Sony Vegas Pro 9 Problem

Sony Vegas Pro 9 Problem

Hi Charrina,

There could be different reasons why your computer crashes when you render a video.

One in particular is space and resources, rendering uses a lot, and I mean a lot.

And even more when you are using high resolution images with videos and audio files.

 Here are ways to fix this problem:

1. UPDATE – Download an Update of Sony Vegas 9 here: 

The update includes fixes to crashes and the rendering process.

2. UPGRADE – Sony Vegas pro is now on its version 10. A lot of bugs fixes have been made including crashes and rendering acceleration for NVIDIA and ATI processors.

3. Change directory – You can change the directory where the files are saved. If the files are currently pointed to be saved to a different partition or drive, it is ideal to change it to the same drive.

4. Delete Unused Tracks – Another solution to the crashes is to cut tracks or parts of the videos or audio tracks. When doing projects, if you have tracks that are muted you might want to delete them. This has been proven to reduce the chances of crashes.

5. Free up some space – There are probably huge amounts of temporary and cache files piled up in your computer. When you install programs, surf the internet, play videos, view images, or basically anything you do, especially when editing videos, portions of the files and/or programs that you use are stored as cache and temporary files.

When deleted, you’ll be surprised how much space they used up.

A popular tool for this job is CCleaner.
Get it here: 

6. Increase Virtual Memory – The Virtual Memory helps the RAM run programs and applications. Increasing the Virtual Memory increases the page filing, thus helping your computer run more applications and faster.

Windows 7:

• Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced tab.
• In the Performance section select Settings > Advanced.
• In the Virtual Memory section, click Change.
• You can change the size according to the free space available on your hard drive.
• Restart.

7. Fragmented Hard Disk – A good analogy for fragmentation would be the filing cabinet. Imagine you had your employees’ files in different manila folders scattered amongst 7 filing cabinets. You’d have to go from cabinet to cabinet to find the folder that you need. It’s the same way with your computer. This occurs normally since you use the computer for different processes all at the same time.

Defragging your computer arranges the manila folders in the filing cabinet according to frequency of use, putting the ones which are always used in front.

Before defragging your PC, close all open programs including the Antivirus. I also recommend disconnecting from the Internet.

• Click Start.
• Type “disk defragmenter” in the box.
• Select Disk defragmenter under Programs.
• Select the drive and click Analyze. It will tell if you if you should defrag or not.
• After defragmentation, reboot your PC.

8. Hardware Acceleration – If you have a lot of programs installed, lots of applications running including some windows services, your graphics hardware may be having a hard time playing videos.

Windows 7:

• Choose Start > Control Panel > Personalization > Display Settings > Advanced Settings > Troubleshooting tab.
• In the Trouble shooting tab, click Change Setting.
• Move the slider to None on Hardware Acceleration.
• Hit OK and another OK.
• Restart your computer.

9. Malware – Scan for viruses or other malicious software such as worms, Trojans, etc. that is using up your resources and worse, changing your settings. Some Antivirus software cannot detect other malware or at least some of it. You need another layer of protection to make sure your PC is really malware free.

Try some of these popular Anti-malware, Anti-Spyware and Rootkit Scanners:

• Spybot Search and Destroy.
• Malwarebyte’s Antimalware.
• Ad-Aware.
• Sophos Anti-Rootkit.
• GMER Rootkit scanner and remover.

Download and install them. Update and run a scan. Again, finding some Trojan, worm, spyware, rootkit, etc. are indicative of an attacked computer.

10. Repair Installation – As a last resort, you can uninstall and reinstall Sony Vegas 9.

When reinstalling, remember to update it first before trying any projects.

Hopefully you won't be having this problem after following some of these steps. Good luck!