Photoshop Woes

[laawaaris]

I just spent 2 hours working on a photo and Photoshop sporadically crashed on me.

*Sigh* ... I've learned the hard way, the time to save is NOW!

[srwatters]

I'd rather say the time to diagnose your system is now.

In the three years I've been using Photoshop, I can count the number of times it has crashed for me on one hand. Is this a common occurrence for you? What platform/machine are you using?

[laawaaris]

i'm on a dell created windows machine ...

i'm starting all over with my photo now ... but am saving every time i can remember

i think i have a virus on my computer - some other applications crashed too before PS bit the bullet ... i bought Norton Antivirus last week and it removed a lot of viruses, but some seem to be lingering

[amadjuster]

Click Alt-Ctrl-Delete and bring up Task Manager, then choose the Processes tab. Look for AdobeUpdater.exe and see what % it is showing on CPU. If it's 99, post it and I'll tell you how to fix it. The newer Adobe Updater is a CPU hog.

[laawaaris]

i actually don't have an AdobeUpdater process running

i have:

Adobelm_Cleanup.0001 (CPU=00, Mem Usage = 3,008K)
Adobelm_Cleanup.0001 (CPU=00, Mem Usage = 3,004K)
Adobelmsvc.exe (CPU=00, Mem Usage 1,124K)

I have the Adobelm_Cleanup there twice, not sure why.
My "System Idle Process" is the only one hitting the CPU - about 80 or above.

[amadjuster]

Does your system start slowing down to a crawl? When it does, pull up the Task Manager and see what is using the most CPU. Don't worry about the System Idle Process being high because it is showing what is not being used. Sometimes there is a file that is part of Norton that can do this, and also check and make sure you don't have two Anti-Virus programs running at the same time. That will really cause problems. I am a firm believer in free programs like AVG for Anti-Virus, Kerio for Firewall, but I paid for Registry Mechanic from PC Tools because it is GOOD. You may have some "stuff" in the Registry that needs to be removed or cleaned out. You can run it for free but it won't clean and it will blow your mind when you see how much crap has accumulated. I'll bet you buy it.

Good Luck!

[jerrykr]

thanks amadjuster for the heads up on Registry Mechanic.

I keep my PC pretty well cleaned up, but have never felt good about messing with the Registry. RM found nearly 700 "problems" I bought the registration too, and cleaned everything up. My old Celeron is noticably quicker now. I'll probably get by with it now until Vista and a new PC is a necessity.

Actually it cleaned around 400 items for free. I decided to pay $29.95 for the complete clean-up.

The only thing I don't like about RM is that you have to agree to let them automatically charge your credit card a year from now to keep your annual registration license. I don't like automatic CC charges of any kind.

Well, I suppose I'll decide next May if I want to keep using it.

[amadjuster]

I don't pay for many programs but Registry Mechanic is one of them. That does not extend to their Spyware Doctor which hogs your CPU. Stay with the free ones like Spybot and Ad-Aware.

[CSebesta]

David seems to be more knowledgeable than I, however, I had the same problem and pretty much fixed it by adding more memory. I am up to 1.5g but am looking to go to at least 2g shortly, which is what I heard is a good minimum for PS.

Charles

[amadjuster]

More memory is great, but still check your CPU usage when you start slowing down. I am running 1GB and CS3 starts fast, noticeably better than CS2. However, Bridge still takes awhile and that may be memory. I could go up another 1/2 GB but I am going to what until I get another computer someday. Without Vista (ME too?) I hope. Mac Pro dual boot is looking better all the time.

[markfh]

Kind of hard to diagnose a problem without knowing anything about your computer except it's a dell and you're running windows.

Personally (from years of experience) I see 2 problems right off the bat:

1. It's a dell dude
2. You're running Norton

[amadjuster]

Originally Posted by markfh

Kind of hard to diagnose a problem without knowing anything about your computer except it's a dell and you're running windows.

Personally (from years of experience) I see 2 problems right off the bat:

1. It's a dell dude
2. You're running Norton

Perhaps you should voice your choices for "other than Dell" so everyone can benefit from your years of experience. Just because I may have a Dell than runs perfectly well, I guess it is a piece of crap?

[laawaaris]

haha ... yes in an ideal world i would be running linux and have full control over every aspect of the computer (btw: i wonder how good that program GIMP is)

but this is sadly not an ideal world and i also dont have the time for that ...

i have 1.5 GB of memory, but i believe its not a memory card issue and that it is more a processor thing

the machine is NOT a dell (i mispoke), but is a Emachines T2958 with 2.66 Ghz Intel Celeron 330, it also has an 80 GB hard drive (and I usually keep about 9-10% free space on)

I've upgraded the video card and the memory on the computer, but even so I never really noticed many significant gains from the upgrades

anyhow the computer did slow down to a halt last night ... mozilla seemed to crash without warning but then partially reappeared, i didnt think to look at the CPU usage however, so i just rebooted

[markfh]

Yeah, I have lots of linux boxes but for servers and firewalls. I have a linux firewall here at the house protecting my internal network as well as a little used linux file server. Since the vast majority of the programs I use, PS and gaming, here at the house I don't have a linux workstation... yet.

I've played with gimp and it has it's good points but... like being here on this forum and other forums there's a plethora of information and help for PS on windows and mac.

Ok then, eMachines (especially the celeron cpu) are in the same category as most dells from our experiences.

Let me add that we spec out and build "production" pc's that are designed to allow the clients to concentrate on making money at what they do and not loosing time screwing with their computers or having us constantly working on them.

Memory sounds OK unless it's miss-matched. More is always better up to 4gb for Xp even though most computers can't see more than 3.5 or thereabouts.

Best practices are when your drive space gets to 10% or below available space you MUST to get a bigger drive or clean out unneeded files. With PS I recommend at least a second drive with lots of space for the PS scratch. I realize some folks can't afford what I spec out for higher end systems but it doesn't cost much more to aleviate the frustration factor. This is a big deal especially when working on big files.

Check all fans on your computer. If the cpu overheats your computer will slow to a crawl and will eventually lock up. Intel's generally will run longer hotter than amd especially the older amd's. Newer amd's are more tolerant of the heat issue but both are prone to problems with over heating.

Get some canned air and blow all the dust bunnies out of your computer. That contributes to over heating. It also will be a source of moisture from the hot-cold cycle allowing moisture to condense on your electronic parts. I've seen in some environments where computers have eventually shorted out when turned on after the accumulation of moisture in all the dust on the components.

If I did one thing, assuming you can't afford to upgrade the computer, I'd at least get a bigger hd. You can directly clone the current drive to a new one. You can download Acronis Trueimage and use it free for 30 days.

While you're replacing the hd clean the inside of the computer out.

Once you get that done then run all your scans. Run the scans in normal mode first then reboot and run them in safe mode. See what you get then.

If something is seriously wrong with your system itself and you end up replacing it at least you can keep and use the new hd.

[CSebesta]

If your disks are near full it might be worth your while to try Disk Defragmentor. It comes with Windows XP, my Compaq keeps it in it's own way, so can't help you find it on your machine.

Charles