Photoshop CS3 stopped responding

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

for no explicable reason PS3 has stopped responding to a variety of commands and particularly to 'print'. I have tried uninstalling/reinstalling
both photoshop and the Epson printer software - all to no avail. Could the problem lie with the Operating system which is Windows Vista Home Premium and if so how should I best proceed ?

Malcatglos

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

reset the preferences per the faq. or give more detail explaining what you mean by "stops working"

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

Dave
Thank you for your response. Photoshop has worked fine for over a year but yesterday it suddenly started to fail to respond to a variety of commands and in particular to the print command.It stays dormant for several minutes and then suddenly decides to proceed. I have no other programmes running at the time and my preferences are set for Photoshop to use 80% of the available RAM which is 4GB.

Malcatglos

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

is it that a specific dialog is missing? like the print? if so hit ESC and try again, otherwise, see the FAQ section at the top of this forum and follow the instructions on how to reset the preferences.

and my preferences are set for Photoshop to use 80% of the available RAM
which is 4GB.

that's a little high. you might want to cut that back down to about 55%. you could be starving the os for RAM. vista or xp?

to use 4 gig, unless using 64 bit vista or xp, you have to have either the /3gb switch set for xp or there's another way to get 32 bit vista to see up to 4... a vista user can comment on that...

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

I have reduced the RAM setting as suggested but to no avail. Whatever I ask Photoshop to do eg. load an image, convert a raw file, make a print etc., nothing happens in the first instance. Eventually a Windows dialogue box appears telling me that Photoshop is not responding and giving me the option of either closing the programme or waiting for Photoshop to respond. If I choose 'wait for Photoshop to respond' then the programme will continue after several minutes wait. I would also reiterate that this has only started to happen in the last couple of days and that Photoshop has performed perfectly well for several months with the same settings/preferences.

[John Joslin]

There could be network printer or drive causein the problem if you have (or had) one.

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

John
I have always had 2 printers connected to my computer viz. a Canon I4500 and an Epson R1900. Photoshop recognizes both of them. However Photoshop has suddenly stopped responding to the print command for the Epson which is of course my Photoprinter and the one I primarily need to print photographs. I have just sucessfully made a print with the Canon but the minute I change the printer setting to Epson Photoshop locks out. What can possibly have happened to make Photoshop fall out with Epson?

[John Joslin]

Can't imagine. Is the Epson the default?

You could try making a generic printer the default.

Did the drivers get updated by any chance?

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

I have tried swapping the default printer - it makes no difference. I don't think it is the Epson printer driver that is the problem as the printer responds to commands from other software eg. Serif. It is only Photoshop that is giving me grief.

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

remove the printers from the system (uninstall) and install a default generic printer driver. john, what's that link again?

it does sound like a problem others have experienced with some printer drivers and cs3 lagging...

[John Joslin]

Generic printer driver:

<http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=pdrv&platform=win>

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

Unfortunately there isn't one for Windows Vista

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

any local printer will do. just create a new local printer, doesn't have to be attached to the system, and make that the system default.

[John Joslin]

Make it the Fax or the XPS Document writer.

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

What is the point of this? I need the Epson printer to print my photographic work. For the record I have previously deleted both installed printers and then reinstalled them. I would also mention that if I connect my laptop to the Epson printer the Photohop CS3 installed thereon has no problem responding to the print command. The problem only exists on my main desktop computer. The obvious conclusion is that the software has become corrupted but since I have uninstalled both Photoshop and the Epson software and then reinstalled them from their respective CDs. I am at a loss to understand where the problem lies. Could it be with the operating system ie Vista? If this has become corrupted in some way how do resolve it?

Malcolm Gibbon

Malcolm Gibbon

[John Joslin]

I notice you didn't say if you followed Dave's advice to reset preferences. A reinstall will not replace corrupt preferences.

<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.ef4a07f/1>

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

I did reduce the amount of RAM used by Photoshop as suggested by Dave. What other preferences are there to be set?

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

John
I have just clicked on the web address that you kindly quoted and will follow the procedure for deleting and resetting the preferences. I will let you know if this cures the problen

Malcolm

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

What is the point of this?

as a troubleshooting technique. there is an issue with cs3 and some printers. if removing those printers and adding the local one cures your problem you'll need to work around the issue.

have you applied all the updates to cs3?

[Malcolm...@adobeforums.com]

Dave

Thank you once again for your help. Unfortunately all the measures suggested have failed to resolve the problem. What I can't understand is the fact that the Photoshop CS3 on my laptop will still work with the Epson Printer which suggests that the problem lies within my desktop computer - either with the settings or some corruption of the Windows Vista operating system. I am beginning to think that I may have to consider a complete reboot the prospect of which fills me with dread!

I am grateful to both you and John for your attempts to resolve my problem.

Malcolm