Our problems mostly arise from having to open years old files. Also, we keep everything on a server. Over the years that server may have changed names or the structure of the folders has shifted. Artists also can't ever seem refrain from importing files from all over tarnation as well. The likelihood that every file is still intact since the last time a project was opened is near zero. This wasn't an issue until recently. If I open older files with 2015 they open in a snap. 

On Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 1:50 PM Glen Tubbesing <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

One thing to remember is that moving a drive from one computer to another may result in changes that confuse your computer.  If a portable drive is Drive K in your desktop computer and Drive D in your laptop, you will always have to relink the files when you go from one machine to the next.  Note what drive letter is assigned to that drive on your main work machine, then set it to that same drive letter when you install it in the other.  Right-click on My Computer on your desktop and click on Manage and go to Disk Management, or, if you're using Windows 10, right-click the start button and select Disk Management from the secret menu.  Then, click Action on the pull-down menu, select All Tasks->Change Drive Letters and Paths, and set the drive letter to the same as your work computer.

Thanks,

Glen

On Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 9:29 AM jpcurtis <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

Just a thought:  You could try to move all your linked footage, or rename the containing folder/directory, and have the project open with missing media, and then relink it after the project is open.

Then, I’d suggest immediately Saving As..., in case the project is corrupted.

You could also try importing the slow Project into a new Project.

On Jan 31, 2020, at 11:21 AM, scott.aelist <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

I brought a bunch of projects to a live show and had the same problem. Any project that needed to have footage relinked would take 15 - 30 minutes to open. It would have been better if you could force AE to load a project without linking anything and then relink manually. It's a serious problem.

On Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 7:38 AM Byron Nash <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

We are having persistent issues opening projects that have missing footage. It seems to have popped up for us with CC2019 on Windows. If I try to open a project, especially one from an earlier AE version, and it has any missing footage, it takes an eternity to open. Sometimes over an hour. These are not projects that should take more than a few seconds to open. It behaves better when we try it on our one iMac here. Has anyone found this issue as well or found a way to fix it? It's a severe hindrance to say the least.

Thanks

Byron