Specific project repeatedly crashing

[lylephoto]

(Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018 on Windows 7 Enterprise, 64-bit, Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1660 v4 @ 3.20GHz, 3201 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processors, 32 GB of RAM)

One specific project that is nearing completion is suddenly causing PP to crash repeatedly. Other projects seem to work just fine. There is no consistency to when the crashes occur, only that it's a sure thing the project will crash within the first minute or so of being open, regardless of whether any commands have been executed.

I've tried the following troubleshooting steps, none of which made any difference:

• - Computer restart
• - Computer shutdown, rest, start
• - Deleted unused cache files via Edit>Preferences>Media Cache
• - Manually deleted (and emptied Recycle Bin) all media cache files via
  • C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Media Cache
  • C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Media Cache Files
• - Saved a copy of the project within PP before crash; newly created project also crashes
• - Started new project and imported everything from original via Media Browser
• - Started new project and imported only select bits from original via Media Browser
• - Disabled GPU Acceleration (CUDA)
• - Unchecked ‘Enable Mercury Transmit’ option in Preferences
• - Trashed preferences by holding Alt while starting app
• - Updated NVIDIA graphics card
• - Uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe Premiere Pro CC
• - Started new project in different folder path, then imported elements from original via Media Browser
• - Started another project in a different folder path, then imported fewer elements from original via Media Browser

I'm beginning to beat my head against a wall. I have no idea how to get this project back to life.

[Jim_Simon]

The first thing that comes to mind is to perform a clean install of Windows 10, as Windows 7 isn't supported for that version of PP.

[lylephoto]

Wish I could, Jim. Windows 7 is what my employer provides, and they don't have any immediate plans to upgrade. It works just fine most of the time, except for this one specific project.

[Peru Bob]

How about rolling back the video driver?  Perhaps try several old drivers.

[lylephoto]

Part of my troubleshooting was to update the driver, as I discovered the driver I was running was pretty outdated. There was no difference before or after.

[lylephoto · Accepted solution]

SOLVED (I hope): All signs are pointing to a problem with a few PNG files I had in the timeline. I posted this question in a Facebook group I belong to for PP editors, and among many suggestions was a brief reference to PNG files not playing nicely with CC2018. So I converted them and replaced the files, and the crashing seems to have stopped. If time proves that to be wrong, I'll update this thread.

FWIW, the same person who noted the PNG issue also suggested it could be the Warp Stabilizer effect I had applied to a few clips. His suggestion was to export those bits with a rendering codec and drop replace the files. If the PNG conversion proves to not actually be the case, I'll try that next.