Bubble

Not sure why I get this. I've tried opening and closing PS straight away, and I don't get it then, it's only when it's been open for a while, and it only started doing this a few months ago. (Yes, a few months, I'm lazy )

So if anyone has seen this before... I haven't looked on the adobe site yet either. Thought you guys might know before I head on over there - don't want to go for a walk unless I have to

Bubble

Ooops, me bad... probably should have put this in T Q&A, any mods around???

Smoke420

You dont have a ripped version of ps do you? (you better not [stuned] ). I heard from reading articles that sometimes ripped programs have missing files that dont effect the program right away, but later, effects the program in a bad way. At least thats what I read from some articles If not, i have no clue whatsoever why you would get that error [confused]

Bubble

No, it's my legit copy, but I did install it at work on a burn of it I made... hmmm, could that be why? Cause I made a copy of the prog? It's been fine for ages though... Maybe I should reinstall, or I could just put up with it, nothing seems to be missing. (need a shrug emoticon)

Blinky2004

Here's what DDE stands for, and a description of what it does. Might help narrow down the problem.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definit...3884%2C00.html

Bubble

Thanks Mark!! I'll look into it some more... [righton]

Bubble, there are a few reasons why you get this message.

- faulty memory

In that case a program like Memtest86 can help you to figure out if there's something wrong with your program: http://www.memtest86.com/memt30.zip
It's a simple (free) program that helped me solve a memory related problem.
These are the installation instructions.

Installation
=======

Memtest86 is a stand alone program that cannot be executed under windows and must
be loaded from a floppy disk.

To install Memtest86:
- Extract the files from the zip archive
- Open the directory where the files were extracted and click on "install.bat".
- The install program will prompt you for the floppy drive and also prompt you to
insert a blank floppy.
- To run Memtest86 leave the floppy in the drive and reboot.

NOTE: After the boot floppy has been created you will not be able to read the floppy
from windows. This is normal.

Very simple to use.
Boot from this floppy and it will automatically start a test... wait until it passes 100% (top middle of the screen) and the entry under the column called 'Pass' reads 1 or more.

Then check the column named "Errors". If it has the number 0, then everything should be ok.

I know, it's technical, but it's necessary to see if you're having bad Ram, which is not very uncommon.

- faulty drivers or software

It?s always a good idea to install your latest video drivers.
Video drivers are always a cause of a lot of problems.

My question would normally be; what did you change on your machine?
But I understand that the answer is a bit of a problem after all these months.

What kind of operating system are you using and do other programs crash too with the same message?

Do understand that this particular message is an operating system message and although it?s probably caused by Photoshop, doesn?t automatically mean that Photoshop is the troublemaker.
If other programs or drivers are making a mess of memory locations and fool Photoshop in thinking that everything is ok to write this or that memory area, then Photoshop can?t do anything about it but crash.

The reasons for this message in realtions to Photoshop are numerous.
Just check this link; http://groups.google.ca/groups?hl=en...=Google+Search

Bubble

Thanks for all that Gauss, that's fantatic info... I'll check it out.

No, no other progs are crashing, and i don't really know what has been done to the comp in the last couple of months, nothing as far as I know, it's my work comp, but I have added other proggies and stuff, so maybe something is clashing?

I don't have this problem on my home PC, but it just had me puzzled and I figured i should probably try to work it out, instead of being so lazy...

However, I do use two op systems. At work I'm using W2K and at home I run xp. Hang on, now that i think about it, other progs at work do 'freeze' occassionally (I thought it was cause I was asking too much of the little comp though), but I don't get any error messages. Weird [confused]

But anyhoo... I'll try what you've suggested on Monday when I'm back at work. [righton]

namvet

I've been pondering on this thread since Gaussian posted his advice to bubble ..... I had always thought/believed (and this is my computer ignorance showing through) that when the computer booted that it did its own checks (hence the brief screens we see during boot up that say x amount of ram etc) .... now I am doubting that bootup info ... as Gaussian wouldn't post info on a program to check ram if the computer had already done it during boot up ..... soooo my assumption is that during boot up the computer checks what is there but not it's ability to function ... example - it 'finds' a printer ... but until I print something neither I or the computer know if the printer will print ...... and that the same applies to the ram chips, they 'say' yes I'm here .. but haven't been tested and may not be functioning correctly .... is this right or have I got it all 'arm up'??

Yes, Ian you are right.

The truth of the fact is that many problems can only be found after extensive testing. But it's obvious that nobody wants to wait for a test that takes almost an hour. Most of the tests that run during a boot process are just global tests, checking only the most important areas of your system.

Take for example the memory test software. If you have 512MB of RAM then you're talking about some 4,000,000 bits. To test that RAM, every(!) single bit has to be tested. What this test software does, is turning several bits on and off and then it reads these same bits to see if they still have the same value, 0 or 1.

Every bit is a single miniature circuit. Every bit is considered a 0 or 1 depending on the voltage this circuit produces. All these bits are spread like squares on a chessboard and sometimes in several layers. These tests are run with different patterns, because one single bit (square) could malfunction in specific situations. Maybe a bit works fine if all neighbouring bits are zero, but starts to create errors if two neighbouring bits are turned on that suddenly cause some unexpected interference.

All that testing of 4,000,000 bits with different patterns of zeros and ones takes a lot of time. That's why we have a simple memory test at the beginning that uses a single pattern to test the memory in a very fast way.

I know, it's all complicated and very technical, but in many cases the only explanation can be nothing but slightly technical.