If you're upgraded to Windows 7 and you're finding that Photoshop CS4 runs very slow, even with small images, and especially when zooming in and panning around, then here are some tips that may help speed things up again.

Firstly, if you haven't already done so, download the v11.0.1 update from Adobe and install it. That fixes the problem immediately for some people.

If it doesn't fix it for you then go to the Edit menu, select Preferences, and select the Performance sub-menu:

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In the window that opens up you'll see a panel called GPU Settings. Make sure that "Enable" is ticked and then click on Advanced:

slow_photoshop_1.jpg

When the Advanced options appear, un-tick everything:

slow_photoshop_2.jpg

Click OK, then OK again, then close Photoshop and re-open it. That should have fixed the problem. If it hasn't then there's one more thing you can try. Go back to the Performance options and un-tick OpenGL Drawing:

slow_photoshop_4.jpg

Click OK and re-start Photoshop. Hopefully that'll be you sorted. Post a comment to let me know if these solutions did or didn't work for you.