Washand Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 My PC is running Windows XP Home and is a relatively powerful spec (bought a year ago as a top-end of the range PC).I have a number of games and other software installed including Adobe Creative Suite CS2 and my PC has recently been experiencing sudden and frequent crashes (the computer freezes and then re-boots after a few seconds), specifically when I am running Adobe Photoshop CS2 but also when running the Warhammer games.I really don't want to re-install everything and was wondering if anyone knows of a good program which can diagnose the cause of a crash and relate it on re-booting such that the average intelligent layperson can understand (i.e. not a list of hexadecimal code with unintelligible diagnostics). If I know the source of the conflict, or whatever it is, I can be more specific about fixing it.Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 I think the first thing to do is look at the Event Viewer to see if there is any warning there.To see Event Viewer: RIGHT click on My Computer -> Manage -> System Tools -> Event Viewer. Click the plus sign at Event Viewer and click on each header in turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washand Posted February 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 OK thanks, I've done that but I'm none the wiser. There are no entries relating to some kind of conflict, either in the Application log or in the System log. Just information entries which seem to be normal events.Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Right, do you get a (even momentary) blue screen when it crashes?Open Control Panel -> Advanced -> Start up & Recovery -> Settings then UNtick the box to automatically restart. By doing this, the next time the crash occurs might show a blue error screen from which can be deciphered the cause of the problem.Don't worry about the automatic re-start not working, you can always re-boot as normal. I always configure my machines not to restart as a standard setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washand Posted February 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 OK, done that, but no blue screen. It just freezes and stays like that. I have to say that the crashes happen most often when Photoshop is loading, but can also happen apparently randomly during Photoshop use... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackcivic Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 in task manager, how much memory is Photoshop using, and what are your computer specs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 If it were me I would uninstall Photo Shop, and run the PC for a day or two to see if the crashes still occur. If they do then the cause is something else. You can always reinstall Photo shop if everything is running OK. It could be that the installation is corrupted. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washand Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 Thanks for the responses. My PC specs are shown below and I guess you are thinking that there is not enough free memory available. However, the problem did not arise until recently and I have been through the startup list in msconfig to weed out unnecessary loading of programs into memory. There is however only 501 MB of available memory after PC booting. I am not convinced it is a memory issue because other memory hungry programs do not cause the same effect.Yes, I have tried uninstalling and re-installing Photoshop, but I still have the same problem.I would be grateful for your further advice!Operating System OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition OS Version 5.1.2600 ServicePack 2.0 Internet Explorer Version 6.0.2900.2180 Microsoft DirectX Version 9.0c (4.09.00.0904) OpenGL Version 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) Free Physical Memory 501 MB Free Page Files 1917 MB Free Virtual Memory 2007 MBRegistry Maximum Size 54MB Current Size 5MB Status OKCenter Processor CPU Name AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+ Code Name Model 15, Stepping 2 Manufactory AuthenticAMD Current Clock Speed 2205Mhz Max Clock Speed 2205Mhz Voltage 1.4V External Clock 200Mhz CPU ID x86 Family 15 Model 47 Stepping 2 Socket Designation Socket 939 L1-Cache 128KB L2-Cache 512KB L3-Cache 0KBMotherboard Model A8R-MVP Manufactory ASUSTeK Computer INC. BIOS Name BIOS Date: 03/14/06 12:46:04 Ver: 08.00.10 BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc. SMBIOS Version 0503 BIOS Date 14/03/2006Physical Memory Memory Bank BANK0 Description Physical Memory 0 Device Locator DIMM0 Capacity 512MB Speed 400Mhz Manufacturer NULL Data Width 64bit Memory Type Unknown Form Factor DIMMPhysical Memory Memory Bank BANK1 Description Physical Memory 1 Device Locator DIMM1 Capacity 512MB Speed 400Mhz Manufacturer NULL Data Width 64bit Memory Type Unknown Form Factor DIMMMemory Resource Total Memory 1023MB Used Memory 521MB Free Memory 501MB Memory Usage 50%Disk drive Name Maxtor 6L300S0 Media Type Fixed hard disk media Capabilities 300GB InterfaceType IDE Partitions 2 Total Cylinders 36483 Total Heads 255 Total Sectors 586099395 Total Tracks 9303165 Tracks Per Cylinder 255 Sectors Per Track 512 Bytes Per Sector 63 S.M.A.R.T Support Yes Current Temperature 34C (93.2F)Disk drive Name Maxtor 6L300S0 Media Type Fixed hard disk media Capabilities 300GB InterfaceType IDE Partitions 2 Total Cylinders 36483 Total Heads 255 Total Sectors 586099395 Total Tracks 9303165 Tracks Per Cylinder 255 Sectors Per Track 512 Bytes Per Sector 63 S.M.A.R.T Support Yes Current Temperature 34C (93.2F)IDE Controller Name ALi M5229 PCI Bus Master IDE Controller Manufacturer Acer Labs Inc Status OKIDE Controller Name Primary IDE Channel Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers) Status OKIDE Controller Name Secondary IDE Channel Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers) Status OKIDE Controller Name Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers) Status OKIDE Controller Name Primary IDE Channel Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers) Status OKIDE Controller Name Secondary IDE Channel Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers) Status OKCD-ROM Drive Name SONY DVD RW DW-Q30A Drive G: Transfer Rate NULL Status OKCD-ROM Drive Name SONY DVD RW DW-Q30A Drive H: Transfer Rate NULL Status OKVideo Adapter Name NVIDIA GeForce 6500 Video Processor GeForce 6500 Manufactory NVIDIA Video Architecture VGA DAC Type Integrated RAMDAC Memory Size 512MB Memory Type Unknown Video Mode 1280 x 1024 x 4294967296 colors Current Refresh Rate 60Hz Driver Version 6.14.10.9371 Driver Date 22/10/2006 12:22:00Monitor Name Plug and Play Monitor Screen Height 1024 Screen Width 1280 Status OKWireless Network Connection Product Name Belkin 802.11g Wireless Card Service Name RT2500 Manufacturer Belkin ComponentsSound Device Name Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM) Manufacturer Creative Technology, Ltd. Status OKKeyboard Name Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard Description Enhanced (101- or 102-key) Function Keys 12 Status OKUSBController Product Name ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller Manufacturer ACER Labs Inc. Protocol Supported Universal Serial Bus Status OKUSBController Product Name ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller Manufacturer ACER Labs Inc. Protocol Supported Universal Serial Bus Status OKUSBController Product Name ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller Manufacturer ACER Labs Inc. Protocol Supported Universal Serial Bus Status OKUSBController Product Name Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller Manufacturer (Standard USB Host Controller) Protocol Supported Universal Serial Bus Status OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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