Photoshop CS3 won’t launch, but shows up in Processes

AB
Posted By
Andrew_B.
Dec 30, 2008
Views
301
Replies
11
Status
Closed
I’ve been having an odd problem recently with Photoshop under 64-bit Vista. When trying to open it (whether by clicking on a file associated with it, my desktop shortcut, from the start menu, or on the *.exe file itself), it fails to launch 90% of the time and opens the remaining times at seeminly random intervals.

For each time I try to open it and it fails, though, a new listing of "Photoshop.exe *32" shows up under the processes tab of the Windows Task Manager.

Just yesterday, I did a clean install of Windows and reinstalled CS3 Master Collection, and the problem is still there. I’ve tried disabling nearly every non-Microsoft service from the MSConfig utility, and it still happens.

Does anyone have any idea of what could be causing this?

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DM
dave_milbut
Dec 30, 2008
not sure what’s happening andrew, but you should try resetting the preferences:

<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.ef4a07f/1>
AB
Andrew_B.
Dec 30, 2008
Thanks for the suggestion, but I’ve actually tried that as well. Short of another clean windows install, it’s getting tough to think of things to try.
DM
dave_milbut
Dec 30, 2008
all windows updates loaded?

tried setting up a new user (admin rights) and running under that?
AB
Andrew_B.
Dec 30, 2008
Yeah, Windows is totally up to date; first thing I did after reinstalling Vista.

The launching glitch still seems to happen under a new user.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Dec 30, 2008
Out of curiosity, do happen to be running Panda AV and Firewall?
DM
dave_milbut
Dec 30, 2008
good point. larry’s had problems with that one… also try disconnecting from the internet and turning off ALL av and firewall before running…
AB
Andrew_B.
Dec 30, 2008
I use Symantec Antivirus 10.2 (the Corporate Edition thing), which seems a lot less intrusive than the regular Norton.

I’ve tried shutting that down, though, and it still seems to occur.
AB
Andrew_B.
Feb 1, 2009
Just in case anyone faces a similar issue, I finally traced this back to a particular version of the drivers for the Asus Xonar D2-PM audio card. When I removed the version 6.12.8.1747 beta drivers, and installed 6.12.8.1738-RC01, Photoshop began starting up normally again.
P
Phosphor
Feb 1, 2009
My applause to you for posting your findings about the fix you discovered.

Somehow, all these little fixes that users have been discovering in drips and drabs ought to all be gathered in once thread, or in the FAQ section here, or something.

Thanks for your addition to the knowledge well.
DM
dave_milbut
Feb 1, 2009
whoa. an audio card driver messing with photoshop launching? like stan on south park says: this is pretty f$&*ked up right here.

that must be a seriously buggy driver, or its something else…
AB
Andrew_B.
Feb 1, 2009
Well, it never gave me any trouble with the sound, lol.

However, the stalled Photoshop program dissapeared immediately after I uninstalled the beta drivers, and installed the previous version. I’m forced to conclude they were the problem.

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