Auto Contrast, Auto Color Darkens Photo

I am working with CS3. Whenever I choose auto contrast or auto color, it just darkens the photograph. It used to work just fine, but in the last 2 months, it stopped. I tried going in to Adjustments, Levels, and Options, but that didn't seem to help. Any advice? I may just have to reinstall the product.

You should really try some of the better adjustment tools, but you can probably cure the problem by resetting your preferences as described in the FAQ.

<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.ef4a07f/1>

You either have to physically delete (or rename) the preference files or, if using the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift method, be sure that you get a confirmation dialog.

This resets all settings in Photoshop to factory defaults.

A complete uninstall/re-install will not affect the preferences and a corrupt file there may be causing the problem.