Problem Statement:

Occasionally the NIF (Nuance Imaging Framework) Trace Service will repeatedly restart itself every 20 seconds - information is visible in the Windows Event Logs.

Cause

It can be caused by corrupt leftover trace files.

An internal integrity/health check procedure is being run every 20 seconds which restarts the NIF Trace Service if any issue is detected. This embedded mechanism will prevent the service to freeze or fail.

Resolution:

If this issue is occurring, and the Tracing is not enabled, enable tracing and click Save.

If Tracing is already enabled, please follow the following:

1. Locate the folder C:\ProgramData\Nuance\NIFTraceSvc\1
2. Delete file niftracesvc.settings
3. On 32-bit systems locate folder  C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Nuance\NIFTraceSvc\1 (*)
4. On 64-bit systems locate folder C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Nuance\NIFTraceSvc\1 (*)
5. Delete all the files in the folder (NIFTrace*.bin and niftracesvc.settings).