CS4 crash city

[Mike Velte]

We might be able to help, but need more details;
1. Computer specs
2. Is Premiere updated? 4.2.1
3. Properties or camera of source video
4. Define “Crash”

[David Masterson]

Concept with 8GB

2 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz Processor Intel
3 Intel Extreme DP45SG Desktop Board Intel 8GB RAM
4 Seagate SV35.3 ST31000340SV Hard Drive Seagate
5 Memory (6G) Samsung Original DDR3 Samsung
6 Optical Drive 22x SATA Liteon
7 Power Supply 650w Termaltake
8 Operating system – Win XP 64bit MS
9 Case Antec

shoot with Sony EX1
Crashs when I am in edit…just shuts down
if I dont stay on top of defrag system lags and stutters

[Brian Barkley]

I have found that rebooting every 2 to 3 hours eliminates 90% of crashes.

[David Masterson]

Good idea…I dfrg everyday till I get uder 20% frgmen.
I also have 3 ext hard drives that stay hooked up, any thoughts there?
thanks D

[Vince Becquiot]

Because Premiere often pushes a system higher than most, you may only see it happen with Premiere and assume that it is related to the application itself. I can tell you that I push our system with uncompressed HD and I probably saw 5 crashes this year, most due to the fact that I rendered over existing footage in a After effects with Premiere open.

If by “shut down” you mean the entire computer, that is usually hardware / driver related. Premiere will not take a whole system down.

You probably already know, or checked on this, but it’s always worth repeating.

Most often, a straight shutdown is due to CPU heat. You can check for that Coretemp

You can also go Control Panel >system > system protection > and check settings (startup and recovery) and uncheck automatically restart and next time you will see blue screen errors. Google it up and see what common solutions are offered.

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[Brian Barkley]

Depending upon how large your hard drive is, and how much space your project is taking on that hard drive, defraging every day is generally not necessary. Once a week should do it in most cases. Defraging is like moving couches around in a room. If you have a very large room, and just a few couches, then those couches can be moved very easily. Defraging daily would not help your system’s performance significantly.

[David Masterson]

Your right…I am thinking its one of my ext hard drives that’s causing issues. I use WD stuff, so its good, but wouldn’t be the first time a HD has failed.
But all the HD footage I have been pumping into the machines has to be having an effect but I am using 500gb and 1 terabyte hard drives to store on so they are plenty big.

just seems CS4, like the versions before, are so volatile and all my friends keep saying move to FCP

D

[Brian Barkley]

Yes, I agree, CS4 crashes MUCH MORE than CS3 ever did. My system was built by an expert, and I have a lot of money in it … 4TB, plus 1TB for backup… plus an external Seagate 2TB backup drive.

I have a feeling that CS5 will be a big improvement, so I would not personally consider FCP just yet … it has its problems too.

Even with the occasional crash, I am beginning to like Premiere and all of the rest of the CS4 package. I am a former “Edit” user, and it took me a while to get cozy with Premiere.

I have seen NLE’s come and go over the past several years, but Adobe and Apple both have deep pockets … they’re not going anywhere.

[Aaron Cadieux]

David,

I don’t have a solution for you, but I will say this. You’re looking for a solution to a problem that has no solution. I’ve given up on CS4. It crashes all the time, and, like you, my system is far above the recommended specs. People will ask you what your specs are, and then speculate about what’s causing the problem. You might even get some intelligent-sounding suggestions, but you, like me, will find that the system will continue to crash no matter what. Bottom line is this. CS4 is a flawed and buggy program. Anyone who is using it crash-free should consider themselves lucky. I feel your pain man.

-Aaron Cadieux

[Mike Velte]

Windows XP 64 bit is not a supported OS for CS4.

“Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista†)