[cdd29]

Here's the history: PC was bought new about a year & a half ago. Would periodically crash. Installed DXO's Nik Collection as the older Google versions wouldn't run on it (though it runs fine on my laptop with PS 2020.) Upgraded the hard drive, so fresh load of everything (attempts to clone the drive failed). More frequent crashing. Installed a Radeon 380 4gb GPU. Photochop ran much smoother overall but lately started getting crashes due to GPU drivers along with the 'usual' random, unspecified crashes. Made sure all drivers and Radeon software was up to date, along with the usual Microsoft bloatware updates. Now it's got PS 2022 on it and seems to load a little faster (took 15 minutes to install vs. over an hour with previous installs.) We'll give it a few days, add Nik Collection back into it and see what happens.

Much of the crashing doesn't show a specific error. The last few have pointed to the GPU, so I shut that off in PhotoChop (yeah, I call it PhotoChop not PhotoShop) so I'll see if that improves things. If it seems stable, I'll reinstall Nik Collection.

Anyone care to take a guess what the hell is going on?

Scratch disc is well allocated over the recommended allowance, so too small isn't a problem. The PC has 32gb of memory and I've allocated up to 20gb (above the recommended range) for it to use, so it shouldn't be running out of resources.

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Last edited by cdd29; 10-27-2021 at 07:26 PM.

[Not a Number]

Try replacing the Power Supply Unit.

Check the event logs.

[Adam]

Best / only way to find out for sure is to look at log files. I'd look in the paths as a starting point for Photoshop:

C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Temp\PhotoshopCrashes
C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Temp\CreativeCloud\
C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Temp\CreativeCloud\PDApp.log

Based on what you're describing this could be more of a hardware compatibility or configuration issue, though. Graphics card drivers can be very picky, especially for older cards.

[cdd29]

It's actually a current card: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08VHWFWSD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_tit...&ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Adam]

It's actually a current card: amazon.com?tag=pentaxforums-20&

Do you have a 380 (mentioned in the first post) or a 550? In any case, the log route will be your best bet as a starting point.

[ramseybuckeye]

Shutting of the GPU in Photoshop may have fixed the problem, hopefully you’ll know soon. A few years ago I had a problem with PS slowing down and occasionally crashing and that fixed it. It is just the opposite of what you think you should do with a good GPU.

[cdd29]

Do you have a 380 (mentioned in the first post) or a 550? In any case, the log route will be your best bet as a starting point.

yeah it's a 550. Not sure where I got 380 from.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

Here's the history: PC was bought new about a year & a half ago. Would periodically crash. Installed DXO's Nik Collection as the older Google versions wouldn't run on it (though it runs fine on my laptop with PS 2020.) Upgraded the hard drive, so fresh load of everything (attempts to clone the drive failed). More frequent crashing. Installed a Radeon 380 4gb GPU. Photochop ran much smoother overall but lately started getting crashes due to GPU drivers along with the 'usual' random, unspecified crashes. Made sure all drivers and Radeon software was up to date, along with the usual Microsoft bloatware updates. Now it's got PS 2022 on it and seems to load a little faster (took 15 minutes to install vs. over an hour with previous installs.) We'll give it a few days, add Nik Collection back into it and see what happens.

Much of the crashing doesn't show a specific error. The last few have pointed to the GPU, so I shut that off in PhotoChop (yeah, I call it PhotoChop not PhotoShop) so I'll see if that improves things. If it seems stable, I'll reinstall Nik Collection.

Anyone care to take a guess what the hell is going on?

Scratch disc is well allocated over the recommended allowance, so too small isn't a problem. The PC has 32gb of memory and I've allocated up to 20gb (above the recommended range) for it to use, so it shouldn't be running out of resources.

I understand that this behaviour occured already before installing Photochop. Most of the time a crash occurs it is that a part of the memory (a specific memoryblock) needs to be accessed and the program can not do it. If this is the case it must be in one of the logfiles. Either the memory of the PC is bad, or there is a problem with the processor. You did not specify what kind of processor you have in the PC, but AMD processors have a larger number of crashes if a specific part of the Windows operating system is not adjusted to work with AMD processors, Windows was developed (and still is) for Intel processors.

[Wheatfield]

Here's the history: PC was bought new about a year & a half ago. Would periodically crash. Installed DXO's Nik Collection as the older Google versions wouldn't run on it (though it runs fine on my laptop with PS 2020.) Upgraded the hard drive, so fresh load of everything (attempts to clone the drive failed). More frequent crashing. Installed a Radeon 380 4gb GPU. Photochop ran much smoother overall but lately started getting crashes due to GPU drivers along with the 'usual' random, unspecified crashes. Made sure all drivers and Radeon software was up to date, along with the usual Microsoft bloatware updates. Now it's got PS 2022 on it and seems to load a little faster (took 15 minutes to install vs. over an hour with previous installs.) We'll give it a few days, add Nik Collection back into it and see what happens.

Much of the crashing doesn't show a specific error. The last few have pointed to the GPU, so I shut that off in PhotoChop (yeah, I call it PhotoChop not PhotoShop) so I'll see if that improves things. If it seems stable, I'll reinstall Nik Collection.

Anyone care to take a guess what the hell is going on?

Scratch disc is well allocated over the recommended allowance, so too small isn't a problem. The PC has 32gb of memory and I've allocated up to 20gb (above the recommended range) for it to use, so it shouldn't be running out of resources.

It's all about attitude. Call things by their given name and they might be more cooperative.

[cdd29]

It's all about attitude. Call things by their given name and they might be more cooperative.

sage advice... tends to work with my wife.

[Wasp]

The Radeon 550 might not be up to the task. My daughter recently had to upgrade the graphics card in her PC to keep up with the demands of PhotoChop.

[Not a Number]

the 'usual' random, unspecified crashes

Do these "random" crashes only happen in Photoshop or any time?

What kind of crashes are we talking about?

Do you get an error message?
Does the app, Photoshop or otherwise just freeze up and you have to kill it with Task Manager or Process Explorer?
Does the app just quit with no error message?
Does the entire system freeze and you have to reboot or power off and reboot?
Do you get the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)?
Does the system spontaneously restart on its own?

The last three are also typically systems of a faulty or insufficient power supply unit.

Is your power supply rated for the graphics card (at least minimum power requirement)?

Have you run the memory diagnostics? Control Panel - System and Security - Administrative Tools - Windows Memory Diagnostics?

What do the log files say? What do the Windows Event Logs say (right click start button - Event Viewer)?

Logs are an important diagnostic tool.

[ProfessorBuzz]

Not a Number gave great advice and asks the right questions.
This sounds like a hardware problem, likely with RAM or power.
There are a couple of really good utilities - memtest86 and memtest86+ that will beat the heck out of the machine.
The tests should be run for multiple cycles, for many hours - eg overnight.
https://www.memtest.org/
MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 and ARM Memory Testing Tool
The Windows Memory Diagnostic isn't as thorough.
You'll want to run the tests on the machine when it's "hot" eg it's been busy for a few hours - that's when the memory or motherboard or power supply are most likely to get flaky, due to heat.
You might also check if there are BIOS or driver updates for the PC.
If you've overclocked the motherboard, then back it off (Slow down to standard settings).

Passmark also has a graphics card test program that will get the card running at full load.
3D Benchmark - Video card speed test

[cdd29]

It's only Photoshop that crashes. I'll click on it and often when it crashes the splash screen never comes up. I'll just get a pop up that PS has crashed. If you try to view the error, it just says an error has occurred. Sometimes when it crashes, the pop up screen comes up and it will crash. When this happens, sometimes it's been the same unspecified error. A few times it has been traced back to GPU, sometimes Nik. It's never crashed in the middle of using it. I don't use Lightroom much nor do I know if it utilizes resources like Photoshop, but it's not crashed for me.

I've had problems with Photoshop crashing before I installed Nik or the GPU

I'm pretty sure the power supply is adequate for the GPU. I did talk to the place I bought the pc from and told them what I was doing and they said the power supply was sufficient. As noted PS has been crashing long before I installed the GPU, so I don't think inadequate power is the main cause of my crashes, though it could explain part of it. To test that I can remove the GPU and go back to using the onboard video. Still doesn't explain the random PS startup crashing though.

The pc has never blue screened, froze or restarted on its own. I did start having connectivity issues, DNS errors, timing out but that was traced back to a bad network card.

I've not ran any diagnostics yet. I've had this PC set up for over a year as is (before the GPU addition and hard drive upgrade) with no issues. My problems started after I upgraded the main drive and did a clean install of Windows. Photoshop never crashed, hiccupped or anything prior to that.

I've checked the Event Viewer (both Windows & Application events) and there is nothing about Photoshop crashing, which surprised me. You'd think there would be something. I've not found any Adobe logs yet so I haven't checked them. Many of the error reports that you can view when the crash pop up comes up usually don't have anything specific.

[ProfessorBuzz]

It's only Photoshop that crashes. I'll click on it and often when it crashes the splash screen never comes up. I'll just get a pop up that PS has crashed. If you try to view the error, it just says an error has occurred. Sometimes when it crashes, the pop up screen comes up and it will crash. When this happens, sometimes it's been the same unspecified error. A few times it has been traced back to GPU, sometimes Nik. It's never crashed in the middle of using it. I don't use Lightroom much nor do I know if it utilizes resources like Photoshop, but it's not crashed for me.

I've had problems with Photoshop crashing before I installed Nik or the GPU

I'm pretty sure the power supply is adequate for the GPU. I did talk to the place I bought the pc from and told them what I was doing and they said the power supply was sufficient. As noted PS has been crashing long before I installed the GPU, so I don't think inadequate power is the main cause of my crashes, though it could explain part of it. To test that I can remove the GPU and go back to using the onboard video. Still doesn't explain the random PS startup crashing though.

The pc has never blue screened, froze or restarted on its own. I did start having connectivity issues, DNS errors, timing out but that was traced back to a bad network card.

I've not ran any diagnostics yet. I've had this PC set up for over a year as is (before the GPU addition and hard drive upgrade) with no issues. My problems started after I upgraded the main drive and did a clean install of Windows. Photoshop never crashed, hiccupped or anything prior to that.

I've checked the Event Viewer (both Windows & Application events) and there is nothing about Photoshop crashing, which surprised me. You'd think there would be something. I've not found any Adobe logs yet so I haven't checked them. Many of the error reports that you can view when the crash pop up comes up usually don't have anything specific.

How about some specific information?
Version of Windows ? eg Windows 10 Pro 21H1 64-bit
Version of Photoshop?
Upload a screen shot of the error messages.
You say you did a "clean" windows install. Did you run Windows Update multiple times to get all the updates installed?

Take a look in the %localappdata%\CrashDumps folder to see if there are any .dmp files.
e.g.
C:\Users\YOURNAMEHERE\AppData\Local\CrashDumps
Then you can get Windows Debugger (or someone else) to have a look at them.

Photoshop is a computing-intensive application, and it may be exercising your PC moreso than other software.
If you have multiple memory DIMMs in the machine (eg 4), you can usually unplug the AC power, wait a minute for the capacitors to discharge, and then remove 2 of the DIMMs and try again.