BFS.Application.Start() slow to return for some applications

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JLJTGR

141 discussion posts

DF 11.2b5 seemed to work acceptably. I think I noticed it being slow for DF 11.2b6, but it is certainly the case for beta 7.

BFS.Application.Start()

will take like 5 seconds to return when launching an application that is already running and internally handles new instances of itself. Such as multi-process web browsers or electron-like apps.

Simple applications that are unaware of other instances running seem to work fine.

✅ Quickly returns always:

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C:\Windows\notepad.exe

❌ Slowly returns on 2nd run:

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C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Winamp\winamp.exe

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start()

in comparison returns instantly in all cases.

Oct 5, 2025 (modified Oct 6, 2025) • #1

JLJTGR

141 discussion posts

I did some more experimentation with this and it seems like most if not all console programs will also hang like this.

nslookup.exe

will have scripts hang if run with no arguments and the process stays running and it will also hang if given an arguement and the process quickly exits.

If you use

System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch

to benchmark the script, it seems to always be around 6.2 seconds.

Oct 6, 2025 • #2

Could you send me a debug log? Here are the steps:

On the DisplayFusion Settings > Troubleshooting tab, change the Logging drop-down to "L1: Log Minimal" and then click "Clear Log"
Reproduce the issue and note the time so we'll know where to check in the log file
Click the "Export Info to File" button on the Settings > Troubleshooting tab
Reply with the file attached
Disable debug logging after sending the log

Oct 7, 2025 • #3

JLJTGR

141 discussion posts

I wasn't able to reproduce this problem on another computer, so I certainly see why you want this info.

I've attached a video to help demonstrate the issue and should provide more context for the logs.

0:04 - The tone is from clearing the DF debug log.
0:08 - Firefox is not running. Running the function starts it for the first time in 95ms.
0:16 - Firefox is still running. Running the function shows the marquee waiting dialog and finishes in 6260ms.
0:28 - Firefox is manually being closed.
0:35 - Firefox is not running. Running the function completes in 67ms.

• Attachment: 2025-10-08 02-05-48.mp4 [3,267,401 bytes]

• Attachment [protected]: DisplayFusionDebugInfo.zip [84,242 bytes]

Oct 8, 2025 • #4

This is from a change to the way DisplayFusion launches applications. In the upcoming Beta 8 we've added BFS.Application.StartWithoutWait() so you can run things without waiting to get the process ID.

Nov 12, 2025 • #5