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My Photoshop freezes sometimes.


Z

Zelna

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Hey guys,

I was drawing a scenery in Photoshop when suddenly it got frozen. I had to shut it down and restart it only to find all my graphics erased. This happens often when I try to make any high definition wallpaper, after effects, and logo design.
 
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows 7 Professional (Service Pack 1)
System Type: 32 Bit
Processor: Intel Processor @ 3.10GHz
 
Zelna said:
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows 7 Professional (Service Pack 1)
System Type: 32 Bit
Processor: Intel Processor @ 3.10GHz
Click to expand...

You don't mention the version of Photoshop you have.
To quote Paul "More power captain she cannie take it"

You may need to consider
1 Upgrading your current system although without knowing the Make and Model that may not be possible!
2 Buying a new PC

If your considering option two, what you will need is
Ram 8GB Min, 16GB better and more if you can afford it
2GB Graphics Card
Intel Core i5 or i7 processor
Separate Drive for the Scratch Disk
SSD for OS if you can afford if!
64 bit Operating System
64 bit version of Photoshop
 
Zelna said:
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows 7 Professional (Service Pack 1)
System Type: 32 Bit
Processor: Intel Processor @ 3.10GHz
Click to expand...

How does it run when working on smaller, less RAM demanding projects?

With these specs it shouldn't be much of a problem unless you're the multi-tasking type with internet, Office, Music player or other applications open. Tho I have to say, your PS must be crunching like mad to keep up when processing huge images.

Working with such huge files, it could be a scratch disk problem. Are you running on a single drive? It may be good idea to invest in a secondary drive for scratch purposes. And have your current one checked as your problem may be a sign your disk may have developed internal problems and is beginning to give out.

Do a preference reset. After which go through the articles gedstar provided you. If you're not the multi-tasking type, you can adjust your Photoshop RAM allocation to at least 80% and see how it goes. By default, it's set to 70% (if I'm not mistaken). But I kinda remember that my CS6 was set at 50% when I first ran it. Regardless, give it more powah..... but not 90 - 100% as you may need some RAM for other things you need to run.....

And while working in PS, monitor your cpu's performance. I might be wrong, but if your cpu's physical memory usage is maxing out, something could be definitely wrong... either with your drive or Windows 7 OS..... just saying.
 
"This happens often when I try to make any high definition wallpaper, after effects, and logo design."

Personally I don't think 2GB of Ram is sufficient for the type of work the OP is doing

Here's another article on Ram recommendations
http://robertoblake.com/blog/2014/02/much-ram-photoshop-need/

Excerpt
[h=2]Photoshop Ram General Guidelines[/h]
  • Photography, Basic Retouching and Batch Processing: Photoshop Needs 4GB to 8GB of Ram
  • Photo Manipulations, Photo Composites Digital Painting: Photoshop Needs 8GB to 16GB of Ram
  • Matte Painting, 3D Modeling, Complex 3D Typography: Photoshop Needs 8GB to 16GB of Ram
  • Large Print Poster Designs (24 x 36 150 DPI), Advanced Photo Manipulation: Photoshop Needs 16GB to 32GB of Ram
 
Last edited:
gedstar said:
"This happens often when I try to make any high definition wallpaper, after effects, and logo design."

Personally I don't think 2GB of Ram is sufficient for the type of work the OP is doing

Here's another article on Ram recommendations
http://robertoblake.com/blog/2014/02/much-ram-photoshop-need/

Excerpt
Photoshop Ram General Guidelines


  • Photography, Basic Retouching and Batch Processing: Photoshop Needs 4GB to 8GB of Ram
  • Photo Manipulations, Photo Composites Digital Painting: Photoshop Needs 8GB to 16GB of Ram
  • Matte Painting, 3D Modeling, Complex 3D Typography: Photoshop Needs 8GB to 16GB of Ram
  • Large Print Poster Designs (24 x 36 150 DPI), Advanced Photo Manipulation: Photoshop Needs 16GB to 32GB of Ram
Click to expand...

What I posted above was also from experience. At one time, I had and was working with another cpu with his specs that would freeze at times with either PS or other design apps running. It turned out I had a defective OS drive. I had it replaced and worked fine until I retired it.

I agree that the OP's RAM may not be sufficient.

One headache he may be experiencing is slow render times while PS crunches out whatever edit moves he does on huge files. Which is why I had to ask how is his PS on smaller projects. And I'm also assuming he's not getting the PS doesn't have sufficient RAM message....

I've worked with huge project files (500MB++) on an older cpu. It takes time to do it's thing but it never hung on me.... nor as suddenly as the OP mentioned. Unless I had other apps open or internet running. That's when I'll experience what the OP went through. Yup... it might be the RAM.... but like I mentioned, never froze on me with just PS running.
 
@dv8_fx
I agree with what you are saying that the issue could be down to the OS Hard Drive which depending on the PC model the OP should be able to run a Hard Drive diagnostic test from the BIOS.
Alas I think we need more info from the OP, like does he\she have issues with the PC in general crashing outside of Photoshop.
 
Last edited:
Photoshop version is CS3.

I have to work simultaneously on different projects in Photoshop. I also let my Internet working. May be that makes my system overloaded. I'll try the next time with some processes closed. Thank you guys for your suggestions. If nothing works out I will consider my system formatted. I could be a virus factor too, just guessing.
 
Zelna said:
Photoshop version is CS3.

I have to work simultaneously on different projects in Photoshop. I also let my Internet working. May be that makes my system overloaded. I'll try the next time with some processes closed. Thank you guys for your suggestions. If nothing works out I will consider my system formatted. I could be a virus factor too, just guessing.
Click to expand...

Not saying it could be cause but with your com specs, imagine the strain PS has to go through from the multi-tasking it's subjected to - trying to manage the scratch data work history on 2 or more open projects while at the same time crunching on the active project. And if these were all huge files? The same would happen to me before.

If you're using Firefox, it too, is RAM intensive. No point to allocate less RAM to PS as it may not function well. And when jumping from PS to your internet browser or vice versa, your cpu has to compensate the RAM usage just to display the browsers and PS workspace. Please don't tell me your on an online game or viewing a tutorial..... lol. I can't imagine the stress your cpu is going through.

If this were causing the trouble, take it one at a time ..... one open project. If you need something from one psd, take/drag what you need into your active document and close it. If it can't be helped, then close your internet or other apps running (before launching PS) even if just for a while. It's cumbersome but will save you from all the unforeseen trouble.

And if able, you can also look into the possibility of investing in a more robust computer that can handle the work loads you do.

A virus (or side effect even after cleaning a virus out) could also be a possibility. One of our Mods had that problem sometime back. A total clean install of her system remedied the problem. I think she was on a Pentium i3 .....

Zelna

One more thing.... chances are PS managed to retain and create a backup of the lost work in the PS or system TEMP folder when it froze and you had to re-start your system. I'm uncertain where it is for CS3 but maybe you can try search for it. Not everything you did may be there but its worth a shot.....
 
As you have heard, problems like you are experiencing can be caused by many different things. However, I can be certain of one thing: You don't have enough ram, and you can't even install enough ram on a 32 bit OS to do all the things simultaneousy that you described. Back in the day when I was using a system like that, I would have to shut down everything except Photoshop in order to work on ordinary resolution photos (eg, say 4000 x 3000 px) with a half-dozen or so layers, and even then I would experience crashes.

If you want to take a less anecdotal and more quantitative approach, learn how to use "Task Manager", "Resource Monitor" and similar utilities to tell you exactly which programs / processes are taxing your computer's capabilities.

Cheers,

Tom M
 
dv8_fx said:
Not saying it could be cause but with your com specs, imagine the strain PS has to go through from the multi-tasking it's subjected to - trying to manage the scratch data work history on 2 or more open projects while at the same time crunching on the active project. And if these were all huge files? The same would happen to me before.

If you're using Firefox, it too, is RAM intensive. No point to allocate less RAM to PS as it may not function well. And when jumping from PS to your internet browser or vice versa, your cpu has to compensate the RAM usage just to display the browsers and PS workspace. Please don't tell me your on an online game or viewing a tutorial..... lol. I can't imagine the stress your cpu is going through.

If this were causing the trouble, take it one at a time ..... one open project. If you need something from one psd, take/drag what you need into your active document and close it. If it can't be helped, then close your internet or other apps running (before launching PS) even if just for a while. It's cumbersome but will save you from all the unforeseen trouble.

And if able, you can also look into the possibility of investing in a more robust computer that can handle the work loads you do.

A virus (or side effect even after cleaning a virus out) could also be a possibility. One of our Mods had that problem sometime back. A total clean install of her system remedied the problem. I think she was on a Pentium i3 .....

@Zelna

One more thing.... chances are PS managed to retain and create a backup of the lost work in the PS or system TEMP folder when it froze and you had to re-start your system. I'm uncertain where it is for CS3 but maybe you can try search for it. Not everything you did may be there but its worth a shot.....
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. I think I have solved my issue. Now my PS doesn't hang. WHAT I DID - I don't use internet while I'm working with PS. However, it is not a practical solution to the problem (i.e. not using multi tasking feature of the system.) But on a temporary basis I know how to keep my Photoshop working. :happy:
 
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