Aeon Timeline on Windows won't launch
If Aeon Timeline is not launching correctly for you on Windows, there are some troubleshooting steps you can work through to help get everything up and running for you.
We want to make sure Aeon Timeline delivers the best possible experience for all our users, so please always report any issues you encounter to us so that we can investigate and fix issues as quickly as possible.
To help us with this, we would greatly appreciate if you could create a backup of your current installation and configuration files by following the instructions in this link:
https://help.timeline.app/article/268-help-us-diagnose-windows-installation-issues
Uninstall Aeon Timeline
Once you have created the backups, please uninstall Aeon Timeline:
- In the search bar on your Taskbar, type "Add or Remove programs" and then choose that option from the match list
- Click on Aeon Timeline in the list of installed apps, and then click on Uninstall
- You may receive some nuisance alerts relating to writing a log file. These can be safely ignored.
Rename Persistent Files Folder
Some configuration files persist beyond uninstallation. Renaming these files will ensure the crash is not related to any information stored there:
- In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Users\your_username\AppData\Local
- Replace your_username with the username of your Windows account
- AppData is a hidden folder, so you may need to copy/type this into the address bar directly
- Rename the "Aeon Timeline" folder to "Aeon Timeline Backup".
By renaming the folder, those files will not be used the next time the app launches, but we are retaining the files so that they can be restored later.
Re-download and reinstall Aeon Timeline
To ensure you are installing the latest version of Aeon Timeline directly (and thus bypassing any involvement of our automatic update system), please perform the following steps:
- Visit https://www.aeontimeline.com/download to download the latest version of Aeon Timeline
- Run the installer
- Try running Aeon Timeline again.
If the app now runs successfully
You should now reverse the persistent file rename, so that you can restore your existing backups and preferences.
- In Windows Explorer, again navigate to C:\Users\your_username\AppData\Local
- Delete the newly created "Aeon Timeline" folder
- Rename the "Aeon Timeline Backup" folder to "Aeon Timeline" (this will restore your original files).
- Run Aeon Timeline again.
If Aeon Timeline stops working again when you restore the folder, you should rename the "Aeon Timeline" folder again to get the back up and running.
As this would indicate a problem with one of the files inside that folder, it would be a huge help to us if you could email a zipped copy of the folder* to support@aeontimeline.com so that we can fix the issue before it becomes a recurring issue for you and others.
* Note: this folder includes backups of your timeline files. Anything you send to us will be treated confidentially, but if your timelines contain sensitive information, please contact us at support@aeontimeline.com and we can send instructions on how to omit the sensitive information from what you send to us.
If the reinstallation process did not help
If the above didn't get you back up and running, there are several other steps to try.
Allow Aeon Timeline in Windows Defender or 3rd-party security apps
Windows Defender has been known to block certain applications from running correctly, and can trigger the error code included in your original message.
You can tell Windows Defender to allow Aeon Timeline to run by following these steps:
Likewise, if there are any other 3rd-party security systems installed (BitDefender etc), you may need to whitelist Aeon Timeline in those applications also.
Run as Windows Administrator
Although this isn't typically necessary, some users have reported running the app as Administrator resolved issues on their machine.
Windows System File Checker
Windows has a built-in file checker to see if there are any corrupted files in your Windows installation.
You can follow the steps to run this here:
Test a previous version
Download and install an earlier version of our app (version 3.2.22) from the following link:
https://aeon-timeline-3-release-notes.s3.amazonaws.com/3.2.22/win/AeonTimelineWinInstaller.exe
- Uninstall the existing version first, and then install this older version.
- Once installed, run the app and see if it is able to open correctly the first time you run it.
- Test the installation with a new timeline file rather than editing one of your existing files to avoid any file compatibility issues related to the temporary downgrade.
Aeon Timeline will automatically update to the latest version after your first run, so this is only a quick diagnostic test. If the old version works and the updated version does not, please let us know via support@aeontimeline.com so that we can help get you up and running with the newer version.