
Some members have reported that Photoshop Elements 8 is a little slow when first installed on their machines. This can be a result of the Auto Analyzer (AA) feature making its way through your library of images attaching Smart Tags as it goes.You can turn this feature off in the Preferences (Edit>Preferences>Auto Analyzer). This should increase your performance straight away.
The AA is what looks at all your photos and videos and generates the Smart Tags. Once it has worked its way through your catalog though, it doesn't cause a problem. It will only analyze new stuff as you add it which takes less computing power.
The feature is off by default but if you have installed the included trial of Premier Elements 8, then it would have been turned on by Premiere Elements.
If you are not interested in using the Smart Tags, then you should just turn it off, and things should get better/faster. If you want to use the Smart Tags, then you should turn it on, and let it run overnight. Again, once it gets through the Catalog, it isn't a problem.
.