OH NOI have no ideas for PS on Windows. MS Word actually does saves to a temporary document but I don't think PS does. On a Mac what ever you've done and not saved in PS is in temporary memory and once PS is quit or crashes, it's no longer really there, only PS could access it and on the links to that memory is gone as far as PS is concerned, it doesn't exist any more.
Maybe there's a trick on Windows though?
And yes, file size can really mess up PS or a computer depending on the specs. The type tool can do weird stuff too but I've never had PS crash because of it...yet
I hope a Windows person can help.