Austinville Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 I have photoshop elements 7 and was going to install it, but then I had this brainfart. I know it will slow down my computer, so was wondering if I could put it on an external hard drive and use it from there. Then it's only slowing me down when I use it..... OR, is there some other suggestions instead of installing photoshop? I used to use Piknik (online photo manipulation) but they are shutting down the site in April. I just got this darn thing and I don't want it running slowly. That absolutely drives me crazy. *Remember, I don't know much about computers, so speak slowly and clearly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Simply installing Photoshop will not slow your PC down. Running Photoshop shouldn't really slow your PC down. Unless you are performing some really intesive filtering or adjustments on a really BIG image. Installing Photoshop on an external drive, will not help speed things up. If you have just got this PC unless it is a VERY basic machine it should be able to handle running Photoshop without a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Simply installing Photoshop will not slow your PC down. Running Photoshop shouldn't really slow your PC down. Unless you are performing some really intesive filtering or adjustments on a really BIG image. Installing Photoshop on an external drive, will not help speed things up. If you have just got this PC unless it is a VERY basic machine it should be able to handle running Photoshop without a problem. It's a sony Vaio, intel core i5 processor with 640 gb storage. As I often print large photos for the walls, I typically shoot my photos in the largest size available on my camera. Is there something besides photoshop that you recommend? I've been looking into downloading Gimp instead. What's your recommendation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunc Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 You problem is not your computer per say on its own like Andy says it should be fine to run Photoshop and also no an extra hard drive will not help as the main body of the program will still run from your main hard drive. You will find unless am wrong the guys will tell he am sure is your printer data transferability rate which when doing large dpi prints most home type printers suffer lag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boondog Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 What other devices are you using when using PSE7? is it these that are slowing down your expereince? - mouse, tablets, pen's? "It's a sony Vaio, intel core i5 processor with 640 gb storage." - with these you can run three space shuttles on the Intel I series chips, which beg's the question about your experiance when using PSE7 being slow? The only conceivable way to speed up the application itself is to use an SSD- which to be honest is maybe not even worth investment, because with the i5, your not going see that much of an improvement vs the cost. Most of the work being done on it is you? Your printer & Printer cable and USB output im assuming are USB 2? I think for all of us now, its understanding by what you mean as slow? not going to be easy as we cannot see - but your going to have to define it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicTurtle Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Photoshop doesn't slow down my PC unless, as Andy mentioned I do some heavy manipulation of large files and don't reboot the PC after many sessions of that. You asked about alternatives to Photoshop, what do you use it for? If all you want is a basic program to do very minimal photo editing and printing you could try the free Picasa offered by Google. It gives you basic photo editing and web albums. I use it for family photos that don't have to have superior color or editing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 My experience with PE7 is on my daughter's computer, but after reading what you much more knowledgeable folks have to say, I'm inclined to believe that the problem lies more with her computer. I just didn't want to start having the problems she does. Will have to check to see what she actually has.... As far as my comment on printing, I don't print the photos at home, I take them to the local photography studio for printing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woden von Huskybutt Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Installing won't make your computer run slower. PSE7 should be a piece of cake for your PC to handle. Chances are you have a lot of unnecessary processes running in the background, eating up your memory. I have a 3.9Ghz overclocked quad core, 16GB fast RAM, and my OS and photoshop CS5 are on a SSD with a dedicated scratch drive... but that's overkill unless you're running PS CS5, Lightroom 3, Sony Vegas, a web browser, and VLC media player at the same time... while editing 90 megapixel scans of 6x7 medium format film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueWolf Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Installing won't make your computer run slower. PSE7 should be a piece of cake for your PC to handle. Chances are you have a lot of unnecessary processes running in the background, eating up your memory. I have a 3.9Ghz overclocked quad core, 16GB fast RAM, and my OS and photoshop CS5 are on a SSD with a dedicated scratch drive... but that's overkill unless you're running PS CS5, Lightroom 3, Sony Vegas, a web browser, and VLC media player at the same time... while editing 90 megapixel scans of 6x7 medium format film. That actually sounds like my default setup when I boot my computer. When I'm actually doing something I have much more open, lol! http://i.imgur.com/pMBBX.png Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woden von Huskybutt Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 I've only got one display, so I can't go TOO crazy hahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 I have photoshop elements 7 and was going to install it, but then I had this brainfart. I know it will slow down my computer, so was wondering if I could put it on an external hard drive and use it from there. Then it's only slowing me down when I use it..... OR, is there some other suggestions instead of installing photoshop? I used to use Piknik (online photo manipulation) but they are shutting down the site in April. I just got this darn thing and I don't want it running slowly. That absolutely drives me crazy. *Remember, I don't know much about computers, so speak slowly and clearly! As others have said it wont slow down your computer just having it installed .. That is of course unless your harddrive is nearly full once its installed, but these days that very rare. Also as others have said photoshop is unlikely to run faster being on another drive. The only exception to this is if you are running a fair amount of plugins. If this is the case then you should run photoshop from your main drive and change your plugin folder to one on the other drive. This is because your harddrives will generally not be as fast as your processing + memory speed, and therefore when you are running a program that your system has no problem with it will generally be your hard disk that slows it down. By moving some of the elements to another drive you can speed them up. How noticable that will be will depend on how many separate elements to the program you are running which is why its only generally a good idea if you are running a lot of plugins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Ok, the consensus appears that I'm worried about nothing, so - if I'm brave tonight, I'll install it and start playing again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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