I am SHOCKED! Not at your wanting to toss PD out the window (was that a Windows pun?)...but that you don't know the answer. However, even seasoned users such as yourself, fugget things sometimes. I know I have.
Whilst in the PRODUCE module, look in the very lower left.
You will see the disable preview button.
Yes, I have seen anomalies in the preview when I'm in my office doing other things, so it's not USELESS, though it's not an essential function, for sure. You cannot turn it off permanently, but if they make it a PREFERENCE in an update, the gawdawful SNAP TO should be included... 5 for R2S, just for his post! HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Thanks Barry, yes I have seen the little tick box, it just frustrates me that every time I hit the start button the preview starts and I go (#*#*#*#)

It would also be nice to have the fast Video rendering off by default, at least until they fix the artefacts problem when using your graphics card for faster producing.

I no longer use it as it only saves me a little bit of time and I got tired of checking if my video quality was up to scratch as the artefacts were not in every video. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn

They have made additions to the PREFERENCES, but I'd like to see a few more. We just covered 3 of them...
SNAP TO
PREVIEW
SVRT
Any others??? HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

I agree with Robert. I never preview either. I know what it will look like and even if it looks good (in slo-mo usually) preview does not mean it will look good when rendered, though I seldom have a problem with a bad render. So why watch it? Besides I am usually tired of looking at it by then anyway... I usually do something else while it is rendering.

Remember the days when you rendered, you could not even think about doing other things on your computer while it was rendering?

It's just my Modus Operandi ... Your MO may vary..... __________________________________________
Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Tutorials
PDtoots PowerDirector Tutorials

**NOTICE**
When you are asked to provide a DXDIAG you go the following link and do part "B". Your posted specs are NOT what we are looking for as they tell us nothing. The specs on the box of your computer mean nothing. The DXDIAG shows us how your computer is configured as it runs.

DXDIAG Link

Not wishing to make anyone's pain greater but my preview check box in produce is always off by default. I never preview anything unless I'm troubleshooting.

Perhaps I am particularly favoured by the PD installation gnome who oversees the installation of each of our versions - his or her (me being gender neutral by habit) existence seems the only reasonable explanation for the odd differences between systems.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Actually, I have now found I am not so favoured, just lucky.

Reg Key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cyberlink\PowerDirector11\PreviewButtonStatus

needs to have the value of 0

Why it defaults to another value - 1 - on your systems, I don't know.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Hold off doing anything.

Even when the reg key is set to 1 (preview on) on my system PD seems?? to reset it to 0 on startup. Must be something somewhere else. Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Actually not on startup but when the produce module is invoked.

Also on my system, once the produce window is open and I choose a file format, there is a momentary refresh as the options change, amongst which is the preview check box becomes checked then unchecked.

What it all means I haven't a clue. Suffice to say my system defaults to preview off so maybe I shouldn't fiddle about too much.

Cheers and commiserations,
Adrian
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Thanks for you help anyway Adrian. Mine stays off after I un-check it as long as I don't close down PD, so at least I get some relief.

They did fix the "clip/movie" issue maybe they will also give us the option to turn preview "on" instead of turning it "off" in the next update. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn

Adrian...
Same here.. no matter how I set the default registry string it still comes up checked for preview.... __________________________________________
Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Tutorials
PDtoots PowerDirector Tutorials

**NOTICE**
When you are asked to provide a DXDIAG you go the following link and do part "B". Your posted specs are NOT what we are looking for as they tell us nothing. The specs on the box of your computer mean nothing. The DXDIAG shows us how your computer is configured as it runs.

DXDIAG Link

Someone may care to test this to see if they can replicate it.

My laptop has switchable graphics between Intel QS and Nvidia GT 520M.

My normal operating default is Intel QS (because my testing shows it is faster and better than the Nvidia) and I think this gives me the default no preview.

If I start PD with the GT520M as my preferred graphics, even if my registry key is set to 0, the preview defaults to on in the produce window and the reg key is updated to 1.

If I return back to normal, starting PD using the Intel QS default, there is no preview checked and the reg key is updated to 0

So maybe it's PD's IOE** that is the real culprit.

Cheers
Adrian

** Intelligent Optimisation Engine

PS maybe CL owes me for just defining a new marketing USP Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

I have notice the same thing in PD 11. Never had that problem in PD 10. I'm like most of you I never use the preview Now I have to remeber to uncheck it. Intel i7 5960X overclock to 4 Ghz 16 GB of ram.
GoPro 4
Canon VIXIA HF G10
Canon EOS Rebel T3
Canon EOS 70D
My Vimeo Channel http://vimeo.com/user3339631/videos

I am AMD not Nvidia... so I don't think it is a Nvidia only thing. Of course it could be both a AMD and Nvidia thing I suppose... I am not as astute as you guys are on things. I would never in a million years believe PD11 is the culprit.......(you believe that right?)

I just turn it on and expect it to work... scratch my head in dismay when it doesn't..... but at least I don't cuss at it any more.... it is Windows after all... __________________________________________
Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Tutorials
PDtoots PowerDirector Tutorials

**NOTICE**
When you are asked to provide a DXDIAG you go the following link and do part "B". Your posted specs are NOT what we are looking for as they tell us nothing. The specs on the box of your computer mean nothing. The DXDIAG shows us how your computer is configured as it runs.

DXDIAG Link

I suspect it's PD assuming the high performance GPU (either AMD or NVIDIA) will be up to playing the preview ,so it defaults to on - just 'cos it can.

Or maybe because CL thinks that "REAL" editors with big rigs should automatically want to watch the final product for the 14,001'st time whilst it renders - just to make sure?

Cheers
Adrian

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

I find it hard to put things like this away after I start hunting. Silly, I know.

For as long as I can remember - in PD9, 10 & 11 - my production preview has behaved exactly as Robert described: Mine stays off after I un-check it as long as I don't close down PD Once a new session is started, after closing & re-opening PD, that checkbox defaults to on/checked.

Here's a funny thing. On my PC now, with PD10 & 11 it's just like that (reverts to on) - BUT - with PD9, that checkbox is permanently unchecked. I never have to touch it.

So - following Adrian's lead - I tried to dig into the registry to locate a point of difference, hoping to be able to unleash my discovery onto the forum pages. Ha! Didn't happen. I'm stumped.

Attached is a screenshot of the relevant parts of PD9's & PD11's registry. Maybe someone else can spot something. If you're reading this, FredB, you are right to assume I don't know what I'm doing!

Cheers - Tony
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A funny thing happen to me this past weekend and Monday. I was working on some video I uncheck it and it stay off. I just open it with the same project and went to produce has I was making this post and it check again. But it stay off on Sunday and Monday. Intel i7 5960X overclock to 4 Ghz 16 GB of ram.
GoPro 4
Canon VIXIA HF G10
Canon EOS Rebel T3
Canon EOS 70D
My Vimeo Channel http://vimeo.com/user3339631/videos

Maybe I'll stop looking for logical patterns in the registry, Michael!
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I might have found why it comes on when you had it uncheck. I don't use the Fix & Enhance much in my videos. But I did a few times on some video that I was working on back when we was talking about it. It stay off for me when I was not using it. Last night I went in to play with the Video Enhancement and apply it to the video. Then when I went to produce it I did not even look at the check box and preview came on. I had to cancle the produce and trun it off then restart it. So my thinking is if you use the Fix & Enhance it will come on. Just something I seen last night. Intel i7 5960X overclock to 4 Ghz 16 GB of ram.
GoPro 4
Canon VIXIA HF G10
Canon EOS Rebel T3
Canon EOS 70D
My Vimeo Channel http://vimeo.com/user3339631/videos