Premiere Elements 4 Crashing when...

Whenever I start up Premiere Elements 4 on my Windows XP Computer, I'm always having an error that states that the program needs to close and I'm unable to open a new project file or reopen an old project file. I've already tried reinstalling and repairing the program, but I'm still experiencing the same problem. I'm not sure what I should do next or what approach I should try. This is the first time I'm having this problem.
Premiere Elements 4 Crashing when...
Guillermo,



First, has PE ever worked properly with your system? That may indicate a different tack on the troubleshooting. Sounds like it DID work at one time. Is that correct?



Also, you might want to start compiling a complete description of your system and posting that to the thread. Could be something obvious from that.



Hunt
Premiere Elements 4 Crashing when...
Also, have you gone to Windows Update, clicked the Custom button and installed all of the updates?



Have you installed the latest Quicktime, per the program's instructions?

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c057647/2



Do you keep your hard drive well maintained, clear and defragmented?

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc43f9a/0



How much RAM do you have and how much free, defragmented space is on your computer?

Yes, actually PE was working properly with my system a week ago and before this time period. I used this program, overall, for two years.



System Profile:



Microsoft Windows XP

Version 2002

Service Pack 3



Manufactured and Supported by:



HP dv6000

AMD Turion (tm) 64 X2 Mobile

Technology TL- 50

1.61 GHz, 960 MB of RAM

Physical Address Extension



C: Drive



Used Space: 42.3 GB

Free Space: 19.6 GB



If you need any other information, please let me know.

When you uninstalled Premiere Elements 4, did you also select the option to delete your preferences? Sometimes items in the Preferences folder become corrupted or just contain erroneous data because of programming mistakes. If your preferences weren't deleted, then you can see if deleting them fixes the problem. The files are in a hidden folder in the following location



C:\documents and settings\[your Windows login name]\application data\adobe\premiere elements\4.0\



Copy everything in that folder to another location. Then delete all the files in the root of the 4.0 folder, but don't delete the subfolders. After that try starting Premiere Elements. If that doesn't work, then you can copy the files back.



Sometimes items in the cache that are stored in the registry need to be refreshed. I believe just holding down the shift key (or is it CTRL-SHIFT, or CTRL-ALT-SHIFT??) while Premiere Elements is starting up will clear the cache. The key combination seems to change with each version.



Maybe running a registry cleaner will fix it.

I'd also be concerned about only having 19 gigs free -- as well as your using only a 60 gig hard drive! (This must be a laptop.)



Video files take up many, many gigabytes of space -- and even more scratch disk space, as you edit -- and there really is no substitute for a huge hard drive and lots of free disk space.



Cleaning and defragmenting may get you through the next project or so. But, with less than 20 gigs free, your odds of problems (depending on what your source files are) will continue to increase dramatically.