Scratch Disk Full error with Photoshop

[Crystal]

So just today I've started getting the error "Scratch Disk is full" whenever I start up Photoshop and unfortunately I have no idea what it means. I've tried looking up things and asking my Dad for help but none of it makes any sense to me. Help? D:

[ritabuuk]

It means there is not enough memory and Photoshop is trying to use your hard drive instead, and there is not enough hard drive space either. Try some spring cleaning to free up more room on disk, and don't run anything else at the same time. You can also play with some settings like how much undo-history it saves; the more history, the more scratch disk is needed. On some older versions of Photoshop, you can also set up an external hard drive as additional scratch disk, but they for some reason removed this feature from newer versions.

[Crystal]

The memory thing I can understand but I still have 931 GB of hard drive space left so that part is a little confusing. The running other stuff at the same time would make sense. I run more programs than I probably should but I don't really get why it would be starting it now after all this time.

It seems to be gone for now, thankfully. It's just weird I've never run into this before.

[Robin]

Have you ever defragmented your hard drive?

One of the articles I found said that Photoshop uses hard disk space as a temporary "working area" when the computer doesn't have enough Random Access Memory to let Photoshop do its thing. But if a lot of files on the hard drive are fragmented (like a messy closet, socks with shirts instead of socks with socks), then Photoshop freaks out and goes all "OMG I CAN'T WORK LIKE THIS BYE." (Apparently, Photoshop is a neat freak, lol)

If the error comes back again, try defragging; I frequently use Defraggler, but most computers come with a defragging program already loaded. (In my Windows 7 install, the "Disk Defragmenter" tool is under Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools.) It might not help with the Photoshop error, but it might actually help your computer run faster in general--defragging sure helps mine. :)

[Crystal]

Haha that would make sense. I have never done a defrag with my computer and lately it has felt a little sluggish. I'll be switching to my Dad's old computer sometime soon though so I don't know if I need to worry about it. Still, it's a good thing to keep in mind for sure if it ever happens again.