Adobe and XP

[purpleparalyzer]

Is it just my system or do these guys not like each other? I have illustrator and photoshop cs2 and they work sporadically on my computer. I'm using windows xp sp2 and illustrator/photoshop crash all the time when i try to open them. I haven't narrowed down the problem yet but they seem to work if I let my start up programs settle and I don't run any other programs. After I start running either program it stays stable while I run others.

specs: x2 3800 @ 2.4, wd sata hd, biostar tforce, 2g of ddr400 pc3200 running at 160 mhz- i really dont know much about oc'ing ram so the timings i did not mess with. they are:
cas 2.5
ras to cas 2
ras precharge 2
tras 6
trc 8
dram idle timer 16

I thought this machine was a multitasking monster? It shouldnt' have a problem running firefox, illustrator and a couple antivir programs right?

 

[Brazen]

Not exactly an answer, but I suggest using Inkscape (to replace Illustrator) and The GIMP (to replace Photoshop) instead.

 

[Ivan05]

Just a shot in the dark, but have you looked at how much RAM you're allocating to both programs? I'm not familiar with Illustrator but I assume it has the same (or similar) Preferences setup as CS.

Are you running one SATA HD? Is it partitioned?

 

[purpleparalyzer]

Brazen- I have to use illustrator and photoshop for school

Ivan- I'm not even sure how to allocate ram to both programs... and I'm running one SATA HD (wd w/ 16mb chache) and one Seagate IDE - neither are partitioned.

 

[timswim78]

I thought this machine was a multitasking monster? It shouldnt' have a problem running firefox, illustrator and a couple antivir programs right?

This could be your problem. Having multiple antivirus programs running is a bad idea. They can conflict with each other and wreak havoc on your computer. Try disabling one of them, and try again. (Make sure to restart your computer).

 

[MrChad]

Do you have the same issues running at stock speeds?

 

[Ivan05]

Originally posted by: purpleparalyzer
Brazen- I have to use illustrator and photoshop for school

Ivan- I'm not even sure how to allocate ram to both programs... and I'm running one SATA HD (wd w/ 16mb chache) and one Seagate IDE - neither are partitioned.

I'm not sure about Illustrator, but in Photoshop select Edit>Preferences>Memory & Image Cache. Set the RAM allocation to a number that you feel will give you best performance based on your total RAM and what you do with your system while running Photoshop. Knowing Adobe, you'll set the RAM allocation for Illustrator the same way. If you run both programs at the same time, don't set them each for 50% or more, as they'll both be trying to use the same RAM at the same time. Where do you have the Scratch Disk set for both programs?

Make sure you do what timeswim78 said first.

 

[mlc]

you have more than enough hardware power with that setup... I wouldn't mess with the memory allocations either, given you have 2GB ... the default used by those programs should be ample.....

First thing I would try is to go to the Adobe site and download the latest patches they have for both of those products.....If that doesn't work, I would try reinstalling both...

you post is unclear.. are you saying you only have the problem right after you boot up, and things are still intitializing within windows ?

.. as suggested .. take a look at your scratch file allocations, and consider changing those

 

[purpleparalyzer]

Hey thanks for all the helpful replies AT-
I will try disabling my anti virus programs and see if that helps. I use spyware doc, AntiVir Guard and Kerio(but thats just a firewall so it shouldn't affect anything right?). At stock speeds the issue was the same. I read online about how photoshop uses RAM and Scratch Disk space... though I didn't fully understand it, it seems that there is a way to change the primary scratch disk for photoshop to be the ram. Does anyone know how to do this in WinXP? Both programs were installed on my WD SATA drive, so I believe thats where the scratch disk space is, but how do I check? I tried allocating more ram (1.2g) but it made no difference.

Update on the actual problem- Photoshop and Illustrator CS2 take about 3 minutes to boot up (this after all the fonts/paint pallete/etc. screen is finished). It doesn't seem to make a difference whether im running firefox, antivir etc. but I still have to investigate more. Interestingly Photoshop CS (which is installed on the same WD drive) boots up just fine in about 20 seconds or so.

Thanks again for all the help

 

[Ivan05]

it seems that there is a way to change the primary scratch disk for photoshop to be the ram. Does anyone know how to do this in WinXP?

No, you can't change your scratch disk to RAM. If you had a RAM drive, you could change the scratch disk to it, but that's a topic for a different conversation.

You mentioned that you had 2GB of RAM. Is that in 2x1GB sticks?

You can check the scratch disk assignment the same way as the RAM allocation Edit>Preferences>Plug-Ins & Scratch Disks. The 1st scratch disk should be on the fastest drive.

Update on the actual problem- Photoshop and Illustrator CS2 take about 3 minutes to boot up (this after all the fonts/paint pallete/etc. screen is finished). It doesn't seem to make a difference whether im running firefox, antivir etc. but I still have to investigate more. Interestingly Photoshop CS (which is installed on the same WD drive) boots up just fine in about 20 seconds or so.

Let me make sure I'm not misunderstanding here. Are you starting both Photoshop AND Illustrator at the same time and that's when it takes so long for them to load? Photoshop by itself loads up in 20 seconds, right? How about Illustrator by itself, how long does it take to load up?

 

[pkme2]

My Adobe PhotoShop and Illustrator takes between 16sec to 25sec to open, respectively on my rigs. I recommend 512mb minimum to 1gb to properly run these programs. I switch back and forth between programs with ease.
Windows XP Pro is the standard at our college for Adobe, Maya or Canopus DV Storm. We use either Norton AV or McAfee and Webroot Spysweeper or Ad-Aware.
I use WD, Maxtor, Hitachi 7200RPM 8mb Hdds, and I ghost main drives, for protection with mobile drives, for storage.
With the availability of wholesale harddrive lots on eBay, clone and mobile drives make sense. Its smart if you clone your main drives now. Its your choice.

 

[purpleparalyzer]

Ivan- Photoshop OR illustrator CS2 load in about 3 minutes- I haven't tried them both together. It takes about 20 seconds for photoshop CS to laod (I dont have illustrator CS).

pkme2- What are the costs and benefits of using mobile drives to ghost main drives?