Well, I can testify that my copy of Photoshop does not initiate instant shutdown – ever. So my guess is.. It aint the software.
Not so fast. Have you ever heard of this happening with any other software? I havent. Evidently there is something about ps that causes certain machines to fault this way.
dwc, if you have xp or 2k it’s hardware or (rarely) bios related (even rarer would be a driver problem as those are usually blue screen errors in xp/2k). those are fault tolerant "process isolated" OSes, meaning an application can go down, but can NOT crash the system, no matter how ugly the crash is. likely causes are bad ram/mobo/cpu, and possibly overheating in a laptop. thinkpads are usually rock solid.
The assumption that other software does not cause these sorts of problems is incorrect. I’ve seen this happen when using any software that really maxes out the processor (such as some games as well as PS) which causes it to heat up dramatically. Modern processors generate a lot of heat. Problems not confined to laptops either although the problem may be more critical in a tiny box with little airflow. There are a number of utilities available to monitor processor and motherboard temperature. It seems that when a processor gets damaged, further deterioration can occur over time – at least that is what I’ve observed.
Do you remember the Firstone 500 tires that were blowing out while driving on highways? They didn’t blow out on local streets. So according your logic there must have been something wrong with the highways.
Put another way, Photoshop stresses a system like almost no other software. That doesn’t mean there’s a problem with Photoshop.
Bob
I would have to agree that you should take a look at the temp of your processor / the ability of the fans to keep the unit cool. I admin about 40 PCs running primarily CAD and Graphics softwares and I’ve only seen a total shutdown if the processor overheats and kicks off.
If the system spontaniously re-boots, however, take a look under CONTROL PANELS > SYSTEM PROPERTIES > ADVANCED Tab > STARTUP AND RECOVERY Settings. Make sure the "Write an event to the system log" is selected. You can then go to CONTROL PANELS > ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS > COMPUTER MANAGEMENT > System Tools Sub-Cat > Event Viewer Sub-Cat > System Log to see what the issue could be.
(All the above assumes you are on Win2K or XP and you have Admin rights)
PB
Photoshop may well stress a system at times, but its by no means alone with that. And simply when you are opening a small image? Or closing the file browser or some other simple thing? Mick, i didnt say other software never causes this, just that i nor anyone else i have talked to have ever heard of anything else doing this before. When this first started happening i assumed it was a hardware issue and still do, at least technically speaking. But i have tested the bejeebers out of this machine with various software that intentionally stresses more than ps or probably anything else and i cant find anything wrong with it. And others who have had this problem never seem to be able to locate whatever hardware troubles they have either. Just seems odd that nobody can ever locate the problem, but the constant is running the same software. The point about heat could be valid in some cases, it does always seem to be a laptop. But this happens when my laptop is stone cold, and i have been running thinkpads very hard for many years and never heard of a total instant shutdown like this. Evidently nothing i can do about it except buy a new one.
But i have tested the bejeebers out of this machine with various software that intentionally stresses more than ps
"stresses" is maybe misunderstood. ps could simply be hitting a section of ram or the processor that isn’t being hit by anything else on a regular basis. stresses in ps terms might mean heavy processing, or it might mean hitting some very obscure code deep in the proecssor. it does all kinds of things on it’s own for performance reasons that most windows apps will go through the OS for. the os way of doing something might not trigger the problem where ps’s way might.
Again, if you’ve got 2k or xp and you’re shutting down (no matter what application triggers it), you have a hardware error, except as I noted above.
And others who have had this problem never seem to be able to locate whatever hardware troubles t
that’s just wrong. most that come back say, "i replaced the ram and everything’s fine", or "i replaced the mobo and that fixed it", etc.
it does always seem to be a laptop.
nope. it varies from thread to thread, in fact in the couple years i’ve been hanging here, i’d say more have been desktops.
But this happens when my laptop is stone cold, and i have been running thinkpads very hard for many years and never heard of a total instant shutdown like this.
so you have a bad one. it happens. coulda taken a static zap or something somewhere if it used to work fine, or it coulda been a clunker from day 1.
Evidently nothing i can do about it except buy a new one.
true, but if everything else runs fine, you can use it for something else until it melts. or you can give it to your kids. or you can send it to ibm and tell them to repair it.
My simple experience with my current desktop machine, now on its third processor, was that, when this would happen (total shutdown), PS was often the culprit but it also happened with other apps. I suspect that the problem was initial overheating which damaged the processor and then, over the space of a few weeks, it would get worse and worse, crashing when not running any "stressful" apps. New processor fixed it both times. That is not to say that it need necessarily be the processor. Electrical faults on the mobo have been shown to be at fault in the past and this may well be the problem with the HPs. The main point is, as Dave and the others have said, it is a hardware issue.
mick, if it’s repeating you may want to check/replace the power supply. much flakeyness can come from the little beast, and it’s often overlooked when troubleshooting!
It’s been ok for about 3 months now so fingers crossed. I had a new power supply with extra fans put in when it started to flake out the last time but it didn’t do any good. A change of processor did the trick. I’m still not sure why that one went but I suspect heat was the cause. It was getting up to about 65°C when I would play a particular game with my kid. Next machine I get, I am going to do some serious research on cooling and power supplies beforehand though.
"call of duty" in the summer used to set off my temp alarm (120F, normal – now for instance – it’s 91F). then i’d shut down for a bit. no heat probs since moving the system downstairs. if you don’t have one, suggest an internal temp monitor with a couple of sensors spread around, if your board supports it. last system (with no temp monitor) i woulda merrily gone on splatting nazis and probably woulda fried my system!
dwc – yes, it can happen in other software. Read the FAQ about this very issue.
It could be the RAM, or it could be the motherboard. But you will have to replace one or the other.
When I was having a problem that pointed to RAM as the culprit, I got a nifty diagnostic tool from MS to check it. You copy it to a floppy and run it at startup. It performs a series of RAM checks in DOS. Be sure that the floppy is first on the boot list in BIOS. Here’s the link for the tool:
<
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp>
Good luck!
Thanks for that link, Lawrence.
Did you in fact have bad RAM, and did the program flag it?
=-= Harron =-=
Big time. I had one stick that the RAM check wouldn’t even run! One of my 512’s has a hiccup in the random check, but I left it in and did not see a degradation that prompted me to chuck it. Theoretically, any of the tests the stick fails is cause for removal.
dwc,
In the past, I had a problem with my computer rebooting when running PS. I couldn’t figure it out and it was driving me crazy. Turns out, after much troubleshooting, it was the CPU fan. The CPU was simply overheating and when it reached it’s critical point, it rebooted. I didn’t have any problems with this computer, *except* when running PS. I put the new CPU fan in and I haven’t had any problems since.
btw, I am *still* using the same machine 2 years later!!
bottom line, it was the hardware, not the software. So, check the fans and the ram … they might be the culprits!
hth,
grasshopper
Many of you may already know this, but Motherboard Monitor <
http://mbm.livewiredev.com/> is a very useful tool that continuously monitors CPU temperature, fan speeds, internal case temperature, voltages, and many other parameters. You can configure it so that several critical measurements are always displayed in the system tray.
Obviously, your motherboard must have the built-in sensors and functionality to support these measurements, but I believe that most motherboards built in the last several years do have this functionality.
I had the same thing as Grasshopper, except when the reboot commenced, the BIOS stopped at a certain point with a warning. A quick check of the monitors on the board found the cpu overtemp, but under the critical 100C temp. I shutdown totally and used dust off to provide a flow of cooling gas through the heatsink. After 1/2 hr, I rebooted normally, found the cpu just under the cutoff point, and monitored the temp continuously. It continued to drop until it reached "normal". I am still running this cpu today.
I have no explanation for the overheat, as the cpu fan seemed ok. I didn’t check whether it was actually running when I shut down, I just hit the off button! The fan came on right away on reboot. Nevertheless, I pulled the connector and re inserted it several times to be sure that it hadn’t corroded.
I had to downgrade to PS6 because my PS7 just lost it. All of a sudden it doesn’t want to open. Well, as soon as it initializes (hoping that I would be able to finally work), it shuts down. There isn’t any problem with my hardware. I’m running on W2K Advanced server. What could possible caused it? I have tried a million times reinstalling it, nada. It still shuts down. I tried tracing it to the registry but nothing in there is relevant to the shutting down or maybe yet I could be missing something. Can anybody help? ‘Would appreciate it guys.
Thanks.
Psyche Boy
Psyche – um, what does that have to do with this topic?
Look at the other topics discussing Photoshop closing or crashing during launch.
DS, motherboard monitor has always seemed to be aimed at overclockers and few (if any) laptops are supported. Laptop users should check out Cpuidle, works great to keep temps down. I have already run extensive tests on this thinkpad i have and can find nothing wrong, although i do have to agree that it must be hardware related to just totally shut off like this. However, i stand by my original statement that it is odd how photoshop seems to do something that few if any other apps do to exacerbate whatever this hardware problem is.
For the benefit of others who are having or will have this problem, i am having some success narrowing it down, at least in my case. The problem seems to center around using the file browser. I did have one instance last week where running an action resulted in this, but have not been able to duplicate that since with the same or other actions, so i dunno. Otherwise its always been the file browser. The most constant thing is whenever i open a folder where it has to draw new thumbs, in other words when there is no thumb cache yet. That shuts it down every time. But as long as i stay out of the file browser, there are no problems. Also perhaps not coincidentally, in cs my version of the file browser seems really screwed up. It doesnt display the thumbs correctly or consistently at all even after they are cached. Anyway i am trying to further isolate this and/or find a work around, for anyone interested i will post any findings in the next few days.
dwc – narrowing down which software triggers your hardware defect isn’t going to help.
You have to replace the defective hardware to fix the problem.
Yes, I agree, it’s an overheating problem. You should really consider investing a few bucks on a laptop cooler. You could purchase one over at hardwarecooling.com that is where I got my laptop cooler.
wrote in message news:…
dwc, if you have xp or 2k it’s hardware or (rarely) bios related
(even rarer would be a driver problem as those are usually blue screen errors in xp/2k). those are fault tolerant "process isolated" OSes, meaning an application can go down, but can NOT crash the system, no matter how ugly the crash is. likely causes are bad ram/mobo/cpu, and possibly overheating in a laptop. thinkpads are usually rock solid.
