Total AV v PSE20.

[whippet]

I changed my firewall earlier this year.
It seems to be, that whenever the programme is in action, then it somehow affects PSE which keeps playing silly idiots - won't load, keeps freezing etc. Sometimes the computer freezes up completely, and I can only turn off at the mains.
I wondered if the two programmes are not compatible with each other.

Anyone got any ideas - apart from throwing the lot out of a window. 

[VickiD]

whippet, is there a settings panel for your firewall where you could 'white list' your installation of Elements? Maybe that would help.

[whippet]

Thanks Vicki.
I shall take a look tomorrow, when I am more awake. 

[Andy]

whippet - Do you mean firewall or Anti-Virus? and which program did you switch to? Have you confirmed it is that new software by disabling it and running PSE without a problem?

[whippet]

Seems I was wrong, Andy.
The third image has just opened on my screen.









In security settings, it shows that Windows Firewall is on.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus is off - but I can't find out where to go to turn it on.

Edit. Total has just started doing a scan. 
A couple of minutes ago, I went into photos. They would not load, the screen just remained black.
I think I will have to get rid of Total.

[Andy]

Total AV is a legitimate Anti-virus tool, although the PC Magazine review gives it just a mediocre score (and that is for the paid version). The free version gets a low score. However, those reviews are based on its usefulness as an Anti-virus program, and don't appear to be based on any negative impact to running applications.

You could try completely turning Total AV off, or uninstall it, and then test PSE. If it runs fine, then Total AV was the source of the issue.

As to Windows Defender - No matter what Anti-virus you run, you should only run one. You don't want Windows Defender and something else. Windows Defender by itself is not bad.

[whippet]

Thanks for the information, Andy.
It is the paid for version.
When I first got a computer, I was advised to put freebies on - which I did, and always had good service.
Then this year, decided I should have a purchased one.
I am going to uninstall Total, and see how things go.
I will let you know.

Many thanks again, Andy.

[whippet]

Well, it refused to go.
But I came across someone who had the same problem a couple of years ago. He was told to run Malware Bytes.
So I reinstalled that. It ran a scan, and 'Hey presto', Total has gone.
So far, so good, things seem to have returned to normal.

[Andy]

Sometimes the AV programs can be hard to get rid of (part of their defense against malware trying to remove it). I've used Malwarebytes and never had an issue.