PSE 2024 Freezes

Hi Amber.  I'm always willing to spend OPM (other people's money ) on computers.  😁

I think you have found a really good option for your budget.  With a 2TB SSD hard drive and 32GB of RAM, that is actually an amazing price.  More RAM is probably better than any differences in CPU speed.  The CPU is about 3 years old, so I'm guessing that is the reason for the price.  But it meets the requirements for Elements 2024 and should serve you well.  You may find that the fan speeds up with some heavy computing use, but that shouldn't be a problem.

@tena37913204izbq, the symptom you are describing is generally associated with media analysis taking place in the background.  If you are using the Organizer and have imported a number of files into your catalog, the background media analysis can be a serious drag on performance for both the Organizer and the Editor.  To determine whether this is the case for you, go to Edit>Preferences>Media Analysis and uncheck all of the boxes.  If this solves the problem for you, then you should check the boxes again and leave your computer on overnight so that the analysis is completed while you are not using the computer.  Depending on the power of your computer, the size of your catalog and the resolution of your photos and videos, the analysis can take several days.

As for the advice to reset preferences, settings can sometimes change or get stuck without you intentionally doing anything.  So there is no harm in resetting them, other than having to change the items you want to change again.  All this does is put the program in its out-of-the-box condition.

If neither of these solutions works for you, please show us a screenshot of your Task Manager confirming that nothing is happening when the problem arises.

Elements Organizer functioned flawlessly for me for around a week. On a brand-new PC, it is a fresh download. I didn't alter any default settings. When I launch Organizer this afternoon, it launches but does not provide me the ability to do anything. I have to utilize the task manager to even close it. I hear a bell tone each time I select one of the menu options. Task Manager reports that nothing is happening. The solution below advises restyloring faults, but since I didn't make any changes, I fail to understand the relevance.

@Amber B1982 you should be able to get a better-performing computer within your budget.  If you are a member of Costco, I would recommend purchasing there because of the 90 day return policy (in the US).  You could then try out Elements on your new purchase to see whether it meets your expectations compared with your current machine.  I just did a brief comparision of some current laptops offered by Costco.  I don't know whether this link will work, but if it does, you will get an idea of what is available in your budget.  Any of these linked computers will meet the Elements required specifications.  Other major retailers such as BestBuy or Amazon should also have better computers within your budget.

AMD and Intel are the two main manufacturers of CPUs for computers.  Without getting into the fine points, either one is suitable for your needs.  The names of the different versions is confusing for anyone who does not keep up with the latest trends.  They confuse me, and I've been building my own computers for probably more than 20 years.

Intel names their CPUs with an i-3, i-5, i-7 etc. prefix.  Generally, an i-5 or above should be OK. 

AMD names their processors slightly differently.  You may see a Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 computer, each followed with a different 4 digit number such as Ryzen 5 7530.  The higher the number is generally the more powerful processor.

But, I believe more important is how many Cores or Threads the CPU has.  The more Cores or Threads the better.   The Clock speed is also somewhat important.  These are identified as a number of Ghz.  Again, without getting into too much detail, anything over 3.5 Ghz should serve your needs, but a higher number is better.

Hope this helps.

@Amber B1982, I don't think you will see much improvement between your current computer and the proposed new one.  Both have Celeron processors which are really the low end of computer processing.  They have slower speeds and less cores to perform the computing that photo editing sometimes requires.  The only advantage in the new computer is that it has 16 GB of RAM instead of your current 8GB.  I don't know if you currently have an SSD drive.  The new one does.  So, you will see a general pickup in performance from that.

I would think that any new computer will meet the minimum requirements for Elements.  If you give us some idea of your budget, we can make some suggestions.

Added:  And perhaps more importantly, tell us what kind of things you do with Elements.

@Amber B1982 Adobe is definitely working on a fix for the last update, but you have not given us enough information to see whether you are having the same problems experienced by others.

First, have you unchecked all media analysis?

What are the specs of your computer?

Are you using the Organizer and, if so, how many media files do you have in your catalog?

Can you be more specific about what tasks you are performing when the program freezes.  Are you talking about the Editor or the Organizer?  What kind of files are you working with in the Editor?  How large are the files?  How many layers?  How many pixels?

This is really frustrating. The program was running fine prior to the last update. It then stopped loading completely and I had to uninstall it and reinstall a previous update and turn the automatic updates off. Now it keeps freezing up when I'm working. Sometimes it seems to get itself together and other times I have to task manager end session. I lost something I was really struggling to get right today because it froze again and just wouldn't come back. Does anyone know if Adobe is even addressing these issues? I have serious buyers remorse. 🤦🏻‍♀️

@kathys7572, have you recently added photos or videos to the Organizer catalog, or converted an older catalog to Elements 2024.  If so, media analysis may be taking place in the background.  To see whether this is the cause, go to Edit>Preferences>Media Analysis and uncheck all the boxes.

If you can't get into the Preferences dialog, relaunch the Organizer while pressing the Shift key.  This should open the catalog manager.  Create and open a new catalog.  You should now be able to get into the Preferences dialog.   Once you have unchecked all the Media Analysis boxes, you can go back to File>Manage Catalogs and open your original catalog.

For me Elements Organizer worked just fine for about a week. It is a fresh download on a new PC. I didn't change any defaults. This afternoon, when I open Organizer, the program opens but it won't allow me to do anything. I can't even close it without useing the task manager. Any time I click a menu option I get a bell tone. Task manager says nothing is going on. The answer below says to restyore dafaults but I can't see the point since I didn't change any.

I try not to overthink things.   For example:  Have you tried the "coffee method"?

Turn your computer all the way off, not a simple reboot, but turn it all the way off, not put it in sleep mode, but turn it all the way off.  Go get a cup of coffee, return and turn the computer back on.

It's amazing how oftten that works.