Solved Vegas Movie Studio v15 Help system woes

Vegas Movie Studio v15 on Windows 7 64-bit and 8 gig of RAM, multiple SATA hd, nVidia GTX 560 Ti

I seldom need to use the help system, having been working with VMS for years - and of course, keeping my eye on MSZ and the good doctor, but every once in a while, it (the Help system) is needed to remind me of how to do something. I usually cannot find what I want from the Index or Contents, and would use "Search" instead. The poor thing does not seem to be able to cope with a "Search" request. I have watched this program flail for over an hour thus far, and it is still "thinking". I do not have a project loaded at this time.I have the search term simplified to "Event".

Now, the Help system taking a while is not so much the problem, as it the idea that the first time I tried this and changed my mind (since it was taking too long), that I decided to close the "Help" window... Attempting to do so brings up a Windows Task Manager window with "Wait for the program to finish" or "Close the program" or "Troubleshoot and close the program"... Why can it not quit the "Search" and close the help system? When I finally clicked on the "Close the program", it closes VMS completely. Not just the "Help" system. "I hope you saved those changes before you went and used the 'Help' system!"...

Has anyone attempted a "Search" in the VMS v15 Help system, and did it work for you? My old v13 would take a while on the first search, but it would at least cancel out gracefully, not taking the whole app with it. ?? Thanks.

Hi PropBeanie and welcome to the forum.

You are not going crazy.
There are problems with how the Help/Contents & Index file works in Vegas.
Some people experience the same problems you do and some do not.
I have the same problem as yourself.

There is a solution to the slowness in the search function
1. Go to Documents on your computer and enter this address into the Search bar at top:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Shared Plug-Ins\Help Files
This is the location of all the Help files.

2. Find MovieStudio150.chm, then right-click and select Send to - Desktop

3. Whenever you want to do a search now, open the Help file via this new quick link on your Desktop.
It is OK to have Vegas open at the same time.
You should discover that everything now works much better, when it is operating on it's own.

Regards
Derek

Note that instead of C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Shared Plug-Ins\Help Files, the Help files may be here C:\Program Files (x86)\VEGAS\Shared Plug-ins\Help Files
See this discussion www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/vegas-pro-16-help-won-t-launch--115052/

And if you have the basic version (not Platinum), the Help file is MovieStudioHD150.chm

Note also that these online Help files may not be 100% correct.