qStudio - won't start » qStudio Issues

com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.StreamException: : ParseError

my version of Q Studio is crashing on startup with the following backtrace. Could you please help me find how to start it properly?

Details:

OS=Windows 7
Java=1.8.0_144
Des=unknown
Stack=java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
        at java.awt.EventQueue.invokeAndWait(Unknown Source)
        at java.awt.EventQueue.invokeAndWait(Unknown Source)
        at javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(Unknown Source)
        at com.timestored.qstudio.QStudioLauncher.main(QStudioLauncher.java:92)
Caused by: com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.StreamException:  : ParseError at [row,col]:[1,1]
Message: Content is not allowed in prolog.
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.StaxReader.pullNextEvent(StaxReader.java:73)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.AbstractPullReader.readRealEvent(AbstractPullReader.java:148)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.AbstractPullReader.readEvent(AbstractPullReader.java:141)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.AbstractPullReader.move(AbstractPullReader.java:118)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.AbstractPullReader.moveDown(AbstractPullReader.java:103)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.StaxReader.<init>(StaxReader.java:45)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.StaxDriver.createStaxReader(StaxDriver.java:137)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.xml.StaxDriver.createReader(StaxDriver.java:88)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.XStream.fromXML(XStream.java:913)
        at com.thoughtworks.xstream.XStream.fromXML(XStream.java:904)
        at com.timestored.connections.ConnectionManager.getConnectionsFromXml(ConnectionManager.java:553)
        at com.timestored.connections.ConnectionManager.reloadFromPreferences(ConnectionManager.java:513)
        at com.timestored.connections.ConnectionManager.setPreferenceStore(ConnectionManager.java:86)
        at com.timestored.qstudio.QStudioLauncher$2.launch(QStudioLauncher.java:161)
        at com.timestored.qstudio.QS

Issue

Some kind of corruption happened during the save down of your settings and now qStudio cannot read them to get started. The likely root cause is your machine killed the qStudio program at a bad time or you added a massive 1000+ number of server connections.

Solution

In our install you should find a wipePreferences.bat file. In windows it will be located at:
C:\Program Files (x86)\TimeStored.com
Run that file. Or alternative call:
java -cp qStudio.jar com.timestored.qstudio.WipePrefs
Unfortunately you will lose your settings. One thing you may want to do from now on is export your server list regularly and save it to text file.