Can't Launch PSE

[RobPSE]

I've been using PSE3 for years and today in trying to launch, the program loads its modules, begins to display the Organizer page and then hangs. (It keeps working away, using more and more memory until I eventually get an "Out of Memory" error.) I assume my catalog somehow got corrupted but I don't know much about how to fix it. I tried starting PSE while holding down CTRL, compacting and recovering the catalog - it says "Catalog recovery completed successfully" but then I've still got the same problem. Is there anything I can do short of starting from scratch...?

[Ward Grant]

Hello Rob and welcome to the forum,
Here is something I would look at since you already tried the Catalog Recovery, which normally fixes most Organizer problems.

Assuming you are on Windows with default catalog name:

Start>Control Panel>Folder Options>View>be sure Show Hidden Files is clicked on
Open Explorer and go to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Catalog Folders. There should be a folder called My Catalog, which contains the thumbnails (tn.4.cache) file. Delete this file. While you are at it, you can delete the dat file, if it exists.
The thumbnails will rebuild on loading. It may take some time if you have a lot of files.
Then try opening Organizer.
Sometimes a corrupted thumbnail will cause some problems. If this does not fix the problem, post back.

[Daviskw]

Rob

I know this is a shot in the dark but have you installed any new programs of late?

We have seen where some programs especially those that make an entry in your start up directory can cause big problems with PSE.

If you have, try temporarily disabling the start up programs during bootup and see if it helps.

Butch

[RobPSE]

Thank you so much for your quick responses.

I deleted the thumbnail file and the .DAT files in the same folder and was able to open the catalog again. Whew, that's a relief. I'm now doing an incremental backup (which I hadn't done in several months)...

[Wendy]

Hi Rob .,..

... and welcome to the forum :)

So glad that the problem is now sorted out ...

Wendy