Adobe Photoshop C 2017 stopped working

[nadiao74739619]

Hello everybody!

Every time I open Photoshop it crashes prompting this error message, and without giving many details about the problem really.

I tried installing previous versions of Photoshop, rebooting the computer, deleting some config files here and there, but nothing helps.

It crashes even before I can do anything inside the program, so I can't check out Preferences or anything.

Any ideas?

[PanosFX]

You didn't tell us what is your Photoshop version and your OS! Assuming you have PS CC-2017, try to reset the preferences this way:

If you have a PC, make sure that the hidden files and folders are visible in Windows Explorer. Then navigate to the following folder:

[HARD DISK]:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2017\Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 Settings

Find the "Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 Prefs.psp" file and rename it to "OLDAdobe Photoshop CC 2017 Prefs.psp"

Fire up Photoshop. It will hopefully rebuild the preferences and let you in.

If you have a Mac, open a Finder window. Hold down the Option key and select Go > Library, from Finder's menu.

Then navigate inside this folder:

[HARD DISK]:\Users\[USERNAME]\Library\Preferences\Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 Settings

Find the "Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 Prefs.psp" file and rename it to "OLDAdobe Photoshop CC 2017 Prefs.psp"

Fire up Photoshop.

If the everything runs fine, you may delete the renamed preferences files.

Regards

Panos Efstathiadis

[JaseHeeley]

I have the same issue. I'm running Windows 10 64-bit and Photoshop CC 2017 crashes with a non-specific 'Photoshop CC 2017 has stopped working' error every single time I attempt to launch it - either from a desktop or taskbar shortcut or via the CC app.

I've deleted the Photoshop prefs file, completely uninstalled and reinstalled Photoshop AND the latest drivers for my graphics card and Wacom tablet and I'm still getting no further.

My PC did perform a Windows Update this week (around the 19th Jan), but I've also uninstalled those updates to see if they're causing the issue and I've still had no luck. As with many people, Photoshop is crucial to my work and this issue is utterly infuriating. Any suggestions?

[PanosFX]

Jase, did you try to remove Photoshop completely using the Adobe CC Cleaner tool, and then perform a clean installation?

https://helpx.adobe.com/gr_en/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html​

Panos

[JaseHeeley]

Thanks for the suggestion Panos, that CC cleaner tool looks really handy  - I'll keep it in mind next time I have a problem. I managed to solve the issue (details are below, in my reply to jbm007).

[jbm007]

Go to control panel/administrative tools/event viewer/windows logs/application and find the application error.

"copy details as text" and post them here.

[JaseHeeley · Accepted solution]

Many thanks for the suggestion jbm007, you've helped me resolve the issue. I knew about the 'Lavasoft' DLL problem, but wrongly assumed it wasn't present on my system. I followed the same steps as JordanWalker here...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/how-do-i-remove-lavasofttcpservic...

...which totally did the trick. My system's now free of Lavasoft files and Photoshop runs without a hitch, which is a great relief - thanks again! 

[gener7]

It's listed as "Web Companion" in Windows 10 Programs and Features. Use that to uninstall it. Just removing the DLLs does not remove the Web Companion and that can cause other problems.

Windows Uninstall should remove the entire program as well as the problem Lavasoft DLLs.

[JaseHeeley]

Thanks for the extra info!

[gener7]

You're welcome

One question I have is how are you getting this "web companion"?

Is it included as part of an install of something? Can you opt out of it?

Gene

[JaseHeeley]

I honestly have no idea. I'm running a single user PC and all of my apps are legitimately purchased (or paid for via subscription in the case of Adobe's apps). I'm reasonably technically literate, I don't open any sort of spam e-mails, I run antivirus and anti malware software and I don't knowingly visit sites that may carry malicious payloads. I'm normally extremely careful about checking the 'added extras' that sometimes come with installers too, but maybe in this case I missed something. If I do find out how it got onto my system, I'll post here. Thanks again for the help though.   

[JaseHeeley]

It turns out it was the K-Lite Codec Pack. Web Companion is bundled with it and clearly I missed  the relevant checkbox when I ran the installer. Hope that helps other people avoid the issue.

[gener7]

Ok, thanks for that. Those are "PUPs", Potentially Unwanted Programs that get bundled with freeware to help with costs. It's easy to just skip the terms and not notice permission to install these things are checked on by default.

Gene

[jbm007]

Go to control panel/administrative tools/event viewer/windows logs/application and find the application error.

"copy details as text" and post them here.