-36 & VM errors?

Hi

First of all, I’d like to say that I appreciate all the tips and hints I’ve gotten in here, as a lurker for a good while now.

I’ve been using PS on Windows for a few years, been using it on Mac since version 1. I only have v4.0 for PC, but it has been super-stable on the old Win98 machine at work (Athlon 850, 256m ram). I use it to create simple art and edit photos and it does everything I need to do. It never complains about ram or Virtual Memory. I recently put a copy of it on my home computer (HP Media Center, P4, 512m ram) so I can continue work there on a family album I’ve been making.

The first message I see when I open the app (on the P4 machine, that I don’t see on the old machine) is: "Microsoft Office Outlook… Either there is no default mail client or the current mail client cannot fulfill the messaging request. Please run Microsoft Office Outlook and set it as the default mail client." Well, I don’t own MS Office, but I do use OE6 for mail and groups. I can see no place to set a default mail client in PS. Nor can I figure why it would ever need or have a ‘messaging request’.
Also, I keep getting ‘fatal errors’ while working with any large file (e.g. scanned photo) Sometimes happens immediately when opening the file, or sometimes it lets me get a few tasks in before crashing. The usual error is "Disk error -36 while reading or writing virtual memory file. Sorry, but this error is fatal. [Quit]… " Another is " Adobe Photoshop has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

I’ve tried– reinstalling PS; deleting prefs; adjusting system VM allocation up/down; run in different compatibility modes (win95, NT, 98/me, 2000 etc); changing scratch disk primary/secondary prefs– startup/C:/D:/none (only have 1 hard disk, but so does the old machine, and it runs fine there); changing physical memory/cache levels; and more that I can’t remember right now.

I realize it’s an old version, but just wondered why it runs so well on the old machine and not on the new one. Yes, I’d like to get a newer ver (CS) but it’s not an option right now. I have owned a full range of Adobe programs for the Mac, from illy 1.1 to 7 and pagemaker from 2 to 6.5, and then I switched to PC (bought the old PC used in ’99 and PS4 came with it; the mac network is relegated to bookkeeping now), and would have to start over (can’t ‘uprade’ from mac to pc versions, can you?).
Any suggestions? Sorry this is so long, and if it’s not well explained. I’m not real experienced in Windows, but I’m learning. I cut vinyl on the Mac for 20 yrs (’85-’05) as my business is signmaking. Had to go to solely to PC last yr when I my old mac-compatible cutter gave up the ghost. Photoshop drawing, editing and retouching is just a hobby for now, but one I enjoy a lot. Any help with the problem(s) would be appreciated.

The mailer nag can be stopped by doing the following,
1. Right-click the Internet Explorer icon.
2. Select Properties.
3. Select the Program Tab.
4. Change the Mail Program to "Microsoft Outlook."

Error 36 is an indictation of a damaged disc. I have only ever seen this in association with a floppy, but it can apply to a hard drive.You need to check yours for errors. Go to Start>My Computer and click. Then, right click on your C drive icon and select Properties>Tools>Error checking and run a check.

re upgrade from Mac to PC, try giving Adobe a ring to see where you stand.

"Mike Hyndman" wrote

The mailer nag can be stopped by doing the following,
1. Right-click the Internet Explorer icon.
2. Select Properties.
3. Select the Program Tab.
4. Change the Mail Program to "Microsoft Outlook."

Hi Mike, and thanks for your prompt reply. Did the above, and it did indeed cure the mailer message I was getting. I didn’t even know I had MS Outlook on this computer, and still don’t know why PS insists on it being the default mail client. Outlook Express always took care of all that, and newsgroups as well. Now OE complains that it is not the default email app when I start it. lol. I can’t win.

Error 36 is an indictation of a damaged disc. I have only ever seen this in association with a floppy, but it can apply to a hard drive.You need to check yours for errors. Go to Start>My Computer and click. Then, right click on your C drive icon and select Properties>Tools>Error checking and run a check.

Did that as well. It took about 3 hrs for a complete CHKDSK to run, and it found and replaced a dozen or so ‘bad clusters’, all from old Symantec Virus def files marked ‘.dat, .inf. and .vxd’. Still didn’t fix the -36 error ‘reading or writing virtual memory file’ problem in PS. Possibly there is a VM setting within the system, or in PS that I’m overlooking?

re upgrade from Mac to PC, try giving Adobe a ring to see where you stand.

I’ll do that as soon as I can find the proper contact at Adobe. I rather doubt they will offer me an upgrade path across platforms, but it can’t hurt to ask.

Thanks for all your help. I’ll keep working on the crashing problem. Surely there must be some simple thing I’m not understanding that’s causing the error. Maybe PS wants a separate scratch disk under XP that it doesn’t require on Win98x? I just can’t realize any other possible cause. Maybe XP Media Center OS is different in some way from regular XP in that regard?

Joe

"JC"wrote:

Surely there must be some simple thing I’m not understanding that’s causing the error. Maybe PS wants a separate scratch disk under XP that it doesn’t require on Win98x? I just can’t realize any other possible cause. Maybe XP Media Center OS is different in some way from regular XP in that regard?

i have xp home and ps7 and it runs fine with only 1 hard drive
have you tried defragmenting your hard drive recently or how full is your hard drive?

"Mike Hyndman" wrote

The mailer nag can be stopped by doing the following,
1. Right-click the Internet Explorer icon.
2. Select Properties.
3. Select the Program Tab.
4. Change the Mail Program to "Microsoft Outlook."

Hi Mike, and thanks for your prompt reply. Did the above, and it did indeed cure the mailer message I was getting. I didn’t even know I had MS Outlook on this computer, and still don’t know why PS insists on it being the default mail client. Outlook Express always took care of all that, and newsgroups as well. Now OE complains that it is not the default email app when I start it. lol. I can’t win.

Error 36 is an indictation of a damaged disc. I have only ever seen this in association with a floppy, but it can apply to a hard drive.You need to check yours for errors. Go to Start>My Computer and click. Then, right click on your C drive icon and select Properties>Tools>Error checking and run a check.

Did that as well. It took about 3 hrs for a complete CHKDSK to run, and it found and replaced a dozen or so ‘bad clusters’, all from old Symantec Virus def files marked ‘.dat, .inf. and .vxd’. Still didn’t fix the -36 error ‘reading or writing virtual memory file’ problem in PS. Possibly there is a VM setting within the system, or in PS that I’m overlooking?

re upgrade from Mac to PC, try giving Adobe a ring to see where you stand.

I’ll do that as soon as I can find the proper contact at Adobe. I rather doubt they will offer me an upgrade path across platforms, but it can’t hurt to ask.

Thanks for all your help. I’ll keep working on the crashing problem. Surely there must be some simple thing I’m not understanding that’s causing the error. Maybe PS wants a separate scratch disk under XP that it doesn’t require on Win98x? I just can’t realize any other possible cause. Maybe XP Media Center OS is different in some way from regular XP in that regard?

Try making OE your default mailer now, as per the instructions in my

reply and see if we can break the loop. 😉

…
I think that you would be wise to at least double your amount of RAM and think about fitting a second, dedicated hard drive as a scratch disc.(doesn’t have to be a new one.)

Re upgrade, it should be possible to upgrade from 4 to CS2 see, http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/pdfs/pscs2_faq.pdf but any

you may have now with 4 could be magnified by an order of magnitude with CS2. Also, I’m not sure if Media Center is a "recognised" OS for running

but I know of people who use both without problem.

"Mike Hyndman" wrote

Try making OE your default mailer now, as per the instructions in my

first

reply and see if we can break the loop. 😉

Tried it. Got the same mailer nag as before. While trying that, and opening
a large (test) file last night on the XP machine (I’m at work now), I could
not get it to give me the "-36 reading/writing VM" error, tho it did keep shutting down with the unexplained "Adobe Photoshop has encountered a problem and needs to close" error. Seems to be a somewhat evolving situtaion. I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I have opened the very same (large photo) file, and edited it extensively here on the Win98 machine, with no problems. So it’s not the file, or any limitations within the app itself. Has to be some setting on the XP machine.

…
I think that you would be wise to at least double your amount of RAM and think about fitting a second, dedicated hard drive as a scratch disc.(doesn’t have to be a new one.)

Both good suggestions.

Re upgrade, it should be possible to upgrade from 4 to CS2 see, http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/pdfs/pscs2_faq.pdf but any

problems

you may have now with 4 could be magnified by an order of magnitude with CS2. Also, I’m not sure if Media Center is a "recognised" OS for running

CS2

but I know of people who use both without problem.

I would love to have CS2, but in looking at the system requirements for it in the doc you pointed to above, I see I would also need a new computer here
at work to use it, as it won’t run on Win98. Even with more ram, this Athlon
850 would be a real dog on XP.

New CS2 software: $500
New computer: $2000
Coming out of the dark ages: Priceless