.png)
So, a while back I blogged about a virtual memory error I encountered while working in Photoshop CS4. At the time, I just assumed it was because I had done a fresh install of Creative Suite (technically speaking, an upgrade from CS1 to CS4). Since then, Photoshop had been running ok, but processing more slowly that I’d anticipated. I did wonder if it was just because Adobe CS4 was “more” of a program than CS1, and had briefly entertained the thought of downgrading to Adobe CS1.
Luckily, I forgot to think about things from a software engineering perspective. Why would I say luckily? Well, because today I spent some time digging at the root of the issue, and found out there was an easy solution! The folks over at Adobe, of course, would design their software to work best with new + updated drivers.
CS4 is engineered with the idea that the user will be using at least a recent generation dual core processor and a video card capable of 3d rendering. That means no mobo graphics and at least an Nvidia 6800 or better. [...]
– bmoag (Photography Forums post)
After checking things out, I confirmed that my computer did meet the hardware requirements. My graphics card, although not “new” anymore, was “better” than 6800. After researching online about NVIDIA drivers + Adobe CS4 issues… I found some complaints about the NVIDIA gaming cards not working with Adobe CS4 — at all.
Luckily, among the complaints, I found a suggestion hinting the problem might be as simple as updating an out-of-date video card driver:
Yes, it’s one of the recurrent symptoms of OpenGL problems related to your graphics card. There are a few things you can try: [...] Get the very latest driver for your graphics card. Quite a few bugs have been fixed lately by both ATI and nVidia. If it’s a laptop, you may have to get the laptop manufacturer’s driver. [...]
– D Fosse (Adobe Forums post)
So, I figured it was worth a shot. After going to the download page for my NVIDIA 7900GT (old but still good video card!) driver, I discovered… yes, my driver was quite outdated. The updated version is 182.50, and I was still running version 84.21. Talk about a huge difference!
Long story short — I downloaded the driver update, installed it, and tested out Photoshop (and Lightroom). All my processing + redraw problems have disappeared. I didn’t have to downgrade from Adobe CS4 to CS1, and I was able to keep my NVIDIA video card after all!
So, what’s the moral of the story? Keep ALL of your drivers updated, especially if you upgrade your software and weird things start “happening” (the old drivers worked fine with Adobe CS1 …which is what I had prior to upgrading to CS4). Don’t make assumptions that the software (or worse yet, the operating system) is the root of all evil — it may not be. Do some basic research… it will probably save you time and frustration in the end!
