Photoshop CS doesn’t Run

AM
Posted By
Aaron_Martone
Apr 19, 2004
Views
2555
Replies
46
Status
Closed
Hello. I installed Photoshop CS from an upgrade (Photoshop 4 previously). First time I booted, it warned me that having no paging will result in no performance, and it hung. I closed PS CS, set my paging to 512MB, and restarted the computer. Now PS CS hangs when it gets to "Scanning for plugins…"

I wait 3-5 minutes just to make sure, and it keeps hanging. I have not once successfuly started PS CS yet. There are no updates yet for PS CS. Any ideas?

I’m running a AMD XP1800 1.5Ghz CPU with 1024MB PC2100 DDR on Windows XP Pro with the latest service pack and updates.

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

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CK
Christine_Krof_Shock
Apr 19, 2004
paging should be 2x installed ram–You need at least 256 RAM installed and PSCS runs best with 1 gig of Ram
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 19, 2004
Did you read the existing topics about AutoFX Photographic Edges being REALLY slow to load.

Also, your paging file should be set to about 2x your installed RAM.
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 19, 2004
Ok, I’ll reset my paging to 2x the installed memory (2048MB?) PSCS actually DID load! It just took it about 7-9 minutes. I’ll change paging to 2GB and restart to see if it does any better.

What kinda startup times should I expect?
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 19, 2004
Ok. Here’s the results

Total boottime : 6minutes 49 seconds

% Time Spent on "Scanning for plugins…" 70%
% Time Spent on "Building Twain menu items" 25% % Time Spent on other status text in load box, 5%

Is there a way I can optimize this? I thought Paintshop Pro 8.10’s 3 minute boot time was bad…lol
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 19, 2004
Startup time should be less than 20 seconds on a cold boot and launch. 4 to 10 seconds on a warm launch.

But, read the topics about AutoFX plugins. They do cause a major slowdown. And some users have had trouble with older versions of anti-virus software and a few random utilities.
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 19, 2004
You can optimize the TWAIN time by removing unused TWAIN and WIA drivers from your system.

The plugins time sounds a lot like you have AUTOFX PGE installed (or thousands of other non-plugin files).
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
Thanks for your continued help guys. To my knowledge this is a fresh install. Do these AutoFX PGE plugins come with PS offhand? If so, how do I disable/uninstall both them and these TWAIN drivers. (I only have 1 TWAIN compliant object, a MICROTEK SlimScan C6-USB)
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 20, 2004
No, AutoFX PGE are third party plugins.

If you only have one TWAIN driver – try it with the scanner on and with it off. I’ll bet it’s just slow to initialize in one state or the other.

Unless you’ve installed some third party plugins, there is no reason for the plugin scan to take that long other than a damaged hard disk.
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
I did an unistall / reboot of my scanner. (When I went to FILE > IMPORT > Microtek Scan Wizard, Adobe Locked up again. After the uninstall/reboot, PS still sits at "Scanning for plug-ins…" for a good 5 1/2 minutes, but breezes by the TWAIN one. Seems we got one problem outta 2 outta the way. Now these plugins. Hmmm.

The only thing I can say is that I have some PSP8 plugins. But that’s an entirely different directory and program. Is PS scanning through there?
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Apr 20, 2004
More like 35 seconds cold for me, Chris. Twain loading time barely visible. 20 seconds warm. Scanning for presets takes almost 1/2 the time. The cold-warm time difference seems dependent on whether the second HD is spun up.

I am running a rather "old" system, as the cpu, an Athlon, is only 850 MHz.

Not complaining, just noting (and thanking my lucky stars that I don’t have 6 minutes startup times!;-)).
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 20, 2004
Lawrence – which means you may added a bunch of preset files, and 850 Mhz? Geez, that’s so 1990s ๐Ÿ˜‰
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 20, 2004
Aaron – no, Photoshop doesn’t scan any plugins directory that you don’t tell it to (by creating a shortcut or copying the folders).
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
Looks like I’ve made some progress. I found out that if you rename the folders located in :

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Plug-Ins

to have a ~ on the front of their names, that PS ignores them on boot. After systematically ~-ing out all of them and then restoring their names, the 2 cuplrit folders are:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Import-Export
(which contains 1 file called TWAIN_32.8BA)

and

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Adobe Photoshop Only\ (which contains 4 subfolders:Automate, File Formats, Filters, and another Import-Export folder)

There’s something in these 2 folders that is holding PS up for 7 minutes. Otherwise when it went through fine, PS CS was loading in about 10 seconds.
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 20, 2004
Hmm – the Photoshop only folder shouldn’t have anything that would delay like that.

And disabling the TWAIN plugin just disables TWAIN support (which would mean that the delay is most likely in your TWAIN driver).
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
Well, the driver was uninstalled. This is gettin confusing.
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
Hey Chris, just read your bio and found out who you were. Code Optimization Guru for Adobe eh? Wow, when I posted initially, I thought "Great, USER support…what good will THAT get me?"

But its good to know you’re on the case here ๐Ÿ™‚

I have the following programs running. Do you know any of these to cause performance problems with PS CS’s boot time of 7 minutes on my computer?

ZoneAlarm
ICQ 2001 Beta
MSN Messenger 6.1
IIS 5.1

(I tried a boot with all these shut down, and still 6-7 minute load)

So far, ~-ing out those folders is a workaround for the problem. But I can’t think of anything else to resolve this.
DM
dave_milbut
Apr 20, 2004
go get the latest scanner drivers from the manufacturer…
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
I did. In fact, the only driver they have FOR XP was 1 set, since before then, the Scanner wasn’t compliant with Windows XP. As soon as that driver came out, it would work (after a warning about unsigned drivers of course), but that seems to be the last Microtek has made for it….
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Apr 20, 2004
Chris, More like 2001. 850 MHz was still around then!

Actually, I run some very large files starting at 50 M and then going up. It’s not uncommon for me to hit scratch within 5 minutes of opening a file, at which point the cpu speed is minimal in consideration.

Question: What did you mean by a "bunch of preset files"?
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
…..think I’m gonna go contact Adobe Technical Support now….
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
Ok, guess not. Brand new items and it costs me $40 to tell them about a bug in their software…lol.

OK! Found some more crap! Deal with this as you may!
It seems, that there are 2 cuplrits here:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Plug-Ins\Import-Export\Twain_32.8BA

AND

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Plug-Ins\Adobe Photoshop Only\Automate\Online Services\*.*

I’m only ASSUMING that this "Online Services" folder craps up because I have (a) ZoneAlarm and (b) A NAT-Enabled Router on my setup. Adobe is trying to get online or something, and though it either (a) does, after 7 minutes, or (b) doesn’t, but gives up only after 7 minutes, I still "resolved" this by ~ ing out the Online Services folder.

As for the Twain_32.8BA thing, that’s still up for grabs. Sure enough when I re-enable the Import-Export folder, it gets past "Scanning for plugins…" but then holds up on "Building TWAIN Menu Items…".

So for now, I can just ~ out both. I don’t have a scanner that works with Adobe PS CS (though the scanner is marked Twain32 compliant), and I got no idea what the Online Services folder is doing… But neither are gonna make me wait 7 minutes anymore; it’s just not worth my time.
G
graffiti
Apr 20, 2004
"Great, USER support…what good will THAT get me?"

Sheesh. What are we? Chopped liver?
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
And the onions my friend, and the onions. ๐Ÿ™‚
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Apr 20, 2004
Pearl onions, I assume, of very great price!;-)
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 20, 2004
Worthless…..

er…PRICEless! That’s what I meant to say…. ๐Ÿ™‚
H
hallinan
Apr 20, 2004
Aaron…I just got a new XPpro box and got the (scary)warning about unsigned drivers on an Epson and two Nikon scanners. I ran the Program Compatibility Wizard and everything works fine. Photoshop CS loads in 9 seconds with a ton of 3rd party filters.
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 21, 2004
Yeah – when I get a few moments I answer questions here.

Yes, OLS might be failing due to the firewall. But it shouldn’t take long and shouldn’t do anything unless you enable it. BUT it could be taking some time if your firewall is incorrectly blocking access to localhost (127.0.0.1). Check your settings and logs in ZoneAlarm (it won’t even get to the router).

TWAIN should only take time if you have some TWAIN or WIA drivers installed – and the time is spent in the drivers.

IIS – you mean other than being a virus magent with more holes than a swiss cheese?

Some versions of ICQ have caused trouble – try disabling it and see what happens.

MSN Messenger – I haven’t heard of any problems with that.
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 21, 2004
lol. Yes, IIS is very insecure. But I am behind a NAT firewall, setup IIS to accept only connections from 127.0.0.1, and am running many other stealth programs ๐Ÿ™‚ I’ve done best I can, but understand that M$ = Security Loophole. ZoneAlarm doesn’t interfere with the 127.0.0.1 address. Adobe wasn’t being let through, but I gave it full access and it still causes the Plugin Search to last forever.

I hope this doesn’t mean I won’t ever be able to use filters.
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 21, 2004
No, right now you’re just limiting OLS and TWAIN/WIA scanning.

But other than the reasons I’ve listed, I can’t think of what else would be taking that much time.

You might still experiment by enabling the OLS plugin and disabling ZA temporarily (it could be a bug in ZA).

And I’d be curious to know whether the TWAIN plugin is causing any network access (which is possible when you have shared network scanners).
KL
Katherine_Lawson
Apr 21, 2004
If it’s any help, I have to turn off ZA when loading Photoshop, because it either hangs or crashes when ZA asks if I want to give Photoshop permission to access the internet. Everything works fine if I disable ZA. I seem to remember ZA causing problems with something else I used to have too, but I don’t remember what it was. (I never reinstalled a lot of things when I reformatted a few months ago, because a lot of them were things I never used).

I have Zone Alarm Pro.
DM
dave_milbut
Apr 21, 2004
I have zonealarm free version and it starts up in under 10 secs if i let it through or block it. no diff.
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 21, 2004
ZoneAlarm was set to allow PS fully through wihtout a prompt. But I disabled it, tried again, and no go. ๐Ÿ™ As for the Twain accessing a shared network resource, I am behind a Firewall, but I’m the only node. Even my printer is setup as local.
KL
Katherine_Lawson
Apr 21, 2004
I may go back to the free version of ZA, I had a lot less problems with that than with the paid one. The paid one seems to mess up a lot of things.

Dave, did you hear me say "when I start Photoshop CS"???!!! It’s WONDERFUL!!!!
DM
dave_milbut
Apr 21, 2004
sounds great… say it again! ๐Ÿ™‚

I have a popup/spam blocker called ad-aware that does much of what the paid ZA does. I’m fine with the free version.
KL
Katherine_Lawson
Apr 21, 2004
I’ve got Ad-Aware kicking around here someplace, I probably should reinstall a newer version so I can swat some flies that I’m sure must have gotten into my computer since I reformatted. (It’s one of those programs I never reinstalled). Mozilla Firebird has a pop up blocker too, so I don’t have as much need of the Pro version of ZA as I did before, and I noticed that things behaved better when I uninstalled it when I was trying to get PS working.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Apr 21, 2004
Ahhh, another CS lover!

Norton seems to be the best of the lot, as I don’t have any issues with my apps.

Wasn’t always like that.
KL
Katherine_Lawson
Apr 21, 2004
Hi Lawrence,

Yeah, I LOVE PSCS!!!! The camera Raw, and Highlight and Shadow can do wonders for some of those photos that were impossible to shoot, even with a Cokin graduated neutral density filter! And 16 bit is really nice!
DM
dave_milbut
Apr 21, 2004
oops.. my bad. i do of course run ad-aware on a regular basis, but the filtering program I run is called "filter gate".

<http://www.filtergate.com/>

ah. it was only 20 when I got it. free upgrades too. i’ve been through several major overhauls. they frequently update their ad list. there’s a free demo there iirc. it does pop-ups, in-line ads, cookies, privacy and adult filtering. all configurable. very nice. been using it for about 3 or 4 years now. demo’d for a month or so and then bought it. (SUPPORT YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SHAREWARE DEVELOPERS!)
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Apr 21, 2004
The S&H in CS is,as I said in another thread, the big reason I find CS so desirable. 16 bit with Layers is no slouch either!

Files get so damn big! Do you know I was up to 11G in scratch on one of them? 11G!!

Dave, I know what my next computer has to do. I need a RAM scratch. With 8G possible with the G5, I wonder if it could be configured so that at least 5G can be used as a virtual HD, ay least for scratch. Scratch gets dumped anyway when quitting PS.
AM
Aaron_Martone
Apr 21, 2004
Well it looks like the thread list it’s post topic. Let’s just consider this "Case Closed Enough"

Chris, guys, I appreciate they help. If I ever find the problem I will let you know.

Chris, one more thing; I don’t think this would make any difference, but the PSCS I have is an upgrade from PS 4.0. The Adobe website said "In order to use the PS CS Upgrade you have to have a PS version earlier than 7 and on same platform) Well I have PS4, and Windows is Windows. But when I went to install, it said "You need PS5 or later)

After a call to Adobe, a lady by the name of Judy was magnificantly helpful, and got things squared away by performing an install with command line switches to get me up and running.

I don’t think that would cause anything. It’s more than likely a problem with other software. Nonetheless thank you for the help.
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 21, 2004
Upgrade or new copy doesn’t matter – it’s the same binary.

We can’t auto-verify PS 4 because it came on floppies ๐Ÿ˜‰

Glad you got it (mostly) sorted out.

And yes, I’d still like to know what else is happening.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Apr 21, 2004
You are welcome, Aaron, and thanks for starting this thread! ๐Ÿ™‚
AM
Aaron_Martone
Aug 1, 2004
I have done it!

After long last, I found out what was causing the problem! The WIA (Windows Image Acquisition) Service when you goto START > RUN > ‘services.msc’ was stuck in STARTING.

After making sure all the dependencies were running, I just changed to LOGON from NT_AUTHORITY\LocalService to an account with full Administrative rights.

Upon reboot, the service showed STARTED. I uncommented out ALL of the folders I had previously ~’d out. On cold boot it too 16 seconds, and on warm it took 7. WOOHOO! The nightmare is over!

Sure enough, on FILE > IMPORT it shows my Microtek scanner there, and when I turn on my camera, and reboot photoshop, it then shows WIA – DX4530 Kodak Camera (or I can just move the files through explorer from camera directly into PS without rebooting the program).

And in FILE > AUTOMATE, EVERYTHING is there! Thanks to all who helped out. This was an odd one, to say the least.
DM
dave_milbut
Aug 2, 2004
well that’s a keeper. good show aaron.
AD
asfda_dsafads
Aug 9, 2004
aaron, I am having the same problem with CS, not 7 minutes, but 2 minutes to start up. i’m not that techy, can you explain how you solved this issue to me so I can fix it on my machine (maybe step by step if possible?)? I have Win XP home edition with 2 users, a wireless network, and photoshop used to load in about 10 seconds, this new one takes 2 minutes. Hangs on "scanning for plugins" and "building twain."

I’d really appreciate the help, it’s bugging me!! thanks in advance.

chuck

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