PhotoShop Elements keeps crashing my PC

EA
Posted By
Elizabeth_A_Barry
Feb 11, 2004
Views
290
Replies
5
Status
Closed
I have an ongoing problem with Photoshop elements. I love the program, but whenever I am working on a picture the system crashes on a regular basis. I have learned to save my work constantly becuse inevitably the PC will crash because of this program and I have to reboot all the time. It is very frustrating. Are there any patches that will help? Microsoft says that there is a problem with the driver and I need to contact the software manufacturer. I have Windows XP.

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

BH
Beth_Haney
Feb 11, 2004
Are you running any antivirus software? Do you get any error messages when this happens? If so, what? And what driver is MS talking about? Elements doesn’t actually have a "driver" per se; those are most often associated with devices and not applications like Elements. And when was the last time you did routine maintenance on your computer? I’m wondering if Elements is running short of system resources or is in conflict with something else installed and active on the computer.
EA
Elizabeth_A_Barry
Feb 12, 2004
I have Norton’s Systemworks. I do a systems check regularly. And with the latest worm threats, have been running my anti-virus very regularly. But this problem has been happening before these latest viruses and worms. I’ve been putting up with it but I’m getting very tired of it. I am designing art work for our new budding company and really need this program to work properly.
I just defragmented my computer, then optimized it with Nortons and I have lots of free disc space so that memory should not be a problem.
How do I analyze if there is a conflict with another program? I am learning about my PC all the time, but I am a layperson who uses it as a tool, and not all that well versed in the nuts and bolts….
Thank you for your post.
Any other ideas?
—Elizabeth
G
garyheaton
Feb 12, 2004
Elizabeth,
What kind of computer are you running? Not the brand really, is it a XP pro, or XP home machine? What is the processor speed, how much RAM do you have installed in the computer, (Very important) what size hard drive do you have, and what external components are you running on it. (ie..scanner, digital camera, tablets, card reader, web cams, external hard drives..etc..) And also what size files do you work with on average? (I myself use files that range in size from 1 meg, to well over 100 megs in size. ) But the average size of the file you use, how many you USUALLY have open at one time, and the amount of RAM installed on your computer could be your whole problem. But unless you state this information for us, it is hard for us to help you in any way.
How old is the machine you have, and has this problem happened from day one, since you installed it? Or did it become a problem later on?
It is hard to help you with your problem, if we do not know what your equipment is, as this is not a common problem with this program. So taking into consideration the WARNING your getting as well, with the driver..it is logical to assume the problem is with the hardware, or other corrupted software, rather than a glitch in this program its self.
If you do not know the above information, you can go to <http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html> and hit the free software download button there, and it will run on your machine, and give you a list you can print out of all the information on your computer. All the software installed, hardware, serial numbers, etc. It is a very useful program, and no information it tells you about ,ever leaves YOUR computer. So it is totally safe to run.
Please list this basic information, and we will see what we can do to be of some help to you. 🙂 Gary~*
BH
Beth_Haney
Feb 12, 2004
I wasn’t thinking of a virus at work in the machine, but sometimes antivirus software can cause conflicts. In the past Norton has been one that didn’t get along well with Adobe products, but usually if you can get past the installation you’re OK. Did you have Norton disabled when Elements was installed?

You didn’t give any computer specs – how much RAM do you have? The box says 128MB is enough, but I’d consider 256MB bare minimum. I run with 768MB.

As far as checking for conflicts, I’d suggest you shut down everything running, including Norton. (As long as you don’t go online when your Norton is disabled there’s no problem.) Now start Elements and see if it will perform properly. If so, gradually reactivate other software that you’d normally have running, try Elements again after adding each one, and see how far you get before Elements starts to crash again.

If you can’t get Elements to run correctly when it’s the only app open and running, repost so we can get some more ideas collected. It’s possible a complete uninstall and reinstall might help.

What else do you have connected to the computer?
PA
Patti_Anderson
Feb 12, 2004
Everytime I see a post about frequent crashes, I think…AMD. Do you by any chance have an AMD proccessor, such as Athlon or Duron? There is a known issue with AMD’s crashing and there’s an easy fix in Adobe’s Knowledge Base Knowledge Base Article #328567s.

It probably would be a good idea to list your computer specs so that folks here, much more knowledgable than I, could help you better. I only know about the AMD issue, because I owned one!

Patti

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections