Strange and annoying problem with NegativeLabHotkey.exe

Troubleshooting and Bugs Windows
1

Hi,

[running Windows 11 Pro 26H2 FR]

After installing NLP, the hotkey works fine in Lightroom… until I shut down the system. After reboot, NegativeLabHotkey.exe is still where the installer put it (C:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup) and running. But it no longer works… until I run the NLP installer again.

I can reproduce the problem at will on my PC and on my laptop. Rebooting disables the hotkey.

Any idea ?

Thanks in advance.

2

The instructions about the Hotkey setup are also confusing and scarce.

  • It is suggested to install AutoHotkey in order to modify NegativeLabHotkey.ahk. However, there are 2 versions of this utility. Which one ? The script doesn’t seem to be compatible with version 1.
  • Once modified, what should we do with it ? Where should it be stored ?
  • The installer doesn’t install a script but a compiled script (.exe). With which version of AutoHotkey should we compile it once modified ?
  • Is the provided compiled script supposed to work with any version of Windows ?

I have spent a significant amount of money for this interesting Lightroom plugin and now I have to learn how to use it. But I have no time to learn how to deal with AutoHotkey.

3

It seems that I have found a fix.

I suspected that some sort of conflict with another program was preventing NegativeLabHotkey.exe to work normally when launched too early upon system startup.

So, I deactivated it in the Startup program list in the Task Manager and pinned it to the taskbar. Also, I changed its properties to make it “run as an administrator”. After rebooting the system, I waited a moment to be sure that all the startup programs had been launched. I launched NegativeLabHotkey from the taskbar and then I started Lightroom. Problem gone.

The “run as an administrator” option is necessary. Otherwise, the fix doesn’t work. Don’t ask me why.

Ditto on my laptop.

I really don’t see what program hooking into the keyboard chain could be in conflict with NegativeLabHotkey and I will not spend time trying to determine which one. Having NegativeLabHotkey running permanently while I need it only when handling negative scans in LR is useless. So, it’s a good solution.

Hope this helps.