illustrator disappears after initializing

[rpttrsn@adobeforums.com]

there's no other way to describe this than to say that when "starting" illustrator:

1) the splash screen appears
2) fonts are checked, plugins are checked
3) "initializing" appears
4) application disappears (what there was of it during startup) with no trace

Illustrator is not minimized, it's not there at all. Reinstalled, restarted, no change. Removed all 3rd party plugins. All other applications in creative suite run fine. Have reset preferences file too.

Any ideas?

Dell Precision workstation, 1gb ram, 100gig storage, 2.4ghz pentium

thanks, robert

[BobHill@adobeforums.com]

Robert,

Can you tell us about your system and what may be running on it while trying to launch Illustrator or what might have have been active when it was installed? Has it ever worked properly for you?

Bob

[rpttrsn@adobeforums.com]

as far as software goes, normal stuff. Norton Anti-Virus (which I disabled during install), Zonealarm Pro, a few little utilities, really not much.

This is the installation on my remote computer, and no, illustrator cs has never loaded. The installation on my main computer is fine, and, like I indicated before, the rest of the creative suite works fine on both computers.

By the way, Illustrator 9 still has no problems.

I'm running win2k.

robert

[BobHill@adobeforums.com]

Robert,

Are you the System Administrator or as a user, do you have full administrative rights? Also turn off anything by Norton while using Illustrator and see if that corrects things.

Bob

[rpttrsn@adobeforums.com]

Yes, I do have administrative rights. The only norton that runs in the background is anti-virus.

Just tried starting illustrator cs with nav disabled, same result, goes through entire initialization, then closes itself(?).

I appreciate your input.

robert

[BobHill@adobeforums.com]

Robert,

Check your Resource meter and see if you have enough resources to run Illustrator.

Bob

[rpttrsn@adobeforums.com]

Bob:

There isn't really a resource meter in win2000 (like there was in win98, because protected memory was supposed to greatly reduce memory conflicts), but task manager / performance reports these numbers:

CPU Usage: 1-3% (when I try to start illustrator it spikes to 68% but goes immediately back to 1-3% when illustrator fails to complete)
Mem usage: 208000 (average)
Physical memory: 1047632k total, 733396k available, 474756k system cache.

Am also including two application "log errors", maybe from another attempt at starting illustrator earlier today:

Detection of product '{00010409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}', feature 'ProductNonBootFiles' failed during request for component '{CC29EE0B-7BC2-11D1-A921-00A0C91E2AA2}'

Detection of product '{00010409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}', feature 'ProductNonBootFiles', component '{AB9A3BDB-91DA-11D1-9AC2-006097C4E452}' failed. The resource 'C:\WINNT\Fonts\COMIC.TTF' does not exist.

I, at last, thought I had stumbled on it with the "font" report, but I installed comic sans and it still won't start, and oddly enough didn't generate any log errors at all.

I'm with you, I think that it doesn't like a particular component, font, etc., but I have troubleshooted (troubleshot?) photoshop before, and you can tell where it hangs by the fact that it hangs on the problem area (long enough to make a mental note of its place in the process) during the starting process. Illustrator is seemingly completing all of the above inventories and gets to the point of reporting "inititializing" when it vaporizes.

The problem with including the two log errors above is that I have no proof that they are a result of the illustrator problem. I can report that I have had no problems with any other program booting today.

I really don't mind working in illustrator 9, it's just vexing that it works fine on one computer with very similar setups and won't even start on this unit. It would be nice to be able to use the product after paying for it. Like most (I surmise), I got the creative suite because of the photoshop upgrade, not for illustrator.

Anyway, thanks for brainstorming. In short, my system seems to have no fewer resources to throw at illustrator than it has to offer any other application.

robert

[LenHewitt@adobeforums.com]

Robert,

Have you tried deleting the aiprefs file? Details in the FAQ at the top of
this forum's Topic List

[Robert_B_Patterson@adobeforums.com]

I did try that early on. I did it with the ctrl-alt-shft method, but same result.
robert

[BobHill@adobeforums.com]

Robert,

How many fonts do you have installed and active (counting TT, PS, and OF fonts)? If well over 150 fonts, that could be your problem. First determine how many you have installed and if over the 150 mark or thereabouts, either cut it down to that or get an external Font Manager (Adobe ATM Deluxe or Bitstream's Font Reserve) where you can make custom font sets and only keep a limited number of installed fonts active at any one time. Fonts take up a lot of system resources and also tend to slow down the launch of programs such as Illustrator. Could this fit your situation? Also check your fonts in Windows Font manager and see if any are corrupted (Control Panel, Fonts, and double click each one to see if you get the example. If you do, it should be fine. If you dont' get the example there is a problem.

Bob

[LenHewitt@adobeforums.com]

Robert,

Did you get the confirmation request that you wished to delete the
preferences following the CTRL+ALT+SHIFT?

[asianrage@adobeforums.com]

Robert

I feel you. Your computer specs are near to my own's and I have the same problem. I think that my massive collection of fonts (all 4613 of them) is the problem. Check your own. Nothing to lose, right?