There are three common causes of Dreamweaver crashing on start up:
The following information describes how to handle each one.
Acer incomaptibility
There’s a known conflict between Dreamweaver and Acer eDataSecurity Management v3.0. If you’re on an Acer, and Dreamweaver won’t start, download the patch from http://www.egistec.com/oem-acer001/program-update.html. This should fix the problem.
Corrupted file cache
Dreamweaver creates a cache file called WinFileCache-********.dat or MacFileCache-********.dat inside your personal Dreamweaver configuration folder (the asterisks represent a series of letters and numbers that might differ from computer to computer). This occasionally gets corrupted causing instability, unpredictable error messages, and even crashes.
To solve the problem, close Dreamweaver and delete WinFileCache-********.dat or MacFileCache-********.dat. Sometimes, deleting this file is not sufficient, and you need to delete your personal configuration folder in its entirety.
WARNING: Do not confuse your personal configuration folder with the main configuration folder in Program Files in Windows or Applications on a Mac. You should never touch the main configuration folder unless you really know what you're doing.
Locating your personal configuration folder
The location of the personal configuration folder depends on your operating system and version of Dreamweaver. For Dreamweaver CS4, it’s as follows:
- Vista: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Dreamweaver CS4\<language>\Configuration
- Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver CS4\<language>\Configuration
- Mac OS X: Macintosh HD:<username>:Library:Application Support:Adobe:Dreamweaver CS4:<language>:Configuration
In all cases, <username> is the name of your user account on the computer and <language> indicates the language of your operating system. The language is usually represented by two pairs of characters separated by an underscore, as in en_US (English), es_ES (Spanish), or fr_FR (French).
Earlier versions of Dreamweaver locate the personal configuration folder in a slightly different location. This is where it can be found in Dreamweaver CS3:
- Vista: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Dreamweaver 9\Configuration
- Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver 9\Configuration
- Mac OS X: Macintosh HD:Users:<username>:Library:Application Support:Adobe:Dreamweaver 9:Configuration
The Dreamweaver configuration folders are hidden on Windows, so you need to enable the option to view hidden files and folders in order to locate them, as follows:
- In Vista, select Start > Computer > Organize > Folder and Search Options > View. In Advanced settings, choose Show hidden files and folders.
- In Windows XP, select Start > My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > View. In Advanced settings, choose Show hidden files and folders.
Once you turn on this option, hidden folders are displayed as dimmed icons to remind you to treat them with care.
The 8KB bug
This is a very rare bug that causes Dreamweaver to crash during operation, and then crash repeatedly each time you try to restart the program. It normally affects only Dreamweaver CS3 on Windows, and is caused by the presence of a file that's exactly 8,192 bytes (8KB) or a multiple thereof.
The solution is to open the file in a text editor and add a few extra characters (new lines or a comment will do). Save the file, and restart Dreamweaver.
If the file causing the problem is an image or other type of media file, edit it so that it's no longer an exact multiple of 8KB.
