Can’t get LE5 to get past the initialization, it freezes on initializing studio manager. When it stops responding it is using 50%+ of CPU. it’s a new install on a sony vaio laptop. Can anyone help
I have the same problem.
It seems like I’ve heard of someone else encountering this issue awhile back, way before v7 was announced. There wasn’t a solution.
Have you tried trashing your prefs?
Check this out http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/printview.php?t=271955&start=0
Thanks Bane, I posted here:
But had no replies, felt like I’ve just been talking to myself, so good to finally hear from someone 
. My thread details when the problem started occurring (after change of laptop to 64bit Win7 from XP 32bit, installed several times, never loads). Seems to be related to going to 64bit I guess, and something to do with the plugins.
I haven’t tried trashing prefs - though I have had a little success since my last post.
Similar to the thread you just shared, I deleted the Cubase LE Plug-in Set.vst3 after install. This makes Cubase load, so I can use it (seems to skip studio manager and a bunch of other things in start-up), though looks like various plugins (as expected I guess after removing the file!) are now missing.
I only have Cubase LE5 Ver: 5.1.1.120, and no earlier version - so I can use a different plugin set.vst3 file. I did try extracting the plugin set.vst3 file from the patch that fixes the same problem in AI5, from here:
http://www.steinberg.net/en/support/downloads/downloads_cai5.html
but it didn’t work.
Least I can open projects again, but annoying reverb etc is missing. Just hoping one day Steinberg might reply to my support request, seems to me that just need to modify the pluginset file the same as they did for AI5.
It’s funny I had actually read your post before my reply. There will be no more maintenance updates to any of the Cubase 5 family so that’s out. I don’t really know what to say except to start working on a modern computer or upgrade to Elements 7 which would be very well worth it. 
It would cost me £120 to upgrade to Artist, £82 for elements. What I’m wondering is:
- Whether my current (new to me) laptop is powerful enough for 7. I ran LE5 on xp old dell laptop, centrino or something, and it seemed to be fine for recording audio, latency seemed really low. Just it struggled with multiple effects, compression etc being added to tracks. So I thought if I get another Dell, hopefully latency will be just as good, and if its a bit more powerful will deal with the fx better. So far, only tried it basically and it seems OK, maybe latency very slightly worse though - or maybe its just me imagining its worse as I’m finger plucking.
- If I upgraded, whether its worth getting Artist or not. Was looking at this:
http://www.steinberg.net/fileadmin/files/PRODUCTS/Cubase/Generation_7/Cubase_7/Downloads/Cubase_Comparison_Chart.pdf
Is essentials basically like the LE version of previous releases?
Generally Essentials looks OK to me, though Artist is still tempting (though not sure if I know why)
What would be handy is a comparison between LE5 and essentials 7.
Well whether or not your computer can handle v7 is really governed by the load you put on it. For instance are you using bundled plugins or CPU hungry Waves or iZotope or something.
Man Essential 7 would blow LE5 away. Elements is on another level and is the cheapest Cubase version you can buy apart from hardware. The LE and AI are even more streamlined and dumbed down, basically just lite versions bundled with hardware.
Elements 7 will be a lot easier to work with, have a streamlined GUI, and include several processing options and convenient features that will really equip you to do serious band work. The difference between Artist and Elements is surprisingly little; in your case I’d recommend you step up to Elements while the deal is on and consider Artist later if your demands are not met. Version 7 will not install on XP, but if you decide to run it on a new Dell in all probability the startup error will be solved.
OK, have ordered essentials 
Opted for boxed rather than download, bit old fashioned I guess but I prefer the idea of owning a physical disk, just in case I accidently delete the download somehow!
So just waiting for it to arrive now…
Thanks for your comments.
same with nuendo 10 2019…
Wow, been a while, forgot this post existed! Am on Cubase Pro 9 now, i5 Tower PC - been working a lot better.
I’m having the same problem with Cubase 11.0.20. Cubase begins to initialize but stops at Studio Manager for several minutes. During that time, Windows Task Manager shows the Cubase process as “Not Responding”. The temptation is to end the task, but it resumes after ~4 minutes and continues to successfully open. I have not had this occur on my system (Win-10 Pro/64-bit, desktop) prior to Cubase 11.