Weird 1st time ever problem PSE8 -?

[flapdoodle12]

I know I am old fashioned, but I LOVE my PSE8. I use it almost every time I get the chance. This is the very first time that I have required any help from a group like this one concerning this issue.

This morning, when I opened PSE8 for the 1st time today, nothing was as I had left it the previous evening.

For Example:

*I almost never use the Project Bin and yet it had activated all by itself

*My Brush collection had shifted direction - from large thumbnails to tiny ones, and also, it had gone to Default Brushes, when i'd used Basic Brushes right before closing PSE properly last time I used it.

*At first, no proper brush thumbnails showed. No matter what I clicked on, it always just showed Default thumbnails.

It eventually looked mainly normal, yet still is different to my practiced eye. For example, I was able to use one of my Brusheezy brushes again, although it took some retrying first.

Previous to this issue, there was a separate and yet serious issue involving  Hue/Saturation/Lightness. I'd get things to appear as i wanted them to, and yet somehow, all of the brilliance would vanish the moment i'd click on "OK." I could no longer control the outcome, even in Colorize.

So, for that problem, I tried closing, rebooting, reopening. It still was a problem.

Can anybody tell me, please, WHAT HAPPENED to make my beloved PSE8  behave so strangely lately?

Thanks

[JJMack]

Ask in the Elements forum Photoshop Elements

[hatstead]

If Photoshop Elements starts acting wonky or weird, it may help to reset your Preferences. Here's how:

• Close Photoshop Elements.

• Press and hold Ctrl Alt Shift (Mac: Cmd Opt Shift) and keep holding these keys as you restart Photoshop Elements.

• When you get a dialog box that says: Delete the Adobe Photoshop Elements settings file? you can let go of the keyboard keys and click Yes.

If you had made any changes to Preferences prior to this, these will be lost, but it's a small loss compared with the gain of getting back to normal with Photoshop Elements.

Copied from:

Linda Sattgast, President and Founder

Adobe's Scrapbooking Expert

http://www.digitalscrapper.com

[flapdoodle12]

Thanks for the quick response. I appreciate the time.

In answer to your suggestion, I had made no changes at all myself. This just spontaneously happened to happen. I freaked out over it for about the first 5 minutes. I'm still not sure what went wrong. Other things have been a problem for me, too. I had to reset Rulers, for example. But shrinking an image's physical size simply by changing the pixel setting from in the 100's down to 72 simply would not work for me at all at first.

What's been REALLY weird is how some things don't accommodate choices made by me at times. Shrinking images was working well enough yesterday that I did it twice. Today, it's been a real struggle even to get one to work.

BECAUSE (now get this)

I could not check the appropriate boxes in the Image Size window. It would not allow it at all. 3 tries - at last, during try #4, it would, yet was still wonky like it didn't want to work properly.

I am running a scan on my 'puter as we speak, so really should close my browser window for a bit. I'll pop back by later today.

QUESTION:
Do you think that your suggestion would actually help take care of all of these problems?

Thanks again for your time.

[Peru Bob]

Were other programs affected?

Was the computer on when a power outage occurred overnight?

[flapdoodle12]

Thanks for your smart questions. Not on all night. I usually shut things off, including my power strip.

Power outage? Hmmm possibly I suppose - maybe one happened when I went out for a bit to get the mail?

Not sure yet about other programs -although my desktop has acted wonky for two days. It usually has self corrected, but it's been wonky. Mouse function's acted up for 3 days. It seems better today for some inexplicable reason.

ONE thing, tho'

- i recall it did do something weird a few nights ago - it gave me a formerly never seen "Hard Drive" problem message. But this disappeared so fast that I did not see it long enough to say more.

Today I've scanned for bugs, and now I intend to collect a huge file of TRASH and then securely dump it. Maybe that will help --altho' my 'puter says memory's OK.

[Peru Bob]

flapdoodle12 wrote:

- i recall it did do something weird a few nights ago - it gave me a formerly never seen "Hard Drive" problem message. But this disappeared so fast that I did not see it long enough to say more.

You may want to make sure all is backed up and then do Check Disk:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Check+Disk&oq=Check+Disk&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[flapdoodle12]

SORRY but no can do. This is an iMac from 2009.

[flapdoodle12]

UPDATE:

Last night, quite suddenly, Cookie Cutter began working normally again. All of these changes simply have trickled in slowly. I am still very curious as to what causes such a thing to happen, especially when I would like very much to avoid ever having to experience it again.

Thanks, everyone, for your input and support. Have a good week and please get out there and vote this Tuesday!

[hatstead]

QUESTION:
Do you think that your suggestion would actually help take care of all of these problems?

Thanks again for your time.

Resetting preferences to default may fix it. I can see no downside.

[flapdoodle12]

Thanks for that response about "no down side." I might have to try that this weekend, make some time to follow that suggestion and then take PSE for a spin. Wish me luck and--

Have a good weekend!

[flapdoodle12]

I am finding there are other things wrong with my PSE8 today, so i have not tried to fix the problem as of yet. This is due to the fact that i prefer to know enough as to what's actually gone wrong prior to handling any sort of repair to anything.

SO FAR TODAY:

MOST of my Cookie Cutters have vanished, and there can be no searching for these as the Cookie Cutter window's >> click spot pops out the usual window, but this time with nothing highlighted black, and everything muted gray.

(Clicking on the double arrow click spot worked well for finding my fonts, just not for cookie cutter)

it may sound silly to want such a feature, yet it is one of the reasons why I held onto my PSE8 for so long.

The sleekness and simplicity of PSE8 kept me hooked on all of the possibilities for me as an artist,

whereas CS4 I found top heavy with features - so many that a person would be hard pressed to grasp it all soon enough.

(And no, I am not apt to want to take a class.)

I did get CS4 at one point, but my upgrade to Yosemite killed all but Bridge for CS4. And I never liked Bridge to begin with.

Wondering now if this could be an Apple glitch of some sort...?

Anyway, still hoping and praying that all will be returned to normal for my beloved PSE8 very soon!

(help?)