Actually I don't think you can really blame this on AI, at least not exclusively. File corruptions are usually just a side-effect of a system in bad shape or other tools interfering with file access operations, even more so as the user directory, where specific configuration data is stored is already one of the busiest on your system. So check the following things:
- use CCleaner do remove temporary files and debris from old install. This will free up disk space and serve as a prep for the next step, which is
- defragment your drive
- if you are using a virus scanner, set it so to only scan files when they are being read, not written. If your tool does not offer that option, create an exclusion rule for the directory (C:\Documents and Settings\Todd\Application Data\Adobe\Illustrator CS3) or use a different one.
- likewise, make sure you are not running any indexing programs or other tools that may interfere.
- reduce the traffic on the user specific directories (My Files and sub-folders), by not storing your files there. Instead use dedicated folders outside the directory, ideally even on separate partitions. This will also help to prevent fragmentation and excessive generation of temporary files (as per the first 2 points)
- make sure, the energy scheme you are using is not sending your harddrive to sleep/ idle modes, so they don't wake up in time when AI wants to write its prefs on quitting the program
If the above steps don't improve performance and stability, then it may be time for a proper disk analysis, which you can do with your system's own functions (right-click your C: drive, access Properties, then choose Tools)or alternate tools from third-party, access vendors like O&O Software or Acronis. It's quite possible that you have damaged sectors, that just are not flagged and the operating system still tries to use them. A little system care and surgery using those programs and tools should fix that. If they don't, then some of them will tell you about unrecoverable sectors and blocks and that's the point when you seriously should consider replacing the harddrive with a new one...
Mylenium
