Photoshop Elements 2021 (PE2021) Organizer freezes/hangs

I recently had a crash on Elements 2020 and after filling out the crash reporter, I was directed to this webpage for more information.  I don't know if you will get any response by sending an email as directed, but it is worth a shot.  If that doesn't work, then you should contact Adobe support via the blue Contact Us button under the Support menu at Adobe.com.  Sorry, but I've run out of ideas for you. 

Uninstalling and reinstalling will have no affect on your catalog.  Any face recognition that was performed before the uninstall should still be there when you open the catalog after reinstall.

I don't think your catalog is corrupt.  If it were, I don't think you would be seeing so much CPU activity for the Organizer.

So, again, my recommendation is to perform the uninstall/reinstall.  If that does not improve the performance, then start a new catalog and add one or two folders of images at a time to test whether your computer is up to the task.  As I said earlier, it is only at the low end of the minimum specification chart.

OK.  You're computer specs are at the bare minimum of what is required.  The processor is a 2 core/4 thread CPU.  You have 8GB RAM which is being stressed out by your large catalog of media. You only have one hard drive and there is a lot going on when face recognition is in play so something has to give.  But, the program should still work, albeit very slowly.

Just to review where you are.  Have you turned off ALL of the media analysis checkboxes (while using the empty catalog) and have now opened your large catalog?  Can you confirm that the media analysis is still completely off?  It is possible that your preferences were not saved properly (because of a crash).

Assuming you have done all of the above, here are some futher suggestions:

1. Update Windows if your computer manufacturer has an update.  You are working with an older version of Windows and Elements recommends using the later one.
2. If you have not already done so, perform a complete uninstall/reinstall of the program.  Remove all preference files when prompted to do so on the uninstall.  (You will have to turn off the Media Analysis again after the new install.)
3. Go into Windows>Settings>Startup Apps and turn off as many startup processes as you can.
4. When working with Elements, do not have any other programs open - not even a browser or email.
5. If you can, upgrade your RAM to 16GB.
6. Start a new catalog and import one or two folders of images at a time.  See if your computer can handle the face recognition.  Keep adding media in progressive steps until you reach a limit.

I don't know whether any of this is going to help but I'm running out of ideas.

I guess I should have asked this earlier.  What hardware are you using - it looks like you are using a laptop with an attached monitor? But more specifically, how much RAM does your computer have and what CPU?  I didn't do the math, but clearly the computer is crashing when you reach 100% RAM usage and it seems like you do not have very much RAM to begin with.  And how much empty space do you have on your hard drive?

Your screenshot still does not show what is taking up all the CPU.  You need to go further down the background processes and look for Elements Auto Creations 2021.  (It does not have Adobe in the name.)  Alternatively, click on the CPU header of Task Manager and that will sort the processes by CPU usage.

Your screenshot does not show what is taking up all the CPU.  If you scroll down, do you see the Auto Creations 2021 process taking up CPU?  If so, end it in Task Manager, and let us know whether it is still active after rebooting your computer.

Now that the media analysis has been turned off, is the computer still freezing?  Are you able to name face stacks?  Having high CPU usage does not necessarily mean that the computer will freeze or become non-responsive.  But we need to track down what explains the high usage.

If you are unable to change the Media Analysis preferences before the program freezes, try the following:

• Hold down the Shift key while launching the Organizer. This will bring up the Manage Catalogs dialog. 
• Create a new empty catalog and open it. 
• Skip the screens to add media.
• Go to the Preferences dialog and turn off all of the Media Analysis. You should be able to save before the program freezes.
• Relaunch the Organizer, again using the Shift key.
• Open your 50k media catalog.

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the right navigation.

I rebooted and relaunched PSE and Organizer and navigated to the Edit>Preferences>Media Analysis dialogue.  I had slow response but was successful in unchecking Generate Auto Creations.  I then tried to move my cursor to the OK and just before I had a chance to click on OK, my system froze again!!!  Ahhhhhh!!!!

The ALT/CTL/DEL didn't work as usual.  I had to do another hard Power Off and then restarted the system again.

What's your next recommendation?

Thanks.

@JohnK105 said:

I couldn'd readily locate the Edit>File>Media Analysis dialogue.

That's because it doesn't exist.  MY MISTAKE.  I meant the Edit>Preferences>Media Analysis dialogue.    Sorry for putting you wrong.

Please report back when you have turned off all the Media Analysis.

Hi Greg,

I finally resumed working on my photos and trying to apply your recommendations. 

I see that I have 42,616 json files in the My Catalog / FaceAnalysis folder.  I have about 56,000 images in the Organizer (forgot to note the exact number).

When I launched PSE, I couldn'd readily locate the Edit>File>Media Analysis dialogue.  I didn't see any menus on the main page so I launched the Organizer.  I was able to click on the Edit menu, but couldn't locate the Edit>File>Media Analysis Option there.  I then clicked on the File menu and couldn't locate the Media Analysis Option there either.  I then went back to select the Edit menu for another look and then my entire PC hung/froze/crashed.

Can you give me more specific directions to navigate to the Edit>File>Media Analysis dialogue.  However, I suspect that this is a more fundamental problem.

This constant crashing when I start the application is becoming very frustrating - having to reboot each time I enter the application.  I've never have this type of system crashing problem before!

Looking forward to a remedy!

Thanks.