HELP! Photoshop Won't Work on my New Computer

My Compaq caught a virus and crashed, even though I had Norton

Antivirus. I had Photoshop running fine. I was pulling photos off

my Digilux 1, doctoring them, saving them to "my pictures" and

posting them on the web. My Compaq laptop had Windows 98.

 

Okay, fine. I hope they catch the bad person who made the virus and

give them a life sentence of being hanged upside-down from the

flagpole. In the meantime, I went out and bought a Sony VAIO with

windows XP. I loaded my same Photoshop CD. I was able to pull a

picture off of the Digilux and doctor it, but the computer wouldn't

let me save it. The save options under File were grayed out. The

computer had given me a message earlier that I had something called

Adobe "scratch" or something like that also loaded, and recommended

that it be removed. I thought that could be the problem, but I

couldn't find anything called scratch anything under "Add and

Remove" of the Control Panel. So I deleted both Photoshop and

another optional program contained on the Photoshop CD. Then I

reloaded Photoshop without the optional program.

 

Now things got worse. Before, I couldn't save a picture. But now,

it won't even let me pull a picture off the camera. It gives a

message "Not a valid Photoshop file." I know that's not true.

Here's how I know:

 

1. It always worked before.

 

2. It even worked this morning, before I removed and reinstalled

Photoshop.

 

3. One time, and one time only, the computer initiated something

I've never seen before, where it displayed, not just one, but ALL

the pictures currently saved in the DIgilux. Now, if it can do

that, how can the pictures in my Digilux not be a valid file? Yet,

it won't let me open them under "File." I don't even know how to

get back the window that displayed all my pictures.

 

I tried reloading it again with the optional program, since it

didn't have the same name as the "scratch" thing. I still get the

same message every time, about having a "scratch" program that "may

cause degaded performance of Photoshop." It may have nothing or

something to do with the problem. I don't know where it came from.

I doubt that Adobe would put it on the CD if it makes Photoshop not

work right.

 

It worked right on my Compaq. Is it because I have Windows XP now?

I even tried reloading with the version of Photoshop that came with

my Digilux 1. It says on the CD that it's compatible with XP.

 

Any suggestions, before I go down to the Federal Courthouse and file

a lawsuit against Adobe/Microsoft/AnybodyelseIcanthinkof? And

before I have a stroke? I can feel my blood pressure rising . . .

 

For all the $$ we spend on this digital crap, they ought to be more

helpful than just to give you a box that says "this won't work, you

lose, click here and go away."

Film

Windows is great for selling Macs.

I had a similar problem before with my Kodak DCS330 with my PC. Luckily I was able to call Kodak tech support and it took them a minute or two to get it work. maybe you can call Leica about this?

Don't bother filing against a software company. If you read the licence agreement it basically says that the developer isn't responsible for anything that goes wrong, it's your fault, and don't bother complaining because you don't own the software anyway, they do.

Gerald has a good idea there. I've never had a sheet of Multigrade come up in the Dektol with nothing but the words "Invalid Entry".

Sometimes you have to install somethng called "driver" in order for the digital device to work. But again you should already knew this. I'd better not trouble shoot something I have no definte idea about. I would call Leica to see if they can figure out anything though. Good luck.

Not much in the way of useful answers.

 

First things first. Can you pull the images off of your camera and burn them to a CD or something? Problems like this have a tendency to make everything crash, and that can have unintended consequences.

 

Secondly, will you write down and report EXACTLY what the error message is regarding the "scratch" bit?

 

You can also e-mail me and I'll see what I can do. I used to have a Vaio, it was okay I suppose. But I have MANY fewer problems with my ibook (although I suppose I have fewer problems with my Compaq desktop as well).

toobadsosad

i think you have to start eliminating things.....

 

Can you take an old image that you saved to a CD and load it into photoshop with no problems..........or even just any pic off the web should even answer that situation. If you can, then its not your Sony to Photoshop interface.

 

Assuming that works...........XP has a diagnostic program that when you are upgrading from an older operating system they recomend running to see if your present software/hardware is compatible with XP. It is also used when purchasing new equipment, to see if it really is compatible. Seeing as you probably got XP loaded with the computer, it may be on your XP disc...........but i'm pretty sure that MS still has a copy on their website you can download........or order via CD. You should run this diagnostic with your dig cam hooked up and turned on......to the computer......this will tell you if you need a updated driver for the cam. Which can be usually gotten either thru MS or you cams manufacturers website..........assuming they chose to make one. If the cam is really old, they may not have thought it worth the effort.

 

After that...........hmmmmmmm...........dont know.......

I agree with Thomas on loading or working on an existing file to see if that works. What version of Photo-shop are you using? I am using 5.0 LE with XP professional and it works well. When I upload a file from my digi-cam, I select "Import" followed by "Select Source", then back to import and "Import". My camera uses a TWAIN32 driver. Have you checked to see if you have the driver for your camera loaded? This would come from a disk for the camera. Good luck. Check on the Photo.net digital forum for ideas also.

Josh Root makes a good point in this thread, but I can not let Douglas Herr's comment

go unchallenged. Mac's operating system software used to be fairly user-friendly (as

opposed to any flavor of Windows) but that is no longer the case. Ever since Apple

switched to a UNIX-flavored operating system (Mac OSX) the Macintosh is no longer

the computer "for the rest of us." I make this assertion as a Mac user since 1984.

Reality also forces me to be a Windows user and, please believe me, the Mac no longer

compares favorably to Windows machines.

Which version of PS are you using/trying to load?

 

If anything, call the Adobe support desk, alt. register and take advantages of Adobe's self help tool on their website.

 

The key to digital is back-up. And back-up of back-up.

How about talking to Adobe customer support? They may me of more help than Leica. Best of luck and welcome to the club. Half my software doesn't work either! Bill

The usual answer to this that my Windows-using friends always tell me is "reinstall

Windows and all application software from the original distribution CDs after erasing

the hard drive."

 

If that doesn't work, call Adobe Customer Service for technical support. Suing people

will not only take much more time, it will likely not produce a working system

configuration.

 

Godfrey

The version of XP you now have may not support the older version of PS you got with

the camera. Go to Adobe and see if there is an upgrade for your PhotoShop version

to work with the latest version of your operating system (I doubt there is, but you

never know).

 

You may want to consider getting PhotoShop 6 or 7, which are a lot less expensive

now that CS is out. Also, get a USB or Firewire card reader for downloads. Doing it

from the camera is fraught with potential problems.

 

I just upgraded my Mac G5 Dual Processor to OSX Panther...but I also just loaded

PhotoShop CS, so no problem. I had to retain PS-6 and PS-7 as options because some

of my equipment doesn't have the upgrades available yet. Fortunately I had the Mac

guys install classic OS 9.2 to run some of the older programs. It's the price of

progress I guess.

Isn't the program refering to the scratch partition?, or scratch disk or something like that? I believe you can set up the hard drive so that Photoshop saves the various revisions to a particular place on the drive where the appliation can access it quickly. Sorry to be so vague, but I'm fairly sure that's what the "scratch" thing is... ?

I'm a new XP Pro user by the way, I do know in the Pre OSX Mac world one could optimize the hard drive just for photoshop. Again, sorry to be so vague.

At the risk of you suspecting Photoshop or Adobe of being perhaps not up to date and compatible with XP, before my daughter's "The Sims" CD would work on my (sic) PC, I spent time downloading Updates to Windows XP. Then it would........(sigh).

I also had an old (W98) compatible Olympus Camedia Photoalbum CD which wouldn't work on XP, curses. However, whilst musing through the nuts and bolts of this machine I chanced upon Start>Programs>Accessories>Program Compatibility Wizard. Hey presto, I can now deal with my downloaded 850K digisnaps!

 

Hope you sort it, though.

I second the advice to download and install the absurd number

of XP updates before you continue your struggle. There might be

something there that solves your problem. I had no problems

installing 5.0 LE or 6.0 on my Dell laptop with the home version

of XP.

 

(And I also second the notion that a Mac is not the automatic

solution to all software problems. My step-dad, a book designer,

has a nice new Mac G5 that's just been sitting around for about a

month unused because it won't work with the various drivers and

programs he uses.)

Reg. XP updates - just connect to the internet via a fast line and run the Windows Update utility - pick and choose the updates you deem necessary (always go for the critical ones).

 

My guess is still that your old PS version is not compatible. Upgrade.

you probably have a copy of the current photoshop elements around somewhere. it must have come free with at least one of the digital devices you own. try loading and using that. if it works, you will know that your PS is too old.

 

i should also add that, depending on where you live, there are lots of people these days who make their living doing tech house calls. i am not bad with computer stuff, but for $90 i had a guy come in for three hours and get everything i own set up and running in the most convenient and memory efficient way possible. he also loaded a whole fleet of useful upgrades and plug-ins that he had in his little doctor's bag. my computer has been a joy to use ever since.

 

you mite want to get help rather than struggling with this on your own. you probably wouldn't do your own CLA.

Rob

 

Diagnosing computer problems at a distance is a risky business but...

 

I'm assuming that you're talking about Photoshop and not Photoshop Elements. But I've never heard of a company giving away Photoshop with a digital camera so you probably have Elements.

 

In either case, Photoshop (and Elements) uses a scratch file (a file written to a hard disk) in order to help it keep track of its undo/redo files and handle file sizes which are larger than the RAM that's in your machine. The Scratch Disk which you were prompted about is simply the disk that holds that scratch file.

 

The Scratch disk gets defined in your Photoshop Preferences. I'm not sure where these are in Windows but they are in one of the menus (if you have a Photoshop menu its in there, otherwise I'd guess its in the edit menu but check until you find it) You'll see a menu entry called Preferences with a fly out menu. One of the Preference options listed is an entry called "Plug Ins and Scratch Disk". Select that. You need to set the scratch disk to a disk that has enough memory to store about 3x the actual file size you use. Otherwise, Photoshop won't let you do any work (I think) because its scratch disk is full (or hasn't been defined).

 

You need to set it to a disk that Photoshop has the right to save to (I think that's called your C drive, help me out windows people...). If it is set to the C drive, then is it possible that your drive is full and there's not enough space on your hard drive? I think your Digilux makes a file of about 5mb so you probably need 10 or more mb of free disk space before you can open a file. You can check how full your C drive is by right clicking on it and selecting Properties (I think, help me out windows people). This should show you the remaining space left on your drive or conversely, how much has been used so far.

 

The window you saw (I think, from your description) which showed all of the files on your digilux memory card is called the File Browser. You can select to see it or close it in the Window Menu.

 

Let me know if this helps. If it doesn't, it would be most helpful to know what Photoshop/elements is saying in the message about the Scratch Disk.

"...nothing but the words "Invalid Entry"."

<p>

That'd be a great tag for your none-too-helpful responses today.

<p>

<i>I'm looking for a TTL flash:</i> "Vivitar 283."

<p>

<i>I need help with Photoshop:</i> "Buy film."

<p>

With any luck, someone will have meter trouble with their M today and you can go three for three when you tell 'em to forget the meter and learn <i>Sunny-16.</i>

Just a clarification to my own post. I just checked a PC with Elements on it. The Preferences are at the bottom of the Edit menu. In the Scratch disk entry where it says FIRST: you should have Startup selected. If you do, then check to see if your start up disk is full by right clicking the C drive in your "My Computer" There is a diagramme which shows how much space is free. Remember, the Vaio needs enough memory to handle several times the file size so if you don't have that much space free, that's why photoshop won't open your files but will show them to you in the File Browser.

 

If you don't have enough extra space (my Vaio laptop has a small startup disk and couldn't handle these files!) then you'll need to purchase an extra hard disk. Let me know if this is the case and I'll help you through that.