Premiere CC 2020 crashes when linking to AE comps

Hi all, 

I just updated to 2020 (v. 14.0.1) from CC 2018 (12.1.2), because I could no longer import assets without Premiere crashing. Now, whenever I try to relink to an AE comp (which I've also updated (v. 17.0.2), and converted the old file to a newer version) it tries to melt my computer. Has anyone had similar issues? My drivers are up to date. 

System specs: 

Graphics - Nvidia GTX 1050 

16GB RAM

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz, 2801 Mhz

Happy to clarify anything. 

UPDATE: 

Solved! I moved my project files from my hard drive (Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD, 500GB) to my desktop and the system stopped crashing. I guess Adobe is just garbage at resource optimization? Hope this helps others.