PS menu's and pointer acting as if something is loading/clicking continually

[DarthVengeant]

So, today I loaded up Photoshop to do some art.

However, something is wrong. The mouse pointer and tools/menu keep flashing when I go to any menu or try to do things in them. As if something is loading or communicating. It doesn't do it if it is just setting there with nothing open, or if I go to another window/tab on my PC, if I don't have any psd or file loaded. Starting up PS is normal and everything is fine, but once I open a image or PSD it starts. And if I have something open and I come back from another tab once I click on the menus it starts again, even running the mouse over the menus, you can see the mouse pointer start flashing only when highlighting menus, etc.. Think of it as if a key on my keyboard was being held down, or something is loading and the pointer/menu's keeps flashing, that is how it is. Anything I click in menu's etc it flashes there too. But, there is nothing happening on my mouse or keyboard. No keys being clicked on my keyboard, or my mouse. It only does this when I load up photoshop. Lightroom does not do this at all. I am at a loss as to what is going on. I updated Photoshop, to the newest version I can have. Still does it. It wasn't doing this the last time I used PS around 2 weeks ago. If a key was being held down this would effect everything on my PC, but this only happens when I load up Photoshop. Again, Lightroom works just fine. I can barely click anything because it is as if something is being clicked or done continually. Putting the mouse over any menu starts the flashing. 

I will add that I can only do PS to version 25.12.3 since my PC is not compatible with 26 and beyond. I am on Windows 10 64 (newest version/updated). I dont use the Cloud stroage stuff either. Is this PS trying to communicate with the Cloud anyway and causing the issue? I don't know. 

I have installed newest graphics drivers, fiddled with scratch disks, purged the memory of PS. Nothing is helping. I want to reiterate that this only happens once I load up an image or PSD. I even did a Windows Memory Diagnostic. Not problems found. Completely uninstalled PS and reinstalled. Still doing it. I am at a loss. This is essentially making PS unusable now, but it worked just fine a week or so ago last I used it. There was a Windows update a week or so ago, June 10th, could that have done it? I don't know. 

[Aleke]

Hi @DarthVengeant!

Could you try resetting your Photoshop preferences? This will return the app to its default settings, which can help if something behind the scenes is acting up. Here’s how to do that: https://adobe.ly/4kelKUZ

If that doesn’t solve it, could you share your System Info with us? You can find it in Photoshop under Help > System Info. Just copy the contents into a text file and attach it here, or feel free to share it via Google Drive, WeTransfer, or any file-sharing service you prefer.

Thanks so much!

Alek

[DarthVengeant]

@Aleke I reset PS as you requested. Then, loading up a PDF file, or an image, the problem still happening. Still flashing continaully. 

Attached is my system info:

[Aleke]

Hi @DarthVengeant! Thanks for sharing your System Info — I really appreciate it.

Based on the official system requirements for Photoshop 2024, the app needs a graphics card that supports DirectX 12 (feature level 12_0 or later) and is less than 7 years old. It also mentions that GPUs older than that aren’t tested, so compatibility can’t be guaranteed.

Your NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 does support DirectX 12, but since it was released back in early 2015, it’s now over 10 years old. That puts it outside the officially supported range.  While Photoshop 2024 might still run on your setup, it's likely you will run into performance issues or find that some features don’t work as expected. I totally understand how frustrating that can be.

At this point, the best path forward would be either upgrading to a newer machine that meets the current requirements, or rolling back to an earlier version of Photoshop that’s more compatible with your hardware.

Thanks again for your patience and understanding!

Alek

[DarthVengeant]

The thing is, it was happening all the sudden. No new PS update when it started happening. I have since updated, but it was before the new update when it was having this problem. It worked just fine before two weeks ago, and it was not updated at the time the problem started. 

I don't have $3000+ to build a new PC, because that's about hoe much it is to build a QUALITY machine now days, so I guess I am nto unable to use PS all the sudden, which is ridiculous. 

I will try to roll back to a previous version and see if that helps. 

Thank you. 

EDIT: I rolled back to 4 versions ago, long before this problem ever started. But, the problem persists, and I never had this problem in those versions. So. I am at a loss as to what the heck is wrong now. The only thing I can think of is that a Windows update is the culprit. Really perplexed. 

[Sameer K]

Hey @DarthVengeant, I can understand that a hardware upgrade isn't feasible for you at this time. You can monitor and investigate what is hogging resources on your machine. 

1 - Monitor the Task Manager > Performance tab for unexpected read & write operations while you use Photoshop. 

2—Check the Event Viewer from Windows Search for failures or error codes at the Application and Operating System levels. 

3 - Check the content here to make sure Photoshop is set to its optimized state: https://adobe.ly/3TdHDJ0;

I hope this helps to some extent. Thanks!
Sameer K

(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

[DarthVengeant]

That had nothing to do with the issue. I always monitor Tasks and other things on my PC, I had already looked at Task Manager and other processes. Nothing was any different than usual. Thanx.

[DarthVengeant · Accepted solution]

After the last Windows Update, Windows wanted me to log in my Microsoft account and not my usual local PC account. I thought this was strange. I didn't like it. So, I set my PC back to the normal local account log in. And, this fixed the problem. I no longer have the flashing or anything. It is a strange thing, but that was the only thing that had changed on my PC recently, so I undid it. Something with Microsoft and the last Windows Update in Windows 10 and using your Microsoft Account as PC account interfears with PS functions. It is strange, but clearly that was the culprit.