I have a brand new HP using Vista 32 w/ core 2 quad and 2 gig ram.
I’m using Pinnacle Studio Ultimate and I keep getting random lock ups during rendering.
I have to kill the process and when I try to bring my project back up even after a reboot, it will not open it. I have to re-install the software and try again. I have had to un-install and re-install about 3 times now. I have installed all of its upgrades as well. I really do like what the software can do, but its just killing me to have to go through this. I thought I had a beefy enough desktop. Could it be Vista or is it just the nature of the beast as far as a Pinnacle product?

Vista is a bit of a memory hog, so that might not be enough RAM. Also, what sort of graphics card are you using? I couldn't get clear previews or good renders until I finally added a separate PCI Xpress graphics card with at least 512MB onboard RAM. (I ended up getting one with 1GB.)

Are you rendering to AVI first? There are threads here that have really helped in my crashing etc.

First render your movie in AVI with transitions etc, Just no Menu and no chapters.

Reopen your avi project add a menu and chapters (save) and then burn.

I have added music on saved avi, and also added music while adding menu and chapters and really didn't make a difference. But if you have not tried the AVI route, give it a try and let us know.

good luck