Photoshop memory problems

[soboyle]

I'm having problems with photoshop reading a directory with large files in it.
I have about 15 files over 1 gb each in a directory, large files for 30x40 prints, and when I try to open a file, photoshop gets hung up just reading the directory, I don't even have a chance to select and open the file before photoshop starts paging data, and locks up. It seems like it is trying to generate a thumbnail or read the entire directory for some data. Any suggestions for setting that will change this behavior, its made it impsossible to work with these files.

[bill t.]

Seems odd.  Off hand I wonder if you need some more RAM.  1GB is a big file but not anything that should cause Photoshop to choke.  Make sure you don't have any other Photoshop files open or other large programs loaded at the same time.  Also make sure your directory view is set to display the just file details in text mode, rather than showing a thumbnail.

A possible work around is to browse the directories outside Photoshop until you find the file you want, then drag the file into the Photoshop window.  That way PS doesn't have to sort through the directories itself.

[soboyle]

It is a strange problem, I'm running photoshop 64 bit, with 8 gigs ram on Vista 64 bit. It's been a very solid OS, and this is the first problem I've had. Some of the tif files are 1.5 gigs. But, as I said, I'm not even able to open them. I'll try dropping them in the photoshop window, hopefully thats not just a mac option.
I thought I remembered a way to change how photshop opens files, the interface was either a photoshop interface, or a windows interface within photoshop, that may be part of the problem.

[bill t.]

I have exactly the same hardware.  Wonder if it's an issue with TIF files.  I have no trouble at all with crowded directories full of much bigger .psd and .psb files.  

What program generated the TIF files?  TIF files have several possible settings for image compression, layer compression, byte order, pixel order, etc.  It's all too easy to generate TIF files that will not load with every application.

Yes drag & drop works with Windows.  Left click on the file name in an Explore window, drag it to the Photoshop working area.  If that works, best solution might be to convert the files to .PSB which should be a completely lossless operation.

[David Saffir]

does it stop functioning at the same point (in other words, a particular file) each time?

if so, that file might be your culprit. has happened to me when file was corrupted.

also, check file properties/permissions and see if it is still marked as read/write, or read only.

Next, try splitting the group of files into two separate directories. I have found that in Bridge if I have several hundred files (large ones) in one folder that it bogs down too.

Last, purge the Bridge cache if you think that will help.

David Saffir
http://davidsaffir.wordpress.com

[John.Murray]

You might want to increase the file system cache for Vista:

from a elevated command prompt (click Start | Run | 'cmd' press Ctrl+Shft+Enter)

fsutil behavior query memoryusage

Default value is either 0 (not set) or 1. To increase set it to 2

fsutil behavior set memoryusage 2

In case you care, this modifies the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

A reboot will be required after changing this parameter.....

[Justan]

There are a number of possibilities here.

First is to check the computer’s event logs to see if there are any indications of problems reported there.

Another is that something is acting on the files, slowing the directory read. As examples, AV and spyware detecting software can cause this.

In the case of AV software, configure the software to exclude either the file extension(s), or the parent directory, or just disable it briefly, and see if that makes a difference.

In the case of spyware detecting software, temporarily (at least) shut off the drivers for the software. As example, both Ad Aware and Spyware Doctor use drivers which run from about the time the computer starts up. I've seen many cases where these programs and other similar programs can create problems similar to what you describe. The drivers for these programs can be changed from automatic startup to manual or disabled. This is done in Computer Management under Services. For the test, set them to disabled and also stop the service(s).

Another experiment is to just open the suspect folder in windows explorer. If its slow there, it might indicate drive related problems.

You can also use Window’s task manager to see what, if any processes increase their CPU time when Photoshop does a directory read. In this case try opening a couple of folders containing a lot of data to see if the problem follows or is specific to one or more locations.

There are a number of web sites that have software to run drive diagnostics. Best is to find out the manufacturer of the drive and go to their web site and use their recommendation for drive diagnostic tools.

Before  you do anything, perform a full backup...