Probably the exception - not the rule

Question

I've been messing around with computers since the days of the Radio Shack Commadore Vic 20. It can be a frustrating hobby - to say the least. I've had the typical Adobe free stuff on my computer for years, and fooled around with Photoshop on other pc's. (my brother works in a print shop and advised me not to purchase it).
Recently I purchased my first Adobe software - Premiere Elements. I was pretty excited about the prospect of doing more editing than I could in Windows Movie. Installing it was a bit of a hassle, but I hung in there.
Today was the first time I've had a chance to sit down and play around with it. I started about 6am, it's now 11:20am. About 90% of the last 5 hours and 20 minutes has been spent rebooting, re-opening after the hundreds of crashes, reading the barage of error messages, closing every other program I can think of that might be conflicting.
From what I could tell, some of the features looked like they might be fun. I wish I could have kept the program running long enough to give it a better try.
For the record, my computer is only about a year old and the only issue I've had with it is Windows Vista, (but that's another story).
As my title stated, I'm sure I'm probably teh exception and not the rule. In all my years of computering, including many years using digital audio recording software such as Cakewalk SONAR, Cubase and Pro Tools, I've never had so many countless issues, one after the other, with ANY software . . . EVER! The ridiculousness of it is almost comical. Truly, without a doubt - the biggest waste of my money in 2010 - no question about it. I can honestly say I will NEVER even think about purchasing anything from Adobe again.
If it was a glitch here or there that I could work thru - that would be all in a days work. The "glitches" were too many to count. Literally every mouse click brought on a new error or freeze up. I don't think my computer has been restarted this many times all month.
Anyway - have fun. I'm off to find video editing software that I can actually use to edit video. 

Answer 1

If you actually want help, you have the link for the PElements forum
But, before you go there, nobody can help without DETAILS
How to ask a question http://forums.adobe.com/thread/416679
Plus Video-Specific Information http://forums.adobe.com/thread/459220?tstart=0
Also, this is aimed at Premiere Pro, but may help
Work through all of the steps (ideas) listed at http://ppro.wikia.com/wiki/Troubleshooting
If your problem isn't fixed after you follow all of the steps, report back with ALL OF THE DETAILS asked for in the FINALLY section, the questions at the end of the troubleshooting link... most especially the codec used... see Question 1
Read Harm on drive setup http://forums.adobe.com/thread/662972?tstart=0
- click the embedded picture in Harm's message to enlarge to reading size
- you need AT LEAST 2 drives for video editing, 3 is better
- some HD formats work better with (require) RAID
Read Hunt on Partitions http://forums.adobe.com/thread/650708?tstart=0
A link with many ideas about computer setup http://forums.adobe.com/thread/436215?tstart=0
Read Bill Hunt on a file type as WRAPPER http://forums.adobe.com/thread/440037?tstart=0
What is a CODEC... a Primer http://forums.adobe.com/thread/546811?tstart=0
What CODEC is INSIDE that file? http://forums.adobe.com/thread/440037?tstart=0
Do not reply here... go to the PElements forum for help with that product