disk error -36

[Paul_Ri...@adobeforums.com]

Trying to open a 200 meg *.psd file in PS 5 LE results in failure and error message about virtual memory problem due to disk error -36. It can't be a corrupt file, and probably not a disk error because it opens fine in Photo Paint 8. Anyone know what's going on?

Paul Riemerman

[Ser...@adobeforums.com]

Which OS are you using, Windows or Mac? In your LE preferences, which drive did you choose as your scratch disk drive? The primary scratch disk should not be the drive with the OS. How much "Physical Memory Usage" did you allow? Normally you should have between 50% and 70%.
How much RAM do you have? remember that with Photoshop, you need to have 5 times more RAM than the file size. If your file is 200MB, you need to have 1 GB RAM, or at least 1GB of Scratch Disk size just to open the file. Read the Appendix A chapter in your USER GUIDE (a PDF file found on your LE installation CD), starting on page 225.

[Paul_Ri...@adobeforums.com]

OK,

I'm running on XP Pro SP1 with 384 megs of memory. It sounds like you're saying the bottom line is the largest file I can work with without adding memory is about 75 megs.

Paul Riemerman

[Ser...@adobeforums.com]

No, what I am saying is that if the file is larger than 75 megs then LE will use hard drive space (called Scratch disk) to work with instead of RAM. That will slow down the process. Also if you only have one hard drive, then this hard drive will have the Operating System, and LE and also the Scratch disk on it and will have a hard time. The Scratch Disk should be a second drive. If it is full, then as a last resort, it can be the drive that has the OS installed.

If you read the other reports in this forum you will note that many people are reporting problems when using LE when installed on Windows XP. Remember that LE was created in the days of Windows 95, which was a very long time ago, and XP is a new OS. There are no updates of patches for LE. It runs best on older Operating Systems, such as Win2k, Win98SE, Win98 and Win95. There were also problems reported by some people who tried to run LE on WinMe.

[Wayne_M...@adobeforums.com]

I have a similar problem working with Photoshop 4.0. I purchased a new
laptop with XP Pro and loaded PS4.0 and a Kodak DCS420 Twain 32 acquisition module. When acquiring a modified .tif image from my Kodak
DCS420, the system indicates an error 36. This combination worked well
in this computer until the DVD drive failed and the entire C drive was reloaded trying to solve the problem. Now this error 36 appears and Photoshop is closed. Kodak and Adobe have not solved the problem and I am becoming frustrated after expanding my scratch disk to 1geg.

[Paul_Ri...@adobeforums.com]

LE not understanding XP could well be the cause of the problem. I installed a trial copy of PS 7.0, and it opens the same *.psd file without problems. Can't exactly say I'm thrilled with 7.0 though -- it doesn't seem to do things the same way as 5.0 does, especially with cloning.

Paul Riemerman