100% disk access and 100% RAM usage for no reason, completely blocking my ability to work

There is also a problem with DV AVI videos...

I cannot download any version of Premiere, or any other major CC subscription app, that is more than two years old. Unless there is some super secret archive of old installers. Make with the links.

If I had a time machine, then I would go back and tell myself not to uninstall anything. But then what happens when this machine dies or needs its OS wiped?

Corporate policies are getting in the way here. No question about it.

Peace out

There are several million daily users of Premiere Pro, many for broadcast/streaming and corporate web work. They are working without issue. So those with problems are not the vast majority, and that's something a lot of users struggle with understanding, That said ...

First, there shouldn't be any issue with multiple major versions installed. Most of us long-time users advocate never uninstalling a version. This machine has back through the 2019 versions installed, PrPro, Ae, Au, Me, and others. My old (now 'backup') machine has clear back to the original CC and CC2014 versions ... including SpeedGrade, alas ...and yes, I occasionally do take something into SpeedGrade for specific uses.

And I've never had an issue with that practice.

As to the comment that "we're not allowed to run versions more than two years old" ... balderdash. You can run any version you have installed. I and many others do routinely.

Next, subscription or not isn't actually an issue either. I've got software from both subscription and purchase, and they all can and do have bugs. Was it easier years ago to produce software with fewer bugs? Oh Hades, yes.

There were far fewer pieces, makes, and mods of hardware and OS out there back then. For another example, as BlackMagic has been working at turning Resolve into an Adobe clone, "one ecosystem for all video post" ... they've been having more bugs and odd behaviors across their user base. And yes, I work daily in Resolve, and am also active over on the BM forums, plus I teach pro colorists via the MixingLight website ... mostly based in Resolve.

Resolve is simply a loss-leader for BlackMagic, it's a way to get us hooked into their system to buy their hardware. Like many others, I've got enough BM hardware to have several licenses in a drawer here. They ... don't make it easy, at all, to use non-BM hardware with Resolve. Not because they're evil or greedy, but because that's how they make a living.

Subscription is the same way. It's neither good nor bad, simply one model to make a living for those employed by a company.

The only pretty much bug-free video post app I know of is Baselight. How do they do it? Old-school.

You buy the computer from them, with all allowed software installed, for between $14,000 and $20,000. For the computer alone. You NEVER EVER add another app or utility to that computer.

Next, you pay a couple thou a year for a license to use the app on that computer. And yes, for that you get an awesome app that is rock-solid stable. Of course, if you need to go setup in another studio for a week, you must dismantle and pack your system, move it, and set it up there.

Companies are simply groups of humans. Humans by nature are both incredibly variable and freaking all over the place. No two groups will ever come to the same list as "the important things!" let alone design the same setup. I have talked with a lot of Adobe supers and devs, and well, many of my 'big things!' are bluntly going to be used by too few people to have a chance at being incorporated. Yet a few have been.

Same with BM, although I don't personally know any staffers there. I've talked with enough of them at NAB/Vegas for a decade to hear pretty much the same comment. Ah well, right?

And understand, I understand the frustrations using any and all of these applications. Ain't none of them perfect. So I've learned to adopt a very practicality based attitude ... what gets the work out the door, works. Do that, whether I emotionally like it or not. Keep the emotions out of it or you'll go nuts.

And use whichever of the Fancy Hammers works ... as that is all any of these apps are, fancy hammers. I don't waste a moment of emotions on a hammer.

Thanks, I already tried updating the Blackmagic drivers and installing 2023.0. Maybe I also need to uninstall Premiere 2024.5? But I can't do that because I have active projects that require that version. Unlike Maya, I don't believe Adobe project files are forward compatibile across major numbered releases.

It just goes to show the deeply problematic nature of the entire paradigm of constant updates. Even if the updates aren't forced, they introduce all manner of bugs and incompatibilities. The only solution to those is more updates. Which introduce new issues that require more updates. Gone are the days of a software application being released as free of bugs as possible. Stability is a thing of the past.

Then add draconian policies around subscription models, and it's a recipe for disaster. We're not even permitted to run any version of Creative Cloud subscription apps more than two years old.

All of this is decidedly hostile to getting any real production work done. Forget about revisiting an old project. It's very likely to be inaccessible. And with a complex project, I don't even know how we can work around that. Archiving is a disaster. We might as well go back to film and tape; many of the benefits of nonlinear editing have been negated by these horrible corporate policies and practices.

Rather than disc access i still things is related to the clips.  Have you seen this thread: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/cannot-import-an-avi-project/m-p/14717576#M511927

It's nothing more than a inflexible folder arrangement, which extra processing needed to manage the partitions. The HDD Head has to move back and forth from the partitions. And there is absolutely no advantage to backing up to a partition, if the HDD goes, all the partitions go. That totally defeats the purpose of backing up. You might as well just do it to a folder.

If you are partitioning to have a different OS for testing, or use otherwise, a case could be made. But HDD and SSD are pretty inexpensive these days so, pickup a new drive and use that for backup and even a different OS.

Honestly, the partitioning scheme I use is more for my own organizational process than anything else.

I'm used to using folder structures for organizing like that. And none of the backup software I know of has any issue with abiding by folder directed work. I assume I'm not familiar with your backup software.

There are other reasons for partitions. Actually I never even heard of the idea that they would improve performance.

Mainly, it's for convenience and time savings. Partitioning is helpful for me to organize my data. Splitting a 14GB platter drive into three partitions helps me keep my data in a logical framework. It also helps with backups. By keeping data in different partitions, I can, for example, back up active projects while leaving archived projects alone. This saves a lot of time, because the mirroring software I use needs to parse the entire job on both the source and target drives before it does any transfers. If it had to read all of the data on a monolithic partition, it would take way longer.

Seriously, how could throttling the CPU help prevent excessive disk or RAM access?