Premier Elements 3 crashes when 'Burn' button clicked or 'Export to DVD' selected

Question

After compiling a slide show in Premier Elements ( including rendering, previewing, saving) and I then try to either “Burn” or “Export to DVD” the programme immediately shows “Adobe Premier Elements.exe application error.  The instruction at 0X0000000 reference memory 0X0000000.  The memory could not be read.” OK or Cancel immediately shuts the program down and can’t be re-opened until the computer is re-started. On shut down a second message is displayed “The instruction at 0x00f96cb7 reference memory at 0x00000000.  The memory could not be read. OK to terminate.’ I have replaced the RAM. I have repaired the programme many times with my original disc. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the programme many times. I have uninstalled Nero in case of a conflict. These fixing attempts seemed to have stopped message 2 appearing and the programme can now be restarted after it crashes without having to reboot. I have not been able to cure message 1, it crashes completely at any attempt to ‘burn’ a DVD or ‘export to a DVD’. I can use Windows to burn other discs without problems. I have previously burnt many other slideshow DVD’s without problem.
I cannot find anything similar to this fault in PE forums.
Hope to find some help.

Answer 1

Rosemary,
Trying to remember the full article, I do not think that I used too much "jargon," but in case that I did, I'll give you a quick distillation. You might want to still read on, as much more will be covered in that article.
When one starts a Project and then does a Save, a file is written to the location that the user chose. That file is [Project Name].prel. That file uses a computer language called XML. In the article, I show and example of a little bit of that language. That file ONLY contains a series of lines that link to the location of all Imported Asset files - the AV files, the still images, etc.. Those links are to where the various files were located on one's computer, when they did the Save. Next, there are a series of instructions for PrE to work with those linked Assets. These might be along the lines of "cut Shot_01.AVI at 00;00;30;00 and then again at 00;00;45;00," or "apply the Gaussian Blur Effect to Shot_02.AVI." Things like that. PrE is what is called a non-destructive NLE (Non Linear Editor) program, in that it never directly does anything to your original Assets, but only to the info gathered from them though those links. Your files are untouched, unless you were to do an Export/Share to that location, with the exact same name.
The .prel file only has some programming language inside. It is basically a database of links and instructions - not one Asset. It is not until a user does an Export, or Share (those terms basically mean the same thing, but in later versions, some of the old Export functions are now only under the Share tab), that any playable file is generated from PrE. Until then, there is nothing to play, only to Open in PrE (so long as the linked Assets still exist).
I hope that this makes sense. Many users are under the mistaken impression that Save will yield a playable file, or that one can play a .prel file. That is not the case, as explained above. This question has come up often enough, that I did the article to point out the differences, and give some tips on how to really get what one wishes.
After you read through the article, please do not hesitate to post any questions. What I want is something that is useful to all, regardless of their level of computer expertise, or their knowledge and familiarity with PrE, or any other NLE program.
Just let me know,
Hunt