Computer problems...again

[Cathy_P]

Got up at 7 am this morning and started up PhotoshopCS. It hung up before it finished loading.
Tried a couple more times..same thing.
Backed up all my current files and called adobe..they said to just go ahead and reload PS.
Reloaded over the old version and got the same thing.
Did a Restore on my computer to a place a couple days ago..didn't help
Unloaded PS and reloaded...Now it doesn't recognize my upgrade program.
Call adobe again and got it unlocked. It started to load, but hung up at the same spot.
I tried loading directly from the folder and I get an error "not all the files needed to run Photoshop were found..Please reload program from disk."

Any other ideas? Sounds like a file is missing in Windows, but it doesn't tell what file. No since buying a newer version, if it's not going to run either..
I've got 5 orders that I need to get out next week...I'm going to get drunk :-(

PS I checked my system for viruses and disk space..everything ok

[gparr]

Possibly a recent Windows "update?"
Gary

[NikNikon]

I'd try uninstalling CS then reloading it. Chances are there might be a shared file thats not getting re written. Uninstall, reboot then load it again and try running it before doing any updates. Thats what I would do any way.

[swartzphotography]

i would say reformat hard drive install windows install photoshop. thats the beauty of not having lots of stuff stored on my actuall computer. get a back up hard drive and keep all pics there and there ya go.

[jliechty]

Reinstalling the OS is great if you don't customize anything and don't do anything but Photoshop on your computer. For some of us, a reinstall involves hours upon hours of turning off all of Windows' "hey I thought I'd tell you even though you don't care" features and reloading (and these days, reactivating - UGH!) gigabytes of software. Sorry for the rant, but too many techs are far too reinstall-happy, recommending reinstalls of the entire system when they may not be necessary.

Anyway, I see that you've already uninstalled and reinstalled Photoshop CS. Unfortunately, you may have to reinstall the entire system*, but there may be another option. Consider running the Crap Cleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) after uninstalling Photoshop CS but before reinstalling it. Also, turn on the showing of hidden files (I'm on Vista, so if you don't know how to do this, a current XP user will have to help you) and go to C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\ and look for the Adobe folder. Under that, find the Photoshop folder and delete the preferences folder contained within. Actually, if you got this far before trying the first suggestion, try deleting preferences before reinstalling PS again; the prefs are more likely to be corrupted than anything else, in my opinion.

* remember to backup emails (your Outlook .PST file - if you use Outlook - which is well hidden under \Documents and Settings\, so you'll probably have to search for it) and web browser favorites if you care about them. On multiple drive systems, these are by far the most common forgotten things to back up, as unless you explicitly changed it, they reside on the same drive as the operating system.

[MatsP]

I'm with Josh here - far too many people say "Just re-install your OS" when the real problem has little or nothing to do with that. My system here at work has LOTS of tools, utilities and extras installed, as well as customizations to settings and configurations of the system. It certainly takes more than 45 minutes to install a new OS from scratch on my machine.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly what I should suggest for Cathy, as I don't know what's actually wrong - I'm pretty sure it's a DLL of some sort that has been overwritten. In Windows XP you can sometimes roll-back changes that has been made, perhaps that's worth a try. This is called "System Restore", and should allow you to restore the system to a previously working setup.

--
Mats

[NikNikon]

I'm with Josh & Mats, reinstalling would painstaking for me as well. Last resort, try everything else first.

[El Hacko]

I'll be darned if half the time the troubles are due to anti virus stuff or firewall blockers. Turn all that stuff off and try to load. It may or may not help but hopefully it does.

Also, if you have the OS disc, I think you can run it just to find a local isolated corrupt file and fix that only. I'm not 100% certain on this feature as my hard drive just usually crashes due to crummy HP hardware and I just have to replace it about once a year. :-(

[rr3]

I did a quick Google of your problem and most of the answers were with the prefs file in PS like Josh said. This link http://www.wallpaperama.com/disp-post57.html tells you how to fix it. (Just do what Josh said) ;) My only concern with this is, if you already uninstalled it I would think it would delete that file and recreate it when you reinstalled. So it should have been good when you reinstalled. Just my observation.
Even though you said you tried the System Restore, look at the restore points carefully for one that might have done an update from Microsoft. Go back before that one. I'm pretty sure you have to do this in Safe Mode before the restore will actually work.
Another possibility is to boot to the OS CD and press F8 while the BIOS is loading to get the boot menu. (you get to Safe Mode this way also) You can then select Repair. I haven't had much luck with that though. Just some thoughts. Good luck.

[steffit]

From my own painful observations, the preference file does not necessarily get deleted, certainly not with an overinstall and not all the time with an uninstall then reinstall. So here's another voice that says trash the pref file...

Alternatively, did PS crash recently or you had a very long session before it stopped working? On our old computer I sometimes had the problem that photoshop 'forgot' to clear out the cache and kept a 'session log' or something similar saved (sorry, forgot the actual name it used). This would be at a minimum a several gigabytes large file, and easily deleted to get going again. I would search for really large files and mostly they were in the root of the folder that photoshop used as a cache space. I think they had a.~tmp ending or similar.

Let us know how you made out, and good luck.
Stefanie

[Cathy_P]

Well..hubby reloaded windows and then my internet connection was down for a day...aaack!
I've got Elements going. It can help me make it in a pinch. I seem to remember that the first time that I loaded PS that I had a dll missing and someone helped me get it working. The cache problen is a possibility, I'll look into it. I did have a big session just before it went down. It's 4:21am here. I think I'll go to bed..

[Cathy_P]

Ross, What that link said, sounded just like my machine but it didn't work. I think I do have a major problem. I finally got back online but the scrolling is weird and some of my programs are having problems finding monitor info. I'm afraid that I'm in for a major crash. I've been backing up stuff all day, but if I go down it will be a mess reloading all the photo and printing software that I use everyday. I had a Internet Explorer update that made Explore un-useable. I hope that wasn't some kind of virus. My virus software isn't picking anything up. I'll try reloading the video drivers. Oh well, If you don't hear from me for a while you might have to use the phone to get hold of me :-(
PS I do have my laptop working but it is only barebones. It doesn't have much disk space.

[swartzphotography]

well as i said that the beuty of not having hours of information needed to be reinstalled on my computer. that is the easiest way to fix my problems if i ever have any. but then i usually reformat my hard drive and reinstall windows once a month. Bye the way im furthest from being a computer tech lol.

[Paul Wilson]

Cathy hi

I am with El Hacko
I have been thinking about your plight and wonder if because of your last comment "I checked my system for viruses and disk space..everything ok" are you forgetting to switch off your virus checker before you install the programme..... some programmes do not like being installed when virus checkers are running in the background. try this.
1. make sure the copy you have is uninstalled
2. re run your virus checker
3. switch your virus checker to standby (more than 20 mnutes) or off
(symatecs have a stand by for so many minutes)
4. re insert your software
5. if this doesnt work re submit and I will have another think
6. if it does I hope it makes you happy and you pass on the valuble information to others
all the very best AND STAY HAPPY IN YOUR WORK
Paul