In article <cgo4pr$mmd$ says…
Hi,
Im kinda new to photoshop and have the above problem being reported………."current scratch disk preference almost full".What exactly is the function of the scratch disk, and what is it.Is it similar to a temporary cache or clipboard.Where can I find a good discription and solution to this problem.I read a previous post here about the scratch disk needing to be set up on a seperate drive or partition………..is thiis so.? TIA John
John,
You have gotten two good explanations of the Scratch Disk. If you cannot follow the recommendations for additional physical drives (the cure for Scratch Disk woes, especially if they are FAST!), then you might want to do two things, and in this order. Check where PS creates your Scratch Disk. First look in Preferences and see where they are specified. If it’s your C:\, then you have to look for them. Depending on OS, they are probably in your Documents\Settings… folder. To mind the folder, start PS, but do not open anything. Go to Search and look in C:\ for PS*.tmp (I think that is still the naming convention, but if not, someone will correct me – I’m too lazy to do this to check it out right now – dog days heat). You should find one, or more. It’s the more that you are looking for. Check the Date/Time for the files, and Delete all that are not immediately current. Don’t worry about loosing anything, as you could never recover anything from these files. (Note: if PS crashes, or is not shut down properly, the TMP file(s) may still be occupying space on your Scratch Disk.) Once done, Delete those files from your Recycle Bin, then stop PS, and Explorer, if it’s still open from your Search. Once all is shut down, Defrag your C:\. Most OS’s now have a Defrag utility, or you can use one such as Norton Utilites.
At this point you will be about as good as it gets, except that you may still have far too much data on your C:\. Ideally, you should Backup files that you do not use, Remove programs that may have been loaded by seller that you’ll never use, move image, sound, AV files to a CD/DVD.
Hunt
PS this assumes that you are on a Win machine. If you’re on MAC, don’t do anyting, until a MAC person gives you instructions, as I don’t want to mess you up.