Issue with lasso tools in Photoshop

[Ashlie]

I am having tons of problems when trying to use the lasso tools (magnetic and polygonal) to make selections in Photoshop - seems to be occuring more and more often. When I begin making the selection, everything seems fine and then about halfway through (if I can even make it that far) the whole monitor goes white and I can't see anything. All I can do is double click to end the selection process and then try to start all over. Sometimes when I start over, I can make it through and sometimes it just keeps going white partway through the selection. So a selection that should be quick an easy turns into a nightmare and I don't know what to do. Has anyone seen this before? Any ideas on what's happening and/or how I can fix it? I am a designer and I don't know too much about the inner workings of a computer.... Has anyone actually fixed this problem with success? Please help

[Robin Springall]

Sounds like a memory fault, especially if the problem's getting worse. Either the computer's RAM, or the RAM on your graphics card, or (if you're using Windows) your temp folders might have so many files that the PC is getting confused.

I'd empty out all your temp folders first, then check the card disc (Scandisk on a PC, Disk verify and repair permissions on a Mac.) Then unplug the computer from everything, and reseat the memory modules and the graphics card. If that lot doesn't cure it, maybe you really do have a failed memory chip.

[Howard Allen]

What platform?

One thing to try when you get flaky behaviour in Photoshop is to reset the application preference file. In OSX this is done by quitting Photoshop, then holding down Shift-Option-Command and relaunching the application. A window will pop up asking if you want to do this (yes!). In Windows, I believe the equivalent is Shift-Control-Alt.

It worked wonders for me when one of the tools was misbehaving.

[Bo Aakerstrom]

If you are using Windows you can check the amount of memory the system "can see" by going to Start > Control panel > System, under the General tab, at the bottom you will see the amount of RAM which should correspond to what you know should be present. If less then you have faulty memory.

This is only checking the system memory, so it could still be your graphics card acting up.