Guifications 'Freezes'

[hlthybodysckmnd]

Whenever I start Gaim, the first time that a
Guification is supposed to come up, the program
'freezes' for about 15-20 seconds...seemingly 'loading'
the guification.  After the program unfreezes, the
guification will come up like normal, and the problem
does not return until the next time Gaim is started.

[amc_grim]

Logged In: YES 
user_id=646554

This has been a long standing issue that I think appeared in
2.3 or 2.4.  It used to happen to me, and I tried tracking
it down, but couldn't find it.  And then all of a sudden, it
just stoped happening to me.  So, I really have no idea what
to do about it..

[itchysoft_ant]

Logged In: YES 
user_id=1186610

Have never experienced this till recently, which is why Im not 
convinced it is Guifications alone. For me, it started 
happening when I upgraded to Gaim 1.2.1 but still with 
Guifications 2.9. I still observe the freeze with Guifications 
2.10 installed.

I was watching my AV during the freeze and it was scanning 
all my font files. Perhaps this is something related, although I 
still get the freeze with AV disabled. Hope this helps.

[giveuptheghost]

Logged In: YES 
user_id=184281

It's Guifications. I disabled it, and it stopped. Yep. Just
started with 2.10 for me, which is the first time I've
updated Guifications, from 2.9, if that helps.

Worth noting but unrelated is that Gaim may hang when
Windows Update is running in the tray and something else is
using all your CPU, like BOINC/SETI@home. Visiting
WindowsUpdate.com and manually updating fixes it.

[t-reznik]

Logged In: YES 
user_id=1470096

Have been having similar problems with WinGaim 2.0.0beta2 and 
Guifications 2.13beta2. I realised this became noticeable after 
I'd installed a couple of .OTF (opentype fonts) in C:
\Windows\Fonts. Loading GAIM whilst www.sysinternals.com's 
filemon was running showed that GAIM took ages more time to 
parse .OTF files than normal .TTF files. Removing said .OTF 
files (all of them in my case) reduced the 90-100% processor 
drag to 0.5-1s instead of one minute. There were about 50-75 
OTF files. The remaining number of fonts on my system was 
around 1400.

Now, I have a work-around for this, but I would not recommend 
anyone trying it out unless they know what they're doing.

GAIM will parse the fonts directory, but not check the windows 
registry for where fonts are. Move the OTF files somewhere 
safe, then following a standard right-click drag to the Fonts 
folder, create 'shortcuts' there instead of 'copying' the files 
across. This will result not in .LNK files, but a reference in 
the registry to the actual location of the files. Whilst 
windows should by and large be able to use those fonts. That 
is, assuming, your problem, like mine, lay with .OTF files.