Matlab extremely slow to start up due to error mwdocsearch.exe

Matlab 2022B has a bug in "mwdocsearch.exe" which is automatically run when launching Matlab and results in the following error.

Caught "std::exception" Exception message is:

An error occurred while initializing child process: While attempting to execute "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2023a\bin\win64\mwdocsearch.exe server -m C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2023a -p 59732 -v C:\Users\TestMTT\AppData\Local\Temp\ -t 7412 0 1 0 0 0": CreateProcessW: Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service [system:1450]

I tried to upgrade to 2023a and same bug occurs.

Does anybody know how to cure this failure or disable the "mwdocsearch.exe" from running? This will cause Matlab to hangup for sometimes up to 10minutes before ultimately presenting the error and allowing Matlab to open.

[Walter Roberson]

Do you happen to have a fairly small amount of RAM, such as 2 Gb or 4 Gb?

[Matthew]

yes, there should be sufficient resurce of RAM

[Walter Roberson]

I think you are going to need to contact Mathworks Support for free installation assistance.

Answer 1

[Animesh]

Hey @Matthew,

It seems that MATLAB is simply trying to start an executable during initialization. One possible reason could be that the antivirus software is preventing the executable from running.

If you're accessing online documentation, this error is typically harmless. However, if you're using installed documentation, you may encounter issues with searching the documentation.

To check if the executable can run on your machine, you can try launching it directly from the Windows command prompt:

>> "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2023a\bin\win64\mwdocsearch.exe" server -m "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2023a" -p 59732

If turning off the antivirus or firewall does not resolve the issue, you can contact MathWorks support:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html

[Matthew]

From a command window it does seem to run. it doesn't return to the command prompt so this routine must be designed to only run in the background. I don't have a firewall enabled on this pc right now.

The failure is still there during starting of Matlab but maybe this isn't the reason for the slow startup. I uninstalled all of the the un-used toolboxes and the time to launch Matlab is now 37Seconds. The error is still present but hopefully harmless as you stated. Thanks for the help

[Matthew]

I got too excited.... the Matlab will pop-up in 37sec but it literally takes 5min and 28secs before it will respond to mouse or keyboard clicks. 2+2 =4 occurs only after 5min28Sec. The background shows the memory and cpu has plenty of thruput so something else is hanging up matlab.

[Animesh]

Does your system satisfy the requirements for MATLAB R2023a:

https://www.mathworks.com/content/dam/mathworks/mathworks-dot-com/support/sysreq/files/system-requirements-release-2023a-windows.pdf

[Matthew]

Thanks Animesh, No it does not. We are still using Win7 64bit but this is on production testers which are not allowed to be upgraded. Maybe we need to downgrade Matlab to a version that still supports Win7.