Computer Graphics with Photoshop - Can't save files with menu disabled

Author

Can't save files with menu disabled

cpliu

2006-03-28, 3:18 am

I just had this strange problem happened that I lost 6-7 scanned images.

After editting and saved some images without any problems, some menus in
Photoshop were grayed.

The current tool still works, but I can't switch to any other tools in the
tools pallette. Only View and Window menus still work. I can't even close
the Photoshop since the close box at the top right corner is also grayed.
The only way to quit the program is to end process in Processes tab of the
Windows Task Manager. I've closed all the folders and some processes from
Task Manager, but it didn't help.

Memory does not seem to be a problem. Photoshop uses 25MB and the whole
system uses 575MB with 1024MB of RAM. Any reason why this happens? I would
prefer not to enounter it again.

Is there a way to save my scanned images? I noticed a file named
~PST1228.tmp in temp folder that might be generated by Photoshop, but it is
not openable.

Thanks for the help,

cpliu

Hunt

2006-03-28, 6:16 pm

In article <Xns979413729D2D4spamfreeliuyahoocom@207.115.17.102>,
spamfreeliu@yahoo.com says...
>
>I just had this strange problem happened that I lost 6-7 scanned images.
>
>After editting and saved some images without any problems, some menus in
>Photoshop were grayed.
>
>The current tool still works, but I can't switch to any other tools in the
>tools pallette. Only View and Window menus still work. I can't even close
>the Photoshop since the close box at the top right corner is also grayed.
>The only way to quit the program is to end process in Processes tab of the
>Windows Task Manager. I've closed all the folders and some processes from
>Task Manager, but it didn't help.
>
>Memory does not seem to be a problem. Photoshop uses 25MB and the whole
>system uses 575MB with 1024MB of RAM. Any reason why this happens? I would
>prefer not to enounter it again.
>
>Is there a way to save my scanned images? I noticed a file named
>~PST1228.tmp in temp folder that might be generated by Photoshop, but it is
>not openable.
>
>
>Thanks for the help,
>
>cpliu

The easy one first: ~PST1228.tmp is the "Scratch Disk" file, that PS creates
as "virtual memory." It is erased, when PS is closed from its menu. When PS
crashes, or hangs, and either goes away, or has to be stopped, the file
remains. You are correct, there is nothing that you can do with this file,
except delete it. Check your system for others. They, if left behind, take up
a great deal of space and are totally useless.

From a pure RAM standpoint, I'd say that you were working within the limits of
the system and had some overhead, however, PS, especially with several files
open, may have exceeded your system's capacity for Scratch Disk space, though
one usually gets the "Cannot complete task... Scratch Disk Full... " message,
and usually doesn't hang.

Look at your Scratch Disk setup (Edit>Preferences>Memory/Scratch Disk) and
determine where you Scratch Disk is set. If you have multiple physical drives,
then you'll want to have the SD set to those - bigger, faster, first, followed
by smaller, slower, and finally your C:. If you only have 1 HDD, then you are
stuck with C: - not the best setup, but if that is all you have, then you have
to use it.

Next, try trashing your pref file, and letting PS rebuild them. You will need
to go back in and set your cursor preferences, color space, SD location, etc.
but this cleans out many corruptions in the program.

Otherwise, let's hope someone else has a better solution.

Hunt

--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

tacit

2006-03-28, 6:16 pm

In article <Xns979413729D2D4spamfreeliuyahoocom@207.115.17.102>,
cpliu <spamfreeliu@yahoo.com> wrote:

> After editting and saved some images without any problems, some menus in
> Photoshop were grayed.
>
> The current tool still works, but I can't switch to any other tools in the
> tools pallette. Only View and Window menus still work. I can't even close
> the Photoshop since the close box at the top right corner is also grayed.
> The only way to quit the program is to end process in Processes tab of the
> Windows Task Manager. I've closed all the folders and some processes from
> Task Manager, but it didn't help.

It sounds like there is a window open, but it is open off your screen,
so you can not see it. (Did you once have a second monitor, or used to
have your monitor set to a higher resolution?)

In the General Preferences dialog is a Reset All Warning Dialogs button.
If that does not fix the problem, try deleting your Photoshop
preferences file.

--
Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink:
all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Nanohazard, Geek shirts, and more: http://www.villaintees.com

KatWoman

2006-03-28, 6:16 pm

"tacit" <tacitr@aol.com> wrote in message
news:tacitr-D1BEFD.12042128032006@news-server2.tampabay.rr.com...
> In article <Xns979413729D2D4spamfreeliuyahoocom@207.115.17.102>,
> cpliu <spamfreeliu@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> It sounds like there is a window open, but it is open off your screen,
> so you can not see it. (Did you once have a second monitor, or used to
> have your monitor set to a higher resolution?)

If it is this you can try and open the scanner software through START (if
you have that option), moe or re size the window and close?
maybe it's the scanner software, my Canon one works completley different
from my old Minolta one, and it happened i "lost" the canon window at first
and cannot use anything in PS till it closes. I also found and option in
scanner software to AUTO CLOSE THIS WINDOW when finished w/scan

>
> In the General Preferences dialog is a Reset All Warning Dialogs button.
> If that does not fix the problem, try deleting your Photoshop
> preferences file.
>
> --
> Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink:
> all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
> Nanohazard, Geek shirts, and more: http://www.villaintees.com

cpliu

2006-03-29, 3:16 am

Thank you all for the advice. I've reset the preference but the same thing
happened again tonight. I think 2nd monitor might be the problem as one of
suggested. I use a laptop at both home and office. My office has an
external monitor connected while I don't have an extra monitor at home.
When this thing happen again, I went to display and extend to the 2nd
monitor and disabled it. Then one tool dialog box showed up on the monitor
of my laptop. The dialog box was blocking all the menus.

Hopefully it's the problem.

Thanks you very much for these wonderful suggestions,

cpliu