Working with photoshop

[romanstopme]

I dont know if this is possible but im still going to ask this. When working in photoshop my computer starts to lag after a while when the photoshop size is increasing. I cant remember the exact size when it starts to lad but when it does its bad. I know its primarily because of my computers strength but is it possible to set the amount of space your photoshop has to work with so it does not lag? any suggestions? here are my computer specs i know i need a new one but this is all i got to work with

AMD Athlon XP 2800 +2.08 Ghz, 2gb ram Home edition service pack 3

[edDV]

I dont know if this is possible but im still going to ask this. When working in photoshop my computer starts to lag after a while when the photoshop size is increasing. I cant remember the exact size when it starts to lad but when it does its bad. I know its primarily because of my computers strength but is it possible to set the amount of space your photoshop has to work with so it does not lag? any suggestions? here are my computer specs i know i need a new one but this is all i got to work with

AMD Athlon XP 2800 +2.08 Ghz, 2gb ram Home edition service pack 3

What images are you editing? I used to work with huge 40MB per layer images in several layers with several undos on a PII ! The secret is either use huge amounts of RAM*, or set your "scratch disk" to a second drive on a second disk controller. In the old days of Photoshop, one sometimes needed a RAID for the scratch disk. Today a simple cheap second drive will work well.

If that wasn't clear, you are using a second hard drive as a substitute for more RAM.

* RAM cost was out sight then.

[romanstopme]

how would i set a second drive for more ram?

[edDV]

how would i set a second drive for more ram?

In Photoshop preferences find "Scratch Disk". Technical name is disk cache.

[lordsmurf]

It's not RAM, but more like "virtual RAM" on a scratch disk. The scratch disk option is under preferences. It varies from PS version to version, but it's always there somewhere. Look for it.

[edDV]

Also you don't want the "Scratch Disk" on the C: drive or it will just sit there churning (constant disk seek). That is what you are experiencing now.

Photoshop quickly uses up all the RAM for large images. It needs to save undos and layers separately so after a little work, RAM grows to ten or more times image size. Once you exhaust physical RAM, the remainder is swapped to disk. In preferences you can also set the maximum physical RAM that Photoshop can use. Also the number of levels of undo.

[INFRATOM]

These are some of the stuff you could try
set your right click my computer>properties.Advanced select for "best performance" then click on advanced tab again and select virtual memory and change select "system managed" size. After all when photoshop is open go to task manager right click on photoshop exe and set priority change to below normal. While you are in task manager look to see what is using your resources. whenever your CPU usage exceeds %70 you need a better computer.
Things that hog the computer resources are search for internet .. including spyware, and spyware alike that comes with most programs today to profile your activity hidden under looking for updates or enhance customer experience. You have 2 gigs of RAM on a 32 bit system so your max is 3 gigs adding more RAM would not pull you out of water. Also could have corrupt registry also run a reg cleaner. One last thing if your Video card is active like watching HD or playing game and you don't have a good GPU it will take some of your RAM and CPU power away.

[romanstopme]

Thanks my computer is way past due to retire but i don't have the resources for a BA system so im just going to set the scratch disk to my external hard drive witch has 371g free space. My registry is fixed well i think so i use Registry mechanic so i heard its a good program. is there any thing else i can maximize?

[lordsmurf]

There's nothing wrong with your computer.

You've still not mentioned the resolution (pixel AND dpi) of your images, number of layers, etc.

[INFRATOM]

One other quick test, disconnect you internet cable see if you computer becomes better while you are working then you 'll know there is some program related to internet is causing it.