Expert: Amy - 6/4/2004

Question
Hi there, I can't find anyone else that could give me a useful
answer to my problem, so I thought I'd give you a go. :)

I have illustrator 9 on an iBook. It runs in classic
environment in the X.2 system.

I've always been able to save my AI9 files before, but
recently, I haven't been able to. When I select "save" or
"save as.." no window comes up asking me where I want the
new file to go or what it should be named. When I close an
unsaved window, the warning box asking "do you want to
save before quiting?" comes up as usual, but when I click
"save," it simply disapears, it doesn't actually save or save
as. The only form of saving that I can successfully execute
is "save for web." I need to be able to work with large files
at high resolution and keep their layers, and be able to
return to them day after day, so save for web isn't going to
substitute for the other saves.

I logged in on a dummy account I set up, and it seems to
do this with ALL accounts, so I don't think it's a preferences
problem. There was a time when it DID save normally, but I
can't think of anything that would cause it to stop working
correctly so suddenly. There have been no system updates
that would affect the program, to my understanding. And
no other programs on my computer have this problem.

Any idea what's caused this? Or what I could do to remedy
the problem? Would reinstalling do anything or would that
disable MORE functions?

Thank you very much for reading over this and if you have
any help to give. :)

~E. H.

Answer
Hi Erika,

This is a classic example of an out of memory / finder error. This happens to me when I've got too many things going on.  It also happens to me when I use Illustrator and Eudora (mail) at the same time. But even there, it's because of memory.

I wouldn't reinstall.

A few things to try...

Delete prefs
Quit AI, locate and delete AIprefs file, restart AI

Increase AI's Memory
I'm on a PC, but I believe it still works the same for you as when I used a Mac.  You Click and Get Info on the Illustrator icon and there you'll find the memory allotment there.  Increase it accordingly - depends on what you've got available. Here's what they say to do when you want the most you can get:
(this is from Adobe.com)
1. Start any applications you want to run simultaneously with Illustrator, but don't start Illustrator.
2. Choose "About This Computer" from the Apple menu.
3. Note the Largest Unused Block value.
4. Select the Adobe Illustrator application icon, then choose File > Get Info.
5. Enter a value for Preferred Size that is less than 90% of the value you noted in step 3.
6. Close the Info window.

Disable Virtual Memory.
1. From the Apple menu, choose Control Panels > Memory.
2. Select Off in the Virtual Memory section.
3. Close the Memory control panel.
4. Restart the computer.

Delete your Finder Preferences. (my bet)
Quit all apps and go into the Preferences Folder in your System Folder. Find and trash the Finder Preferences file. Restart.

I hope one of these steps helps you!
Have a good weekend.
-Amy