RAM issues - should I upgrade or downsize images?

[Invictus]

Mal,
I've been watching this thread for a while now ... I wouldn't want to see you spend money on a new system, if it wasn't really called for.
If I put it in car terms: It sounds like you have a glitch with the fuel supply to the carby when you try to accelerate hard, and your saying you want to replace the whole car because of it?
Seems a little drastic.

Has the issue always been present on the system? If not, what changed on the system before or at the time it started? Is it only on Photoshop? Have you installed any new plugins? Did you try running photoshop while the system was in safemode?

You say your running an Intel Core Duo CPU T9500 @ 2.60GHz. Then I would assume your running a notebook, as the T9500 is a mobile processor. Is the D Drive you use for a scratch disk a seperate drive or another partition on the same drive as C: ?

Did you try the method Rick mentioned about looking at what is using your memory? (below)

when it happens. Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up your task manager.

Click processes and then click on the memory usage heading (you might have to click a couple of times to get the largest to the top). What is using up all the memory? That will give you a guide to maybe something running in the background causing additional memory load. Worth a check of, in case you have something else running that is causing this, not PS alone.

Two things I would test first -
1 - Disable your plugins / move them to a temporary folder. (AFAIK photoshop has a hard limit of how much memory it allocates for plugins.) Try running PS without any plugins.
2 - Recreate the preferences file:

To re-create the Photoshop preferences files:

1. Quit Photoshop.
2. Rename the Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Adobe Photoshop CS3 Settings\Adobe Photoshop CS3 Prefs.psp file to Adobe Photoshop CS3 Prefs.old.
3. Start Photoshop. Photoshop creates a new Adobe Photoshop CS3 Prefs.psp file.

Alternatively, use the Adobe troubleshoot checklist.
Troubleshoot system errors or freezes in Photoshop CS4 on Windows Vista

Do those, let us know the results, then we can guide you from there.

[mal from cessnock]

Invictus - thanks for your interest.

I started using PS at the beginning of this years when I enrolled in an Advanced Photoshop course. I used to use PSP. Most of these memory issues are relatively new. There are three things that happen. 1. When making a selection using the magic wand I sometimes get a message "can't complete the selection due to a program error" grrr, like this helps! Sometimes the messages are useless. 2. When using NikSoftware and 3. When using Photomatix as stand alone or as a plugin.

Since my number 1. occurs I can't say it's only a plugin problem.

I used D: a separate disk drive (ie not a partition of C as my scatch and save all files to external H: and back that up to I:

I will try Ricktas memory check and your suggestions and get back to you.

Maybe I just need to reformat - atm PS won't even open (this often happens with Outlook) - need a restart - talk later.

[Kym]

Excellent post Invictus!!

Maybe I just need to reformat - atm PS won't even open (this often happens with Outlook) - need a restart - talk later.

That's a big clue!! Something is very wrong if that's an issue.

[mal from cessnock]

Keeping you people in the loop ...

Thank you everyone for your help.

Having backed everything up, I'm doing a low level format tonight.

I expect to resolve the problem of system instability and I'll let you know if this process also solves my memory issues.

I'm putting off the purchase of a new system for now

Cheers, Mal from Cessnock
http://crafthouse.net.au

[Invictus]

No worries Mal, let us know how it goes.

[mal from cessnock]

This was a major issue for me and I am hoping it is now solved.

I called Dell - they replaced the mother board and I re-installed the OS. I am now only using this pc for Photoshop and Lightroom. I had an older one I brought out of retirement for everything else.

So far I have had no more memory issues. You guys were right - I didn't need to increase RAM which would have meant $1000 for memory upgrade and changing to 64bit which would have incurred a cost or replacing the notebook which the board didn't recommend I wasn't looking forward to.

Many thanks to everyone who showed interest and gave advice.

Further problems will be reported.

[IanB]

Just for interest Mal; what size are the PS files you were having trouble with?

[mal from cessnock]

Anything from 24Mb and up - usually occured when making selections.

[IanB]

yeah OK; my PS files are 60 to 900 MB for complicated multimages; the old puter gets cranky from time to time and throws in the towel.

Cheers

[milspec]

Depending on which version of Windows you are using (as well as 32/64 bit) and considering the size of the files you are working on, I would be wondering if the system is running out of virtual memory space. Windows allocates a certain amount of HDD space to use as a temporary memory. Maybe check to see if you have sufficient space left on the 'C' drive. You will probably need anywhere from 2G to 4G free.

[mal from cessnock]

Milspec - ta mate.

Problem appears to be solved - computer repair and re-install.

Thanks to everyone who came on board with this one. I've learnt a little from some and a lot from others and I found each and every post very helpful.

Great members in AusPhotography.