There are 2 schools of thought here as far as freeing up hard drive space. For a long time we all believed that 100gb free on the C drive was necessary for PD to function properly. Some tests proved that is not entirely true, but computers are all so different.
Also, PD has some issues with SSD drives, so that may be a factor.
Just something to chew on till others chime in. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Thanks for the super fast reply! Let me add more info about my problem.

- I am editing mostly full HD 1080/50p videos I shot with Panasonic HDC TM700
- This problem started when I added more videos to my media library
- It always stops at 20% saving thumbnails
- I currently have about 4 min of videos on my timeline
- It also gets slower and more unresponsive as I add more transitions and motion effects to my project

I really need to finish this project by the end of the week. I appreciate all your help and thanks in advance!

There may also be a Quicktime issue, please install the latest Quicktime.
Screenshot of your timeline.
Perhaps a trial issue, what build of PD trial? HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

I've updated quicktime but still didn't help. Anyway, I've attached a copy of my timeline screenshot.

Here's more info about this PD trial version:

PowerDirector 10 trial 10.0.0.1424c
SR number: VDE120326-02

AHA!
In your library you will see on the video files, a yellow film icon with arrow. This indicates your computer is in the middle of creating proxy-files (lo-res versions of hi-res video media). Proxy files (or shadow files) are used on weaker computers to ease the strain.
Each of those yellow icons will turn green when the proxy is finished being created. Until they are ALL green, your computer is working it's arse off in the background.
Your machine does not need proxy files, you have plenty of horsies. Go into PREFERENCES and disable HD shadow files.
Then try again. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Hi again!

Sorry for the late reply but I've been trying different ways to solve my problems.

@Barrythecrab - Thanks so much for the suggestion. I tried it and it worked for a couple of times and then froze while I was editing. Anyway, it's definitely working better when I turned off the create shadow files function. Maybe because I have a lot of clips in my media folder.

I also emailed cyberlink technical support and this is their response to my problem. Just wanna share this with everyone here who might have similar problems.


Dear thecentaur,

Thank you for contacting CyberLink Technical Support.

I understand your concern related with the freezing of project and you are using PowerDirector 10 trial software.

In response to resolve this issue I would suggest you to please follow the steps given below.

1.In order to avoid most of the compatibility issues, please close all other software and utility applications including virus scans, screen saver and instant messaging software when you use PowerDirector.

2. Please update DirectX to latest version.

3. Empty the contents of the C:\Windows\temp folder and C:\temp folder, if you have one. Then empty Recycle Bin.

4. Increase Virtual memory :

a. Right click on "MyComputer"

b. Select Properties -> Advance

c. Click on "settings" under Performance.

d. Select "Advance"

e. Click on "change" under Virtual memory.

f. Select "Custom" and enter initial value as "1.5X(where X= Your actual Ram size)" and Max value as "3X(where X= Your actual Ram size)".

NOTE: If your existing settings are higher than recommended then leave them as before.

5. Start Windows in Selective Startup mode.

a. Click on Start.

b. Click on Run.

c. Type msconfig and click on OK.

d. A System Configuration Utility window will come up.

e. On General tab, select Selective Startup.

f. Uncheck "Load Startup Items".

g. Click on Apply.

h. Click on OK.

i. Click on Close.

j. It will ask you to restart your computer. Click on "Restart".

Now, try to launch the program and see how it works. If the issue still persists, please revert.

Please feel free to contact us back for any further clarification or for any assistance related to CyberLink Products. Use the below mentioned link to get back to us for your further queries:

https://membership.cyberlink.com/prog/support/cs/support-login.jsp

Thanks and Regards,

Mubin
CyberLink Technical Support


Ok, I have two questions I would like to ask someone here. I tried to ask for clarifications from technical support but they didn't really answer my questions.

1. I'm a bit confused with the part about virtual memory. I'm kinda mathematical challenged and I'm not sure the exact numbers to put into those boxes. I also have 3 drives. Drive C, E and D. Should I apply this to all my drives? Drive C is my boot drive and it's SSD. It only has 80Gig and I would like to use my D drive as my main drive. The PD software is installed on my C drive.

2. How do I know if I have the latest DirectX? Currently I have DirectX 11 as written on my dxdiag.


Hope someone can help me with these questions. Thanks a lot!

Quote: Ok, I have two questions I would like to ask someone here. I tried to ask for clarifications from technical support but they didn't really answer my questions.

1. I'm a bit confused with the part about virtual memory. I'm kinda mathematical challenged and I'm not sure the exact numbers to put into those boxes. I also have 3 drives. Drive C, E and D. Should I apply this to all my drives? Drive C is my boot drive and it's SSD. It only has 80Gig and I would like to use my D drive as my main drive. The PD software is installed on my C drive.

2. How do I know if I have the latest DirectX? Currently I have DirectX 11 as written on my dxdiag.


Hope someone can help me with these questions. Thanks a lot!

Question 1: You have 12GB of memory, so they are saying the minimum size of your page file should be at least 18GB and have a maximum size of at least 36GB. Your current page file size is about 2x your physical memory. So far as I can see a DXDiag file gives only the current size, not the min/max; maybe yours is set to "Let the system decide." You could try forcing the minimum and maximum to the numbers they specified.

Question 2: I, also, have DirectX 11.0. Windows Update should take care of it, and I don't see any DirectX updates in my history. If there is any finer version number than 11.0, I can't find it.

As for your disk drives, I'm not sure how you have things laid out now but you definitely want to move as much as you can off that 80GB SSD. You have less than 24GB free, PD would swallow that in one gulp. At the very least you want to move the "\users" and "\program data" folders to another drive. To be honest, I know how to do this in the general case but those two folders are special and I've never tried moving them.

I would leave your page file on the SSD, because that's where the SSD will really shine. It's the other stuff you have to move.

I don't mean to be snotty, so please don't take this as an insult. If you know how to use Knoppix, then you can contact me for an explanation. If you (like most people) don't know what Knoppix is, then you would be in way over your head. Jerry Schwartz