AE not responding?

hi everyone,

recently i've been having issues where after effects keeps crashing. at first it happened in a project that was longer and more complicated than my usual ones so i assumed my computer was just overworked. however, now whenever ive opened even the simplest of projects, after it plays about 2 seconds it just says not responding and i can't use the app at all. 

i'm not sure if this is linked but i didn't have this problem before i updated it to the latest version, but honestly it could just be a coincidence. i have tried to clear some photos and videos on my laptop too as i was wondering if that had anything to do with it. has anyone else had this problem? is there a way to fix it?