Susan, Owbist is great, knowledgeable, and always helpful, so please don't take my response as disputing his obliging and useful advice to you. I have no doubt there is a memory issue that correcting will prove beneficial. What you describe sounds like an overloaded cache directory. This may also be referred to by some programs as the program's scratchpad (or whatever Photoshop Elements calls it). Any program that works with graphics (most programs, actually, whether they work with graphics or not, especially Word), utilizes this area for temporary storage used by your computer's memory. Everything you do in PE creates these temp files, which are an integral part of forming/creating/modifying while in the program. Just opening a graphic in PE prompts the program to automatically generate these cache/scratch/temp files to help it remember the graphic and everything you do to it (such as lightening, sharpening, applying effects, etc.). In other words, PE is creating and storing copies of the information it needs and makes easily retrievable while you task. It is one reason undo is possible, for example, but has many other uses. The program automatically created this area/directory on your hard drive during installation, and some programs build them more heavily and more rapidly than others. That would depend on the size of these files and how many it builds for each individual graphic. Some build only one, but some build quite a few. I have no idea how many PE creates or how big they are. Additionally, there are other temp files the program may be creating. Even though it's finished with those files and has discarded them to the cache/scratchpad directory or to your Temp directory in Windows, it still accesses them. Or, in the very least, they are sitting there in the way, interferring with the program's functionability (is that a word? LOL). This explains your sudden decrease in efficiency. Therefore, adding memory will certainly help but only for the length of time it takes the cached/scratched files to build beyond RAM's ability to manage - which is what actually just happened. Now, your task is finding its location so you can clean it out and be able to clean it periodically. I'm sorry I cannot help with that because I don't have PE. I do have Photoshop but couldn't find its scratch folder doing a quick look. Once you delete all the *junk* in there, PE will resume normal function at a maximum rate of tasking speed that your amount of memory will accommodate. As Owbist indicated, the more the merrier. :) Start another thread for someone with PE to help you find that folder. Incidentally, clean out your Temp directory. C > Windows > Temp Bet you find a bunch of stuff with a .tmp extension. You will likely find files with other extensions, but I wouldn't touch those. Good luck

Formatting is a fairly typical first step but you shouldn't have to do it after the initial setup. Now that you have images on the card, if you format the card you WILL loose the images. Hard to tell what's going on, might be a driver problem. What happens if you just use Windows Explorer to view the files on the card? If you can get in with Explorer, I'd just copy the images to your hard drive and then use Photoshop to view them. You could also try a friend's computer or take the card to the local drugstore, etc. and see if you can access the images there.

Doesn't Windows 7 have some kind of "run in previous version" compatibility mode??? Generally speaking, once you open the software box, you own the software. Some stores may make an exception but I wouldn't count on it. It seems that Adobe as a free trial of Photoshop Elements 10. Here is a link that might be useful: PS Elements Trial

The requirements for drip stubs can vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another. Both the International Residential Code and the Uniform Plumbing Code require drip legs at low points and meter outlets if there is the potential for having water vapor in the gas. Note, the operative word is the "potential" for water vapor in the gas supply. Most of the natural gas consumed in this country is initially produced from the Texas/Oklahoma oil basin or the California oil basin and because of other elements present in the gas it requires refining process before it can be used for fuel, thus during the refining process they not only extract the undesirable elements, the gas is also dehumidified. Such is not always the case in my region. While it is true that we are primarily using Oklahoma gas delivered via Tennessee by pipeline, nonetheless, we also happen to be on the Pennsylvania/N.E. Ohio gas field. Gas in this region is referred to as "Sweet gas" and it can be used directly from the wellhead once it has been stenched. (stenching is the process of adding the odor that we recognize as natural gas). While they do conduct a filtering process to eliminate water vapor at the stenching plant there still remains the potential that some of the natural ground water may be carried forward in the gas so our local codes are very strict about drip stubs. Both my sister and my uncle have farms in this region and they have gas wells on their farms. In addition to receiving a small royalty check for the gas they produce, they we also given the opportunity to run a gas line from the well head to their homes and they get an unlimited supply of gas for their personal use. In fact, at my sisters farm she not only has her house but my mother has a second house on the property and both receive an unlimited supply of free natural gas. (Sure helps out on the heating bills during those long winter nights).