Premier Elements 14 crashes when adding photos or videos to the timeline

[sylent_asassin]

I just bought a new Dell laptop, 2TB, 16 GB RAM, Intel core i7, 8th Generation; basically one of Dell's top laptops as far as specs, but for whatever reason, PE 14 keeps crashing when I attempt to add a photo or video to the timeline. I tried uninstalling the program and reinstalling it which didn't change anything. Every instance where I tried to add a photo or video to the timeline, the program freezes for about 10 seconds, then the screen turns gray and I get the "PE stopped working" message and it kills the program.

I had an older Dell (which was stolen) with lesser specs, but PE 14 worked brilliantly on it, so I'm a bit at a loss here. This is quite frustrating as I need to complete a work project. Any suggestions?

[Bill Sprague]

Try Edit > Preferences > General and change the box for hardware acceleration.

Another issue that comes up sometimes is the preferences folder gets messed up.  Try resetting the Rename Premiere Elements preferences by renaming the folder 14 to 14_old file at following location:

C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Premiere Elements

[sylent_asassin]

Thanks for the advice, but neither of those worked. I tried the first, unchecked the box for hardware acceleration and still, PE 14 crashed on me when I tried to drag media to the timeline... Unless I was supposed to restart my computer, which I didn't do.

I tried the second, but my folder is labeled "14.0". Am I supposed to change the folder name to "14.0_old"?

Thanks.

[Bill Sprague]

Yes 14 to 14 old.  The actual name is unimportant.  Just rename it so it is bypassed and a new one is created.

[sylent_asassin]

Okay, I renamed that folder (14.0_old), but I'm getting the same result. Dragging media to the timeline causes the program to crash. It freezes for 10 seconds, the screen turns gray, I get the "PE 14 has stopped working" message and the program kills itself. Not sure what else to do here.

[HOTELECHOMIKE]

Is your new laptop running the same version of MS-Windows as the old (stolen) one?

I presume the new one is running WIN10 - was this true of the old one?

[sylent_asassin]

Yes, they were both running Win10.

I'm really at a loss on how to remedy this issue. Is there an Adobe tech support number to call?

[Bill Sprague]

I'm running out of ideas!  I've never had issues with several versions of Premiere Elements on three computers.  I am relying on memories of posts here. 

What is the source and file types of the media?  It may be that the old computer had some codecs on it that the new one does not.  Version 14 relied on Quicktime to provide some of the codecs.  Do you have Quicktime installed on the new computer? 

There have been a couple topics where audio discrepancies have caused issues.  Try Edit > Preferences > Audio hardware > Default Input  and select "No Input"

Occasionally users report that brand new computers may come with out of date graphics drivers and updating them will get Premiere Elements to work.

Adobe publishes that they don't have phone support.  Instead they use on line "chat".  I've never used it but reports on this forum tend to be good.  Adobe also publishes that for Premiere Elements they only "chat" about installation issues of current products.

That said, give it a try with version 14.

If that doesn't work you might see if a free trial of the current 2018 version works. If not, a "chat" might work.   

The link for the chat:  Contact Customer Care

[sylent_asassin]

I really appreciate your efforts. I just might have to upgrade to V. 18, but I'm not sure what that would cost.

I have PE 14 installed on an even older computer, and it works, but it's extremely slow because it's an obsolete machine with an old OS (Win7).

My new laptop doesn't have Quicktime installed. Never had a reason. My previous laptop didn't have it either.

The source of the files are MP4's from a GoPro Hero 5 Black. On both of my other laptops, moving media to the timeline was never an issue. Additionally, on my new laptop, I can't even add jpegs to the timeline; those cause the system to freeze and crash, too.

I've tried getting to the chat, but the link only takes me to these forums.

[Bill Sprague]

What you are experiencing is very abnormal for Premiere Elements.  There is a fix somewhere but I've run out of guesses.

The Customer Care link leads me to a three way choice:

The phone number under that tab is:  800-833-6687   I don't know what to tell you to expect.

[sylent_asassin]

Oddly enough, I only get the "Community Forums" button on the left for "How would you like to contact us?" I called the above phone number and after being on hold for 25 minutes (when the wait time was supposed to be 3 minutes), I spoke with a rep who told me that no one is trained to help with PE 14, and that my best bet is the online help forums, which brings me back here.

This is incredibly frustrating. I wish I could go back to using Windows Movie Maker.

[Peru Bob]

Try going to Dell support and download a newer or older video driver and see if that helps.

[sylent_asassin]

I'll try going to Dell and updating the video driver next. I downloaded Quicktime to no avail.

The weird thing is, I can drag audio files to the timeline and play them with no issue. It's only the video that freezes up and crashes the program.

[Bill Sprague]

Sounds more and more like a video driver issue.   Rare, but it happens.  I second Bob's suggestion to roll forward or backward to a different video driver. 

[sylent_asassin]

Just got through downloading the updated drivers on the Dell webpage. The freezing issue persists. This is beyond frustrating. I've done everything to get PE 14 to work, but nothing is working. This is so frustrating.

[Peru Bob]

Did you try an older driver?

[sylent_asassin]

I didn't see Dell offering downloads of older drivers on their page. At this juncture, I'll probably have to go with another software or upgrade to 18 and HOPE it works.

[Bill Sprague]

sylent_asassin  wrote

...... or upgrade to 18 and HOPE it works.

Do the free trial before you spend money!

[sylent_asassin]

There's no free trial that I know of. Only upgrading to PE 18 for $69.99.

I somewhat found a workaround. I went onto my older, slower laptop, added (but didn't edit) all the files I wanted to use and saved it. I then copied that file onto a flash drive and pasted it into the PE folder on my new laptop. When I launch PE14 and select the file, everything seems to work. You just have to verify that all the files you used are identical on both computers.

I'm miffed that I couldn't get PE14 to work properly on my new laptop. I considered getting PE 18, but was concerned that the same issue might occur with no one to assist.

[Peru Bob]

sylent_asassin  wrote

There's no free trial that I know of.

Download and install from here:

Download Photoshop Elements | 2018, 15, and 14

It will work as a trial for 30 days.  After that you will need to purchase.