GIMP Crashes on Windows Vista

Posted Wednesday 29th July 2009

As a Linux user I was quite surprised to see GIMP crash on Windows Vista when using certain features like “Colourise”. There are two main culprits for crashes on Vista and Windows 7.

GIMP crashes when running extensions, plugins and filters
GIMP crashes when starting up

GIMP crashes when running extensions, plugins and filters

GIMP crashes on Windows Vista (and Windows 7) are commonly caused by Microsoft’s UAC (User Account Control) introduced in Vista. When GIMP, and plugins, need to access certain parts of the hard drive or certain functions it will be denied. The easiest way to avoid this is to right-click the GIMP executable (or shortcut) and select Run as Administrator.

Alternatively give admin privileges to the GIMP directory…

If you’re unfamiliar with user permissions on Windows go to Start > type in “%PROGRAMFILES%” and hit enter.

Find the GIMP directory (something like GIMP-2.0) and right click then select properties. Select the Security tab, click the Edit button and then select the user you’re logged in as (i.e. Users (Username-pc\Users)). In the second frame (the box at the bottom) check/tick full control to allow GIMP to have full permissions. Click Apply, OK and then restart GIMP.

The crashes should go away if permissions were the cause for them!

GIMP crashes when Starting Up

Each new version of Windows shipped generally becomes more bloated. In terms of GIMP, crashes when starting the program are usually due to a large amount of fonts installed on the system. GIMP will need to go through each one and add it to its cache. Although the program may appear to be crashing it probably isn’t! Allow time for it to read and cache all of your fonts before starting.

If you don’t think it is an issue check the permissions.

Bookmark or share this page:

MSN Contact: contact [at] danielgibbs.net

Posted in GIMP, Graphics & Imaging | 4 Comments »

4 Comments

Gimp Tutorials 19 September 2009 9:07 pm

Thanks for this valuable post. I love gimp.
Aakash Vakil 24 September 2009 9:13 am

Thanks for providing this solution! The moment I read UAC I knew there was some messup with my rights. I hope this solves the problem. Good day! Aakash
jeff spicer 5 October 2010 10:12 am

ran as admin, did the permissions, checked compatibility, ran “as XP”… nothing works.
Gibbs 5 October 2010 10:17 am

Hi Jeff,

I don’t have a Windows system at hand but where exactly does it crash? Keep an eye on what the loading dialog says (or what/when the crash is triggered). That usually helps narrow down what the potential problem is.