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Deferred Processing Icon Disappears from Task Tray and Multiple Deferred Sessions Are Running

← Systems Manager
Release Date: 03/04/21
Modified Date: 02/08/24
Version: 7.5 & Up

Q - Our Deferred Processing icon is disappearing from the task tray in the desktop bottom right corner. As a result, we thought Deferred Processing was not running and launched Deferred Processing again. We recently discovered that Deferred Processing is not working on our server and we actually have multiple Deferred Processing sessions running in Task Manager. What's going on?  See sample screen below:


A - The Deferred Processing icon disappearing is a known issue. We have seen this issue for over three months in several environments running on Windows Server 2016 and 2019. This is not a widespread problem and for users running on older Windows operating systems, like 2008 or 2012, this problem does not appear. Since the issue only started a few months ago, we presume it is related to the Windows service pack update and maybe a combination of other factors. We are not able to get our vendor to help resolve this problem, so we are trying to resolve it on our own by narrowing down the cause(s).

Our first attempt was partially successful, but not 100%. We are on our second attempt now. To make sure we don't introduce instability, the second attempt is for Elliott 8.6 only.

To give a better understanding of what is happening, the user clicks on the "Deferred Processing" icon to start and EL850DP.EXE is run. A small icon will show up in the bottom right corner of the task tray area. After a while, Windows automatically moves this icon to the ^ (up arrow) area. See sample screen below:


The issue is that in the affected environment this icon will eventually totally disappear. It is natural for users to assume that Deferred Processing is not running if they don't see the icon and they launch Deferred Processing again. The second Deferred session's icon eventually disappears and they launch it again, and so on and so on. As you know, running multiple sessions of Elliott Deferred Processing is problematic because of task execution competition. To resolve this problem, you will have to terminate all EL850DP.EXE and EL850RP.EXE processes in Task Manager.

Starting Deferred Processing will create an Elliott Deferred Processing icon on the bottom right corner of the task tray. Right click (sometimes double right click) to bring up the menu and choose “Restore.” See sample screen below:


The Deferred Processing user interface window will appear like the following screen:

 
You may minimize the Deferred Processing window, but do not click on the “X” (on the top right corner) to close the Deferred Processing user interface window. Closing this window will remove the Deferred Processing icon in the task tray of affected users’ environments and you will not be able to bring up the Deferred Processing user interface window again. The only way to bring up the Deferred Processing window is to use Task Manager to kill EL850DP.EXE and EL850RP.EXE (if any) and launch a fresh copy of Deferred Processing. In these environments, users can’t see the Deferred Processing icon. Without seeing the Deferred Processing user interface window, the only you can verify whether or not Deferred Processing is running is to look at Task Manager and it is unlikely that users will do that. 

This issue is addressed in Elliott 8.6.  You should upgrade to Elliott 8.6 at your earliest convivence.  Before you upgrading to Elliott 8.6, the temporary solution is to make sure the Deferred Processing user interface window is always on your desktop (minimizing is OK).

If you do not start Deferred Processing in the "Ready" mode, then you will see the  "Deferred Processing Window" user interface when you start up. In that case, just don't click on the "X" to close the window if you are affected by this problem.

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