Pre9 Crashes and Memory

Question

Hello,
I am 90% done with a video that is about 20 minutes long. It contains video and photo images. I cannot complete the project because PrE keeps crashing I believe due to memory. My machine is XP with 4GB RAM.
I took the steps recommended. All my photos have been reduced to 1000X750, then placed in a slideshow (from Organizer). I reset my virtual memory to settings 4GB and 8GB (max). I was a bit confused because I set both my C and D HDD's on these settings and I'm not sure which Windows is actually using for virtual memory.
I can only work about a minute before the system seems to overload then crashes. I'm in a bit of trouble with this and would appreciate any help. Thank you! Stan

Answer 1

Stan,
At about 70% of capacity, a HDD begins to slow down, and its performance deteriorates, the closer to 100% one comes.
Now, if you only have one physical HDD, C:\, and add an additional HDD, D:\, I would create a folder for each of your Projects. Then, I would Move my Assets from C:\. Here, one has several choices, which I will get into in a bit. I would Move my PREL files to their respective Project folders. The Scratch Disks, with the Media Cache, Render Files, etc., can be Moved, or probably better, can be Deleted, as PrE will regenerate those - the CFA's and PEK's, when you Open the Project (be patient, until that work is done, and just watch the little "progress bar" in the lower-right of the GUI. In Edit>Preferences, set Scratch Disk to "Same as Project," which will now be on your D:\. When needed, you can hit Enter, to Render the parts of your Timeline, that will need it. I would not bother Moving those Render Files, as it might not work to reestablish the links to them, and it will only take a few moments to Render again.
Now, once you have done the Move, when you Open one of the PREL files, the links to the Assets will NOT be valid. Those links are absolute Paths, and you will have changed the drive letter, so they will be broken. PrE will ask you, "Where is file _____ ?" and present you with navigation screens, and also a Finder. Just navigate to the new folder on D:\, where the first missing Asset is, and PrE will link to it, then survey that folder, and re-link all Assets used in that Project. If you have sub-folder with the Assets, you will need to repeat for each sub-folder, but only for the first un-linked file in each. For more detail, see this ARTICLE.
For setting up Project folders, and sub-folders, this ARTICLE gives you my scheme. It is not the only way to do it, so feel free to adapt from it, to suit the way that you like to work. If you notice, I have my media files stored elsewhere, and only use Copies of them in the sub-folders. The location of your media files is a personal choice. Some keep them in sub-folders by subject, or maybe date, and just link to the ones Imported, from there. I like to keep mine separate, and just Copy them to, say the Video sub-folder below my Project's root folder. This is your choice.
Also, and before you do anything with that new D:\, there is another possible workflow - the Project Archiver. It will create a Copy of your Project, on the Destination Disk that you choose - D:\ in this case. It will gather up the Assets, and Copy them too, but depending on the folder structure, where those Assets resided, at Import, there can be some "missing files." If you use Project Archiver, make sure to test the Project, that it Copied over to D:\, to make sure that it was able to get everything, and that there are no problems with this Copy of your Project.
I would give this some thought, before you do anything. Plan how you'd like to handle it, before you Move, Copy or Delete the very first file. Also, and since you are starting with at least a half-way "clean slate," this gives you the opportunity to decide on the folder structure, that works best for you.
In the end, cleaning your Projects, your Media and your Scratch Disks off of C:\, and locating them onto D:\, will likely speed things up.
In an ideal world, one would have a C:\, with ONLY the OS, programs and possibly the Page File, or part of it. Then, they would have their Media on a separate, physical HDD. Last, they would have their Projects, and their Scratch Disks on yet a third physical HDD. If one only has 2 physical HDD's, then they would combine the latter two, onto one physical HDD.
In my folder/sub-folder scheme, above, I sacrifice some performance, by not splitting my Media and my Projects/Scratch Disks over separate HDD's, but I use the portability of my FW-800 externals, between machines, and then have a "one-touch" Delete (the Project's root folder), when I have finished. Were I not using the portability, I would split the Media to one HDD, and Projects/Scratch Disks to another. As the originals of my Media are on my NAS, what I would have on that second HDD would just be Copies, and I would use the same Project folder, as on the other HDD, for each Project. Then, I would know which Project was included, and would then have a "two-touch" Deletion - one for the Project and everything under it, and one for that Project's Media Copies.
Good luck,
Hunt