How to start Inspire without getting program crash?

SG_Brokkr
SG_Brokkr Altair Community Member

Description: Inspire crashes shortly after it opens.

https://youtu.be/JUNFyo7adwM

All software and drivers are up-to-date. The PC is a $1500 workstation laptop with an Intel CPU 14c/20t

I have tried to install 4 times and all fails to launch the program.

  1. Normal installation with nothing done to the firewall
  2. Normal installation with real-time protection off
  3. Installed as administrator with nothing done to the firewall
  4. Installed as administrator with real-time protection off

I have checked Event Viewer for errors when the program crashes, but there are none.
I'm clueless why it happens. My older work laptop With and AMD cpu ran it without problems.

Product/Topic Name: Altair Inspire 2024.1.1


I have built 10+ computers from scratch and know how to install/update software.

 

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Answers

  • SG_Brokkr
    SG_Brokkr Altair Community Member

    This is such a bad experience. No one replies, no one knows why it crashes and it doesnt look like anyone cares.

    It's your software and you should care, unless Altair Inspire is a dead end, I feel like that is the devs opinion by not commenting on this issue.

  • TonyG
    TonyG
    Altair Employee

    Hi Simen

    What is your graphics card / driver version?

    Also have you run inspire on this machine before? If so can you try and delete the following folder and re-launch?

    C:\Users\<username>\.altair\Inspire2024.1.1

  • rdominguez
    rdominguez
    Altair Employee

    Hello,

    Thank you for reaching out, and I’m really sorry to hear about the trouble you’re having with Inspire. I appreciate the detailed information and the video you shared!

    Let’s get into it and work together to solve this.

    There are two common solutions we’ve seen for this situation, and I’d like to walk you through both so we can quickly rule out installation or system-specific issues.

    1. Installation Type: Alternate Installer.
    Could you confirm whether you used the online (light) installer or the alternate installer when setting up Inspire?

    If you used the light installer, I strongly recommend trying a reinstall using the alternate installer, as it downloads all required files ahead of time, reducing the risk of any missing or corrupted components during installation. You can find the alternate installer zip file on the Altair One Marketplace.

    aa.png

    Once downloaded:

    • Extract the contents of the zip file.
    • Make sure all files are placed in the same extracted folder, with no extra files added.
    • Run the Inspire installer directly from that folder.

    2. Graphics Driver: Clean Reinstallation.
    If your system is using an NVIDIA GPU, I also recommend doing a clean reinstallation of the graphics driver, even if it’s currently up to date.

    Here’s how:

    • Download the latest driver directly from the official NVIDIA website (not through Windows Update). a..png
    • Choose Custom Installation and make sure to check “Perform a clean installation.” b..png

    This ensures that any corrupted or outdated driver files are fully removed and replaced, which can solve hidden compatibility issues with the graphics engine used in Inspire.

    Once you’ve tried these steps, let me know how things go. If the crash persists, we’ll continue digging deeper together. I'm here to help until it's resolved.

    Looking forward to your update.

    Best,
    R.

  • SotiriosPapadopoulos
    SotiriosPapadopoulos
    Altair Employee

    Hi Simen,

    You can launch the software with the "-kc" argument. This, will launch a Windows command console and write log messages into it.

    Please let us know if there are any warnings or errors inside the log.

    Best regards,

    Sotirios

  • SG_Brokkr
    SG_Brokkr Altair Community Member

    Hi, my GPU is RTX 4060 Mobile, GPU driver version is 572.83

    I have deleted the folder but the program continues to crash.

  • SG_Brokkr
    SG_Brokkr Altair Community Member

    Hi, I installed the "AltairInspirePersonal2024.1.1_win64.exe" which I found in the compressed file link that was sent to me by Christine. I did find the alternate file the other day and will try it the next day I'm at work, to see if it works

    I reinstalled the Nvidia driver with the clean installation option enabled, but program still crashes. I dont think its an GPU issue. On the gaming-PC at home with RTX 4090 it just worked.

    I can do a DDU as a last resort to see if it helps.

  • SG_Brokkr
    SG_Brokkr Altair Community Member

    Hi, thanks.

    This is seems to be the most useful answer. I did get an error, and I know how to google to find solutions, but I have no idea what this means. You might have a better understanding of what it means.

    This error appears when starting the shortcut that is placed on the desktop by the installer.

    2025-04-01 16_37_00.png
  • TonyG
    TonyG
    Altair Employee

    Hi Simen

    Looking at the video @1:09 inspire is starting with the dark theme which is unusual for a new install. That plus the RGB in message above suggest to me something graphics related going on. It may be that the dedicated GPU is not being used… can you force this in the NVIDIA control panel or even at BIOS level?

    Tony

  • SG_Brokkr
    SG_Brokkr Altair Community Member
    edited April 4

    The versions 2024.1.1 and 2025.0 has the workshop theme set to automatic:

    2025-04-04 11_23_35.png


    The 7 day trial Altair Inspire 2024 has no option for automatic theme in the workshop:

    2025-04-04 11_20_49.png


    I find it strange that you as an "Altair Employee" doesn't know this.


    I have forced the programs with the Altair Inspire logo in the program folder to use the GPU, but since the shortcut on the desktop isnt exactly the same file, I think its an error there. I cant choose the shortcut either.

    The desktop shortcut is ExecWinEnvInsp.exe with a lot of arguments. Why not have it easy like a file called AltairInspire.exe without all the arguments? Most programs has done it that way.

    After all this I still get crashes.

  • SG_Brokkr
    SG_Brokkr Altair Community Member

    I just tried to install the alternate version of Inspire 2024.1.1 and it also crashed.
    Running the program with the argument "-kc" and as administrator I still get this error

    As I can start Inspire 2025 without issues. There must be something broken on your end.

    2025-04-04 11_46_12.png

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