Illustrator CS freeze during start-up with Win XP

[jeremywatada@adobeforums.com]

I am using Illustrator CS on a Windows XP machine. Suddenly when trying to start Illustrator it freezes when the start display menu reads"Initializing Plug-Ins". Illustrator won't start and I have to use the task manager to end the process (it causes the CPU usage to skyrocket).

I have tried uninstalling and re-installing, deleting all of the Illustrator folders from the program files, but the problem continues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[BobHill@adobeforums.com]

Jeremy,

Be sure that you have the default PlugIns set in preferences to Illustrator standard PlugIn. Check this out: <http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/15872.htm>

Bob

[jeremywatada@adobeforums.com]

Bob,

Thanks for your reply - I have tried all of this but the same problem keeps occurring. I have a few new items to add however.

I noticed that it always hangs up during the start display when it says "initializing plug-ins...illustrator.exe" or "initializing plug-ins...geometry.aip".

I also just let it sit for a long time and Illutstrator eventually opens (after a few hours or so) but it gives me a message that says "Acrobat PDF File is Having Difficulties Bad Parameter". I click OK and it lets me start a new file. But if I try and open an existing file I get the same PDF error.

If you have any thoughts on this I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks again-

Jeremy

[LenHewitt@adobeforums.com]

Jeremy,

Have you tried deleting the preference file? That does not get deleted by an
uninstall/re-install.

Details in the FAQ at the top of this forum's Topic List

[jeremywatada@adobeforums.com]

Yes, I've deleted aiprefs, adobefnt.lst and adobereg.lst files and the same thing occurs. Thanks for your post.

[Tim_Howrey@adobeforums.com]

Jeremy, check out this troubleshooting doc: <http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/2a396.htm>

Pay particular attention to the deleting of temp files from the Docs & settings\<user>\local settings\temp folder.

- Too many temp files/folders, (seems to be a limit of 65536 files), can cause unpredicted behavior in other adobe apps, maybe it's doing the same to Illustrator.

- Otherwise, try setting a postsript printer as the default printer.

[jeremywatada@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for your message - I ended up reinstalling XP so I'm not exactly sure where the problem resided.

[BobHill@adobeforums.com]

Even so, Jeremy, it's always a good idea to do a regular system clean and Defrag your working and caching hard drive(s). This means cleaning (emptying) your Temp folder (Documents & Settings\UserName\Local Settings\the empty Temp, (empty Temp Internet folders also helps cut down on cache buildup).

Bob