LTspice not working in Windows 10

[ocset]

Hello,

We just got a new laptop and we find that running our LTspice simulations now mostly doesnt work.
These exact same simulations run fine on our old laptop.
Old laptop was "packard bell easynote TE"  with Windows 8, and was running LTspice IV
New Laptop is "Lenovo Yoga 510" with Windows 10,  and is running LTspice XV11.

The fault is that on most times that a simulation is started, it just freezes and "Task Manager" has to be used to "End Task", as it just freezes totally.

I read somewhere that it may be due to Windows 10 doing windows updates, and this interferes with LTspice?
Unfortunatelty windows updates can't be disabled in windows 10.

Incidentally, my friends computer has windows 10, and i also sometimes get this "freezing" problem on his computer...but not as often as with our new windows 10 laptop.

Do you know how to solve?
Maybe its colliding with Norton Antivirus?

[ataradov]

There was a thread recently that LTspice XV11 does not work well with Win10. So I would just stick to the old version.

[ocset]

Thanks..

OK, i  went into the "Program Files (x86)" folder of  our old laptop, and tried to find the
LTspice IV install file, so i could install it onto our new laptop. But I could not find it.
Therefore, i have copied the whole LTspice folder (called "LTC") and just dumped it into a file on the desktop of the new laptop.
So LTspice is now obviously not actually installed on the new laptop. However, if i click the file called "SCAD3" in the LTspice folder than it opens up
the LTspice window and this lets me open simulations (.asc files) and runs them. -And importantly now it doesnt crash.
Does anyone know what's going on here?

If i go into the Programs folder on the new laptop, which lists all the programs that are installed on the new laptop, then LTspice doesnt show up here.

This is weird, howcome LTspice is running on the new laptop even though its not installed on the new laptop?
At least its not crashing now.
Are there any disadvantages of this?
One slight disadvantage is that you have to open simulations from the LTspice window instead of just clicking them and having them automatically open up LTspice for us..

Being run in this bizarre way, it runs quicker on the new laptop than on the old one (but then again the new one is 2.4GHz processor speed  vs 1.9GHz processor speed for the old laptop)

[ataradov]

You don't need to "install" most programs to run them. All installer does is copy the files and associate the file extensions. You did the first part manually, now do the second.

First random link I googled on the subject - https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-set-default-programs-and-file-types-in-windows-10/

Google "windows file association" if you want more information.

[Zero999]

Thanks..

OK, i  went into the "Program Files (x86)" folder of  our old laptop, and tried to find the
LTspice IV install file, so i could install it onto our new laptop. But I could not find it.
Therefore, i have copied the whole LTspice folder (called "LTC") and just dumped it into a file on the desktop of the new laptop.
So LTspice is now obviously not actually installed on the new laptop. However, if i click the file called "SCAD3" in the LTspice folder than it opens up
the LTspice window and this lets me open simulations (.asc files) and runs them. -And importantly now it doesnt crash.
Does anyone know what's going on here?

If i go into the Programs folder on the new laptop, which lists all the programs that are installed on the new laptop, then LTspice doesnt show up here.

This is weird, howcome LTspice is running on the new laptop even though its not installed on the new laptop?
At least its not crashing now.
Are there any disadvantages of this?
One slight disadvantage is that you have to open simulations from the LTspice window instead of just clicking them and having them automatically open up LTspice for us..

Being run in this bizarre way, it runs quicker on the new laptop than on the old one (but then again the new one is 2.4GHz processor speed  vs 1.9GHz processor speed for the old laptop)

Right click on the .asc file in explorer. Next to where it says opens with, click change. If LTSpice isn't on the list, click  more apps. If LTSpice still doesn't appear, scroll down to the bottom of the list and click Look for another app on this PC. Navigate to where ecad3.exe is located, click on it and click on OK.

Windows 10 is a turd really. I'd suggest avoiding it where ever possible. The worst thing about it is you no longer have any control over your PC: it puts MS in control of everything.

[SiliconWizard]

I don't use Windows 10 (Win 7 here), but I can tell you that LTSpice XVII has introduced a lot of regression compared to LTSpice IV in many respects. I don't really know what happened. Did they change developers? Did they switch to a different language and rewrote it from scratch? I don't know, but many features that had been very stable for years have gotten flaky.

For instance, the waveform viewer - much less dependable, and can get the application stuck in a loop in some cases.
The simulator itself sometimes stops unexpectedly before completing the whole simulation time without any error or warning. It just stops.

It has gotten so irritating actually that I've been slowly moving my simulations to ngspice (that I find often more accurate but slower).
I still use LTSpice on occasion, but much less often than I used to. Shame.

[rstofer]

It's a darn shame I didn't know that LPSpice XVII didn't run on Win 10 before I installed it - and have been using it ever since!

It may not install or function on your machine but it is not a fact that it won't run on ANY Win 10 machine because it has been running on mine for quite some time.

Windows 10 Pro
Version   10.0.17134 Build 17134

[Conrad Hoffman]

Win 10 Pro here too, and LTSpice XVII runs flawlessly. IMO, Win 10 is the best OS to date.

[rstofer]

I just installed LTSpice XVII on another Win 10 box and it works well - just like on my Surface Book

Windows 10 Pro
Version   10.0.16299 Build 16299

I'm not sure why this version is older than the one on my Surface Book (above).  Maybe because I don't use it as often and it may be behind in updates.
Nevertheless, LTSpice XVII runs fine.

So, for the two threads running on this topic, there may be local issues but it certainly isn't a problem with Win 10 or LTSpice XVII.  Something is hosed locally.

[bd139]

LTspice doesn’t work for me on windows 10 1803. Crashes and hangs galore. There are quite a few problems with various bits of software and 1803 to the point it has hit the register etc too.

Also LTspice interface, the MDI system has been buggy as fuck for about a year now.

Have gone back to the old version targeted at XP users. Works fine!

[Zero999]

IMO, Win 10 is the best OS to date.

I know it's a bit off topic, but what do you like about Windows 10?

The general opinion about Windows 10 seems rather negatively around here.

My main gripe is Windows 10 prohibits the user from customising it beyond a certain amount: major updates set things back to how Microsoft likes them. Windows 10 also has the nasty habit of uninstalling software it doesn't like. For example, my dad doesn't like the new Windows 10 Freecell with its adware and it not keeping the statistics from the previous version, so I downloaded the classic Windows 7 version and installed it for him. A few months later, after a big update, Windows decided it would uninstall the Windows 7 version of Freecell, so I had to reinstall it again! Another annoying thing is updates break things more often than they did on any other version of Windows.

There are other minor niggles, such as the crappy, inconsistent user interface, but I can live with them: uninstalling things, without the user's consent is unacceptable!

[rstofer]

IMO, Win 10 is the best OS to date.

I know it's a bit off topic, but what do you like about Windows 10?

The general opinion about Windows 10 seems rather negatively around here.

There are other minor niggles, such as the crappy, inconsistent user interface, but I can live with them: uninstalling things, without the user's consent is unacceptable!

Everything I plug in just works.  Drivers are found automatically, I don't need to go wandering all over the Internet looking for them.  Think about the dreaded CH340 USB->Serial device on clone Arduinos.  I had heard nothing but badness about getting them to work.  I bought a few clones and just plugged one in.  Win 10 found the driver (somewhere), installed it and, sure enough, the Arduino IDE can find the port.  Totally transparent to the user - it just happened.

I'm not terribly interested in the opinions of others.  It's a lot like this LTSpice thing:  A number of users are having a problem and immediately blame it on a) LTSpice or b) Win 10.  Yet many of us have no problems running the program on our systems.  Who are we to believe?  The problem is, Google will link these threads in the universe and thousands of people will run across the dubious 'fact' that LTSpice XVII won't run on Win 10.  It pays to not pay attention to everything on the Internet.

Uninstalling obsolete programs in defense of the OS is a questionable practice.  I certainly don't support the idea but it hasn't happened to me so I don't really have a dog in the hunt.  I agree, the new Freecell sucks!

It doesn't matter whether people like Win 10 or not.  Win 7 will go obsolete at some point (Jan 14, 2020) and users can either upgrade or do what I am doing with Win XP.  Just using it anyway...

[Zero999]

IMO, Win 10 is the best OS to date.

I know it's a bit off topic, but what do you like about Windows 10?

The general opinion about Windows 10 seems rather negatively around here.

There are other minor niggles, such as the crappy, inconsistent user interface, but I can live with them: uninstalling things, without the user's consent is unacceptable!

Everything I plug in just works.  Drivers are found automatically, I don't need to go wandering all over the Internet looking for them.  Think about the dreaded CH340 USB->Serial device on clone Arduinos.  I had heard nothing but badness about getting them to work.  I bought a few clones and just plugged one in.  Win 10 found the driver (somewhere), installed it and, sure enough, the Arduino IDE can find the port.  Totally transparent to the user - it just happened.

I'm not terribly interested in the opinions of others.  It's a lot like this LTSpice thing:  A number of users are having a problem and immediately blame it on a) LTSpice or b) Win 10.  Yet many of us have no problems running the program on our systems.  Who are we to believe?  The problem is, Google will link these threads in the universe and thousands of people will run across the dubious 'fact' that LTSpice XVII won't run on Win 10.  It pays to not pay attention to everything on the Internet.

Uninstalling obsolete programs in defense of the OS is a questionable practice.  I certainly don't support the idea but it hasn't happened to me so I don't really have a dog in the hunt.  I agree, the new Freecell sucks!

It doesn't matter whether people like Win 10 or not.  Win 7 will go obsolete at some point (Jan 14, 2020) and users can either upgrade or do what I am doing with Win XP.  Just using it anyway...

I have also had no problems with getting LTSpice to work under Windows 10. I don't think people are lying when they say they've experienced problems getting LTSpice to run under Windows 10. It seems perfectly plausible to me. Don't forget that PC hardware varies dramatically. I think it's good to listen to the opinions of others, because a lot can be learned from them, even if you disagree or have had a different experience.

I have not had any problems with drivers and Windows 10, although I can imagine it being a problem for old hardware, such as printers. I very much doubt, I could get drivers installed for an older version of Windows and even if I could, the darn thing would just uninstall them on a whim. I imagine there are plenty of people who have had to buy new printers because their old ones are no longer supported by the latest Windows version.

Yes, Windows 7 will become obsolete, which is why I moved on to using Linux a long time ago. I appreciate that won't suit everyone, but it suits me fine. Unfortunately I still have to support my dad's Windows 10 machine, which is a pain.

[bd139]

It's not even hardware in this case. It's a combination of bugs in LTspice and Windows 10 1803. We've had lots of software fail our build QA process so far at work that passed in the last drop. 1803 is a turd.

For ref I use Linux mostly too, Xubuntu at home and CentOS 7 at work. The resulting platform is orders of magnitude more stable. I also have to support legacy Windows targets which means I have both a Windows and Linux workstation at hand.

WRT Windows 10 the most annoying thing is that every time I reboot I have to remove and add my printer before it will even admit that the damn thing is on line. MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android all just print!

[rstofer]

It's not even hardware in this case. It's a combination of bugs in LTspice and Windows 10 1803. We've had lots of software fail our build QA process so far at work that passed in the last drop. 1803 is a turd.

But it's running on my 1803 Surface book with no problems whatsoever.  Why do the problems have to be with LTSpice or Win 10?  They probably are but there are plenty of counter-examples.

And if your update settings were correct, you wouldn't have been pushed to 1803.  That upgrade is for the 'Targeted' systems, those that are known to likely work.  The other group are considered enterprise users and the upgrade hasn't been pushed to that group.  That's why I have 1803 on my Microsoft Surface Book (of course it will work) but not on my homebuilt tower.  Yes, I went in and checked the settings.

I could change the settings and allow my tower to be 'Targeted' but I don't see the point.  There's nothing in the upgrade that I want.  Maybe later when it has been out for awhile.

For ref I use Linux mostly too, Xubuntu at home and CentOS 7 at work. The resulting platform is orders of magnitude more stable. I also have to support legacy Windows targets which means I have both a Windows and Linux workstation at hand.

Tried getting NVIDIA drivers for the latest and greatest graphics card?  Recompiling the drivers every time the kernel changes?  Always fun!  How about any new hardware?  Sure, Linux supports the old stuff, it's the new stuff it doesn't have drivers for.  The manufacturers have no interest in 2% of the market so they won't write them and the developers have to take the long way around to discover how the latest gadget works.

WRT Windows 10 the most annoying thing is that every time I reboot I have to remove and add my printer before it will even admit that the damn thing is on line. MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android all just print!

How old is the printer?  Sure, if it's an old Okidata dot matrix, there may be a problem.  I don't seem to lose my P2550 LaserJet or my Color LaserJet.  Even if I did have to reinstall, it's only a couple of clicks and Win 10 searches my network and lists all the printers.  Pretty simple.  What I do have is the P2550 drops its network connection and I need to reboot the printer.  I'm not sure why that happens.

Actually, Linux Mint is also pretty simple to configure.  I like it a lot.  In fact, for software development, I prefer it simply for the *nix tools.  I also like Bash on Win 10.  It works very well for command line projects.

[Conrad Hoffman]

Knock on wood, Win 10 Pro may be the most trouble-free software I've got. It found drivers for my ancient hardware, my new hardware and anything I randomly throw at it. It takes care of itself with no action on my part, though I do purge the system of tracking cookies periodically. I've never seen it uninstall anything. Freecell has sucked for ages and I installed the XP version, which runs with no problem. I did have some trouble installing my CAD program because it tried to retain some previous settings, but with a bit of help from the writers, it now runs better than ever. I use Office 365 so everything is always up to date, though I admit to not liking the stupid tool ribbon they went with- way less efficient than the old simpleton one. My PowerBASIC compiler still works fine and I continue to write small utilities and such. My turntable alignment template program has had thousands, if not tens of thousands, of downloads and I've never gotten a single email related to running it under Windows 10.

[rstofer]

I use Office 365 so everything is always up to date, though I admit to not liking the stupid tool ribbon they went with- way less efficient than the old simpleton one.

I agree, the new 'ribbon' is a POS.  I like the old menus where everything was right where it was supposed to be.

I won't use Ubuntu for a similar reason.  The system buttons are in the wrong corner.  It used to be that I could change the location but the ever-arrogant developers have now made that impossible.  Who ever thought that the upper left corner would be acceptable and now required!

[bd139]

But it's running on my 1803 Surface book with no problems whatsoever.  Why do the problems have to be with LTSpice or Win 10?  They probably are but there are plenty of counter-examples.

Well basically because the OS provides a HAL. If the HAL isn't consistent, what the hell is the point in having an OS?

And if your update settings were correct, you wouldn't have been pushed to 1803.  That upgrade is for the 'Targeted' systems, those that are known to likely work.  The other group are considered enterprise users and the upgrade hasn't been pushed to that group.  That's why I have 1803 on my Microsoft Surface Book (of course it will work) but not on my homebuilt tower.  Yes, I went in and checked the settings.

I could change the settings and allow my tower to be 'Targeted' but I don't see the point.  There's nothing in the upgrade that I want.  Maybe later when it has been out for awhile.

This was a fresh install on a test machine. I'm not going to risk one of my main workstations on it. This is exactly why I'm not going to risk my main workstations on it.

Tried getting NVIDIA drivers for the latest and greatest graphics card?  Recompiling the drivers every time the kernel changes?  Always fun!  How about any new hardware?  Sure, Linux supports the old stuff, it's the new stuff it doesn't have drivers for.  The manufacturers have no interest in 2% of the market so they won't write them and the developers have to take the long way around to discover how the latest gadget works.

Er no, it's a 9 month old high end HP Z-series workstation. Has Quadro FX card in it. Just works. They are certified working by HP.

Please bear in mind I've been using Linux for 20 years now, am certified RHCA and was cert Solaris even before that. Literally no problems if you don't cobble together some shit and buy a desktop or laptop from a respectable company (Lenovo, HP etc).

How old is the printer?  Sure, if it's an old Okidata dot matrix, there may be a problem.  I don't seem to lose my P2550 LaserJet or my Color LaserJet.  Even if I did have to reinstall, it's only a couple of clicks and Win 10 searches my network and lists all the printers.  Pretty simple.  What I do have is the P2550 drops its network connection and I need to reboot the printer.  I'm not sure why that happens.

WiFI connected HP 3630 inkjet. 1 year old. On Linux it just works too for ref.

Actually, Linux Mint is also pretty simple to configure.  I like it a lot.  In fact, for software development, I prefer it simply for the *nix tools.  I also like Bash on Win 10.  It works very well for command line projects.

Linux Mint is a very unfunny joke. I would't go anywhere near it. Their handling of security issues and quality is quite frankly a massive risk.

I use Office 365 so everything is always up to date, though I admit to not liking the stupid tool ribbon they went with- way less efficient than the old simpleton one.

I agree, the new 'ribbon' is a POS.  I like the old menus where everything was right where it was supposed to be.

I won't use Ubuntu for a similar reason.  The system buttons are in the wrong corner.  It used to be that I could change the location but the ever-arrogant developers have now made that impossible.  Who ever thought that the upper left corner would be acceptable and now required!

Ribbon is fine. Someone moved your cheese. It's discoverable rather than fucked up pictograms that were there before. "pixelated squashed bug" - what the fuck does that do?



Ubuntu, use xfce and put the panel where you want. You can make it look exactly like windows 10 if you desire.

[rstofer]

Ubuntu, use xfce and put the panel where you want. You can make it look exactly like windows 10 if you desire.

Yes, I should have been specific, it's the Unity desktop that sucks.  xfce is quite nice and I have it on another machine.  Some years back I migrated from Red Hat Enterprise to Fedora.  I though Fedora was visually stunning.  Somehow I moved away from it.  Bad move...

One of the nice things about Linux is that it will run on just about anything.  Just stuff the CD in the drive and boot from CD.  It's a LOT better than it used to be.  I go back to 386BSD around 1992.  In the release version it didn't even support printing and it took 50+ diskettes to load the system.  But it worked!  Things have improved a LOT.

[Zero999]

Ribbon is fine. Someone moved your cheese. It's discoverable rather than fucked up pictograms that were there before. "pixelated squashed bug" - what the fuck does that do?

But it takes more clicks and moves of the mouse to do the same operation with ribbon, which is why it's shit. Want to open a file? Under the old system, click the disk and you got strait to the open file galogue box. Now it takes three clicks! It's also pretty hard to discover new commands. At least under the old menu bar system, every command had a basic description next to it. Now with ribbon it's just silly icons.

Unfortunately I have to use the POS called MS Office at work, but lucky using it isn't the main part of my job, otherwise I would have quit but now.

[bd139]

Ubuntu, use xfce and put the panel where you want. You can make it look exactly like windows 10 if you desire.

Yes, I should have been specific, it's the Unity desktop that sucks.  xfce is quite nice and I have it on another machine.  Some years back I migrated from Red Hat Enterprise to Fedora.  I though Fedora was visually stunning.  Somehow I moved away from it.  Bad move...

One of the nice things about Linux is that it will run on just about anything.  Just stuff the CD in the drive and boot from CD.  It's a LOT better than it used to be.  I go back to 386BSD around 1992.  In the release version it didn't even support printing and it took 50+ diskettes to load the system.  But it worked!  Things have improved a LOT.

Yes Unity is a crime against humanity.

I don't use Gnome (standard desktop) on CentOS. Xfce as well. I was a big fan of gnome2 but they killed that and the forks of it aren't that good.

Early BSD was nice. I did a lot of work fixing shit on NetBSD/sparc many years ago. Did Debian Bo off floppies once. Nearly died. Things have improved a lot.

Ribbon is fine. Someone moved your cheese. It's discoverable rather than fucked up pictograms that were there before. "pixelated squashed bug" - what the fuck does that do?

But it takes more clicks and moves of the mouse to do the same operation with ribbon, which is why it's shit. Want to open a file? Under the old system, click the disk and you got strait to the open file galogue box. Now it takes three clicks! It's also pretty hard to discover new commands. At least under the old menu bar system, every command had a basic description next to it. Now with ribbon it's just silly icons.

Unfortunately I have to use the POS called MS Office at work, but lucky using it isn't the main part of my job, otherwise I would have quit but now.

Ctrl + O or Winkey then type the filename or Win+R and type the path in.

Tip with the ribbon. Double click a tab. It will go away. Learn to use the keyboard. Orders of magnitude faster. Commit it to muscle memory.

I write 100+ page word documents regularly. It's actually the least shit thing out there if you ask me. Not the best as there isn't anything best, apart from LaTeX but no one will pay me to write that.

[bd139]

Some more extensive Word (and office across the board) tips:

1. Close the ribbon. Double click a tab. Gone, just the tab names.
2. if you want to do something press ALT. It will highlight what the next key does.
3. press a key it says
4. read and follow next keys

Header ?  Alt-G-S ... then pick a header with the keyboard. Learn a few of these. You will never reach for the mouse again.

[JohnnyMalaria]

LTspice XVII runs just fine on my Windows 10 laptop.

[JohnnyMalaria]

You don't need to "install" most programs to run them. All installer does is copy the files and associate the file extensions. You did the first part manually, now do the second.

That's simply not true. *Most* applications are packaged as Windows MSI installer files. It's impossible to just extract the files, copy them to your favorite place, set file extensions and expect them to work. Most apps make significant use of the registry.

Now, some applications can run without installation but "some" is not "most".

[JohnnyMalaria]

If i go into the Programs folder on the new laptop, which lists all the programs that are installed on the new laptop, then LTspice doesnt show up here.

There are two folders for programs: Programs Files (x86) and Program Files. LTspice XVII comes with both x86 and x64 versions. On my Win10 system, it is installed here:

C:\Program Files\LTC\LTspiceXVII