Help...my CS3 is so sloooooow...

[Dean Ingwersen]

Hi all,

Haven't been on for ages - new baby and new job have had me busy with lots of other stuff. But I'm now starting to get back into it all and hope to post some more images soon. In the meantime I have a problem. My version of CS3 has started to run really slowly - opening a dialogue box like 'curves' is no longer instantaneous, and trying to open multiple images at once has even caused it to stop working altogether. For those with more knowledge about these things than me, my computer is an Intel Quad Core Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz, and I've got 4 GB of RAM (though understand it can only use 3?). Plenty of space left on hard drives too, so that's not the issue. I've cleaned out temporary files, done a virus scan...what's left?

Can anyone help me work out why the performance is so bad? I'm nearly ready to go back to CS2!

Thanks, Dean

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I'm assuming this is a Windows computer, right? You could try to use a registry cleaner such as CCleaner and check how many and what programs run in the background. Do you have more than one hard drive? If so, the scratch file should be at a different HD than the program. You could also check the memory settings in the PS preferences.

[Dean Ingwersen]

Thanks Axel, and sorry I forgot that detail. yes, running Windows XP. Scratch disk is 300GB with ~240GB free, other one is ~930 with 500 free.

And by HD do you mean 'Hard Drive'? And is CCleaner a freeware?

Just checked memory preferences...it's telling me only 1710MB is available and it's currenlty set to use only 955MB. Any clues on why the difference between the installed 4GB of RAM and the available 1.7GB?

[William Malacarne]

Also check to see if your HDs(HardDrives) need defragmenting.

Bill

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Yes, I meant hard drive and CCleaner is freeware. Many Windows computers slow down if not rebooted once in a while. Is PS slow also after a reboot?

[James Shadle]

Defrag the hard drives.
Run CCleaner.

If you have more than one hard drive, set your scratch and cache to the HD not running the system or application.

Is Bridge opening at the same time?
Did you uninstall CS2?
Are you running the default scripts?

[Roger Clark]

Just checked memory preferences...it's telling me only 1710MB is available and it's currenlty set to use only 955MB. Any clues on why the difference between the installed 4GB of RAM and the available 1.7GB?

dean,
This low memory indicates you have a lot of other programs running. Not only are those sucking up memory, but they are also apparently sucking up cpu cycles too. Check for a virus, or adware that may be sending data to other servers. Some freeware programs "report" to other web sites a lot, eve without your knowledge. Besides checking for the above, run task manager and see what programs are running and anything you don't need should be deleted from your system, or at least stopped from running.

Roger

[Dean Ingwersen]

Defrag the hard drives.
Run CCleaner.

If you have more than one hard drive, set your scratch and cache to the HD not running the system or application.

Is Bridge opening at the same time?
Did you uninstall CS2?
Are you running the default scripts?

Thanks all...I'll give it a go tonight. Bridge isn't opening - I don't use it. And I did uninstall CS2, and am pretty sure I'm running the default scripts. I know the scratch drive at the moment is the same as where the system and application are, so I'll change that and defrag them both. CCleaner seems neat but has few instructions - does it delete things, or just switch them off? Sorry to keep throwing questions at you all!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks all...I'll give it a go tonight. Bridge isn't opening - I don't use it. And I did uninstall CS2, and am pretty sure I'm running the default scripts. I know the scratch drive at the moment is the same as where the system and application are, so I'll change that and defrag them both. CCleaner seems neat but has few instructions - does it delete things, or just switch them off? Sorry to keep throwing questions at you all!

CCleaner cleans the registry and deletes duplicate and unnecessary entries. It creates a backup but I never had problems with it. I agree with Roger, check the task manager, there may be programs running in the background that are memory hogs and slow things down, Real Player and Norton AV for example. Also check the startup folder if there are programs loading that you don't use. I fixed the slowdown problems a year ago by switching to Apple. :)

[Dean Ingwersen]

I fixed the slowdown problems a year ago by switching to Apple. :)

He he...I've considered that too!!:D I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks for all the help.

cheers, Dean

[Roger Clark]

Dean,
One other thing to check: look at the LED lights on your internet connection (like your router). Are they blinking all the time, or a lot, even when you are not doing anythig that is accessing the internet? If so you have programs that are running that is sending information to the internet. You'll be surprised how many do that. For example, the current version of word accesses the internet when you change directories to open a file. Photoshop access the internet first for license check, then periodically while you are working. (I see this because I block internet access and have to approve access on an individual basis). My son had a machine that became very slow. It was infected with adware (or whatever it's called) and it turned out to be virtually impossible to get rid of. He now runs Ubuntu Linux. My wife had the same problem, and now she uses a Mac. I use linux mostly but keep a windows machine for photoshop and a few other windows programs. Because I don't load the windows machine up with other stuff, it runs just as speedy as when I got it about 3 years ago.

Roger

[Dean Ingwersen]

Hi again,

Thanks for all the help. I downloaded and ran CCleaner, downloaded another program called Code Stuff Started which cleans up what starts when the computer is turned on, defragged the HDs, and changed the scratch drive. Things have improved markedly. I'm still to clean up some of hte background processes running on the PC as I'm not yet sure what they all are, so hopefully that will help more. So far so good though - good to have some perfomance back!! :)

Cheers Dean

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Another program I used to run is Spybot Search&Destroy. It's freeware and finds lots of adware, spyware, malware and tracking cookies: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html