Comments on: Uninstall a Service in Vista, Repair Adobe CS3 and Clean Up the Registry

By: craig

craig — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:59:22 +0000

Dude, Thanks.
I am not computer saavy, so I rely heavily on people like you that can effectively, and clearly show us these steps to take. I also appreciate the links to the software right on your page.

And to Adobe, get you S&%@ together. Your 4 solutions didn’t work. And can I mention that having used both legit and cracked copies through the years, I will always prefer the cracked. And not cuz i don’t like to pay, but because when I use the cracks, i turn the updates off, and no problems typically. The legits get the updates, and they are nothing but a source of headaches. So go figure.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:48:58 +0000

Hello Tom,

I just downloaded the new version of photoshop cs4 and I am having a few difficulties installing the program, after reading your post I am wondering if I should get a pro to install it for me.

Jim

By: Philippe

Philippe — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:45:03 +0000

This error was solved for me 32but/vista by renamed the file \Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe PCD\cache\cache.db – no reinstalling nor patched – version CS3. Found the solusion here : http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/401/kb401528.html#sol3 february 11 2010 input

By: Jorge

Jorge — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:01:26 +0000

I was happy to come across this website, however when I tried to follow the steps (not sure I did it correctly) it didn’t work for me. What did work for me however was I use the system restore and restored to a previous date in which was prior to me installing CS3. It just so happened that this was a good option for me because it was only 1 day prior to me having it installed.

By: Kevin Oh!

Kevin Oh! — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:47:24 +0000

Thanks, Tom!

Worked a treat. Just what I needed after countless hours lost without CS3. Still can’t believe Adobe lets this keep going on. Without people like you, we’d be forever at their mercy.

THANK YOU!!!

Kevin Oh!

By: How To Fix CS3 Licensing Has Stopped Working | Kevin O'Hara

How To Fix CS3 Licensing Has Stopped Working | Kevin O'Hara — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:37:46 +0000

[...] I finally found the solution over on RaisedByTurtles.org by Tom Lambert. In his Fix CS3 post Uninstall a Service in Vista, Repair Adobe CS3 and Clean Up the Registry both he and a Commenter Named JL provide detailed instructions as well as where to get the things [...]

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (66.96.128.64) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (66.96.134.75) and so is spam.

By: Mbb

Mbb — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:25:52 +0000

Hi,

Thanks for this information. Without it, I could not have fixed the this problem. I used Tom’s and JL’s suggestion and it worked.

Thanks. MBB

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:01:58 +0000

Thanks for your comments Jen! It really gives me a boost whenever I find this has helped someone.

By: jen

jen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:57:18 +0000

Thank you so much for the clear instructions and the links. I followed everything exactly and it worked beautifully. Not only was I able to install CS3 but it also cleaned up my computer in general, and gave me a lot of extra space that I desperately needed.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:06:41 +0000

Thank you for the kind words!

Well-designed software would not get stuck like this and require such extreme measures.

Tom

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:35:03 +0000

Oh and yes, I know what a dim-wit I am for messing the thing up like I did to begin with. So, only half the blame goes to Adobe.

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:33:14 +0000

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
I was stuck on this one for a looooong time! Dumb Adobe! Grrrr… I got into the mess because I installed CS3 on top of CS2 and then stopped the install halfway through because I thought it had stopped (because it takes so long). The result; a nightmare mess. I walked through everything you said, step by step, detail by detail, dreading it not working…I almost got stuck when the one program was all DOS interactive styled..but it was pretty simple to figure out. Anyway, I so much appreciate you and the others out there who share these pieces of information to help others! Thank you so much, and a prayer of blessing on your day!
Yvonne

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:37:37 +0000

Whew! Another life saved by giving out obscure technical advice.

Reminds me of the time when I was being driven insane by a crashing computer. I came home one day to find a note on my computer from my girlfriend that said “Please don’t throw the computer out the window until after I finish my paper.”

By: Bernie

Bernie — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:03:26 +0000

Man! I cannot tell you! It has bee 2 days of torture…I even started giving the old razor blade a couple of dodgy looks! Either way, found this post and cannot thank you enough! Thanks, thanks, thanks…..putting the blade away now .. WEG:)

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:09:48 +0000

Have your computer technician consulted before applying this engineering … i would prefer geeks mobile usa guys do the job for me. one click service; http://www.computerrepairservicesusa.com

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:55:10 +0000

Glad to hear it!

By: Oscar

Oscar — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:44:46 +0000

Well, it worked for me too. I made everything you said and it just did what you said.
Thanks a lot for your time.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:12:57 +0000

Whoa! Awesome JL!

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. I saw it and then forgot about it. Anway, I formatted it so it should look sort of like you wanted.

Thanks for taking so much time to do that. This page actually gets a lot of traffic, so I’m sure it will help someone

By: JL

JL — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:26:38 +0000

Thanks for all the advice! What I did for uninstalling CS3 and installing CS4 Master under Vista Ultimate. Read all warnings, agreements, suggestions etc. with all the software. I am not an Adobe pro by any means nor am I an IT expert. I just thought my troubles and resolves may help someone out. Steps I did:

Looked on the internet knowing I would have difficulty. I followed some instructions I found.
1. Deactivated CS3 by using the Photoshop menu. Read the warnings!
2. Stopped all Adobe items that were running.
3. Ran msconfig and rebooted in safe mode – minimal
4. Under program remove, uninstall would not even start
5. Tried using the CS3 disk, right clicked on setup and ran as admin. Failed again.
6. Removed safe mode and rebooted.
7. Used the disk again and right clicked setup and ran as admin. A couple items said they removed then it failed.
8. Rebooted and tried again, same result. Did this 3 times and threw in a couple Program Remove tries.
Found your info and did the following as admin (backed up registry during each install and run of each program and when asked to):
1. Downloaded:
  1. Windows Install
  2. The Adobe CS3 clean script
  3. RegCure
  4. CCleanup
2. Stopped Adobe items
3. Ran Windows Install Cleanup
  1. Reboot
4. Ran CS3 script
  1. Ran level 1 about a bunch of times, many items just kept coming up that should have already been removed but I figured I did it enough times
  2. Ran level 2 about a bunch of times, many items just kept coming up that should have already been removed but I figured I did it enough times
  3. Ran level 3 about a bunch of times, many items just kept coming up that should have already been removed but I figured I did it enough times
  4. Ran level 4 about a bunch of times, many items just kept coming up that should have already been removed but I figured I did it enough times
  5. Then I ran 1, 2, 3 and 4 two more times each.
  6. I seemed to be left with folders or files (couldn’t tell) under Program Files\Adobe and Program Files\Common Files\Adobe, about 10. Most were acrobat files and the version cue.
  7. Rebooted
5. Ran the sc delete command you mentioned (don’t want to repeat in case I type it incorrectly) to remove more version cue junk.
  1. Reboot
6. Purchased full version of RegCure and ran it. Maybe could have not purchased? I wasn’t sure but when I did the scan with the free version it said only certain things would be fixed. I already spent a ton of money and time so I went for it
  1. Rebooted
7. Ran CCleaner. This did take awhile and seemed to freeze so I did restart a few times. I think it was just my impatience though.
8. Tried to delete leftover folders and files. Had huge issues with this. I am set as admin, owner etc. on each folder I tried to delete but they failed. I was able to cut them out and paste them to a folder I created on my desktop. I did this in hope that when I installed CS4 it wouldn’t pick them up. They are still there, no idea how to get rid of them, vista stinks.
  1. Did an Adobe search and all seemed to be removed.
Now, loading CS4
1. Opened the disk under explorer and ran as admin, it took forever!

So far it seems to be working. I have only checked Photoshop and Bridge so far since I have things I need to work on using those programs but I wanted to get this posted while it was fresh in my brain.

Sorry this looks so crappy but I pasted it from Word. Hope it's useful to someone anyway.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:34:19 +0000

Actually Chris, I didn’t use any file management. I don’t need it in fact. When I do need file management I use Subversion, but that’s more of a programming tool than an “asset management” thingie like Version Cue. That is to say, it’s great at doing version control on text files, but I’m not sure how well it would work for tracking other things.