My computer is an old one but now it's getting kind of senile and stuff. When I draw with photoshop or anything it freezes and freaks but it has no problem with me scanning and lettering. I don't really have the means to outright buy a new computer and I want to keep on schedule for a change…

…so should I just go back to inking and drawing everything by hand?

my ancient computer does that aswell… no trouble with scanning or most adobe products… but when im using PS for anything it just freezes up and dies


…yes you should go back to hand inking and drawing… it looks swell that way :P

Photoshop uses a heckufa lot of memory. Here are some things you may want to try before scrapping your old computer:

1. Defragment your HD.

Wikipedia
In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation (or defragging) is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically reorganizing the contents of the disk in order to store the pieces of each file close together and in order (contiguously). It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation. Some defragmenters also try to keep smaller files within a single directory together, as they are often accessed in sequence

If you have Windows, you should be able to find this under Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter - Oh, and analyze it first. It will tell you if you need to de-frag. A lot of red is bad.

2. Run full scans for viruses and spyware.
These 2 things will always drag down your comp's performance.

3. Buy more memory
Most computers nowadays are upgradable, at least a little. You can usually upgrade your computer with a new memory stick or two. There should be open slots for this on your motherboard. Although memory stick usually aren't cheap, it's cheaper than getting a new computer.

4. Eliminate uneeded programs
Stuf that's gobbling up your resources and you don't use, un-install.

Try at least 1 )

That's a good advice. Getting another hard drive is good too, Photoshop likes that. :)
Those are tricky to install of you don't know what you're doing, but Photoshop loves to have "scratch disks“ (don't worry, just a stupid name it gives hard drives for its use), that are different from the main disk -i.e. the one that has Photoshop and Windows on it.

You can set the ”scratch disks“ up in the Photoshop's preferences.

Another thing, if you go to the ”run“ menu and type in ”msconfig“ and click OK, you can get to the ”system configuration utility". That way you can control most of the programs and services that start up automatically when Windows starts. (I'm assuming you use Windows).
You CAN really mess up your computer this way, so be careful if you do it. Only change the stuff on the "Startup" tab (because those are easiest), and then only stop programs from starting up that are obviously not needed unless you start them yourself- carp like itunes and realplayer DO NOT need to run all the time and are just a waste of resources, so are most chat programs that people love to run all the time- Yahoo messenger, AOL messenger, IM etc. You can just Google other stuff that looks useless to see if it really is.
-Honestly with the amount of SHIT programmers think you computer should be running all at the same time I'd SWEAR they were in league with PC manufacturers to force people to buy the latest hardware just to cope with their crappy programming overload!

If you actually try this, next time your computer starts a dialogue box will pop-up and ask you if you want to keep the changes. You have to tick the box and click OK or everything will change back to how it was before next time you startup again. It's probably best to just click OK without ticking the box (so it will all change back next time), and then run your computer like normal to see if it all works ok. If it works fine with no problems, do the Msconfig thing all over again and the next time you start up tick the box and then OK. If things are screwy though, try cutting back on the services you stop from running. -you probably won't ave any trouble at all though if you stick to the obvious ones and Google what you're unsure of.

SpANG
Photoshop uses a heckufa lot of memory. Here are some things you may want to try before scrapping your old computer:

1. Defragment your HD.

Wikipedia
In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation (or defragging) is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically reorganizing the contents of the disk in order to store the pieces of each file close together and in order (contiguously). It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation. Some defragmenters also try to keep smaller files within a single directory together, as they are often accessed in sequence

If you have Windows, you should be able to find this under Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter - Oh, and analyze it first. It will tell you if you need to de-frag. A lot of red is bad.

2. Run full scans for viruses and spyware.
These 2 things will always drag down your comp's performance.

3. Buy more memory
Most computers nowadays are upgradable, at least a little. You can usually upgrade your computer with a new memory stick or two. There should be open slots for this on your motherboard. Although memory stick usually aren't cheap, it's cheaper than getting a new computer.

4. Eliminate uneeded programs
Stuf that's gobbling up your resources and you don't use, un-install.

Try at least 1 )

I have done 1, 2, and 4. I have 40% free space and this still happens. I really don't want to buy more memory though :/. I do miss inking…so maybe I'll go back to that, like I said, I had NO problems when I was just scanning. I can at least do that until I can get the means to buy a new computer…unless that's bad.

You can also try to get a registry repair program.

tea_green
I have done 1, 2, and 4. I have 40% free space and this still happens. I really don't want to buy more memory though :/

The memory you are reffering to is HD space. The memory I am reffering to is RAM, which is a temporary housing of memory for the specific purpose to run an active program.

Hard Drive:

Ram:


Photoshop gobbles up a lot of RAM because of all of it's intricate devices, whereas a scanner usually doesn't.

yup that's why i got 2gb

me 2. ;)

Lots of ram is good for Photoshop, but it doesn't require anything like 2 gig, it can run wonderfully with a single gig of ram or less. :)
Photoshop doesn't like other programs using lots of memory and processor time at the same time as it though, and it LOVES lots of HD space for its temporary files. If you've got another drive for it to use a dedicated primary scratch disk, it'll like you. It really likes those “scratch disks”. ;)

i use that ram for something else too

ozoneocean
Lots of ram is good for Photoshop, but it doesn't require anything like 2 gig, it can run wonderfully with a single gig of ram or less. :)
Photoshop doesn't like other programs using lots of memory and processor time at the same time as it though, and it LOVES lots of HD space for its temporary files. If you've got another drive for it to use a dedicated primary scratch disk, it'll like you. It really likes those “scratch disks”. ;)

Huh. I'll need to look into that for myself. Good advice. Thanks!


Edit/// I wonder, could you just use a flash drive/thumb drive for that? Just plug it into the USB while you have PS up?

I dunno about USB flash drives. It might work! I remember something about issues with removable drives though? I'm not sure. It won't hurt to try. Just try and set it in the preferences.

I just Googled it… Adobe's info on CS2, ram, and scratch disks etc is here. More here. :)

ozoneocean
I dunno about USB flash drives. It might work! I remember something about issues with removable drives though? I'm not sure. I won't hurt to try. Just try and set it in the preferences.

See, I have an external HD for my desktop, but when I'm using my tablet, if I could utlize my 2 GB flash drive, that would be great! I'm gonna play with PS when I get home. Thankee!

Red Slayer
You can also try to get a registry repair program.

I would NOT do this unless you have advanced understanding of windows. While these editors are automated, they're not perfect and are known to aid the user in completely f-ing up their PC.

If you're used to digital inking, I'd just stick with that and not go back to traditional media… unless you want to, then this thread is irrelevant.

If it's an “older computer”, you can get SDRAM or low speed DDR SDRAM for fairly cheap. $50 bucks will generally get you 512 MB of name brand stuff or 1024 (1 gig) of off brand RAM. Sometimes more, sometimes less… but if you check NEWEGG and eCost regularly, I'm guessing you can find a 1 GIG stick for less than $50. 1/2 gig will probably solve your problem (assuming your problem IS memory (RAM). You can get a 2nd harddrive for 20-30 bucks (40 gigs) on those sites if you fish for deals as well.

Other possible problems:
* if you're scanning a file in, there's a chance you're drawing in photoshop at a unnecessarily high DPI level. My scanner can scan up to 1200 DPI, but does 300 DPI by default. I do my work at 300 DPI because that's a decent print resolution (and i NEVER rule out the possibility of printing something). However, if you're creating and publishing FOR INTERNET ONLY, then there's very little reason to “draw” at more than 72 DPI (internet standard) if you're experiencing performance problems. Reducing the DPI, even by 100, may significantly speed up PS operation. You probably already knew this though.
* People mentioned alot of good things already: Spyware/Malware/Viruses, do a complete scan; DeFRAG; you could REFORMAT… that sometimes helps; and/or make sure all your window's updates are done and all your drivers are up to date. Sometimes driver conflicts make funny things happen in a PC without crashing it.

GO in PS: IMAGE > IMAGE SIZE, then adjust RESOLUTION.

PRIVATE QUACK me if none of this helps and you need some more suggestions.
~Jerome~

ozoneocean
I dunno about USB flash drives. It might work! I remember something about issues with removable drives though? I'm not sure. It won't hurt to try. Just try and set it in the preferences.

I just Googled it… Adobe's info on CS2, ram, and scratch disks etc is here. More here. :)

Best I've read/experienced is NOT to use thumb drives as scratch disks. One reason is that most aren't nearly as fast as RAM and may slow your PS down actually (depending on drive, USB type, system configuration, and alot more factors). Also, thumbdrive capacity may be too low to help anyways… I think you'd need a 1 giger at the minimum. Scratch disks are supposed to assist RAM and I think a thumb drive may be the opposite of that.

The biggest reason not to use a thumb drive is that flash memory has a limited number of writes. I think constantly writing to it from PS would just cause it to die sooner. This is of course not always the case in newer flash's and this point is becoming irrelevant daily… but if a user can't afford 512 RAM, then they're probably not going to have a super-awesome thumb drive. And if they can afford/want a nice thumb drive, why don't they have good RAM in the first place? =)

Just a few thoughts.

That's odd, i acquired (and activated through shady means) PC Tool's Registry Mechanic an my computer works perfectly.

'ME'
they're not perfect and are known to aid the user in completely f-ing up their PC.

It's not automatic that they “F” things up. But they can, have, and tend to over long term use for people that aren't 100% sure what exactly they're deleting.

The product wouldn't exist if it didn't work. BUT… that doesn't mean that people don't accidently delete some crucial registry key and have to reformat.

The best way to maintain a registry is not to mess it up in the first place by properly installing/uninstalling programs and to only install necessary programs, not everything you can grab. Also, regular complete drive reformats are normal for advanced windows users.

It could be that you need to download a patch from the internet for photoshop. I had to do that with paint shop pro, because these programs are not microsoft based tools, they'll stop responding properly if you don't update the software. Try and see if you have any patches available to you. At least that's what it seems like.

if you can draw fast and ink real good you should do it.but haveing an updated computer would help.

that kid yellow
if you can draw fast and ink real good you should do it.but haveing an updated computer would help.

I totally agree with you. I just found this out the difficult way. I was having compatibility issues with my cannon multipass all in one center. As it turned out it was an incompatibility bug that came with one of my microsoft updates along the line. No viruses though, checked for that. I went to the cannon multipass site and there it was, the patch for the problem. Patches do help, this one really did do a great job for me because now I did not have that problem that I've been having for several days.

I thought I'd need to buy a new computer too, seeing that this machine I have is reaching six years of age. But that wasn't the case actually. You can extend the life of your machine and save yourself some money by purchasing an external hard drive, which can actually be a second computer for more than less than half the cost of a new machine all together. Maxtor puts out a variety of external hard drives and if it weren't for that I'd be stuck too. That way, you can put your artwork on the external drive, and keep your regular had drive free of clutter. Check it out it could help.

dude, it's the photoshop. You might need to find yourself a dare-I-say older version of photoshop. It's like trying to put an old version of photoshop on a new computer.

mechanical_lullaby
dude, it's the photoshop. You might need to find yourself a dare-I-say older version of photoshop. It's like trying to put an old version of photoshop on a new computer.

Right on target with this one. If you have a new version of Photoshop on an old computer with an older operating system, the program is not properly communicating with your computer and thus the program will not operate as it should. This happened to me when I had an older version of Paint Shop Pro, where it would stop responding to certain commands, because I altered my service pack which was a major upgrade for my computer. Old programs can not work off of new upgrades, and then vice versa. Older computers need to have the older versions of software simply because it can read it's configuration, it's like trying to talk modern with old english text. If you have an older computer, yes, getting an older version of the program will remedy your situation.

reconjsh
Also, regular complete drive reformats are normal for advanced windows users.

This is a hassle that no one should have to go through more than once… It is a SERIOUS pain in the arse. Why would you want to do that regularly? I've done that heaps of times on old PC's I've fixed up, and my back-up PC and it's always such a horrible, horrible, dull, awful, chore! Installing programs takes ages and inputting all those serial numbers over and over again, not to mention getting special drivers ready and remembering what programs I need on the comp etc. Augh!' Mucho hate!

Just keep your comp in good condition and it'll go fine until some hardware fails. Then it's time to replace that hardware or get a whole new machine (which often costs not much more than replacing outdated hardware with new bits- I almost got most of the price for a new (good) pc from the sale of some Rambus Ram in the old one. ;)

I agree with you Double O… I wouldn't recommend it for most people. But, I like my machine running tip-top and a regular reformat does that quite nicely… and Windows really enjoys a clean slate. It usually takes me about 2-3 hours from start to complete finish reformatting… and I have ALOT of programs.

Though, I could ink half a page in that time instead of reformatting. I wonder how much of my life I've wasted in just reformatting? Probably alot.