Photoshop Crashing Windows

Hi guys,

I've got Photoshop CS3 on my SP4 (yes, I realize it's ancient but it works for what I need it to do) and every single day I use this program it crashes my computer, usually after 30 minutes of use the mouse will freeze a second or two before the screen goes black and all hell breaks loose. Usually the screen will just stay black but today it somehow managed to recover itself after closing all my open applications and then logging me back in, though the Windows Hello camera was not working. Any idea what's causing this? Any ideas how I can fix this issue? It's incredibly annoying and destructive to my productivity.

Attached are a couple images that might be of use, though I have NO IDEA what they mean, LOL. Thanks in advance for your help!

Details from the Windows crash line would be more interesting.

Most likely the graphics driver. Try updating to latest in Device Manager from the Intel download site. How to install Intel beta graphics drivers for Microsoft Surface and Surface Book | Windows Central

Try running CS3 in compatibility mode; right click on your CS3 shortcut (icon) and select Properties. From this dialogue box, select the Compatibility tab. Next, check the box under Compatibility mode and select an older operating system. I'd start with Windows 7, but you might find the best results with an even older OS like Windows XP or Vista. Try a couple different modes until you have one where CS3 seems to run stable.

Also, on the same tab, down at the bottom, check the box for Run this program as an administrator. That'll give the program full rights to any system services and/or resources it may need.

Attachment 124711

See if that helps. If the problem persists, I'd try to rule out any other running programs causing the issue by performing a clean boot. It may be other Adobe applications believe it or not, causing the interference.

You can read up on performing a clean boot here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

Basically (in Windows 10), you bring up Task Manager, and temporarily disable certain startup applications to see if they are causing the conflict. Troubleshoot a little and then come back and let us know what you find....

Originally Posted by realwarder

Details from the Windows crash line would be more interesting.

Most likely the graphics driver. Try updating to latest in Device Manager from the Intel download site. How to install Intel beta graphics drivers for Microsoft Surface and Surface Book | Windows Central

That too! Always best to have the latest graphics drivers, as well as the latest Windows Updates.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! I'll report back if any of them work.

Wow, CS3. Did CS3 have GPU hardware acceleration? Try turning that off.

Originally Posted by onlysublime

Wow, CS3. Did CS3 have GPU hardware acceleration? Try turning that off.

OK, how do I do that? I switched CS3 to open in Windows 7 compatibility mode and now the user account control pops up every time I open it or open something in Photoshop.

I have CS5 and never had CS3. Go to Edit > Preferences... It should look like this:

Attachment 124909

There's another section too that you can turn off:

Attachment 124910

There's a reason why Integrated Intel Graphics has its reputation.