Elements 5.0 Editor freezes after lengthy editing.

[RichW]

I have a very vexing problem with my Elements 5.0 Editor freezing up after a lot of use (for example, when I use the clone tool over and over to clean up an old photo). It's especially problematic if I've forgotten to save my editing for a while, prior to the freeze. In that case, I have to shut Elements down, and I lose all the changes since the last Save. That said, frequent saving does not prevent the problem from eventually happening anyway.
I'm still using Windows XP, and my computer is a Dell Dimension 8300, with a Pentium 4 processor, 2.8GHz, 500GB hard drive, and 4 GB RAM. According to Windows Task Manager, the Photoshop memory usage at the time of the last Editor freeze was 10,804 K. I've tried just about everything to get a successful Save, before exiting Elements, but no luck. Does anyone have any ideas?

[Dezigns Unlimited]

Try going to your preferences and bump down the amount of ram it's using and maybe check to see how much cache it's using..

[RichW]

Hi, Kevin. Many thanks for your interest! I checked my Editing Preferences, and it turns out I have 1629 MB of Available RAM of which 65%, or 1059 MB, is the maximum used now by Elements. The number of Cache Levels is 6, but it doesn't show the amount of Cache memory. Unfortunately, I'm no computer expert. You recommended bumping down the amount of RAM, but that seems counter intuitive. Did you mean bump it up? Either way, can you recommend a better level for the RAM and the Cache Levels? And even if I do make the memory levels better, won't I still get the same problem with freezing eventually? It's too bad Elements doesn't have a warning message, when memory is running low!

[Steve]

I think Kevin is talking about Photoshop preferences.
Ctrl+K then go to Performance.

I think Kevin is suggesting that lowering the amount of Ram PS can use increases what's available for Windows.
Windows may need more memory and freezes.

Default is about 50% I think.

And this is "Windows" after all, make it a practice to periodically save your work.
It's happen to me too.

[RichW]

Hi Steve. That's an interesting idea (reducimg the RAM for Elements, in order to increase the RAM for Windows); I'll give it a try. By the way, I do try to Save frequently, but sometimes I forget; I'm thinking of using a 30 minute timer from now on. Thanks for your interest!

[Steve]

Hi Steve. ........... By the way, I do try to Save frequently, but sometimes I forget; ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Thanks for your interest!

I know, I've been their and I'll be back.

If you know you're going to be working on something for a while you may want to do a reboot before starting.
It's a time honored "Windows" tradition.

[RichW]

Thanks again, Steve. Do you know if this is just an issue with Windows XP, or does it also apply to Vista and Windows 7?

[Steve]

It's always been an issue with Windows, and every version is getting better and better.
XP is actually pretty stable and I assume Vista is better, and 7 even better.

PS is also a memory hog.
It seems reasonable to me to re-start my computer when I'm doing something serious in PS.
Maybe it helps maybe not, saving often is always your best bet.

See if the adjustment in Preferences helps, let us know how you make out.
Steve