Problems with PSE 6 crashing in Full Edit

[RWCastro]

I looked through what others had to say about their problems with PSE 6 crashing (and PSE 5 as well), but my problem seems to be somewhat different, so I thought I'd start a new thread. I never seemed to have this problem in PSE 5, but since I've installed 6.0 I frequently get the message "Photoshop Elements has encountered a problem and needs to close" when I'm right in the middle of editing in the Full Edit mode. Naturally, when this happens you lose everything you've done and have to go back to the Organizer to retrieve your image and start all over again from scratch (unless you've had the foresight to periodically save it as a PSD when working on a very involved editing process). This happens frequently and gets very frustrating, to say the least. I don't recall this ever happening in PSE 5, but I haven't tried to do any editing in there recently, so I don't know if I'd be having the same problem there or not. When I first encountered the problem I thought maybe I was working with not enough RAM...I was operating with 1.25 GB at the time. I have since increased my RAM to 2.0 GB, and I think that may have helped a little, but not entirely....I'm not really sure since I still do crash, but seemingly not as often. My problems mostly seem to occur if I go too fast when I'm editing and click on another function before the last one has had a chance to fully take effect. I have to really concentrate on going slowly and methodically and allow every thing to apply itself before clicking on the next step. It's like Elements can't keep up, and then I get the abort message and have to shut the Editor down. Elements doesn't shut down completely, just the Editor, and I can go back to the Organizer with no problem and start over. I was just wondering if anyone else had had similar problems, and if so were you able to come up with a solution to correct them, or is this just something I'm going to have to learn to live with.

[TonyW]

Hard to tell what the problem is but I was having occasional crashes for a short time with PSE6 and then my video card died. Since getting a new card with more video memory I can't recall it having crashed so I put the problem down to a dying video card and/or not enough video memory .

Tony

[markyzmom]

I'm having the same problem. Problem started within one month of getting new camera (pics are now 2MB) and beginning digi-scrapping not just photo editing.
I only have 512 MB of RAM.

Have you since found a solution?

[johnrellis]

While getting more RAM would definitely be worthwhile and help speed up your editing, it may not be the cause of your Editor crashes.

The first thing to try is simply to delete the Editor's preferences. Start the PSE 6 Welcome screen, hold down the keys Ctrl-Alt-Shift, and click Edit. Keep holding down the keys until you're asked to delete the settings file; click Yes.

[markyzmom]

I tried both ideas. Upped the RAM from 512 to 2G then in only crashed after 10-15 minutes. (Then got your message) Tried your method, still crashed after 10-15 minutes.
Any other/additional ideas?

[johnrellis]

Your symptoms aren't specific enough to match any particular problems I'm aware of. What is the specific error that appears when the Editor crashes?

Two thoughts:

1. Try applying the licensing patch. Your symptoms don't precisely match the licensing symptoms reported for PSE, but it's worth a try:

http://www.adobe.com/go/kb403002

2. Work through Adobe's don't-have-a-clue troubleshooting steps:

XP: http://www.adobe.com/go/kb402520
Vista: http://www.adobe.com/go/kb402603

The most likely ones to try include ensuring your system is updated, running as Administrator, troubleshooting third-party plug-ins, reinstalling in simplified mode with anti-virus and other services temporarily disabled, running in a new user account, updating the video card driver, optimize scratch disks, and disabling multiprocessor/mmxcore/fastcore plugins. Don't go as far as reinstalling Windows!

These are the same steps that Adobe support will likely take you through. They fix many problems but certainly not all.

[markyzmom]

What is the specific error that appears when the Editor crashes?

"Photoshop Elements has encountered an error and needs to close...information may be lost."

I know I'm in trouble when the cursor goes "dead" and nothing happens for several seconds. Then the message comes up. If I click on details I get "
AppName: photoshopelementseditor.exe AppVer: 6.0.0.0 ModName: msvcr80.dll
ModVer: 8.0.50727.1433 Offset: 00008aa0" and it tells me the error file is saving on my computer. I've looked at the error file, but it's a lot of dashes with some numbers mixed in.
I did download some styles(misc) and some actions (atomic cupcake. etc) they worked for about a month before the problem started. I tried removing them--still errors. When I reinstalled PSE6, I tried running it without reinstalling them--still errors.

I'll try the patch tomorrow morning. The lady on adobe user-to-user said her answer was a memory problem and she had to get the stuff running in the background shut off in order to get it to work. Adobe support via phone helped her. I had hoped that upping to 2G would avoid that since I'm not sure what is running in the background.
Can I get tech help from Adobe without a pricey help plan?

[johnrellis]

2 GB is more than enough to run PSE comfortably.

There could well be an incompatibility with other programs running on your computer, but that wouldn't be a "memory problem" per se. One of the steps in Adobe's troubleshooting document is to temporarily turn off all those programs to see if they're the cause.

But there are many other possible causes of the crashes. I think your best bet is to try the licensing patch and then work through the troubleshooting document methodically (even if you've tried some of the steps already).

Adobe usually troubleshoots installation issues for free; if PSE 6 has been acting this way since you installed, they may not charge you anything. But beware that they are most likely going to take you through the exact same steps as they have in their troubleshooting document. It's unlikely they'll suggest anything else in addition to those steps.

[PammyGirl1001]

I am having the same issue in Full Edit.

Has anyone found a definite solution?

[johnrellis]

Unfortunately, there are many possible causes for crashes -- corrupted preferences, conflict with anti-virus (e.g. Norton 360), corrupted installation, problems with permissions on Vista, the licensing bug, etc. -- so there isn't one single solution. Try deleting the preferences:

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showpost.php?p=399079&postcount=4

and then the troubleshooting steps here:

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showpost.php?p=399309&postcount=6

[sailkelli]

I have discovered the same issue but when I am using frames in the create tab. It must be a complex action to resize and reposition because it always seems to happen when I've moved or resized or adjusted a frame with a photo in it. I wanted to reset the preferences, but when I start Elements it comes up immediately into the Organizer and doesn't go to the welcome screen. So I can't hold down the buttons to get the delete settings dialogue. I did get something about the catalog to show, but no settings. How can I start fresh?

[johnrellis]

Kelli,

To cause the Welcome screen to start first:

1. Start the full Editor.
2. Window > Welcome
3. At the bottom of the welcome screen, change “Startup with Organizer” to “Startup with Welcome Screen”.
4. Exit the Welcome screen, the Organizer, and the Editor.

Now you should be able to follow the instructions for resetting your Editor preferences.