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Behaviour observed: intermittently (I can't spot a pattern), when I start up Electrum (double click the exe file) it doesn't open. Two processes are running, both called electrum.exe *32, but sometimes the window just doesn't open.

I tried running as Administrator. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I'm running Windows 7 64 bit.

Any suggestions?

Edit: version is 1.7.3

I have this behavior with the electrum 1.7.3 installer on my Windows 7 32bit Netbook. Doesn't matter whether I use "run as administrator" or not.
Please let me know if you need further information.

Is there something new?

To determine if this is related to the build process, you may want to try my independent builds.
More info here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=73651

No, 1.7.3 still not working for me. I already tried a fresh download and install. At least an earlier Version works for me, so I'll just wait for the next version available and try this out.

I have the exact same problem

last version working is 162

with the Flatfly 1.7.4 the behaviour is different, it says "unpacking to electrum_sysfiles directory" and stays there forever

what the fuck is going on; there must be others that are affected by this or not?

download 1.8

1.8 and all other versions newer than 1.6.2 don't work

I have just installed 1.8 with the Windows installer from a 1.7.2 version. On Windows 8

Can you try removing everything Electrum related? Make sure to move your electrum.dat before deleting things.

And try the latest version

With the flatfly build, you can get more debugging info to find out what's wrong as follows:

try to run it while holding down the SHIFT key. In the resulting console, type 'electrum' and hit Enter.
Do you get any error messages?

Try to same test with typing 'python'

Months later and I'm having this problem again. I updated to version 1.8 but I still have the behaviour that the window won't open. I can see it on the taskbar (sometimes!?) but it's not visible. Very weird!

fixed by removing electrum.dat
I don't know about others, but I have a suspicion the problem I was having was connected with having more than one screen. Now I switched to a single laptop; it's possible that electrum tried to open up with an invalid screen coordinate.

Edit: The original problem I mentioned in the first post is NOT fixed. Still getting same behaviour of 2 executables but no window showing. And still intermittent, difficult to pin down.

Try with another windows computer. If you find the same error and can replicate it, it might help. If you can't, maybe you should fix your windows first.

I'm experiencing the same problem in Win7 with 1.8, I haven't open the client for a few weeks but now it doesn't open with my "wallet.dat" file as argument, if I don't use my wallet.dat then the client opens normally asking to create a new wallet.
I couldn't figure out any trace of the error, the application simply appears and disappears in the win task manager.

Luckily I had a copy of the previous version and that one opens without any problem my existing wallet.

Move your electrum.dat file and restore from seed on the 1.8 client when prompt

Indeed, the seed restoration worked in the latest version ( 1.8 ) but of course I've lost all the customizations/notes of the original wallet :(

We probably need to make more regression tests between versions so upgrades don't break existing client data.

Thanks for the help.

I recommend you to backup your electrum.dat file before updating if you have set important labels and have imported keys. You can also use the plugin to keep your labels in the cloud, so you'll never lose it.

Which plugin is this? I've just gone through this same problem: after months of use, Electrum stops opening, but it can be recreated from the seed if I move the electrum.dat file; so the problem seems to be related to the electrum.dat file. But upon recreation, I've lost all my notes, which is really a bummer since that certainly helped me keep track of what was what. a) Is there a way to get these notes back? and b) for next time, what is this manner of backing up the notes which you refer to?

Label Sync is the plugin to keep your labels encrypted in a web service to be able to have it synchronized between computers. It will avoid losing labels if the wallet file get corrupted, you can always use your seed to restore privkeys and addresses, but LabelSync is a good way to keep your labels backed up.

Thank you!

I don't have Python installed. I thought these are standalone clients?

Nothing after 1.6.2 works. The shift key does not help, the client does not even start. There is no console. The process shows for a second in taskmanager, then goes away.

The official clients do the same thing, up to 1.8.1, whether standalone or installed.

Are these all 64bit versions???

I know this is old, but  I've had the same problem, and found a fix that worked for me:

1) Close electrum
2) Go to C:\Users\-your username-\AppData\Roaming\Electrum
3) Find 'config' file.
4) Rename or remove config file
5) Open Electrum

This worked for me - worth a try.

That fixed it for me (Win7 64bit). Thanks for the tip.