense with the hardware). When running Mac OS the performance is dog crap. I ditched Mac OS years ago and I run Windows 10 on it exclusively now. The performance is WAY better under Windows than Mac OS. My Mac is from back when they actually made amazing hardware, not like the pretty-but-useless trash they make now.
If I remember correctly my last MAC was bought in 1996 and that was only to support MAC clients. I got smart a few years later and dumped the MAC clients and the MAC systems. I like profit!
I have no idea what's up with CorelDRAW and AMD and Xeon systems but I've counted well over 50 users over the years with AMD systems and serious issues. I checked my pad and it's up to 23 Xeon system users now and if memory serves it's a higher percentage of failures with the Xeon systems.
I don't know something with hardware/firmware or something. I do know the laptop performance on all systems has never met my standards. Also one piece of sub performing hardware can screw the pooch.
My 60 page book file is working fine with my i7 and i9 systems, update 3. Both are desktops, have SSD's with 32 and 64 GB of RAM respectively. Lots of powerclips, transparencies, text and multiple images on each page. The i9 opens the file 4.45GB in memory across the network in 20 seconds. After editing for a while memory hits the10GB range.
I'm starting a new donar/history wall project next week so I'll get to test some serious CAD, AI interfacing then, always huge files with cluster f%$%$d designs.