# Processing Does Not Appear To Start

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400>\
**Category:** Beginners\
**Created:** [May 16, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400 "2025-05-16T14:33:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![fredstout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@fredstout](https://discourse.processing.org/u/fredstout)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400/1 "2025-05-16T14:33:04Z")

</div>

I have a Dell Inspiron 16 running Windows 11. The sketch, in question, has been running for months.When I try to start it, the results are a blank screen with a red dot and the system is locked up. I must do a Ctl, Alt, Del to make it stop,  
The screen shows “Could not run the sketch . . .” in red.  
In order to try and determine the problem, I inserted an exit() immediately after void Setup(). Same response.

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**Author:** ![glv](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/glv/32/18785_2.png) [@glv](https://discourse.processing.org/u/glv)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400/2 "2025-05-16T21:43:18Z")

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Hello,

> [@fredstout](#):
>
> The screen shows “Could not run the sketch . . .” in red.

I occasionally get the same error and also end the task in Task Manager.  
Sometimes it happens for no apparent reason and sketch runs fine afterwards.

Can you provide a minimal sketch to demonstrate this?

`:)`

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fredstout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@fredstout](https://discourse.processing.org/u/fredstout)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400/3 "2025-05-16T22:13:29Z")

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The sketch has 12 tabs and is quite long. I removed as much as I could and, of course, it ran.

The one thought I had was perhaps, I have not properly handled maximum available memory in preferences.  
Its currently 300.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fredstout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@fredstout](https://discourse.processing.org/u/fredstout)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400/4 "2025-05-19T02:13:11Z")

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From time to time, I find that a devious, difficult-to-find bug is nothing more than my own error. Such is the case with this one. My thanks and appreciation for those that even looked at this.  
My BAD!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jafal](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/jafal/32/19112_2.png) [@jafal](https://discourse.processing.org/u/jafal)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 4:27am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400/5 "2025-05-19T04:27:49Z")

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> [@fredstout](#):
>
> From time to time, I find that a devious, difficult-to-find bug is nothing more than my own error. Such is the case with this one.

Welcome  
The temporary folder consumes a large amount of memory on each reboot if some tasks are not completed. Software like antivirus and all software, when updated automatically, consumes more than you expect. This code shows how much memory sketch consumes

```auto

void draw() {
  println("Memory usage: " + (Runtime.getRuntime().totalMemory() - Runtime.getRuntime().freeMemory()) / 1024 / 1024 + "MB");
  // Rest of your code...
}

```

Report if it’s accurate or not I have tested it using APDE

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![glv](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/glv/32/18785_2.png) [@glv](https://discourse.processing.org/u/glv)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400/6 "2025-05-19T19:41:11Z")

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> [@fredstout](#):
>
> From time to time, I find that a devious, difficult-to-find bug is nothing more than my own error.

Hi @fredstout ,

It has happened to me… and you learn from it!

Some tools that may be of interest:

> [@Loading a 100MB PNG and draw it on the canvas but it eats 1GB of RAM frowning](https://discourse.processing.org/t/loading-a-100mb-png-and-draw-it-on-the-canvas-but-it-eats-1gb-of-ram/37791/3):
>
> Hello, There are tools that you can use to monitor memory usage such as VisualVM: [https://visualvm.github.io/](https://visualvm.github.io/) I found this Java.lang.Runtime class useful to monitor memory usage: I created a couple of images in different formats (JPG and PNG) that were 15000x7000 in image size in pixels which is not the same as image size of the file. The image size of the file is in the comments in the code below and here: Results: The size in memory is the same and it make…

`:)`

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![glv](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/glv/32/18785_2.png) [@glv](https://discourse.processing.org/u/glv)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/processing-does-not-appear-to-start/46400/7 "2025-05-19T19:54:55Z")

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> [@jafal](#):
>
> ```auto
> void draw() {
> println("Memory usage: " + (Runtime.getRuntime().totalMemory() - Runtime.getRuntime().freeMemory()) / 1024 / 1024 + "MB");
> // Rest of your code...
> }
> 
> ```

Consider throttling back on _print_ statements in _draw()_ to monitor memory usage.

Reference:

> [@Bug? print() to console slows sketch down](https://discourse.processing.org/t/bug-print-to-console-slows-sketch-down/10044/4):
>
> Yeah, print statements are slow. Google “system.out.println slow” for an explanation about why. One thing you can do is limit how often you’re printing. For example you might only print once per second instead of every frame: void draw(){ if(frameCount % 60 == 0){ println("hello"); } }

`:)`