Slow opening / loading books message

bellereads · 03-18-2025, 04:47 PM

Calibre ver 7.24, windows 10 on laptop with SSD

I've used Calibre for deDRMing for over 10 years but never had my full library in there. But the last few months I've been working on getting all my books in there. I now have almost 7000 books in Calibre. I've had problems recently with how long it takes to open Calibre - almost 5 minutes.

After doing some testing I've determined that if I open Calibre less than around 45 minutes after I last closed it, it opens up in a few seconds so no problem. But if it's after around 45 minutes I see the "Starting Calibre: Loading books" message which then takes about 5 minutes.

I did have the auto book adding turned on but have turned that off in case it was causing the problem but it had no affect. I have also run through the library check and fixed all the problems it identified.

Any ideas on what could be triggering the loading books process?

kovidgoyal · 03-18-2025, 09:38 PM

Note that loading books always happens regardless of when you last started calibre.

BetterRed · 03-18-2025, 11:07 PM

Run Windows in Safe mode, start and stop calibre… then wait for an hour and see what happens when you start calibre again.

theducks · 03-19-2025, 05:12 PM

Calibre must be on a LOCAL attached drive. Not a NAS, cloud or share. (see the FAQ)

bellereads · 03-19-2025, 08:56 PM

The calibre library is stored on my laptop's SSD. It is backed up automatically to Google Drive.

bellereads · 03-19-2025, 09:17 PM

I have spent all day testing out Safe Mode with over an hour or more between each opening of Calibre. With restarting in Safe Mode option 4 (labeled as Enable Safe Mode) it opened up fast the first time but slow the 2nd time.

Then I restarted in Safe Mode option 8 (labeled as Disable early launch anti-malware protection). Calibre opened fast 3 times in a row.

I was wondering if Malwarebytes was causing problems so I uninstalled it and switched back to a regular restart and it opened up fast the first time but slow the 2nd time. So Malwarebytes is not the problem.

Any suggestions? I do have a VPN and an adblocker on my PC but don't think they would affect Calibre. I have never touched the built in Microsoft virus stuff and have no idea what early launch anti-malware protection is or how to configure it.

theducks · 03-19-2025, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellereads

The calibre library is stored on my laptop's SSD. It is backed up automatically to Google Drive.

2 problems with that plan.
1)Google drive is incompatible with Calibre. It changes file names. (Zipping the Library THEN using GD is ok because it never touches the zip contents)

2) Any 2 way sync is a Calibe disaster waiting to happen, Thing must happen NOW and in order. There have been cases of the sync putting back old stuff that no longer matches the Database. SYNC must be stopped while using Calibre.
Red the FAQ, there are years of tips to help avoid stumbles like GD

kovidgoyal · 03-19-2025, 10:30 PM

Since your safe mode experiments show its some process interfering with calibre, there's really no other way to fix this than eliminating the suspects one by one. Start with antivirus/security/blocker type programs. Move on to sync and assistive type programs. These are the major categories of programs that interfere with the operation of other software.

bellereads · 03-24-2025, 01:13 PM

I still have not figured out exactly what is happening. I do know that Malwarebytes is not the problem. I suspect it has to do with Google Drive or OneDrive backing up. If I leave the computer alone and don't do any work Calibre seems to re-open fine. It's when I start saving spreadsheets and other things that it's slow to re-open.

For now, I'll leave it be and not close Calibre as often. I'll keep testing and let you know if I ever figure it out. It's not that big of deal and I've wasted more time than it's worth on it. It's definitely not a quick fix.

Sirtel · 03-24-2025, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellereads

I still have not figured out exactly what is happening. I do know that Malwarebytes is not the problem. I suspect it has to do with Google Drive or OneDrive backing up. If I leave the computer alone and don't do any work Calibre seems to re-open fine. It's when I start saving spreadsheets and other things that it's slow to re-open.

For now, I'll leave it be and not close Calibre as often. I'll keep testing and let you know if I ever figure it out. It's not that big of deal and I've wasted more time than it's worth on it. It's definitely not a quick fix.

Stop Google Drive and OneDrive syncing when calibre is open. It's not only speed that can be the problem, your library can get thoroughly messed up. Plus, it's pointless to keep an unzipped calibre library on Google Drive - it will get corrupted.

03-18-2025, 04:47 PM	#1
bellereads Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2023 Device: ipad	Slow opening / loading books message Calibre ver 7.24, windows 10 on laptop with SSD I've used Calibre for deDRMing for over 10 years but never had my full library in there. But the last few months I've been working on getting all my books in there. I now have almost 7000 books in Calibre. I've had problems recently with how long it takes to open Calibre - almost 5 minutes. After doing some testing I've determined that if I open Calibre less than around 45 minutes after I last closed it, it opens up in a few seconds so no problem. But if it's after around 45 minutes I see the "Starting Calibre: Loading books" message which then takes about 5 minutes. I did have the auto book adding turned on but have turned that off in case it was causing the problem but it had no affect. I have also run through the library check and fixed all the problems it identified. Any ideas on what could be triggering the loading books process?

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03-18-2025, 09:38 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Note that loading books always happens regardless of when you last started calibre.

03-18-2025, 11:07 PM	#3
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,718 Karma: 29711016 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Run Windows in Safe mode, start and stop calibre… then wait for an hour and see what happens when you start calibre again.

03-19-2025, 05:12 PM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,047 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Calibre must be on a LOCAL attached drive. Not a NAS, cloud or share. (see the FAQ)

03-19-2025, 08:56 PM	#5
bellereads Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2023 Device: ipad	The calibre library is stored on my laptop's SSD. It is backed up automatically to Google Drive.

03-19-2025, 09:17 PM	#6
bellereads Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2023 Device: ipad	I have spent all day testing out Safe Mode with over an hour or more between each opening of Calibre. With restarting in Safe Mode option 4 (labeled as Enable Safe Mode) it opened up fast the first time but slow the 2nd time. Then I restarted in Safe Mode option 8 (labeled as Disable early launch anti-malware protection). Calibre opened fast 3 times in a row. I was wondering if Malwarebytes was causing problems so I uninstalled it and switched back to a regular restart and it opened up fast the first time but slow the 2nd time. So Malwarebytes is not the problem. Any suggestions? I do have a VPN and an adblocker on my PC but don't think they would affect Calibre. I have never touched the built in Microsoft virus stuff and have no idea what early launch anti-malware protection is or how to configure it.

03-19-2025, 10:30 PM	#8
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Since your safe mode experiments show its some process interfering with calibre, there's really no other way to fix this than eliminating the suspects one by one. Start with antivirus/security/blocker type programs. Move on to sync and assistive type programs. These are the major categories of programs that interfere with the operation of other software.

03-24-2025, 01:13 PM	#9
bellereads Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2023 Device: ipad	I still have not figured out exactly what is happening. I do know that Malwarebytes is not the problem. I suspect it has to do with Google Drive or OneDrive backing up. If I leave the computer alone and don't do any work Calibre seems to re-open fine. It's when I start saving spreadsheets and other things that it's slow to re-open. For now, I'll leave it be and not close Calibre as often. I'll keep testing and let you know if I ever figure it out. It's not that big of deal and I've wasted more time than it's worth on it. It's definitely not a quick fix.

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