Distiller 4.0 fails to launch and changes system fonts

[Don_Woelz@adobeforums.com]

My Distiller 4.0 (Windows 98) recently began behaving badly. I don't recall any changes made to my system that might have precipitated the new behaviour, but it is likely that something changed.

The new behaviour...

When I try to launch Distiller, my system beeps and Distiller does not launch. In addition, the system fonts seem to change, i.e. the system toolbar and Start menu fonts, some of the fonts in the status bar of IE, some of the fonts in Outlook, and fonts in other applications all change to some sort of large, bold font. The only remedy I have found so far is rebooting my system, at which time the fonts are restored but Distiller will behave the same if launched again (i.e. fonts change again, Distiller fails to launch).

Has anyone seen this behaviour or know of a solution?

Don

[William_A._Davis@adobeforums.com]

Doesn't sound familiar. However, the standard answer for such a situation is to reinstall Distiller. It is often best to uninstall it first and delete the folder used. You might also ask yourself if any new software has been installed or run just before the problem occurred.

[Don_Woelz@adobeforums.com]

Thanks William, but I should have mentioned that I had already done the uninstall-reinstall thing and it did not help. I have asked myself about new software. There are several new programs that I had installed since last using Distiller successfully. Some have since been uninstalled. The others I need to continue to use (e.g. Spybot and Sygate).

Don

[none@none.com]

Have you changed your desktop settings or your video drivers? The behaviour sounds as though it could be a video driver problem so it may be worth checking whether you have the latest driver and what your settings are.

Arthur

[Don_Woelz@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for the suggestion, Arthur. I've made no changes to the video drivers or desktop settings. In case it's relevant, my system is an IBM Thinkpad. An associate of mine is running an identical system (aside from various applications packages). The same version of Distiller works fine on his system, so I suspect some system file was changed by an application that I loaded that is affecting Adobe. The challenge is determining what that is. :-)

I don't think a virus is responsible as I keep my virus software and Windows software up to date and haven't detected any.

If I knew what system files Distiller uses that would affect system fonts being used, that would probably help. Anyone know anything about that?

Don

[Dorian_Grey@adobeforums.com]

You probably won't like this suggestion but IMO you should accept that Windows 98 needs to be reinstalled from time to time. Backup what you need and reformat your hard-drive and then reinstall everything.

With a problem like this I would say this would be the quickest and easiest solution.

[none@none.com]

I would have to endorse Dorian's suggestion.

I do remember reading somewhere a long time ago that a setting in the registry could cause similar problems but I am afraid that item is long since gone since I no longer see/use W98.

If you have the time and inclination it is a good thing to do this on a reasonably regular basis anyway - you'll be amazed at how much faster your old hardware runs after a re-install!!

Good luck.

Arthur

[Don_Woelz@adobeforums.com]

You guys are right...I don't like this suggestion. This would be very costly to me in both time and to purchase software that I use that is at version levels no longer available. It is certainly too costly just to get Distiller working.

Is there a list of Distiller dependencies somewhere (like the .dll, .vxd, .whatever that it uses)? With a list like that, I could reload them one at a time until it starts working.

Don

[Aandi_Inston@adobeforums.com]

If you think Distiller has missing dependencies, try this:
[url]http://www.dependencywalker.com/[/url]

Aandi Inston

[Don_Woelz@adobeforums.com]

Hmmm, dependencywalker seems like it might help me solve this. However it does not seem to work on my system. When I open a program (Distiller, for example, but others as well) I get an error dialog box that says "Failed to create empty document". The HELP documentation provided little insight into how to use it or what the problem might be.

I should also point out that all other applications on my system seem to be working fine.

Don