Bridge CS3 frozen

Question

I am using a MacBook Pro with OS 10.6.3 and have been having ongoing problems with my Bridge CS3 running slowly and freezing after being in use for many hours. 
My immediate problem is:  I went into preferences/cache and checked the 'Automatically Export Caches to Folders When Possible' box thinking that it would help the program run more smoothly, and now Bridge is unresponsive.  I have tried force quitting, restarting both the program and my computer, and still Bridge is frozen. 
When I launch Bridge CS3 the program window appears on the screen, and if I move fast enough it allows me to perform one click (I have tried directing it to a smaller folder and/or opening preferences and unchecking the 'automatic export caches to folders' as well as purging my cache).  Once I have made my one click, the program freezes again.   There is also a little spinning icon in the bottom left corner of the window that indicates that something is happening, but even after letting the program run for up to an hour, nothing.  
Using Bridge is a vital aspect of my running my business ~ I am dependent on it, so need to use it daily.  Please help me resolve this issue.  I am dead in the water until I get Bridge up and functional again.
Thanks!
Susan

Answer 1

One last question: I'm a professional photographer, but I do not depend on
cached folders and files.  I edit in Bridge, previewing almost every image
(there are thousands of them - hi res too), and then process only the choices
(very few) in Camera Raw, and then retouch in Photoshop; saving my finished
files in new folders on my external drive (which is backed up).  I don't
understand the value of cached folders.  Can you explain please. 
HI Susan
Glad to hear your problems are solved, just keep a record of this method, as
long as you are in CS3 you will certainly need it again sooner or later I'm
afraid...
The value of keeping folders cached can be very great although keeping the
Cache forever is not the best choice. But that is the way Bridge works. You
can compress the cache and customize  the size (that is, in CS5) so it
overwrites the oldest files but still not ideal in my opinion.
I have a similar workflow as you do with selecting lot's of files and use
only a few to work with. But I don't use much separate folders, usually have
one main folder that is set in Photodownloader as default destination.
I use PDL for downloading from card reader, converting to DNG, renaming with
shot date and sequence number and adding metadata template with copyright
and back up original Raw files to separate HD.
Having Bridge mostly pointed to that main folder the caching starts
automatically for the files (Always HQ) and when the downloading is finished
the caching is almost also done. Plus I don't have to navigate to many
different folders.
Mostly I don't start immediately on a large project for several reasons and
therefore put them away in stacks. I sometimes have 5 or 6000 files in this
folder but with organizing in stacks it is very easy to overview and find
them back.
And here is for me the great value of a cached folder, The next day after
restart I can immediately start again to work on that folder and see the
previews in HQ and being able to start selecting with arrow keys and
cmd+.(dot) to increase rating.
The none selected (using the filter panel to sort and select those easily),
go to separate folders (one folder each day) for my DNG archive using drag
and drop in the folder panel. I don't bother about caching for them, if I do
I use the prefer embedded method, fast and for that purpose enough quality.
The developed  DNG files (rated/labeled) are after finishing in PS moved to
the same DNG archive (with rating and settings so if needed easy traceable).
The saved PSD files go in an other main folder and after adding additional
metadata (IPTC description etc)and proper renaming I can distribute them
with Save as actions customized in size and resolution for client needs,
leaving the originals untouched.
It would be nice if Bridge was also able to work as a Digital Asset
Management Application but during the cycle from file browser in PSCS to
current Bridge 4 in PSCS5 it failed me many times for this purpose and to be
honest it still is not capable to work with tons of files in a way a
specialized DAM application does. Mainly due to cache problems and slow
indexing and find options.
Each new version is getting better (faster, stable) but I decided to use
Canto Cumulus as DAM for my main archive of finished imaged that I need to
keep and easy to find. Cumulus does so and I'm very happy with that
It would also be preferable if Bridge deleted cache for older files but to
be honest, I yet have to figure out how that can be done together with
satisfaction for all users....
Meantime I can't imagine working without Bridge and I learned to live with
deleting the cache file (in my case it grows sometimes to 35 GB in size)
every now and then. As said, for CS3 very often CS4 and especially CS5
rarely and mainly for saving space