Photoshop CS4 installs on Windows 7 but will not launch

[markc10987068]

I know that this topic (or similar) has been done to death, but I cannot find a solution to my specific issue.

I am trying to get my official copy of CS4 to run on Windows 7 desktop with no success. It installs w/o any errors. However, when I try to run it (either the 32-bit or 64-bit versions), I get the EULA dialog and then nothing. When I watch the process in the Windows task manager, the process just ends; no dialogs, no error messages, nothing.

I also have a Windows laptop, running exactly the same version of the OS as my desktop. When I install the same CS4 software on my laptop, it installs and runs perfectly. I have no idea why it runs when the desktop installation fails to start.

Details:

I have an official copy of Photoshop CS4, in the original case, with the original serial number on the back.

The desktop (problem system) has the following hardware and software:

     Processors: 2 Intel Xeon E5620 CPUs, clocked at 2.40 GHz.

     Installed Memory: 12.0 Gb

     OS: Windows 7, Service Pack 1 (the same is true for the laptop)

     Video card: NVIDIA Quadro FX 580, with the latest drivers installed.

     Primary hard drive: 465 Gb total capacity, 247 Gb remaining (after CS4 installation)

I have tried multiple install/uninstall/install steps on the desktop (with complete system scrubs and reboots in between), and it has make absolutely no difference whatsoever. Each time I try to launch CS4, I get the EULA dialog, I press the "Accept" button, the dialog goes away... and then crickets.

I've scoured every website and online forum I can find that discuss Photoshop CS4 install and run issues on Windows. None of them have described this specific set of symptoms and none of solutions for those that are similar have changed my situation at all. Can anyone give me some idea as to how I can identify and eliminate this problem?  Thanks a ton in advance.

- Mark C

[JJMack]

Marc when you installed CS4 on your laptop during the install process you were asked to enter you serial numbers and you were also asked to sign in to your Adobe account. Your Product and serial was recorded into your Accounts products in Adobe Databases and an Adobe Activation  server Activated your install by writing hidden activation credentials  on your laptop boot drive.

When you installed on your desktop  when you entered your serial number you should have been asked to sign in to your Adobe account.  It would see the you had done this before and one CS4 activation was on record the activation server should have recorded you second Activation and write your activation credentials to your desktops boot disk.

If the Activation server was unable to write your Activation Credentials and record the second activation. The Photoshop installed on your desktop would be a trial install and work for some number of days. After that you should get that message. That period of days could also be over if you have been having this problem for some time. The period days started the first time you install cs4 on you desktop perhaps  before you started having the problem. Someone else install a trial of cs4. CS4 has been around for many years.  If you get that message and Photoshop UI is on screen see if you can use menu Help>Activate to activate you desktop install.

If you still have problems installing  Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems

[markc10987068]

I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. I tried installing/uninstalling/installing CS4 on my desktop PC several times before ever thinking of trying it on my laptop. I only tried the laptop install to see if the problem was limited to my desktop PC or was happening everywhere I tried. The problem appears to be limited to my desktop PC.

When I (successfully) installed CS4 on my laptop, I was prompted for my serial number (as you stated), but was never prompted to sign into my Adobe account. That, BTW, is exactly the same behavior I saw on my desktop PC when I installed CS4 on it. As for it treating this as a trial period, well, I only did my first install this morning, so I'm less than 24 hours into the problem. I never get any part of the UI to appear (not even once) on my PC, only the EULA dialog. Regardless of which of the three buttons (Cancel, Decline, Accept) I press on that dialog, it simply disappears and nothing further happens.

As a further wrinkle, I installed CS4 on both computers with no internet connect (The CAT5 cable was disconnected from my PC and WiFi was turned off on my laptop.) As such, at the end of each installation, I declined to register the software with Adobe. In spite of all that, CS4 installed and ran successfully on the laptop, but only installed successfully (but did not run) on the desktop PC.

[JJMack]

Then CS4 running on you laptop is running as a trial install.  In the near feature you will be getting that message your getting on your desktop on you laptop.  Is you desktop a new or an old machine. If your desktop is an old machine are you the only one that has ever used that machine. If other have use the machine one may have installed CS4 and removed it.  If they did when you installs CS4 as a trial install no internet connection to activate CS4 you trial period is over it been over for a long time.

[markc10987068]

No, I've run trial installs of CS4 in the past (on other PCs) and I'm not getting any dialogs or messages that indicate the installation on my laptop is anything but permanent. However, just to be on the safe side, I ran the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool that you recommended. I told it to remove anything left by CS4 and it informed me that there was nothing left on my system that needed to be removed. Now what?

[markc10987068]

I tried launching Photoshop CS4 (64-bit) again. However, this time, while the EULA dialog was up, I started session manager, located the active process and drilled down to the certificate information. It contained this:

Should I interpret this to mean that the license for Photoshop CS4 on my system isn't valid after 12/10/2008? If so, how did it get on my system in the first place and how do I reset it? (Or is this something completely unrelated that I can ignore?)

[markc10987068 · Accepted solution]

I've finally resolved my issue. I had to uninstall every Adobe product I had on my desktop PC (Acrobat Reader, AIR, Media Player), then manually locate and delete all Adobe-related folders and files on my C: drive, and then finally remove every Adobe reference from my registry. Once I did all that, I rebooted my system, installed Photoshop CS4, and rebooted the system again. Once all of that was done, Photoshop CS4 finally runs as it should. I still have no idea which application or file(s) were at the root of the problem, but the shotgun approach seems to have worked!

[JJMack]

Adobe has a cleaner to help you do that. you may want to remember for the next time.

Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems