Has it worked before?
If so, reset prefs [see FAQ].
Otherwsie, you need to do this reset and reinstall.
There could also be a corrupted file in the default folder for the File / Open command. Try to move stuff out of this foder and if this solves your problem, you'll need to put it back there, a few files at a time until you nail down the corrupted file.
Ray
ya, it looks like its the data in the folder, because i cannot access it via ANY method without killing it. i found a sneaky workaround though... ended up converting tiffs out of there into psd and then saving from imageready to get around the default save/open locations. thanks for the advice guys.