Opening more than one ai file - intermittent fault

[Alan_Silvester]

Hi all,

I'm aware from a bit of online searching that the latest 2017 ai has a temperamental issue with opening more than on ai file at a time. I'm experiencing it and it's frustrating. The problem is as follows:

• Open my first ai file. Illy loads and the file opens fine.
• Whilst leaving my first ai file open I go to open a second (a regular and common thing to do). The windows timer wheel starts spinning and nothing happens. My second ai file doesn't load.

I've reinstalled illy a few times via the CC app but that doesn't fix it. A reboot usually gets me going again but it's quite random as to how and when I need to reboot. Does anyone have a guaranteed fix for this or are we at the mercy of waiting for the next ai release to fix this issue?

I'm on windows 10, 64gb ram, i7 6900k cpu, 64 bit system. Files are stored on an external raid connected via usb3.

PS - Since the launch of CC it feels like I'm always waiting for the next fix or update. There's always a new problem be it a 'new feature' (ctrl zoom - please fix) that nobody wanted or a new bug. We're banging out huge sums on subscriptions, never actually owning the software and constantly having to deal with problems. I don't think the advantage of an occasional new tool is worth this. More than anything, more than new features or fancy new apps, more than a production line of updates, all that I want is a stable platform, something that does what I expect when I ask it to do something. That's it. That's all I want Adobe. I'd go back to CS4 if it were supported and got me stability!

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

Reinstalling Illustrator alone will not help a problem like yours if the old, possibly corrupt, Illustrator preference files have not been deleted and then recreated.

To reset preferences automatically:

Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset.

After the reset new preference files will be automatically created.

[Mike_Gondek]

This problem and similar ones only exist on the windows platform. There are so many  places that need cleanup from the MSCONFIG, HKEYS, Hardware drivers, Cookies, activity monitor and recently installed programs.  Sometimes you get lucky removed the unwanted item and are good to go, tore time scan take lots of time to find the the culprit. So I would not wait for Adobe to fix this, as this has been going on for 2 decades and may never be a fix, as there are so many hardware and software combinations coupled with a  WDEF is easily corrupted on windows that the programming cannot keep up.