PSP X3. Won't start. Crashes at "initializing palettes"

[tonyw]

Hi,
I installed a new harddrive on my laptop and restored a Ghost image of my old drive onto the new one. Most of the installed software worked right off. Some needed to be re-activated as the software detected a significant hardware change. However, PSP X3 would not start, crashing during loading. The PSP X. splash shows and the loading status gets to "initializing palettes" then Windows reports "Corel Paintshop Pro X3 has stopped working. Windows is checking for a solution...". That's it.

I have un-installed PSP X3 and reloaded from CD. I downloaded the 4 existing patches (1 through 4) and installed them in sequence. I didn't try starting PSP X3 until all the patches were in. Corel.com confirms the activation of the software.

I see others have had success calling Corel but I'm not inclined to put my business aside to spend hours on the phone. I've already spent a couple hours trying things. I would say my level of tech savvy is relatively high, self-taught but I seem to be the guy everyone comes to with PC problems. I've had pretty good success solving PC and software problems over the past few decades.

Any tips would be much appreciated. I've used PaintShop since the JASC days and the software works great. However, since about version 9, the software has become more prone to crashing under a variety of circumstances. Now it won't start. I would really love to use PSP X3, it's the only game in town in its price range.

Specs
1.8 GHz laptop
3 GB RAM
500 GB Seagate Momentus XT drive with 4 GB RAM buffer (supposedly a "hybrid" drive)
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

Thanks for any tips!

[Radim]

If you cannot configure then do complete uninstall - necesary steps & tools are on forum (http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=38064) and reinstall PSPP X3. I had the same problem.

[teknisyan]

Hello tonyw,

You may want to try resetting your workspace. By holding down and pressing the SHIFT key then launch PSP X3, when the screen below appears just click on OK.

Reset PSPX3.jpg (24.04 KiB) Viewed 13016 times

If the problem persists then may need to completely remove then reinstall the program by following the steps from this link: http://corel.custhelp.com/app/answers/d ... _id/764391

[tonyw]

Hi Abiel,
Thanks for the tip. I tried, but when I hold the shift key and starting PSP X3, nothing happens, not even a splash screen.

Radmin
Thanks also, I logged on as administrator and ran through Simone's steps but same result, crashes at Initializing Palettes.

Thanks all. It's been a good run with the JASC product. Corel added some nice features. But I have to give up as it's no longer cost effective to keep trying to get PSP to work reliably. I've been trying on and off for almost a year with X3 (March 2010-Feb 2011). It works for awhile then the crashes get too frequent so I un-install and re-install. This time it won't even run. So moving on, have ordered Serif PhotoPlus X4. Will give that a try. Photo Elements is my other choice. Have tried Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 6 but its' not as good as PSP X3. GIMP is fine for a quick fix up and I have that loaded on my netbook. Frankly, I do most of my quick crops and histogram shifts in Picasa. But had been using PSP for its layers, masks, and object extractor.

-Tony

[Joelle]

"Have tried Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 6 but its' not as good as PSP X3"

Xara PGD6 is a Vector program with a few very useful raster bits added, plus the Content Aware filter, which is excellent. It is constantly being improved, something I can't say for PSPPX3.

If anyone asked, I would recommend PSPPX2 and Xara PDD6, which is what I use at the moment.
The best of both worlds.

Just my opinion:-)

Joelle

[tonyw]

PSP X2, good idea, I'll re-install version X2 or V9 which also worked great. I also have Xara for vector drawings which led me to try the Xara photo and graphic designer which turned out to be a collection of various software rather than one. Also some of the same software was being marketed by another company called MAGIX. I removed it after about 20 minutes after discovering it wasn't going to be a PSP alternative.

I'm trying PhototLine and have PhotoPlus coming by mailorder.

-Tony

[Joelle]

If you like vector drawing Xara is excellent, it doesn't cost an arm & a leg either.
I used to do a lot of vector drawing with PSP, but Corel haven't done anything to that side of the program for years and by adding Photo to the title they have nailed their colours to the mast, ie they aren't interested in the vector part.
Firing their development team hasn't helped either ..

Magix is a German company, who added Xara to their stable a few years ago.
Xara is still run from Gaddesten Place :
http://site.xara.com/gaddesden/
What an inspirational place to work!

Have fun road-testing imaging programs
I find PSPPX2 hard to beat, especially as it is so easily customised,it makes working sooo much easier

Joëlle

[thumper300zx]

I opened PSP X3 last night and go the PALETTES INITIALIZING problem.

I had backed up my entire system 8 days ago (Acronis).

The only things I can remember changing over that time:

1) I installed Turbo Tax
2) I had started getting all the Corel adds to upgrade my software and clicked to never show again
3) I believe I installed one of the Corel updates I was notified of automatically by X3
4) There were a couple Windows Updates

I don't think the problem is #4 because people have had this problem long before the most recent Windows updates.

[df]

I'd actually suspect #4 more than the rest. It wouldn't hurt to do a system restore on your OS, then try PSP, install all updates from MS first and retry PSP, install the PSP update and restart it, etc....

[thumper300zx]

With the luxury of being able to restore my entire HD state in about 10 minutes, I will try a few different things.

[thumper300zx]

Ok -- I THINK I found out why (in my case) PSP was getting stuck on initializing palettes.

Once it got stuck there, I noticed after hovering over the running programs icon (in taskbar) a small message that I could hardly read. The actual window is on the desktop, but HIDING behind the PSP graphic. If I hover over the icon in taskbar and then hover over the small graphic, the message shows up on on the desktop and the PSP graphic disappears so I can read the message. If I move the mouse off, then the PSP graphic comes back up.

The message in my case appears to be some issue with my Pen Tablet driver and PSP loading:

"Tablet Driver: There is a problem with your tablet driver. Please reboot your system. if the problem persists reinstall or update the driver."

I can't get to the main window to close this error, but I can either RIGHT CLICK the running PSP icon and hit "CLOSE WINDOW" or close the small Tablet Driver window when it's up, and then PSP actually finishes loading up. Going to uninstall the tablet driver to see if it resolves the problem entirely or not.

[df]

If your tablet is a Wacom tablet you may need to disable the Windows tablet drivers to let Wacoms drivers work. To do so click Start> Control Panel> Programs and Features (icon view). On the left panel of the Programs and Features click "Turn Windows features on or off". Find Tablet (I'm not at my computer with a tablet right now but it's obvious what it is) and uncheck that. You'll need to restart your computer for it to take affect.

[thumper300zx]

It is a Wacom, but making the suggested change didn't make a difference (whether or not the tablet is actually plugged in).

Maybe I'll uninstall and reinstall the Wacom drivers. Anyway -- better that I can get past the stop knowing to shut the small window at this point.

[thumper300zx]

Removed the Wacom drivers and PSP no longer stalls at INITIALIZING PALETTES. Only problem is, I want to use the Wacom.