The initial Picasa scan may freeze or crash if it comes across a problem file on your computer. Problem files generally fall into two categories: a corrupt file or a non-jpeg file, like TIFF or GIF, created by other programs. To remedy this issue, you need to isolate and remove this problem file from the Picasa scan. Please use these steps:

Step 1: Use the Picasa notifier to locate the problem file.

As Picasa scans your photos, a small notifier in the lower-right of your screen will quickly shuffle through the photos and folders found. When Picasa freezes or crashes, this notifier will generally pause on the file/folder in question. If you can identify which file/folder is causing the problem, follow these steps:

1. Following the crash, re-launch Picasa.
2. Immediately upon launch, use the Folder Manager (Click the Tools menu > Folder Manager) to remove the folder in question from Picasa. It's important that you do this before Picasa encounters the problem file during the scan. Without this problem file, Picasa should run normally.

If you're unable to identify the problem file using the Picasa notifier, move on to Step 2.

Step 2: Remove files listed in PicasaBadFile.txt.

When Picasa crashes after scanning a problem photo or video, it may create a record of the problem file. Please take the following steps to locate this record and exclude the file from Picasa:

1. Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop.
2. Double-click your Local Disk (C:) drive.
3. Double-click Program Files.
4. Double-click the Google folder.
5. Double-click the Picasa3 folder.
6. If Picasa was able to identify the corrupt file, you'll see a file named 'PicasaBadFile.txt' (or just 'PicasaBadFile'). Right-click the file.
7. Select Open With and choose Notepad.

The locations of any bad picture or video files will be in the Notepad document. Similar to Step 1, you can then use the Folder Manager to remove the file from the Picasa scan immediately upon startup.

If you can't locate 'PicasaBadFile.txt', please move on to the next step.

Step 3: Identify the file type that is causing the problem

If you've haven't yet located the problem file, you need to determine which file type is causing the problem. If you have a file type that you suspect may be the cause, remove it from Picasa. This could be a new RAW file, a non-standard TIFF or GIF file, or some other type of uncommon file type. Otherwise, follow these steps:

1. Launch Picasa.
2. Immediately remove all file types (except jpeg) from Picasa. It's important that you do this before Picasa encounters the problem file during the scan.
3. Add one file type back, GIF for example. Allow Picasa to completely scan for GIF files. If there are no problems, add back another file type and allow Picasa to scan completely.
4. Repeat the process for all file types, ending with Movies and Quicktime Movies.

Eventually, you'll add the file type of the file that is causing Picasa to crash. By excluding this file type, Picasa should run normally. If you'd like to further narrow the search or if you experience the problem while scanning a corrupt jpeg file, please move on to Step 4.

Step 4: Isolate the folder which contains the problem file.

To locate the folder that contains the problem file, follow these steps:

1. Open Picasa. If you're running Picasa for the first time following installation, choose 'Only scan My Documents, My Pictures, and the Desktop' and click the Continue button.
2. Immediately click the Tools menu.
3. Select Folder Manager.
4. In the Folder Manager, set all folders to 'Remove from Picasa' (the red x). It's important that you do this before Picasa encounters the problem file during the scan. Picasa should then launch without any photos.
5. You now have a blank slate from which you can locate the corrupt file. Use the Folder Manager to re-add your folders one at a time. If you already know which file type is causing the problem (from Step 3), you should have a better idea of which folders may contain the file in question. Allow Picasa to completely scan each folder before adding the next.

Eventually, you'll add a folder that contains the corrupt file that crashes Picasa. Once you've identified the corrupted file, you can either use the Folder Manager to remove that folder from Picasa or you can delete the file from your computer.