DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> CS3 Stopped Working...
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 12 of 12, (reverse)
AuthorThread
03/18/2010 06:57:15 PM · #1
Never had a problem like this before. Photoshop CS3 hangs up, stops working, gives me the "failure — notifying microsoft" box and closes itself whenever I try to open an image. Bridge is working, but opening an image from Bridge crashes PS CS3. Opening RAW from Bridge works fine, I can process the RAW image fine, but I can't go from there to PS CS3: it crashes. I can't open recent, and I can't open from "Open File", not even a new, blank file. They all make it crash.

I've put the CD in and used install/uninstall to "repair" by reinstalling Photoshop only (not the rest of CS3) and it did not help. Presumably the next step is a complete uninstall/reinstall, though I'm paranoid about those...
Has this happened to anyone? Any easy fix?

R.
03/18/2010 07:11:15 PM · #2
Have you installed/uninstalled any other software recently? Have you made any changes to the registry files (done disk clean-up or the like)??
03/18/2010 07:13:34 PM · #3
Originally posted by ASTONishing:

Have you installed/uninstalled any other software recently? Have you made any changes to the registry files (done disk clean-up or the like)??


None of that. I did do a disk cleanup after the problem started happening this afternoon, that has not helped. I updated Topaz a week ago, but CS3 has been working fine since that, until this afternoon. It was even working fine this morning.

R.
03/18/2010 07:29:46 PM · #4
Has deleting the photoshop preferences file helped?
03/18/2010 07:41:49 PM · #5
if it were me, i would uninstall, go into c:\program file\adobe and delete anything that has to do with cs3 thats left over (i dont know how tech savvy you are so i'll leave out the registry search) and then reinstall
03/18/2010 08:16:53 PM · #6
Bear,

I had a similar problem. It crashed on me several times first, then, after trying to fix it several ways, it came up with a message saying that my serial number was invalid. I was SO mad after spending that kind of money. Anyway, did some digging around and found this:

//kb2.adobe.com/cps/401/kb401528.html

I dont know if it is what is messing your version up, but it fixed mine. Good luck.
03/18/2010 09:25:59 PM · #7
It doesn't seem to have anything to do with serial numbers.

I uninstalled all of CS3, I have CS3 design standard and it has Acrobat Professional, Illustrator, Version Cue, all that stuff, I told it to uninstall all. Then I reinstalled from DVD. Much to my surprise, ACR was still remembering where it was at before, and Topaz was still available in plugins, and I didn't have to enter a serial number, so all that information stayed on my system even during a supposedly complete uninstall. Anyway, the problem persists. So now what?

R.
03/18/2010 09:34:40 PM · #8
Was Windows updated recently? Could be a Windows update causing the problem...

Have you tried a complete shutdown of the system versus just a restart?

Message edited by author 2010-03-18 21:35:48.
03/18/2010 09:39:36 PM · #9
When you uninstall, CS leaves a lot of stuff lying about, including both files and registry entries. That's why when you reinstall, some of your configuration is still preserved. The problem may be with a file or registry entry that was not removed.
Take a gander here; Adobe's utility that cleans the detritus from an install so that you can truly install clean.
03/18/2010 09:54:33 PM · #10
this has happened to me on more than one occasion when my laptop battery died while PS was running. it's been a while (thank God), but if i remember correctly, all i did was delete my preferences file. you might also try killing the preferences as soon as Photoshop's starting to load, by holding down shift + ctrl + alt (be quick!), until it asks if you really want to delete the user's settings.
03/18/2010 11:51:19 PM · #11
Well, it's back, thank heavens. Kirbic's post pointed me in the most useful direction. I did not have to do a complete clean, actually: the problem solved itself when I actually DEACTIVATED CS3 before uninstalling, and then followed their steps for manually deleting folders and directories. Then, upon reinstallation, I was prompted for serial number, reactivated the whole danged thing, et voila.

It's a stripped-down installation too, no Acrobat Professional, no Illustrator, no InDesign, no Version Cue; I haven't used any of those since I got CS3, so why clutter things up? If I ever need 'em, I got the disk.

Thanks all for your suggestions. Only took me 5 hours or so to fix this.

A bear without Photoshop is like... well.. I donno... A wing without a bird, maybe?

R.
03/18/2010 11:53:08 PM · #12
Originally posted by Skip:

...you might also try killing the preferences as soon as Photoshop's starting to load, by holding down shift + ctrl + alt (be quick!), until it asks if you really want to delete the user's settings.


I'm familiar with that actually. No need even to be quick, just depress 'em all BEFORE you hit the icon to launch. Was the first thing I tried, to no avail. But it's a VERY useful trick when Photoshop packs it in, sort of a first line of attack.

R.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 04:55:23 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 04:55:23 PM EDT.