384 Responses to “Adobe CS3 install horror… round 2”

1. John Dowdell Says:
   May 17th, 2007 at 3:03 pm

   I’m sorry you went through such a hassle, but am glad things are working normally now.

   We managed to get significant integration among the creative tools this time, but the installers throughout the beta process kept changing… lots of people inside Adobe felt the same pain you felt here.

   I can’t make any promises, but I do know that lots of people inside Adobe feel the same as you about the post-beta install experience… there’s lots of incentive to improve this in future cycles, if that background helps mitigate the frustration you’re feeling now….

   jd/adobe

2. polyGeek Says:
   May 17th, 2007 at 3:26 pm

   Dude, I feel your pain. I’ve gone through exactly the same horror story – error screen for error screen. But I still don’t have my CS3 installed. Thanks for posting your solution. I’ll bet Adobe Tech support is overwhelmed.

   Adobe, you guys screw up the install process like this again and your entrails will be your extrails! Please, we have work to do so don’t frak it up so bad again.

   I’ll try your solution here but I’ll be damed if I’m going to mess with uninstalling Flex and ColdFusion server.

3. polyGeek.com » Blog Archive » CS3 Install horror story, the sequal. Says:
   May 17th, 2007 at 3:39 pm

   [...] Yeah, what he said. It seems that I’m not the only person out there going through a nightmare trying to get install CS3. The blogger over at CrucialLimit.com has posted his experience and it’s the same as mine – error screen for error screen. [...]

4. Derek Says:
   May 17th, 2007 at 5:11 pm

   So true. It took me 4 days to get CS3 installed. Then when it finally did install Flash CS3 would crash right when I opened it. I tried a repair, but alas same problem. So far I have had to live with it. Unfortunately I did not have success with Adobe customer support. I was on hold for 20 minutes and hung up on. I was then on hold again for 45 minutes and transfered to the Photoshop support department when I clearly said Flash. They tried to transfer me, but hung up on me again. I called again and sat on hold for 2 hours before finally giving up. Yeah, adobe support is great. My Flash CS3 still does not work and I had to uninstall CS2 to get CS3 on my machine…Now I just pretend to try and fix the problem, wait 2 hours, ask the guy next to me to kick me in the balls. This saves me a lot of time since the installer for CS3 locks up everthing from browser to MS office.

5. Michael Kaufman Says:
   May 17th, 2007 at 5:47 pm

   I’ve been going through similar error screens. I have CS2 Studio Pro (nearly all apps).

   I’ve been doing the install/uninstall game for two days now @ 1 our per install or uninstall (can’t believe it takes about as long as installing windows).

   QUESTION: Once I run this CS2/3 clean up (Thanks!! I never saw that till now). Will I be able to put back the CS2 programs that are not in the CS3 Web Premium Pro; namely After Effects/Premiere/Encore ? Becuase that has a different serial number…

6. Crucial Says:
   May 17th, 2007 at 7:38 pm

   @John, yeah I got the vibe from tech support that it was far from uncommon. I can half understand the beta issue, but this issue that required me uninstalling CS2 to get it to run was a bit much. And the amount of time it took was insane. I really hope this is an anomaly… only time will tell I guess. Thanks for the reply.

   @polygeek, try uninstalling CS2 and running the cleanup script on level 3 only until its clean. I’m not sure if I had to uninstall Flex, AfterEffects and Studio 8, I was just tired at that point and gave up.

   @Derek, try uninstalling CS2 if you have it, then running the cleanup script on level 3. Worked for me. I feel your pain though.

   @Michael, according to the guy I spoke with at Adobe tech support, reinstalling CS2 apps AFTER cs3 is installed should not cause a problem. I haven’t reinstalled AfterEffects on my system yet so I can’t say for sure. I assume though the problem is with the CS3 installers so I wouldn’t imagine there would be a conflict, but to be honest nothing would surprise me at this point. I’ll try and reinstall AfterEffects in the next few days and I’ll let you know if I have any issues.

7. Chas Says:
   May 18th, 2007 at 1:04 pm

   So glad I found this thread… I thought I was going mad with this installer.

   I too got the same error messages when installing CS3 Design Premium. I’m now half way through uninstalling CS3 (after uninstalling CS2 and other Macromedia software) and will run the cleanup script to see if that works… fingers crossed.

   Thanks for the tips and let’s hope Adobe get this sorted for CS4!

8. Chas Says:
   May 19th, 2007 at 3:55 am

   Didn’t work! This is infuriating!!

   I did find this post which might help some folks having similar problems, http://cdharrison.com/2007/05/08/installing-cs3-web-premium/ which offers other techniques including Chris Harrisons ‘msconfig’ trick.

   Lets see what happens after I’ve removed the latest attempt.

9. Chas Says:
   May 20th, 2007 at 4:13 am

   Finally, success…

   After following these ideas (http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc3e02c) I’m up and running.

   Good luck to everyone else

10. ranma172 Says:
    May 23rd, 2007 at 4:35 pm

    man, this is crazy!

    a friend of mine installed a cracked version with no problems…

    a people getting a legal copy can’t make it work…

11. David Says:
    May 27th, 2007 at 8:17 am

    So, I was really looking forward to this release, CS2 was brilliant and i knew CS3 was going to be even better. I had Vista installed as my OS when i firts installed CS3 and it went well. not a single problem. but then, Vista bugged me and i decided to go back to XP. BIG MISTAKE. I have installed XP about 5 times to try to get it to work but still nothing. I even did nothing to my XP install but update everything completely, then install CS3 – having not installed one single other piece of software – and it still didnt work.

    I was the biggest adobe fan out there, but now, after this absolute stupidity – and i cannot stress the word stupidity enough – i dont think i will ever puchase another version of any adobe product. A company as old as Adobe, with as much experience as it has, and the programming ability they (theoretically) would have in their staff should have never had any problems like this. I have lost all faith in their products.

12. angry punter Says:
    May 27th, 2007 at 10:06 am

    I can’t believe what a mess this company has made of it…
    macromedia shouldn’t have sold out… Flash will probably turn to crap…

13. Solomon Says:
    May 27th, 2007 at 11:01 pm

    I ran into the same problem and was able to install Adobe CS3 Web by copying the discs onto my hard drive, and running the installation from there. Kind of odd, but it did the trick. Give it a try as a last resort.

14. mga Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 4:42 am

    i have cs3 web premium and cs3 design premium… i want all the apps installed (web has almost all but misses indesign which is in the other)… web premium install went with no fuss… but now design wont install… i get the “Please insert Adobe CS3 Design Premium to continue installation” BSOD…

    i will try the cleanup thingie

    do you have any pointers on this?

    thanks

    mauricio

15. Crucial Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 6:33 pm

    @mga – try setting up a new user with admin privileges on your machine and install from that user.

16. polyGeek.com » Blog Archive » Success : CS3 finally installed Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 7:05 pm

    [...] The problem that I had was that the individual apps in CS3 would install but I got an error next to Creative Suite Web Premium and Shared Components. (You can see the error messages at the CrucialLimit.com site.) [...]

17. mga Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

    dude… it actually worked!

    didn’t work right away but i selected uninstall/remove from the dialogue (something must’ve gotten installed in previous attempts) and then reinstalled in the new account and everything ok

    thanks

    mauricio

18. Jake Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 7:36 pm

    What a load of crap the install process is, and for them to even suggest reformatting your system to get their software installed is even more of a load of crap!! I’m requesting my money back and will just stick with CS2.

19. mga Says:
    May 30th, 2007 at 1:16 am

    crucial, what if i want to repair something? i was making some pdfs with acrobat and the thing crashed with some error (something not correctly installed or something like that)… so i thought i would like to repair it… now running the setup for web premium shows the lovely “Please insert Adobe CS3 Web Premium to continue installation”… do i uninstall/remove only acrobat, create a new account, install only that in the new account, delete the account?

    lol… wtf… i really dunno what the heck adobe was thinking with these installers

20. abrogard Says:
    June 1st, 2007 at 5:34 pm

    I’ve got the same problem trying to install Illustrator CS3 on windows XP.

    I had the same problem with Photoshop CS3 but a friend gave me a version all inside one ’setup.exe’ file and it installed (and runs) with no trouble at all. I don’t know anything about that file. I suppose it might be some sort of illegal hack or something. I don’t care. I paid for the right thing and it won’t work. Anyone wants to know I can show them the original disk (and the ’setup’ thing on a home made).

    Now after that I know the problem doesn’t need to exist.

    But now I’ve got the same problem again with Illustrator and this time no friendly ’setup.exe’ to get round it.

    Can anyone help me with a cure for this problem? I’ve googled around and read many posts and many supposed fixes for this but, in fact, too many, too confusing, mentioning CS3 web and all sorts of things and dangers of messing with the registry and what-not…

    So all that googling and reading has really got me nowhere.

    So I’m asking if anyone can direct me to a fix for my particular problem – putting Illustrator on an XP machine which has Premier 6 on it and Photoshop CS3 on it already but which won’t accept the Illustrator CS3 install disk (please insert….. )?

    I’ve never been here before. It looks more like a blog than a board. So if anyone has an answer would they please email me at abrogard@yahoo.com because it looks like I can’t opt for email notification of replies here, or ’subscribe to this thread’ ?

    regards,

    ab

    regards,

21. Crucial Says:
    June 1st, 2007 at 8:58 pm

    @abrogard, this is in fact a blog, however if you follow the steps laid out above to the letter you will be able to install your original, non-hacked copy of Photoshop and Illustrator with no problems. Good luck!

22. John Alexander Says:
    June 2nd, 2007 at 4:22 pm

    Adobe CS 3 is the worst install EVER!! Adobe should spend more time writing better code and less time time writing sales hype. I will never use an Adobe beta again!

23. Jake Says:
    June 3rd, 2007 at 5:09 pm

    To Crucial:
    No you’re wrong, as I followed EVERY THING posted here and on other sites/blogs and I still can’t get the programs installed!!

    I even went as far as to uninstall everything and then did the CS3 clean up script using option 4 many times, and then used a registry cleaning program in safe mode. Rebooted and still got the same dam thing “Please insert Adobe CS3 Web Premium to continue installation”……..
    WTF!!

    I have to much on this PC to to a format, as I always seem to miss something when I do formats.

    So the sad thing here, I went and got a bootleg copy (out of frustration) and “I’ll be dammed”, it installed just fine!!!

    What the hell is that all about??? I spend $1,600.00 on software that I can’t even get installed and then I download some f**king bootleg smit and it installs with no problems??? WTF is that???

    Now I’m no dummy when it comes to computers, as I used to be a network administrator for Ford Motor Company for over 12yrs!! I have seen share of computers and software..

    The REAL sad thing here is the fact that Adobe would very much like to stamp out bootleg software, well this type of smit sure does not help them at all, now does it??

    So I’m going to leave it as is, because I have a license for it, even though I have a bootleg copy installed…. Sure does pi$$ me off though!!

    Jake

24. Crucial Says:
    June 3rd, 2007 at 9:39 pm

    @Jake, don’t know what to tell you man, using the cleanup script, on options 4 and 5 AFTER removing the betas and previous CS2 software wipes out any trace of previous adobe installs. Installing under a different user account is what did it on my laptop. I’ve received tons of email stating similar results. Have you tried con… scratch that… you know what your doing, good luck :S

25. Jake Says:
    June 3rd, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    To Crucial:
    What is so strange is that even though I used cleanup script, after I went in the reg and there was still all kinds of traces of Adobe. There are also files within the file system it left behind.

    I try and call Adobe and I just do not have time to set on hold for 2hrs +. The last time I called it was 1hr and 47 minutes before I said puck it…

    Guess I have to leave the bootleg installed, as everything is working fine and nothing strange added to the system.

    So I figure “why bang my head” everything I paid for is working the way it should, so hats off to them dam bootleggers.. Maybe Adobe should hire them and fire the programmers they have now.. LOL

    I do want to say THANK YOU to this blog though!!
    May your PCs always be smoke free!

    Thanks,
    Jake

26. Charles Borlase Says:
    June 5th, 2007 at 2:19 am

    Quick background:
    I had CS3 Web Premium installed (from web download), and everything was working fine. I then trashed several registry entries and photoshop refused to run (my mistake).

    On reinstalling CS3 to “fix” Photoshop, I got what seems to be common:
    The installer died at the “Please insert Adobe CS3 Web Premium to continue installation” prompt. I accepted my fate and clicked “cancel”.

    I noticed in the resulting text showing the failure, that it couldn’t find the install files in the “origional” install lcoation (DVD). Cool. I’d been trying to re-install from the CS3 folder on my desktop, so of course the location was different.

    When I got the files into the “original” install location, and restarted the install, everything went without a hitch.

    Perhaps this tidbit will help others, perhaps not…

27. dent Says:
    June 7th, 2007 at 4:24 am

    Yeah well I installed all fine but flash.

    Flash cs3 stops after 30 secs of installing saying something bout an error right. So I check the error log and for what I know it has some problem with the default language blah blah
    Im on a spanish OS (win xp pro) but I cant imagine there should be a problem to install on spanish OS.
    Seams it cant install one of the files and checking that loader the filename says _en, by the end.

    You seen anything similar?

    well well Im just happy you can download and try for free before you spend thousands of dollars on a prog that fecks up your whole work and all

    thx god for p2p

28. abrogard Says:
    June 8th, 2007 at 11:59 pm

    @crucial

    Thanks for your input but which instructions above did you intend me to follow? I’ve followed all that pertain to my particular problem with no good result.

    But it doesn’t matter because mga and jake speak for me, they’ve got the same problem. Mga seemed to get there with that new user trick (which I’ll try) but then the following day he got hassles relating to a bad installation. We’ve not heard from him since. I’d guess he’s still got the hassles.

    Jake speaks for me almost exactly. I too was a computer professional for years. I too got a hacked disk (for photoshop) that installed with no problem. I too think Adobe are ridiculous.

    In fact I’ve always thought so, ever since I first ran across them, way back when .pdf was first being plugged. I thought then how cunning that was. Give away a free reader for your own proprietory package and hook everyone into it.

    They got a big boost from government departments everywhere who had an interest in producing documents that no one could change. Nobody needed adobe to do that.

    Then I learned more about them. I’m a graduate of business school. They use product differentiation par excellence. They split their software into different packages and make you buy each one at inflated prices. They don’t go increasing customer satisfaction and utility. They go for increasing customer dissatisfaction (so’s you’ve got to get the other package) and diminished utility.

    They are scam artists is my belief. Very slick, very successful, but scam artists nontheless and eventually they’ll suffer the inevitable downfall when finally the world becomes aware they don’t need this organisation or its software but can get things done better with other (probably even open source), cheaper software, better supported.

    The hacked copies Jake and I have had demonstrate that there’s some probably very simple way to avoid this ‘insert disk…’ problem. One would expect it to be simple. The software probably looks only one time for the presence of the disk, in one way, well known, easily known, to Adobe programmers (and findable by knowledgeable hackers). The fact that it doesn’t find it is when it is clearly there is a flaw in the Adobe software.

    But rather than own up to the flaw and give up the answer Adobe hides from the customer. Why? Because they think giving the answer would help hackers, I’d guess. They’re frightened of some free copies or hacked software getting out there.

    Just like the fear of recording companies.

    The fact that the whole computer paradigm in this modern time has become one of freely giving new software/products in order to gain acceptance, market share, market penetration totally escapes them. Google, Yahoo, Youtube, etc… etc… mean nothing to them at all. They are driven by an ancient idea of maximising unearned wealth. You get a monopoly. You get government backing, you get laws on your side (copyright laws) and you sit back and coin the rewards.

    Millions of dollars for a three minute ’song’.

    Millions of dollars for flawed software full of routines and algorithms both in the public domain and often in need of replacing by better routines also publicly available – and software the costs of creationn of which has been fully amortized over and over again a hundred fold. But this means nothing, like the chemical companies today hundredfold profits are the norm. Like chemical companies and recording companies and banks and insurance companies and wherever you look massive unearned profits are taken to be the thing to strive for and a god given right.

    Hah. There’ll be many out there will claim it is not only a god given right but a necessary part of modern society. Without it the skies will fall. Well let me tell you the skies are going to fall. China and India and (it will happen) Africa are coming online and our current Western monopolies and conceited claims of god given rights for usurious profits are going to collaps and die before the software and intellectual enterprise that will flow from those places.

    Well that’s quite a tirade isn’t it? But what else do you think is a fair thing in the face of what we are wearing from Adobe in this respect?

    Do you think my little blog-borne tirade is anything like as disruptive, dramatic, unsettling, unconscionable and flagrantly improper as what Adobe is doing?

    Of course it is not.

    It is just another rant, if I might borrow a phrase.

    

29. Jen Stewart Says:
    June 15th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

    On behalf of Aquent and the American Marketing Association, I’d like to
    invite you and your readers to join our upcoming (June 28th, 2007) free webinar featuring Chris and Jennifer Smith discussing “Accomplishing Critical Marketing Goals with Adobe® Creative Suite 3’s New Capabilities.”

    Chris and Jennifer Smith are the co-founders of the Aquent Graphics Institute , a subsidiary of Aquent . Since 1994, they’ve provided training, support, and consulting services to marketers, communications professionals and publishers. Chris and Jennifer have collectively authored over 20 best-selling Adobe-related books, including Adobe Creative Suite 3 for Dummies . Most recently, they developed much of Adobe’s internal training for the Creative Suite 3 launch.

    In this Aquent -sponsored webcast, Chris and Jennifer Smith of the Aquent Graphics Institute will share a marketer’s guide to Adobe Creative Suite 3. Specifically, they’ll highlight major enhancements made by Adobe and discuss how some organizations are already accomplishing critical marketing goals with these newly enabled capabilities. Given your audience, I think there’ll be a lot of interest in their advice.

    We’d also appreciate your help in spreading the word about Chris and Jennifer’s presentation. Perhaps you’d include us in your calendar or you’d like to interview one or both of them before or after the event? I’d be happy to arrange a phone or email interview with then to deepen your research.

    Register and get more info here:
    http://www.marketingpower.com/webcast384.php

30. BryceF Says:
    June 16th, 2007 at 11:18 pm

    First, to Jen from Aquent…

    You are kidding, right? Hundreds, perhaps thousands of users have spent untold person-hours struggling to simply install CS3. There IS NO PRODUCTIVITY GAIN FROM CS3, avoid it like the plague until Adobe fixes it!!

    To everyone else,
    Better yet, return it, and demand your $ back. Buy it again ONLY after Adobe sends you a free cruise in the Bahamas to make up for the heinous waste of your time.

    BTW, I have reinstalled my OS 2x!!!! The first time, I could install CS3 Web Prem but then couldnt fix or reinstall it after Acrobat stopped working properly.

    The second time I couldnt install anything BUT Acrobat and Version Cue, everything else came up red X’s. How bad is a bug that can’t install to an OS that has nefver even HEARD the term “Adobe”?

31. Ho Says:
    June 17th, 2007 at 10:35 am

    I FINALLY got it to install. After tryin everything here – and nothing worked – I copied that CD to my hard drive and installed it from there.

    Its installing as i type this ( on a different computer )

32. Lye Says:
    June 18th, 2007 at 8:34 am

    So I formatted my Mac. Fresh Install of OSX. Booted it up and let it update. I installed nothing else at all. I then dragged the Web Premium dmg from the cd, onto the desktop and tried to install…

    “Please insert Adobe CS3 Web Premium to continue installation”

    WTF That is with a completely fresh OSX install and NO OTHER SOFTWARE let alone Adobe software on the system.

    This is a joke. What the f**k am I supposed to do?

33. Crucial Says:
    June 18th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

    @Lye: I dont have a Mac so I cant offer first hand support. However, look inside the Adobe installer folder (on a PC its located at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Installers) and see if anything is in there. There will likely be a folder or two with letters and numbers (for example f4ca0de7e69bc77df34b5de71c9b306) for a folder name.

    If you have more than one folder inside the installers directory, you’ll need to look in the folders to find the web premium installer. The way to tell which one has the web premium installer is to open each folder and look inside the payloads folder. The correct folder will have all the web premium products inside. Once you find that, back out of the payloads directory and you will see a setup file. Click on the setup file and try running the installer from there.

    Hope that helps…

34. iso Says:
    June 18th, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    I was having the disc insertion issue as well. Moved disc to dvd-rom on primary channel (this seemed to be my issue) and voila. Very easy fix for such a huge annoyance. This may say something about the behavior of the installer….Good luck to you all.

35. Deena Says:
    June 21st, 2007 at 5:32 am

    I just downloaded illustrator cs3 trial on my mac and when i installed it, it only installed some components but NOT illustrator. Is is because i have illustrator cs1 installed, would that interfere? I don’t know but it’s driving me crazy, if i can’t install the trial, i can’t install the full version!

36. Seth Says:
    June 24th, 2007 at 5:45 am

    Here is the solution:

    Press the start button and in the search box type: msconfig.exe (WinXP can go to Run first to get to this).

    Click on Boot and then Deselect All.

    Reboot and install CS3.

    Go back to msconfig and select Normal Startup and reboot once more.

    You should now have a working CS3 installed.

37. Bert Says:
    June 25th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

    I’m glad I found this blog, I thought it was just me being tortured by this install!

38. Adrian Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 4:22 am

    This install is the pits. I knew something couldn’t be right from the beginning when it wouldn’t install before I shutdown MSN Messenger! Only software in the world to ask this. And it was all downhill from there, all the way to an OS reinstall….

39. thebee Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 7:00 am

    Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!! I was having exactly the same problems, but the following worked for me on my PC running XP SP2;
    - uninstalled CS3
    - used the Windows clean-up utility and removed all Adobe products and Macromedia Flash Player 8
    - ran Adobe CS clean up script on level 4 twice
    - rebooted
    - copied the CS3 application CD into a folder on my desktop
    - installed CS3 from desktop location

    It installed, I stuck in my serial number and everything seems to work. Fingers crossed.

40. migrainboy Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 6:58 pm

    this bug plagued me for weeks and nothing worked:
    1. the widespread .svg/.svgx extension removal from xp shell – via registry key removal or folder options
    2. msconfig based reduced-boot trick
    3. other desperate voodoo methods that have begun to crop up

    at last i solved it thus: i uninstalled the first-installed cs3 app (in my case photoshop) which included the culprit (yep) ’shared components’ – and then installed illustrator successfully – no “please insert” errors.

    and then re-installed photoshop…

    this solution is no good for people stuck with that error without prior CS3 installs…. but I hope the stock svg/msconfig solutions do work for them…

    good luck. And by the way – everyone is pissed off at this grave installational sin of Adobe – which unjustifiably overshadows some major operational flaws. For example the long awaited import-export seam-sewing between illustrator and flash was simply left out – it’s exactly the same as with CS2 and macromedia flash! You cannot imort flash vector art into illustrator without major warping and color info loss… and that’s just one example.

41. Ticked IT Guy Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 9:48 am

    I can install CS3 no problem. I can install CS3 silently no problem. I can install CS3 from SMS 2003 no problem.

    I’ve been trying for two freaking weeks to install CS3 silently from SMS 2003!

    How they heck can you install this crap in an enterprise situation?!?!

    I guess I’m going to have to just handload this Piece-of-$@*& on 500 PCs!

42. Janaina Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 1:29 pm

    Hi!!!

    I managed to install Photoshop Elements 5.0 @ Windows Vista by uninstalling the FLASH PLAYER! (Believe me, that was the only thing that worked after WEEKS of HELL)….

    Remember you have to uninstall everything related to Adobe from your computer before installing everything again. If you can’t uninstall everything (make sure you did that), use the Microsoft Windows Intall Clean Up (to clean up every instance associated to adobe before installing everything again).

    Cheers
    Janaina

43. Everything Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    I have installed CS3 on 3 machines: XP (problems), Vista (problems), OSX (works and was easy to install) and I do believe the solution is simple: Just use a mac and you will save yourself a lot of time and might live longer due to less stress! And for those of you who use PCs because of the cost difference well.. how many hours have how many of you wasted and how much is that worth to you?

    …

    “I’ve wasted weeks”,
    “spent countless hours”,
    “I’ve been trying for two freaking weeks”

    … and so on

    TIME = MONEY hence buy a mac, save time (money)

    PS: abrogard is an absolute idiot and should be banned from the internet!
    Without the introduction of PDF, what would you do if I had to send you an autocad document to review? you would have needed to have autocad and how about a quark file or a freekin pagemaker file or maybe a design in illustrator or a layout that god forbid was done in publisher and so on and so on. do you have any idea how much money adobe has saved us all by enabling us to share documents without having to have their originating applications.

    PSS: The multi-suite installation options offered by installshield (now a macrovision company) suck and are for the most part to blame for the problems you all are experiencing.

44. EVERYTHING 2 Says:
    June 30th, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    Ok….so where do I get my money back?

    I think I’ll stick with CS2 and find some other product that will suffice. It figures that adobe would absolutely screw up the macromedia products so badly that it would come to this.

    I’ve spent 4 days trying to install CS3 and I’m pretty much done with it. Too bad. I’ve always been a adobe fan until now. It’s a crying shame Adobe can’t package a self instaler that will actually WORK.

    By the way, “Everything”, when will you buy and send my MAC to me? I”m waiting.

45. TOPMAN Says:
    June 30th, 2007 at 8:57 pm

    Critical errors were found in Setup
    - Session has dependencies that cannot be satisfied
    Please see the Setup log file for details

    I KEEP GETIN THIS? HELP…

46. Crucial Says:
    June 30th, 2007 at 10:45 pm

    @Everything, this isn’t a PC only issue. Do a search, read the tech notes on Adobes site, check the forums, this is a CS3 issue, not a platform issue. If you didn’t have a problem, thats great, but it wasn’t the mighty blue Apple that saved your ass, that you can be sure of.

    Are you sure about that installshield claim? I think you might need to do a bit more research on that one

    And for the record I’m anti-BS, not anti-mac (my next machine will be a MBP!).

    @Topman, I had a similar issue when I tried installing the suite, AFTER installing an individual trial component like Flash. I had to completely uninstall any previous installs, run the clean up scripts, and start over. It seemed to be looking for files on my hard drive that were used during the first install. Not sure if thats the problem your having, but thats where I’d start.

47. lovina Says:
    July 3rd, 2007 at 10:51 am

    I thank to all people who speak up on this issue. I have the same problem too but all posting here are related to mine. I will keep reading until adobe come here and help us all. Or anybody has the solutions please share with us. As my understanding this issue ( the insert cd to continue to installation thingy) hasn’t been fixed, correct!

    Thanks to all of you.

    Lovina

48. pipapipo310 Says:
    July 4th, 2007 at 9:05 pm

    hey ppl,
    i just got the solution.
    i copied all the content from the DVD (no matter it is the real genuine DVD or a mounted-image-file) to a folder on your computer. and run the setup from your hard drive. i t works like a charm!!!

    i was struggle for this super-stupid problem for a week. and now i got all adobe cs3 work for me ^^

49. JT Says:
    July 7th, 2007 at 10:07 am

    what OS is everyone using? I’m using vista ultimate and when i double click the setup, it starts to initialise the install but then the box just disapears and does nothing!!?? I read the article at the top and I’m a bit worried of uninstalling all adobe programs. Does it wipe all project files and settings etc??
    If someone could reply it would be much appreciated.

50. Crucial Says:
    July 7th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

    @JT – Follow this comment I posted above to Lye. It should fix your issue

51. sdirkx Says:
    July 9th, 2007 at 4:07 am

    Oh yes, what a frustrating experience it is. The installation of “CS3″ took me up to now a couple of
    days, and still no succes… I didn’t even have a beta-version of CS3 installed, but because I read about problems during the installation when other or older Adobe programms were installed, I uninstalled all Cs2-programms. The result was that my CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drive weren’t recognized anymore by Vista (Ultimate; 32-bits).

    So I restored a backup with a clean Vista install and removed Adobe Flash Player and the Acrobat reader to be sure these programms couldn’t cause a install failure. Futhermore I ran the Windows Install Cleaner and Adobe CS3 Clean Script (4 times the hidden option 4, to remove evertything of Adobe). The last 2 folders that couldn’t be removed by the script I removed manually. But when installing CS3 (antivirus and antispyware-stuff switched off), still nothing.. Well, installation seemed to be fine, but after 25 minutes or so, the result was that (alsmost) all components failed (red crosses).

    I also tried the jscript-workaround (decribed here:http://www.creativeblvd.com/having-problems-installing-cs3.html, but that even frooze the installation of CS3.

    Other options described are ’silent install’ (too difficult I think) and copying the disc to the hard drive (don’t expect much to do, because why would there be something like a clean script). There seem to be so much different solutions?! But maybe copying to the harddisk is my last option…?

    Now I switched back to Cs2… with Dreamweaver that isn’t very stabile in Vista, but hey better than
    nothing. When there is a decent fix or something I’llprobably try again, but for now I’ve had it!

52. Thomas Friedl Says:
    July 10th, 2007 at 4:45 am

    Seems like I made the worst mistake yesterday -> I tried to install cs3 from my dvd. After the adobe common files stuff I get the error that none of my programs could be installed. So I copied my dvd to my harddisk and tried it there -> now I always get the “Please insert Adobe CS3 Web Premium to continue installation” error. I allready tried the cleanup script from level 1 to 4 with reboots + disabling the autostart programs – without success. It can’t be that hard to remove this f***… drive letter from the registry or file or whatever – can it?

    I’m using a complete fresh vista home premium 64bit without any betas, trials or cs2 installed before. This installer should really be on the list of the top 10 worst programs ever made….

53. tom Says:
    July 10th, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    I just did a complete system recovery and reinstalled Vista. I downloads CS3 and when I try and install it the Setup screen appears and then disappears. I have never used the beta but I tried up run the CS3 clean up script and it does the same thing. Wierd.

54. braden Says:
    July 10th, 2007 at 9:36 pm

    i finally got my cs3, and i was so excited to finally get it and i couldn’t wait to get home from work so i could install, and for some reason i was filled with apprehension that somehow something would go wrong..sure enough, i can’t install because i had the trial versions but i thought the way you uninstall was to drag to trash..so now i can’t even recall them and uninstall, because they’re gone….tech services are closed for the day and i am totally mortified and depressed and an emotional wreck. i need to get a life but geez, paying a fortune for software that doesnt work is no joke!

55. Ben Says:
    July 11th, 2007 at 10:30 am

    On Monday I received my Adobe CS3 Master Collection for Mac and many of these problems still exist.

    My symptoms were initially the install application would pop up a requester when it was done with the first DVD but the requestor was empty. No buttons… no text…. Nothing. Killing it required me to do a “Force Quit.”

    I had Safari 3 Beta installed. After looking at some of the log files I determined this may have been part of the problem so I uninstalled Safari 3. I also uninstalled my CS2 applications. I tried again and the requestor would now open with text and buttons but nothing would happen when I inserted the second DVD. I struggled with this for over a day.

    Eventually, I removed all references from my system (application files, configuration files, preference files, etc…. NOT my images, html and other files generated by previous Adobe products, just the application and configuration files).

    Still no joy. Same behavior.

    FINALLY !!!…

    So, after reading this thread I copied the contents of the first DVD to my hard drive and then copied the contents of the payloads directories from the other three DVDs to the payload directory in my copy of the first DVD. (The payload directory is in “Adobe CS3 Master Collection” directory on the first DVD.) I then ran the setup program from this copy of the DVDs. Finally…. JOY. It worked. I ran the install overnight last night and when I checked the system earlier today it had worked. A spot check of applications appears that they are working okay.

    Considering the length of time between the publication of the first CS3 suites and the release of the Master Collection, I would have hoped that Adobe would address some of the problems. They may have but I didn’t seem to benefit from it.

    HTH…

56. Corey Says:
    July 11th, 2007 at 11:07 am

    Tried your solution, but it didn’t work. Adobe told me both of these needed to be uninstalled for the installation process of CS3 (but could come back on later):

    - Google Desktop
    - Windows Live OneCare

57. nemof Says:
    July 15th, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    I tried absolutely everything. I removed all previous Adobe/Macromedia products. I installed/uninstalled CS3 at least 10-15 times. I used the clean up script on level 4 each time. I copied everything to my hard drive and ran it from there. Eventually, the final thing I could think to do worked. I ran the installation program as admin and it ran perfectly. What a nightmare.

58. Words of Wise-dumb » Pain in the ass installation Says:
    July 16th, 2007 at 4:01 pm

    [...] Adobe CS3 install horror No Comments. RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI [...]

59. honey Says:
    July 16th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

    JT…check this post http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?128@@.3bc3b755 the solution here worked for me…

    1. Start the Setup as usual and let it copy over a few files
    and than – after a short popup – let him disappear. There shouldn’t be
    any other errors except the described above, otherwise you have to deal
    with these first (eg. run the cleanup script, if the setup complains
    about an allready running installation etc).

    2. Now open up your Windows Explorer and go to
    [C]/\[Program Files]\[Common Files]\Adobe\Installers\c14ac4070fd9614ffe63f4bb533db2c\resources\common\scripts
    ( “[]” Depending on your installation and language).
    Alternatively you can press [WinKey]+R and type in:
    “%CommonProgramFiles%\Adobe\Installers\c14ac4070fd9614ffe63f4bb533db2c\resources\common\scripts”

    3. Locate a file called “ContainerProxy.js” in the opened Window and
    open it with a text editor of your choice (notepad will be adequate).
    Right click on the file -> Open with -> Notepad.

    4. Go to line 1102 or simply search for
    “jsonObj = _jsonToObject(window.external.SetSessionInitialized(initValue));”
    and replace this line with
    “jsonObj = _jsonToObject(SetSessionInitialized(initValue));”

    5. Save the file by pressing [Strg]+S or use the menu:
    Menu -> File Save.

    6. Startup up the installation process again and this time the
    installer shouldn’t quit and hopefully you will be able to install.

60. jordon Says:
    July 18th, 2007 at 10:21 am

    i try to download trial versions of photoshop or fireworks but when i try to open it says that i need to close internet explorer, even when internet explorer isnt open it still says it, does anyone know how to get around this problem?

61. Mike Says:
    July 18th, 2007 at 8:07 pm

    Absolutely among the worst installations I’ve ever had to go through. I kept getting “You can only run one Adobe product installation at a time.” In Add/Remove programs, CS3 showed twice and Adobe Setup showed 4 times. Using CCleaner 1.41 I was able to uninstall one, only ONE, of the CS3 listings. Then I found this post. I downloaded and ran the Windows MSI Installer Cleanup utility, rebooted, ran CS3 Cleaner utility 3 times (level 1) to make sure all file were gone, rebooted, ran CCleaner again and there were 121 registry errors ALL relating to …\Adobe\Installer\… I cleaned them out, rebooted, then it installed fine. WOW! WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!! $1,500 for this. SIMPLY HORRIBLE.

    But THANK YOU for this post. I can’t imagine how much time I would have spent trying to get the PC cleaned up so I could install it.

    Mike

62. Olwen Bruce Says:
    July 18th, 2007 at 8:09 pm

    Mac users:
    Please pass on this easy peasy tip for installing CS3

    Got the disks this afternoon for the Master Collection so with great excitement I began loading up. I have been ‘at it” for five hours on my new wizzy G5 with as much ram and memory as it will hold.
    After the first disc loaded the dialogue box asking for the inseertion of disk 2 was blank, and frozen.

    After a long hold on the Adobe help line, I was directed to change the root on some obscure program I have never heard of. After scrabbling about in the nether regions in the belly of the hard drive doing nerdy things with :/ etc we final started the installation again with a promise that he would call back to see if it loaded. This call lasted one hour and 20 minutes, of course it did not get past the first disk and there was no call.

    I called The tech help again and whilst I was on hold (another one hour and 10 minutes), decided to load it onto my laptop – worked perfectly but took a long time especially disc 3.

    The new help person finaly came on the phone and after reading the case notes said “hmm I see you have re-rooted and blah bladed. What versionof Safari do you have?” The latest of course. He said “Well download the beta 3 version and remove it – go back to 2. Insert the disk, uninstall any CS3, restart the computer and start installing again”.
    It works. But I am now into 6 hours behind.
    However, this beautiful package it is so fast I will soon make up the time

63. Zuhdija Says:
    July 21st, 2007 at 2:06 pm

    What I did is that I copied all files from cd to hdd and then deleted deplojment file and after that started installation and it worked perfectly!

64. Thea Says:
    July 22nd, 2007 at 2:38 am

    Just got my Production Suite today. Excited until I got the dreaded Mac OS problem of the blank alert at the end of the first disk. I had to force quit and clean up more Adobe leftovers hidden elsewhere on the hard drive. Still no luck. But I surfed out for answers, and reading these posts, I am going to try the Safari 3 thing first – I have the beta – and then copy the disks to the hard drive if that fails. I am pretty darned glad (or I think I will be) to find this blog and have at least hope of moving forward. I am very angry at Adobe about this – it was already expensive to finally go for a bundle, but then found out I can only install on one computer, not two as before. Because I have a serious illness, I have a computer at work and at home and rely on that. There is no way I have $1200 for another Production Suite both for just one person. Now I am worried about what is going to happen to Director, which I rely on. Might as well gripe about Dreamweaver while I am at it – GoLive’s ability to import a layered PS file as a site has been so useful – would think they could at least add that. The way DW works with PS is not a thrill. All of this better be damned good to support this level of hassle, disappointment, and capability loss. I have to work tomorrow – will I even be able to? I am not happy.

65. Richard Cane Says:
    July 24th, 2007 at 3:13 am

    XD Cool rant… The guys at Adobe seriously buggered this up… Who has tried uninstalling it anyways? It took me 3 hours… Maybe Adobe should concentrate more on user friendliness and fast installs and uninstalls than the size of the companies ego…

66. HATEHATEHATEHATE Says:
    July 24th, 2007 at 8:42 pm

    I WILL KILL YOU ALL CS3 I SWEAR TO GOD/………GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    5 DAYS AND COUNTING WITH THIS FUCKIN INSTALATION PROCESS…..STILL NO SOLUTION
    CAN’T EVEN DOWNLOAD THAT FUCKIN Windows Installer Cleanup Utility package (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301), THEIR SITE IS FUCKIN OVERWHELMED ……………………………………..CUZ LET’S BE HONEST YOU CAN’T RUN THAT CS3 clean up script (WinCS3Clean) WITHOUT THE Windows Installer Cleanup Utility package !

67. lyno Says:
    July 25th, 2007 at 3:31 am

    Hey Guys,i have the same problem with Jordon..
    I try to install the trial of illustrator and it says that i need to close internet explorer, even when internet explorer isnt open..
    What should we do? Please help,i need it for my job!!

68. Bob Says:
    July 26th, 2007 at 10:01 am

    I have CS1, CS2 and CS3 all installed and running on my machine with no errors or hiccups in the install.

    I am sorry for your issues, what a pain, I even installed off the DVD. I guess I got lucky.

    cheers,

    Bob

69. Luís Says:
    July 27th, 2007 at 10:12 am

    Hey Guys,i have the same problem with Jordon and July..
    I try to install the trial of illustrator and it says that i need to close internet explorer, even when internet explorer isnt open..
    What should we do?

70. Al-noor Says:
    July 27th, 2007 at 10:21 am

    I can confirm that installing CS3 is a real BIG headache. I just wanted to install only Acrobat on my Vista 64-bit machine.

    But after installation, Acrobat does not lauch unless you install Photoshop first.

    In order to install Photoshop, all shared components are automatically installed againm which takes ages and ages.

    In my 10 years digital life, I have never encounted such a stupid installation method….

    Microsoft can be satisfied about the many dissappointed users Adobe will get with the current headacke installtion method of Adobe CS3 suite…..I can confirm that installing CS3 is a real BIG headache. I just wanted to install only Acrobat on my Vista 64-bit machine.

    But after installation, Acrobat does not lauch unless you install Photoshop first.

    In order to install Photoshop, all shared components are automatically installed againm which takes ages and ages.

    In my 10 years digital life, I have never encounted such a stupid installation method….

    Microsoft can be satisfied about the many dissappointed users Adobe will get with the current headacke installation method of Adobe CS3 suite…..

71. bill_daul Says:
    July 29th, 2007 at 2:20 am

    Boy…I just did everything Beginning Rant described…running the cleaning script with LEVEL 4…rebooted my machine…tried running the SETUP install…got the same damn message about Installer Alert…what a pile of shit this Adobe installer is…they should be ashamed of producing such crap.

    /** combined multiple comments into one – Admin 7/29/07 @10:03am **/

    7/27/07 @ 2:22am – Oh I should add I am now reloading all CS2 and other software I had from Adobe/Marcomedia.  What a croak…

    7/27/07 @ 2:23am – Zuhdija, What is the deleted deplojment file?  Where is it?  I will try your route next!
    
    Thanks, –bill

72. Valkenier Says:
    July 29th, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    None of the above solutions worked for me. I used Mark Russels Process Explorer to find out what was going on. (google for sysinternals and you’ll find it at the microsoft website; they have lots of other handy goodies)

    I found that the installer could not find d:\Adobe CS3
    \ payloads \ AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll\AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll.msi

    Of course it could not. The file was in d:\Adobe Photoshop CS3
    \ payloads \ AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll\

    (d:\ being my dvd drive with installation CD)

    So I copied my installation folder (Adobe Photoshop CS3) to the hard drive, renamed it to “Adobe CS3″ and reran the installation. No problems!!

    Hope this helps others.

73. Mark Says:
    July 29th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

    Thank you, Adobe for being such assholes. Guess what I have brought you product, Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and I have a hell of a time with your stupid installer. Error: Critical errors were found in your setup – Session has dependencies that cannot be satisfied Please see the Setup log file for details.

    Also, I have already try installing each component separately from he payloads and found it was impossible with error: Please install [[product name]] using Setup.exe

74. Martin Arvisais, As-Is - Développeur et Formateur Adobe Flash - Flex - FMS - Actionscript 3.0 - Apollo - Web - Internet » Blog Archive » Résolution de certains Bug Says:
    July 30th, 2007 at 7:07 pm

    [...] CS3 rencontre des erreurs. Je vous propose un lien en anglais qui vous aidera à passer au traver! ICI Embedé un fichier xml externe à la [...]

75. Adobe Creative Suite 3 - The Dreaded 1406 Error? Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 8:26 am

    [...] post detailing this user’s “CS3 Horror” actually led me to a couple of tools that have been a lifesaver with properly removing all [...]

76. Mike Says:
    August 1st, 2007 at 3:49 pm

    This CS3 installer sucks to infinity +1000

    1) it is slow to death (80 minutes or more to install premium on an G4 iMac), while the old install took 19 minutes.
    2) it is a pain in the ass. No activity, no messages, appears to be frozen.
    3) it is problematic. Too many errors, poor designed (I am not talking about visual).
    4) it is so crappy it cannot uninstall crap installed by previous installers.
    5) error messages are useless to discover the problem.

    The same is true for the crappy Adobe Updater. We are dealing with both state of the art pieces of crap.

    Adobe is needing competition. Bring Macromedia Back!

77. D.Swift Says:
    August 2nd, 2007 at 3:32 pm

    After 4 days of troubleshooting, reinstalling, using the cleaner and doing unnecessary registry purges I found my problem.

    On my first install my McAfee firewall prompted me on the Bonjour service trying to connect to the internet. I denied it thinking that it was unnecessary – this was a great error. Unfortunately the CS3 installer is most unforgiving to any errors and failed so many times simply because Bonjour couldn’t access the network.

    After checking the Event Viewer (XP: Start > Run and type in eventvwr), under Application, I could see an installation error 1920 related to the Bonjour service.
    The problem was that after the installation failed, the Bonjour executable was deleted and thus when I checked my firewall settings it was not listed. I had to go to the Bonjour folder – “C:\Program Files\Bonjour\ and create a dummy file named “mDNSResponder.exe” just so that it would show up in my firewall program list and then be allowed or deleted. Then I deleted the dummy file and reinstalled. Voilà!

    I hope that helps someone.

78. Johan Says:
    August 4th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    It IS CS3 we’re trying install right?

    Did anyone tell the Morons at Adobe that ACROBAT is required to read the pdf instructions in the Cleansup script they put out?!?!

    Why the ^%$#^$ do you have to reinstall from the same directory as before!?

79. Tiago Hillesheim Says:
    August 5th, 2007 at 12:46 am

    They’ve really screwed things up. I had spent 3 days trying to install Flash CS3 before I read this post. Thanks man. I completely agree with all words you wrote. In the end, I could install from the DVD …
    cheers

80. Blabla Says:
    August 5th, 2007 at 10:10 am

    Took me 3 days, it finally installed when as a last resort i switched off my firewall (comodo) and antivirus (symantec corp). I’m having a suspicion it may have something to do with Bonjour, which did strange things when my firewall stopped it from logging onto the net. If Bonjour is the problem, that would suck a lot for Adobe. I still don’t understand the need for that application anyway. (which is why i terminated it right after install)
    Anyway, maybe it helps people to turn off their firewalls and virus tools. I think it’s crazy that a photo editing program won’t install because of this, but hey, maybe i’m too simple minded or something.
    Also, why does it take FOREVER to install/uninstall. Even windows installed quicker than this piece of work.

81. Niels Henrik Duevang Says:
    August 7th, 2007 at 10:51 am

    Hi all of you poor bastards!
    (Im next in line – and somehow it seems im the only one having my problem: I succeded installing CS3 on 4 Apple G5 and 1 Apple Macbook Pro.
    BUT Im stock with an Apple G5 and and Apple G4 Powerbook that fails in the same way: I have tried running the installer from the DVD and from the HDD (copied the DVD to HDD) with the same result: The installer “jumps” in the Dock for a 3-4 seconds then closes – without any kind failure information it simply wont run. Frustrating.
    I have never installed public beta or anything else, since i got the same result when I tried…
    I have ran the clean script to….

    Any good ideas – ?

    Greetings from Denmark!

82. Jasper Says:
    August 8th, 2007 at 11:01 am

    After suffering more than 6 hours with Adobe Master Collection, I really want to thank you all, and espessially Olwen Bruce & Ben. Because yes, I work on mac, and yes, I had the Safari 3 beta installed. I tried everything else, but the stupid installer kept ‘freezing’ when the first disc was ejected (popup was blank too).

    So now it works, after spoiling to much time for a package of more than 3200 euro…

    so thanks again, and I hope all the rest will found a solution soon..

    Jasper, from belgium

83. Little Help Says:
    August 8th, 2007 at 5:51 pm

    For all of you experiencing the “Critical errors were found in Setup – Session has dependencies that cannot be satisfied Please see the Setup log file for details” Try getting your hands on a copy of premeire pro cs3 beta installing it UNCHECK NOTHING WHEN THE COMPONENTS ARE LISTED!!!!!!! install it finish or finish and reboot now try installing flash or fireworks it should work it solved my problem. My theory is that adobe forget to throw out a list of required components you need for each install so each install is a hit and miss if you have them it will install if not your S.O.L. like the instance of individual install with dreamweaver work fine and then having flash not work and other programs. Good Luck

84. Dale Says:
    August 10th, 2007 at 9:45 pm

    Well hi Im at quite a dilema. At least i think i am. I used the tryout and well it expired and now i just wanted to get it off of my system till i could muster up enuff cash to get the Suite. Well little did i know that u needed to use the Adobe uninstaller and i, well, dragged it to the trash. Should i re-install the beta in order to use the uninstaller? After that Im still at a loss how to use the Clean Script. I double-click on it and nothing happens. Im using an Intel iMac 10.4. Can anyone help?

85. Anna Says:
    August 12th, 2007 at 12:30 am

    What a nightmare! Anyway easy fixed in the end. Go to http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cs3clean.html where you will be able to download the Adobe CS3Clean Script. When you have unzipped the folder, first look for the Pdf instructions on running the script. Good idea to print them off. Before running the script you will first need to install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility which you can download from http:/support.microsoft.com/kb/290301.
    I recommend that you set a system restore point and back up the registry before you proceed, but I didn’t have any problems and now I have installed the Master Collection and all is well, at last.
    Good luck!!!

86. Ideafix Says:
    August 13th, 2007 at 10:11 am

    It seems I have a different problem.
    Whenever I insert the install disk for CS3 both my DVD-RW and CD-RW drives DISAPPEAR! They don’t show up in explorer (clean install of Vista Ultimate) nor in hardware manager.
    When I restart, all is fine, but upon insertions of ANY of the CS3 disks, the same happens.
    I can insert any of the 3985682473809 CDs or DVDs I own and all is fine, but not with CS3.
    I’m an experienced IT professional, but this has me at a loss! The only similar thing I’ve ever seen was on my old pc, a year ago, when I tried to install a game protected with the dreaded Starforce3 copy-protection system. At the time, one of my drives disappeared as well and I couldn’t play the game, because it kept asking me for the disk, athough it was in the drive (but the drive disappeared). But then the isssue was recognized to be Starforce3-related and the publisher launched a patch that removed the copy-protection and all went fine.
    Could I be in a similar situation here? Does CS3 use copy-protection software and could it be causing my problems?
    I’ll try to phone Adobe when I’m on holidays and have the time to be on hold. The last time I waited 2+ hours and got hung up.

87. Cor Says:
    August 15th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

    Thank you

    I didn’t know about ‘the cleanup script’ having a level 3 or 4 .
    Well , I did them all , and cleaned my registery after that (with CrapCleaner) , rebooted just to be save
    and CS3 installed without a problem .

    Maybe I can bill Adobe for my lost hours with this install

    (anyway this shouldn’t be happening with software expensive as this)

88. Lisa Says:
    August 16th, 2007 at 12:51 pm

    I’ve been at this for a week plus now. Tried every “solution” I’ve come across – including running Adobe’s cleanup script and their Flash uninstaller. This is what finally worked for me:

    http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc3e02c

    Good luck!

89. strtbttn Says:
    August 17th, 2007 at 12:59 am

    I never had any problems installing CS3… It just “worked”. Maybe cuz I’m on a Mac. I dunno.

90. Adobe CS3 Clean script (Windows) Says:
    August 20th, 2007 at 3:03 pm

    [...] has a tech doc on this procedure but they fail to mention some hidden functionality in the CS3 Clean [...]

91. Zervas Says:
    August 20th, 2007 at 3:51 pm

    Strtbttn,

    This error is actually most common on a Mac.

92. Ross Robertson Says:
    August 21st, 2007 at 9:44 pm

    Very happy that i found this, i was having countless errors, error after error and no luck with uninstalling and installing but i tried your soloution and it work thank you.

93. r4z0r Says:
    August 29th, 2007 at 9:01 am

    I had the same problem but figured out a way to install it (as long as all the files are on your HD) without doing any cleanups.

    If you open your installation folder (after copying it to your HD) then go in to “resources\common\scripts” and edit the file “utils.js”. You need to go to line 1397 and find the following 2 lines

    _gInstallOperationsQueue.installOperationStatus.exitOperationsLoop = true;
    _gInstallOperationsQueue.installOperationStatus.foundOrCancelled = true;

    All you need to do is change the values to false instead of true and it works. Hope this helps some people!

94. Terence Says:
    August 29th, 2007 at 3:50 pm

    I cannot believe this. I too spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME trying to install CS3 on WinXP SP2. I went through everything on http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402426&sliceId=2 (which by the way, gets a connection reset every other time cos their server is crashing). I ran their Python CS3 cleanup script which crashed with an unhandled exception in CS3Cleanup.py
    Have none of the software developers at adobe ever heard of try/catch?
    How amateur do you have to be to write software apps that can’t even trap errors but vanish into the ether. It looks like NO improvement has been made since your first post. Obviously Adobe being “sorry” about it isn’t enough to fix the issue.
    If everyone at Adobe wants the world to switch to a Mac, then this is NOT the way to go about it.
    So here’s the tip for adobe:
    PEOPLE WHO USE CREATIVE SUITE 3, SHOULD BE SPENDING THEIR TIME – BEING CREATIVE, OR PRODUCTIVE, EVEN. THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE TO SPEND THEIR TIME DOING WHAT HAD TO BE DONE IN THIS ARTICLE. THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE TO SCREW AROUND WITH SEVERAL “CLEAN UP” SCRIPTS (WHICH DON’T WORK). THEY SHOULDN’T NEED TO DELETE EVERYTHING OFF THEIR SYSTEM AND REINSTALL THE ENTIRE OS. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

95. Tim Says:
    August 30th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

    This page has a pretty decent summary of methods you can use to fix any problems found installing CS3:

    http://www.deploymentpro.com/forum/showthread/9plast/Problems_with_installing_Adobe_Creative_Suite_3#last

    Worth a look if you are still having problems…

96. nick Says:
    August 31st, 2007 at 4:43 am

    f**k that crap, first i been wasting days trying to isntall that piece of shit software only to see that its mega slow and just bullshit, now i cant even remove it. i hope adobe will die. it was okay until photoshop 7 then things went downhill. too bad for macromedia and flash too seems like silverlight will took over that aobe slug cs3.

    sorry for language

97. Tharanga Says:
    August 31st, 2007 at 9:16 pm

    Hello i m having Bib Problem. Adobe Dreamwiever Cs3 takes Long time to install. I mean there are two section of Installing.First one Is just Installing Like others. But setup part is Damnnnn. anyone has the solution for this.Anyway i have the Full crack of this.But Still i couldn’t install this.

    Any Suggetions Pl mail me
    tharangasp@gmail.com

98. PixieLittle Says:
    September 1st, 2007 at 8:56 am

    Thank you so much for posting such a thorough guide. I went through the same trials and tribulations and your solution (to go all out and CS3clean at level 4) did the trick. Much appreciated!

99. Mark Says:
    September 1st, 2007 at 4:44 pm

    Well, if this doesn’t just put the lid on the jar. It took DAYS ON END to get CS3 working on all of my workstations. Today, for whatever reason, every single station comes up with ‘License Expired’ – every station on the very same day… (3 workstations) … Repairing hasn’t worked… I am now in the midst of the 4th try at the uninstall/reinstall (tech support said to uninstall and reinstall) on the 1st station. Imagine this – it hasn’t fixed the problem yet…

    I uninstalled and ran the WinCS3Clean Script… This last time running option 4… If this doesn’t fix it, it may be time to just get friggin drunk and give up the ghost… This is completely rediculous. In the past 4 months we have waisted/lost over a week of production due to installation problems – now this???

    Enough is enough… It appears it is time to start looking for other viable software solutions.

100. Escu Says:
     September 2nd, 2007 at 5:27 am

     Heh, i’m stuck on the install of adobe photoshop cs 3. stuck @ shared components. i think i will wait more than 88 minutes, but what the hell…anyway. i feel sorry for you guys. You pay money for the software. I just used “cracked” versions, and they work the same as the original ones. I can see that the problems are the same. BTW, that stupid cs script removal doesn’t work on vista ultimate. i run it over 7 times , level 4 and the files are still there.

101. Mark Says:
     September 2nd, 2007 at 1:19 pm

     Well, it seems as a ‘temp fix’ – the only work around for the ‘product license expired’ issue is to roll the date on the workstation back – prior to September 1st. While this allows the applications to start/run/whatever, which IS the MOST critical – it makes collaboration rather difficult and will make tracking changes quite the challenge…

     HOPEFULLY Adobe will get this fixed IMMEDIATELY… I have spoken with several developers in the area and they are ALL having the exact same issue. This problem seriously effects work and productivity even more than the installation problems. Adobe needs to find a resolution very very quickly…

102. Sean D Says:
     September 2nd, 2007 at 2:17 pm

     Yes, trying to install CS3 has been the absolute worst software experience of my life! After searching, reading and trying all the workarounds I never got the suite to install on my desktop computer. I now have a laptop running Vista and I had zero (yes, if you can believe it folks, 0 issues) getting all the apps to install correctly the very first time. I was stunned! Well here is where I’m getting irate…freaking livid. This coming Wednesday I’m taking some assessment tests for a creative staffing firm and decided to download the InDesign Trial which doesn’t come with the Web Suite so I can brush up for the test. For some inexplicable reason (unless you’re an adobe engineer) NONE OF MY OTHER CS3 APPS WILL LAUNCH NOW!!!!! WHY IN THE BLEEPING HELL WOULD ADOBE REMOVE A VALID LICENSE WHEN INSTALLING A TRIAL VERSION?!?!?! Guess they want to force people into buying the full premium suite. So now I get to jump back through all the hoops I went through before on my laptop. Instead of being productive and getting something done, I get to troubleshoot software issues. Maybe since the subsuming of Macromedia, Adobe figures they don’t have anything to lose. I mean what are you gonna do? Go buy a copy of Freehand?

103. Bill Glenn Says:
     September 2nd, 2007 at 10:54 pm

     I was just about to press the “BUY” button on CS3 Suite and, for some unexplained reason, I decided to Google for reviews. After reading the problems, not of noobies but of 20+ year professional computer gurus, I just can’t afford to go through that installation nightmare. I prefer to buy the latest and greatest but until this installation software is re-issued, I’m going to get by with Flash 8. I’m not paying that kind of money to have to unscrew piracy paranoia after it attacks my computer. Please re-release a trouble-free installation package and I’ll buy the Suite the following day.

104. Lynx Says:
     September 4th, 2007 at 6:34 am

     guys can anyone help me! i want to install adobe photoshop cs3 extended (trial) to my pc and use a keygen to register bt an error message comes up that i have to close internet explorer which is already closed!, ive tried eveything but nthn happens wat should i do?

105. hshen Says:
     September 4th, 2007 at 1:10 pm

     This CS3 build is totally the worse of allllllllllllllll of the adobe software in history. I had been using Adobe graphic package like PS,AI,AFX for a long time, and each installation is fine until the CS comes, which is only minor issues most of the time but until this CS3. I have to say I actually HATE installing Adobe’s CS3 software. I really don’t know why Adobe would end up with such a horrible version. You CAN NOT install if your firefox browser is turn ON!!! Come on, what kind of a installer is it? I went through so much error and wasted me 5 days from the installation process that I was asking myself what is left with Adobe that I should continue to upgrade their craps. I used to like their tools, specially photoshop. But CS3 installer really give a big shame to all the software engineers that involved in it. How could you say this is a professional standard if the installation process can pop up so many error, need to use CS3 cleaner utility and download your own Window cleaner, wipe out all of your CS2 tools, reinstall your XP, other errors pops up on the splash screen!!!!!!! … lists goes on..

     Finally, Adobe really need to refocus on their tools. I found it so unacceptable that Adobe push this problem version onto the market which I believe they must know that they haven’t done all their homeworks. Adobe deserve to have someone like Microsoft to have a big bite on their ass for them to wake up again even though I don’t like Microsoft…….

106. Bill Glenn Says:
     September 5th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

     I can’t believe with all the lost production time caused, not just from faulty software but totally irresponsible marketing and sales of same faulty software, that someone hasn’t organized a class-action against Adobe. Lost production measured in days, not hours, times the volume of purchases would attract some pretty fine lawyers. Do you think Adobe might at least make some effort to actually fix the problem instead of using a fire hose? I bet anything you will see this action started before long if Adobe keeps taking money without a “recall”.

107. Steve Johnson Says:
     September 6th, 2007 at 3:55 am

     I’ve been following this thread with interest. Anyone who says that Macs are out of the equation is wrong. I upgraded to CS3 about a month ago (we have been using Adobe products here for 14+ years – since Illustrator 5!). The program (seemingly) loaded without a hitch – hoorah. Then:

     1) Bridge decided to pack up… it just wouldn’t open
     2) I reloaded it and…. it will not work at all!
     3) After many, many hours producing 3 large folders (all designed in Illustrator CS3) I got the proofs back to alter. Result? All links, pictures and layers gone! Hours of work down the drain
     4) Photoshop – unstable. Crashed for no apparent reason
     5) InDesign – the same

     I spoke to a really helpful tech bod in the Netherlands (I’m UK!) who eventually said that there could be a problem in the libraries in Illustator. Now, I don’t load lots of 3rd party plug ins, so, if there is anything that’s corrupt in there I can think of only one company that could have put it there………right? They asked me to FTP my corrupt artwork so their guru could fix it for me. Great. Unfortunately, they replied a few days later saying they’d never seen such a corrupt file where bitmapped data was merged into path data – they presumed that I’d exported it from Quark! Well, excuse me but I design ALL my work in Illustrator – nothing else. I got the feeling that they were blaming me for corrupting this file. Like I say, I’ve been using Illustrator for 14+ years and worked on bigger, more complex jobs etc but never, ever come across anything like this.

     I now have no confidence in CS3 – I’m using CS2 ‘cos like the rest of you lot, work goes on. My colleague has just loaded his version of CS3 – guess what? Yeah, it won’t load at all.

     I am waiting for the Tech guy to reply to my email that I sent 5 days ago. If I get no joy I will write to Adobe Technical Support and demand my money back. I will not reformat my disk, jeopardise important work on my hard drive and generally upset the equilibrium on my G5 because this lot can’t get their arse into gear! In any other walk of life if you are sold sub-standard components you have rights. I intend to take this up with UK trading standards unless something is done – and done quick!

     Thanks for listening/reading…. I will let you know what, if anything, happens.

     SJ

108. Henry Wilson Says:
     September 7th, 2007 at 9:20 am

     I have tried installing Adobe web 3 premium at least 10 times with the same results. It says license expired. How do I clean my computer without reformatting the drive and reinstalling windows? I have ran the Adobe clean script countless times and it does not work. Does anyone have any answers?

109. babboxy Says:
     September 7th, 2007 at 10:35 am

     I was just about to convince my boss to use a legal version of this software…I guess I’ll reconsider in a year or so…

110. JB Says:
     September 16th, 2007 at 4:44 pm

     Happy to see I am not alone. I already lost half a day on this problem. I seriously think I will buy a new computer instead of trying further and risking damaging my files by “cleaning” my computer. Next time, I am not sure I will BUY the next versions of Adobe CS. Perhaps the CRACKED ONES will be easier to install.

     BTW… how is it possible that those problems STILL EXIST while I just downloaded CS3: MONTHS after they where reported ?????????

111. AXL Says:
     September 20th, 2007 at 7:23 pm

     I tried to installed cs3 after formating my hard drive and installing windows vista, I set the firewall to block any connections to the internet, the program was install, at the time of oppening, it showed my again the message product license has expired eventhoug my computer didn’t have a internet connection, Uh!!! It’s frustatting, the only way I got it to work was to set the date one month ago… and It was working perfect…. Now I have a problem with my antivirus program….uhh!!

112. maracar Says:
     September 20th, 2007 at 10:50 pm

     i happened upon your site after doing much research into this CS3 mess. for month now, i have been using photoshop on my mac and only photoshop because that’s all i can get working on my mac. i still have my old pc set up so i can work on that with the older CS version of illustrator. i am terrified to uninstall + reinstall. terrified, like shaking in my skirt terrified. i am still burning all important files to dvd to get them off my hard drive. just in case. it just never seems like a good time for me to stop working and uninstall everything. at the same time, i NEED to get this on my mac because i can’t work like this for much longer. i am happy i am not alone. i am not looking forward to what is about to happen to my mac.

     has anyone filed a class action against adobe? think of all the down time this has caused??????

113. Bob Says:
     September 24th, 2007 at 11:20 am

     Shame on you all for sending money to Adobe. Stop encouraging them. I mean just look at that bloatware. Encourage them to make lean modular functional efficient software, not send them money to make this kind of stuff. I ought to sue you all. Wa-n-kers.

114. lynn Says:
     September 24th, 2007 at 10:02 pm

     With all the problems you are having with adobe photoshop. You need to get adobe to come to your house and install them selves to see all the trouble we go through.

115. Jose Says:
     September 25th, 2007 at 1:55 pm

     Adobe CS3 takes a long time to install. SHIT!!!

116. DShean Says:
     September 25th, 2007 at 4:24 pm

     I’m glad to hear that I’m not alone.

     I bought CS3 Design Standard for OS X about a month ago. It installed without any problems, first attempt, on my macbook pro. I was very happy with the tools, but I decided that I wanted CS3 Design Premium so I could utilize Dreamweaver and Flash for web development. I exchanged my installation discs (I’m at a university, so the department licensing exchange wasn’t a problem) and uninstalled CS3 Design Standard using the Adobe Uninstaller.

     It has now been 2 days, with 6 hours on the phone with tech support, and probably ~15 attempts to install CS3 Design Premium. I’m about ready to snap. Each time I run the installer, it “successfully” installs Acrobat Pofessional, Flash Video Encoder, Version Cue Server and some Shared Components, but I get “Component install failed” for all other applications (the one’s that actually matter). The log files indicate that the only problem is with Bridge, which makes no sense. I went through every fix in the Adobe tech notes and then decided to call tech support. I have now tried everything short of reinstalling OS X, which I am not willing to do. I tried multiple runs of the clean script at level 4, repairing permissions, installing from a fresh admin account, installing from safe mode, installing as root, installing from the hard disk…the list goes on and on.

     I am going to see if I can get CS3 Design Standard back, but I am very pessimistic about the chances of that installing correctly at this point.

     This is awful. I do want to point out that the tech support guys at adobe were very patient and helpful, and I did not have to hold before receiving help. I mentioned to the last tech that the top hit on google for “install cs3″ links to this forum. Maybe they will listen…

117. Merv Says:
     September 26th, 2007 at 5:45 am

     I am soooo glad I found this site. Had all of the problems mentioned in the original article plus one more. When I finally got the thing installed and put in my serial number, the activation told me it had been activated too many times…ARGHHHH!!!! Rang the support guys (I don’t live in the US so I can tell you all the Dell guys must have emigrated here). The guy on the phone tells me straight out that Adobe doesn’t support CS3 on 64-bit systems!!!!! No offer of help. No sympathy even! After shouting at him didn’t help, I found this site and installed another download of their trial software, put in my licence number again and then rang and got another activation code. All seems well now…fingers crossed.

118. DShean Says:
     September 26th, 2007 at 4:28 pm

     Just an update to my post on 9/24. As a final effort before giving up, I exchanged my CS3 Design Premium installer DVD for a new one. I should note that I am not using the commercial DVDs, I am using copies distributed by the department sales group at a university.

     To be safe, I prepared for a fresh install by running the level 4 cleanscript twice, uninstalling flash player, repairing disk permissions and logging on as root for the installation with the new DVD. And of course – everything installed correctly the first time. I couldn’t believe it. During my two days of agony, I copied the installation files from the first DVD to my hard drive and didn’t experience any problems with the transfer. I also verified the first DVD with OS X’s Disk Utility. There was never any indication that the media was problematic, but apparently that was it all along.

119. OutPhase Says:
     September 27th, 2007 at 2:31 am

     Hey everyone. I have recently had a problem with my photoshop CS3 Extended. It all of a sudden just stop working. Whenever i try to open it, the screen brings it to the front and then dissapears. I tried to uninstall the bastard and that will not work either. It gives me an error message saying the components did not uninstall correctly. I have about 150GB of data that i have to back up on my computer to use that cleaner. I have lost all hope. Can anyone help me?

120. Masoud Says:
     September 27th, 2007 at 7:37 am

     I had the same problem(installation) too, and i found the problem is because of installation folder name IF this folder is on CD/DVD. and there is no problem during installation when setup folder is on hard. btw this installer really sucks, is a total crap.

121. Angel Says:
     September 27th, 2007 at 10:01 am

     Everyone here seems to be having problems with the CS3 web premium. I have been having problems the After effects. now if anyone can shed some light with this problem I would gladly appreciate it. I installed after effects and all teh CS3 production premium. Everything opens except After effects. It gives the open page and says AFTER EFFECTS Can’t continue: After FX has crashed. Then there is a referenced memory error saying: (The instructino at “0×13e914″ referenced memory at 0×00000000″. The memory could not be read. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening. I know that one of the editors here used to ad cracked versions of all kinds of software. He is no longer here. Oh and by the way it started happening with 6.5 I thought by installing the new software it would eliminate the problem but it hasn’t.

     Can anybody help me?
     Adobe Support couldn’t think of anything else to do except wipe out windows and reinstall. That is not an option at this point since I have AVID running on these systems and to do so would cause me to lose a lot of media.

122. the chairman Says:
     September 28th, 2007 at 11:15 am

     Wow. This is really bad. I’m with you all.
     Loaded CS3 prod prem after 2 days f*kin around not
     getting any real work done. Started AFX, only to be prompted to load
     more from setup, after being told that all had been installed.
     Tried repairing said files, opened AFX, well actually, it hasn’t opened since.
     Jeez, we get paid to do our jobs, we do our jobs, we pay them to do theirs, they don’t.
     WTF are we paying for?

123. sj Says:
     September 29th, 2007 at 1:44 am

     Wow, no chit! I had no problem installing CS3 on my XP (desk) computer. The laptop running Vista… 10 tries, 5 calls to Adobe support, hours, days…CS3 still not installed. But Bridge installs… freakin yippeee. I am really pissed.

     There is no excuse for issues like we are having, especially when they have been documented for months, by hundreds, probably thousands of people. AND the fact that Adobe support can’t help us… *#^%(&#

     It is good that it is “not just me” but it really sucks that this is Adobe’s attitude toward it’s customers.

124. Jimbob Says:
     October 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pm

     Heres a weird one. I cant for the life of me get Master collection to install. Im running liscenced copies from work as trials at home. I heard people were having a lot of troubles so i thought id give it ago from propper pressed disks (as apposed to individual product trials down loaded from adobe) before purchasing.

     The strange thing is, web premium and production premium install fine, its just the master collection that fails. So infact i have everything running. So i have actually got most things installed, ive got the full priduction premium installed, plus dreamweaver from the web premium. The only thing thats missing is InDesign which i use very rarely but feels like im missing something not having it.

     Master collection doesnt even get as far as the install screen – it does that initial unpack and then quits. nothing. not a suasage. Ive tried the adobe clean up tool (level 3), ive tried the microsoft removal tool. iv flushed the registry thoroughly using jv16 power tools in aggressive mode (man thats thorough!) – ive even manually gone through the registry and removed anything that looks like it could be to do with CS3 – after backing it up of course.

     Ive used tools that wipe out all your tempory files and anything uneeded (CC Cleaner and TuneUp Utils).

     Ive tried xp pro and xp home. Both virgin installs, and before installing software or even any operating system updates. still no cigar. The only thing havent tried is removeing everything, including macromedia sofware and running adobes clean up on level 4. im trying this now. if it doesnt work im sticking with cs2.

     Adobe – pay attention – your software is industry standard and highly regarded. Its a bit of a cliche but…the bigger they are the harder they fall. continue to push out crap like this installer and vast swathes of people will start turning to other apps.

125. Marci Says:
     October 2nd, 2007 at 3:04 pm

     Ahh I’m going through my own private CS3 hell as we speak. It’s been about 36 hours now; and about 4 rounds of uninstall/reinstall, call Adobe, get another suggestion, try that…rinse and repeat. I’ve now gone to the Level 4 CS3 cleanup, reset all the registry permissions back to default, and am reinstalling yet again. Crossing my fingers it works. I’m totally out of commission until this is fixed. That’s going to look nice on my time and billing this week.

126. EC Holden Says:
     October 4th, 2007 at 1:31 pm

     I just spent an hour going through the troubleshooting tips for a clients computer. I got to the point where it was suggested copying the installer onto the desktop, thats when I found out that the install disk was damaged (not a scratch on it, just bad sectors written on to the disk). Luckilly I had my own version of CS3 and was able to copy the photoshop installer segments onto the desktop as well. A tense 45 minutes later, it was installed and adobe was contacted to get a new install disk.

     hope this helps.

     -e

127. David Wren Says:
     October 5th, 2007 at 7:11 pm

     It seems clear folks (victims) need to get organized and initiate a class-action against Adobe to begin recouping their losses. When will people finally say enough is enough? Software companies have been using us as unwitting beta testers for a couple of decades now (tell me the final release of CS3 isn’t STILL a beta test). This is irresponsibility and incompetence at its pinnacle by Adobe. Yes, we have all the same install probs as above. We’re so far beyond angry we no longer have words that fit….

128. Doug Y Says:
     October 7th, 2007 at 10:46 pm

     Unbelievable, I’ve tried and tried to get CS3 to register successfully. It installs, gets to the registration screen, says thank you for spending $600 on our nonfunctional software and then tells me my product license has expired when I try to run it. I’ve run the cleanup script, rooted out the registry, etc. I got so frustrated that I loaded a fresh install of XP Pro and it still did the same thing. WTG ADOBE! Hoorah! You’re now officially held in higher contempt than MS is for their licensing nightmares. How does it feel to be compared to MS in such a loser fashion? As of October 7th, 2007, does anyone have a real fix for this problem? Adobe just says to keep trying. Yeah..I’ll do that! No, not really, I was effing kidding. Why should I struggle to install something that cost so much? MAKE IT WORK ALREADY!

129. Doug Y Says:
     October 7th, 2007 at 10:49 pm

     One more thing, if I can’t open photoshop, how in the hell am I supposed to deactivate it before I uninstall this garbage?

130. Fred Says:
     October 9th, 2007 at 12:16 pm

     I am a newbie to all this… so let me try to outline this in laymen’s terms:
     Have adobe cs3 design (1 dvd?)
     Tried installing sunday afternoon…. installed components and adobe reader professional

     said.. eh ok i’ll just reinstall it.. same deal

     said.. well at least let me check out adobe reader… couldnt open it. whoo hoo!

     gave up for a sunday…. let’s wait for another day.

     Did some research online, read various similar stories on here. Adobe didnt seem to have the key. So i read a technote regarding copying it to the desktop… instructions and everything. Said.. well let me try this when i get home (using a standalone computer for cs3, not connected to internet) . Tried copying to desktop…. would not copy *.cab files because it was a non-dos function (?). Saw the status message saying it would take “4 days and 13 hours to finish copying” Lo and behold it didnt take that long but it didnt have any cab files… why?? People on here seemed to have copied fine.

     Uninstalled… tried playing around with administrator settings… still new to vista
     tried tinkering with registry… not going to play with that at all! Tried installing from simplified mode in vista… no beans… im sure i have to set something in msconfig since it didnt pick up the setup.exe file.

     Now im resigned the Script cleaner and MS install utility… wish me luck because I HAVE A DEADLINE ON A PROJECT, ADOBE…

     Now I am resigned to download the script cleaner and Microsoft

131. Fred Says:
     October 10th, 2007 at 10:31 am

     Tried cs3 script cleaner and Microsoft install tool utilities, with no help…. wow this is such a fustercluck =(

     I can’t remove adobe reader/acrobat 8.0(?) from vista…..? could that be contributing? how can i get damn software on my computer? I’d like to say im a adobe supporter, but… these days, not so sure of that. I got so used to adobe functionality… its like getting a divorce if i decide to go elsewhere!!

     Someone Please help!

     /** Edit – Merged multiple posts – 10/10/07 – Admin **/

     http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401401&sliceId=1#logfile

     Here is a pretty detailed troubleshooting document from Adobe… hopefully this trial and error will work! Will try tonight

132. Fred Says:
     October 11th, 2007 at 8:29 am

     Hooray! after 4 days of nonsense I got cs3 to install. I hope this can serve as a quick quide for others:

     This is how i did it.

     1. I did a system restore to the point before i did a previous clean install of cs3 to remove any traces/log files/etc of adobe
     2. UNINSTALL GOOGLE DESKTOP
     3. Turn off Anti Virus software
     4. Follow the instructions in the above article (http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401401&sliceId=1#logfile) above to remove the Macromed folder in registry
     5. Remove ActiveX Software using the Microsoft Install Utility
     6. Run the CS3 Script through a 4 levels a couple times
     7. Double check to make sure all the above steps were taken.
     8. Install CS3 software…

     Now if i can only activate it… that’s a whole story altogether………

133. Symphoenix Says:
     October 11th, 2007 at 11:32 am

     I found the solution to all my “Licence Expired” problems. Here it is :

     Locate and remove any remaining cache.db files:

     * On Windows XP and Windows Vista, the cache.db file is located in Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe PCD\cache
     * On Mac OS X, the cache.db file is located in Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache

     Important: After you delete the cache.db file, you must re-enter the serial numbers for your other existing Adobe products.

     http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402003&sliceId=1

     It works great, finally…

134. niko s. Says:
     October 13th, 2007 at 5:19 pm

     I got it to work; after 2 days…ughhhhh!

     i was running 10.4.10 on mac osx.

     I re-installed 10.4
     then updated 1 at a time’
     4.5
     4.6
     4.7
     4.8
     4.9

     At 10.4.9, I did a maccs3clean ( from adobe)
     level 2

     put in CS3 cd-1

     then 2hrs later BINGO all is well and working.

135. RadCelt Says:
     October 14th, 2007 at 4:10 pm

     re: your solution was the right one for me. after 2 days of this nightmare i have successfully installed CS3 Master Collection… with one notable exception… Flash Player 9 for IE7 (registry permissions?) will not install, no matter what I do… I’ll just have to go another 2 days till this one is solved… but thanks to you the major nightmare seems to be over. At least i can now access my CS3 apps… I do hope all this was worth while! Thanks again! and adobe can Kiss my ass b4 they get any more $ from me.

136. Kevin Rosenthall Says:
     October 14th, 2007 at 11:37 pm

     I’m having such a b___ of a time with this installation, I just have to chime in with the choir.

     How does such garbage quality leave a product development company’s hands?

     I’d even love an error — I just get the installation program starting to run, and then quitting. No error, nothing.

     I’ve so far followed every witches brew concoction on this page, to no avail.

     I’ve cleaned, to level 4, uninstalled ALL Adobe and Macromedia software, removed the Google toolbar, removed half a dozen other things people said could/would help, and not an iota of difference.

     I have spent two days on this, now, and have NO WORKING SOFTWARE.

     I am now going to re-install all my OLD software, and give tech support possibly one more kick at the can. Beyond that, I’m asking for a refund on this, plus a bill for my time, and time to hunt for equivalent alternatives, whatever those might be.

     This is entirely unacceptable, and totally embarassing for Adobe. Someone (or some team) there should be fired for sure.

     Disgruntled in Toronto,

     ]{evin

137. smacktock Says:
     October 16th, 2007 at 11:53 pm

     Hi!

     I almost read all the lines in this highly useful blog.
     I am not sure if it is the right place to ask about an “uninstalling” question.
     (If not, please direct me to the right place.)

     I installed a CS3 Web Premium on my XP in my D: drive. (I am not so sure if this D: choice is the reason of my troubles!)
     But it lacked the InDesign as one said in the above lines so I wanted to try CS3 Master.

     Before trying the CS3 Master, I uninstalled the Web Premium from the “Add-Delete Programs.”

     It was a success!
     No problems occured during removing the program.

     But, after that, I saw that, on my Start Menu-Programs there still was the name Adobe Web Premium CS3! And under that Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, Adobe Distiller 8 and finally Adobe LiveCycle Designer 8.0 were smiling at me!

     I wanted to clean them with the WebCleanCS3 (or whatsoever) but no result!

     I installed the CS3 Web Premium again hoping to uninstall again -this time with these 3 programs.
     Then uninstalled again…
     But no way!

     They are still there and I can’t find a way to remove them!

     I would appreciate any ideas to show me a way.

138. Richard Darby Says:
     October 17th, 2007 at 8:24 am

     I followed all of the techniques outlined in the forums and finally got my CS3 upgrade to work. My co-worker (we have identical computers and installations) decided to install the upgrade to a different directory than the default directory (he used Adobe2) and the install went flawlessly. Everything seems to working fine on his computer, so I would suggest people try that first before jumping through all the hoops I had to go through!

139. bosco Says:
     October 21st, 2007 at 11:28 am

     I’ve almost completed my CS3 install on XP home. At Installation Options some programs are grayed out with the message (requires serial number)

     - Adobe After Effects CS3 3rd party
     - Adobe Encore CS3
     - Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 third party Content
     - Adobe Soundbooth CS3 codecs

     But there is no place to enter my serial number at this stage!
     Does anybody have a clue about this one?

140. Allen Says:
     October 23rd, 2007 at 12:45 am

     I can’t believe that a company like Adobe can be so FCUKING STUPID not to test their installation processes. I mean WTFFFFFFFFFF????????? Like you would produce a car and not try to run it. IDIOTS, IDIOTS, IDIOTS, IDIOTS. I’m struggling for three days already, I’m loosing my time needlessly on this, not to mention the deadlines that we’re missing. FCUNKING FASCIST THIEVES, I have no other words to explain this attitude. No support whatsoever on their website.

141. Bazza Says:
     October 27th, 2007 at 4:55 pm

     Interesting, the comments about the CS3 installation process and associated problems. Has anyone asked Adobe why it takes so long to do the install. What is the installer doing to my system that takes so long I wonder.

142. Simon Says:
     October 28th, 2007 at 7:32 pm

     Well guys, it worked for me. I love Adobe stuff. I have been using for years and have never – ever had an issue with install. Sometimes the software lock’s up – but hey – which software doesn’t. I purchased CS2 and it ran so sweet, I just fly through my stuff. Now that I have the trial CS3 I am feeling ripped off a bit as I missed out on the new tool flow – it’s great.

     Solution………

     Install individually. Forget doing the whole suit at once. Worked for me.

143. Brittany Says:
     October 29th, 2007 at 6:40 pm

     I’ve had CS3 for about a month now and, as of yet, have been unable to install it. I got a great student discount for the Premium package, I go ahead and get my serial number so that I have it for when I install, I take the CD out, install Adobe Acrobat 8 and when I try to install the suite, what message do you think I get? “JScript Error, Please repair or register JScript.” I just bought this PC (dual core processor, 2 gigs RAM, and over 300 gigs of physical memory). I know my PC can run the suite. I’ve checked my Java program and it doesn’t give me the option to repair it, and I haven’t had any luck on the internet as well. I can’t seem to get a hold of an actual person at adobe and trying to find troubleshooting tips for Vista, for my specific problem is proving nigh on impossible. So, my nice, new CS3 goes to waste… correction, it’s just a $400 paper weight.

144. img Says:
     November 1st, 2007 at 9:15 pm

     I will NEVER again buy anything from adobe!!!! I spent 3 days to install Photoshop, Dreamweaver and flash, and it impossible. I HATE YOU ADOBE!!! I HATE YOU ADOBE!!! I HATE YOU ADOBE from the deep of my soul!!!!! you are the worst software company in the world.

145. rtaitken Says:
     November 3rd, 2007 at 6:32 pm

     Worst… installer… ever…

146. Tom Says:
     November 6th, 2007 at 1:01 am

     Tomorrow I’m going to blast Adobe Tech Support. I know it’s not their fault, but I’m fed up with trying to install CS3 Master Collection. I just bought a powerful workstation. I did a clean installation of just Vista Ultimate. That’s it….just Vista and its required updates, nothing else. I wanted it this way so Adobe couldn’t say something else was conflicting with the installation of CS3. Well, anyway, sure enough, I had an installation problem. Everything installed except of After Effects CS3 Project Templates and Footage. Today, I spoke with 2 different Adobe Tech Support guys, both failed to help me out. They were clearly young hacks. The real problem, however, stems from Adobe developers. I thought it was bad enough that CS3 can’t take advantage of 64 bit machines or multiple processors, but now the depth of their development inabilities go all the way to installation incompetence. I’m beginning to get the idea that Adobe is about fancy looking user interfaces and bells-and-whistle functionalitites. I think it may be for me to start looking into more professionally built applications.

147. duncan Says:
     November 7th, 2007 at 6:46 pm

     I’ll add my little story of miserable frustration to the pile. I had been using the demo versions of Photoshop, Flash, and Dreamweaver. I decided to buy the Creative Suite Web Premium, so I downloaded it. Before I downloaded it, I removed the demo versions, but when I tried to run the installer, it said all the demo versions were still installed. Right. So I tried to use the installer to uninstall them, but no go. All I had was phantom (greyed out) versions of the software on my drive. I tried re-installing the demo versions and using the Web Premium serial number, but it wouldn’t work.

     After I downloaded the suite, I found the instructions that said “Don’t drag your files to the trash to uninstall them.” So I ran a backup from my mirrored drive and tried uninstalling them the way Adobe said to. It didn’t make a bit of difference.

     I finally called Adobe help and after running the clean script 4 times (the last two times logged in as root) I managed to get rid of the phantom software. I ran the installer and everything seemed to go smoothly . . . . until I tried to activate my software. It said I’d activated my software on 2 different machines (a lie) and even more suspect because I’d never got the software to successfully install, so how could I activate it?. After being bounced from technical support to activation (who accused me of lying), to customer service, back to activation, I was finally able to get someone to activate my software.

     While I understand that piracy is a problem for Adobe, making paying customers’ life miserable and treating them like lying thieves is not going to win you any customer loyalty. When it comes time to buy software again, Adobe is going to be way down on the list of products I consider.

     I finally called Adobe help and after running the clean script 4 times (the last two times logged in as root) I managed to get rid of the phantom software. I ran the installer and everything seemed to go smoothly . . . . until I tried to activate my software. It said I’d activated my software on 2 different machines (a lie) and even more suspect because I’d never got the software to successfully install, so how could I activate it?. After being bounced from technical support to

148. charissa Says:
     November 11th, 2007 at 8:07 pm

     I’m on a PowerBook G4 Mac. In short: At first, I could not install Web Premium due to pre-existing Trial versions on my Mac, but, in the end, I was able to after Uninstalling, which was easy except I had to find out how to do this on my own (Adobe customer support was useless within my timeframe).

     I had trial versions of Flash CS3 and Photoshop CS3 installed and the Flash trial was expiring so I went out and bought the Adobe Web Premium Suite. (Non returnable, and a chunk of change!)

     Tried installing from the DVD. I could not install Flash nor Photshop; it was grayed out as an option in the Installer. If I opened Flash and tried to enter the serial number I’d just purchased it the screen which allows for this, it was not recognized as a valid serial. (This may or may not be because it is an Educational Version.)

     I called Adobe Customer Support and after a long process of taking down my information, they said I had to call back Monday during business hours! It was Saturday morning and my project is due first thing Monday morning, though, so this isn’t acceptable. He could not do anything to help.

     WHAT WORKED WAS NOT DIFFICULT IN THE END but required it was luck and persistence and the help of a smart friend who works for Apple (Thanks, DH):

     Under Library>Application Support>Adobe>Installers there were several folders, including one each corresponding to the Flash and PS Trial installation

     Look within these folders and use the Setup.app to Uninstall your Trial version(s) as needed. It’s an option, to remove the application and components, once you launch the Setup (Installer).

     I removed the application and all components using the Uninstaller via each Setup.app — one for Flash, one for Photoshop.

     Then I relaunched the Installer for the Web Premium suite that I just bought this morning. It is working!

     There is an Adobe Tech Note on this issue, but it wasn’t easy to find and I only saw it once I had the solution. The sad thing is that my call to Adobe was a frustrating waste of time, in which they could not even point me to this page.

     Anyway I hope this might save someone some grief.
     -C

149. Muss man alles verstehen? « rufus still thinks about his title … Says:
     November 12th, 2007 at 6:12 pm

     [...] verschwunden? Ich befrage mal meine Freundin Google und die spuckt, wie so oft, in Windeseile was Brauchbares aus – einige gute Hinweise [...]

150. Jane Carter Says:
     November 13th, 2007 at 11:37 am

     I installed Master Suite, then uninstalled it. I deleted the Installer directories and cleaned up all the mess which Adobe left in the registry. I then tried to install Fireworks (trial download). Half-way through the installation it asked for one of the Master Suite disks.

     How does a multi-billion dollar company get this so wrong?

151. Uninstall a Service in Vista, Repair Adobe CS3 and Clean Up the Registry — Raised By Turtles Says:
     November 14th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

     [...] utility, but in fact, there are four. I found out about this from CrucialLimit.com blog post on running the CS3 cleanup script and he got it from Adobe support. Dave (CrucialLimit) ran at level 3. I tried that and some stuff [...]

152. Riccardo Says:
     November 14th, 2007 at 8:23 pm

     Hi folks,
     No way. I tried everything, I basically have a collection of tools now in a folder dedicated to the “CS3 install issue”. I became a deep reader of the knowledge base at Adobe, I’m pretty computer savvy and I tried also the most risky registry related method to fix the problem, but the whole story went on (and on and on) for something like 25 days…
     After this hellish month of intricate error messages and troubleshooting I eventually had my WebPremium CS3 suite perfectly installed on my Windows Vista Business machine.
     BUT I HAD TO START FROM THE VERY VERY VERY BEGINNING, I DECIDED TO RE-INSTALL THE ENTIRE OPERATING SYSTEM FROM SCRATCH AND THEN – ONLY THEN – ON A COMPLETELY VIRGINAL AND IMMACULATE MACHINE THE CS3 INSTALLATION WENT THROUGH SMOOTHLY.

     At the end I have to say: the software is great, absolutely great, but this is THE reason why the installation process should be – if not great – at least doable.

     Thanks for all the help, suggestions etc. So long,
     Ric

153. Bobby Says:
     November 23rd, 2007 at 2:39 pm

     5-6 months ago I have installed Flash CS 3 Try Out on my XP machine. It worked fine (That was my first installation of CS 3). Few days ago I have formatted my pc and installing all my software one by one. Then flash CS 3, It gave me same error. Actually First time I have installed it from a file downloaded directly from Adobe. The installer copied another unpacked version of CS3 on to my desktop. I stored this unpacked version and the original download version too. This time I used unpacked version. It gave me exact error what you guys are discussing here. After 2-3 trials I figured it out. I used the original downloaded setup. Hmm.. Finally I’m able to use flash application on my machine.

154. BobZ Says:
     November 30th, 2007 at 5:18 pm

     Hey OutPhase, I didn’t read through all of the posts here, but I wanted to let you know that I found a solution to a similar problem I had. Apparently CS3 products have a problem with corrupt preferences in Windows, so you have to go and delete the “adobe” folder from the C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data directory.

     This resets all of your preset settings, but it’s the only fix I’ve found so far. Hope it helps!

155. chris Says:
     December 2nd, 2007 at 8:52 pm

     still same problem.
     adobe suxx

156. Abiabi Says:
     December 3rd, 2007 at 10:56 am

     Hi, I am giveing up. I did all what is in this blog, and I could not re-installl de Photoshop CS3. The only application on top of Adobe 8. I run the Windows cleaner, the Adobe Cleaner, I uninstalled the Flash Player with the flash uninstall tool, I change the MSCONFIG as told. etc etc etc. I think I will forget about Photoshop, until next time I have to reformat my disk. I do not believe that a Soft, as Masterpiece it can be, is worth the job and time dedicated to it. Adobe should bring a solution, or we should top buying it.

157. Nate Says:
     December 3rd, 2007 at 9:41 pm

     Hey, just had the message come up “please insert adobe flash cs3 professional to continue installation” when attempting to install flash CS3. I had a look through the installation files, under the root there is a folder named “payloads”. I noticed when viewing the Setup.xml file, there are some XML nodes which look like this:

     Adobe CS3

     The key phrase here being “Adobe CS3″ as I also noticed in the root there is a folder named “Adobe CS3″ which is empty. I think someone messed up the directory structure? So all I did to get it to install was copy (probably safe to move the folders) the folders from payloads into Adobe CS3.

     Hope this helps!

     Nate

158. Nate Says:
     December 3rd, 2007 at 9:46 pm

     Uh, didn’t like the tags!

     XML node that looks like this (kinda):

     [Payload folder="AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll"]Adobe CS3[/Payload]

159. Miki Says:
     December 7th, 2007 at 12:47 am

     I’ve been suffering for days trying to install Contribute CS3. I read on one site that I should uninstall all my other Adobe products first. That’s nuts. Not gonna do that. Adobe has to clean up its act as this is just unacceptable. Hate to point this out, but even Microsoft products are easier and cleaner to install and I never missed so much work and had so much aggravation as what I have right now with this bloody product.

160. Cihan Aksu Says:
     December 7th, 2007 at 7:28 pm

     I get the same errors and still cant find a fix.I am really have to use it for my project but now, i cant do this!

161. Peter Says:
     December 9th, 2007 at 2:44 pm

     Hey,

     I’m not sure if someone already said this, cuz i did’nt read all of these 160 comments. BUT already in that beta phase i wondered, why the hell did Adobe create it’s own intsller app, and didn’t use these already provided by the operating systems? Both Windows Installer and Apple Software Installer are reliable installer apps. Also, why the hell doesn’t Adobe CS2 for Mac have any uninstaller app, and i habve to print out a thech support manual, which lists all the locations where CS2 files could be installed in? Adobe is clearly messing up on that…

162. Zoser Says:
     December 10th, 2007 at 7:54 pm

     Well, I’m crap out of luck.. I’ve tried everything listed here, from the cleaning + uninstalling, to the accout switching, to the msconfig trick. I simply cannot get past the “Please Insert Adobe CS3 Professional to Continue” screen. It’s really very (very) frustrating, and I’m very desperate. I only have until Saturday to get this thing to work..!

     Frankly, I’m infuriated with Adobe right now…
     Please, if anyone has any suggestions, contact me! It’s very important to me!
     Running XP, uninstalled all other Adobe/Macromedia products.

163. Bleeping Joe Says:
     December 10th, 2007 at 11:25 pm

     BLEEEEP BLEEEEEEEEP BLEEEEEP!!! I am been doin this for last two week. it killing me slowly. It was very sad that Adobe and Macromedia merge together to make the software even more S**tter than else. CS3 on vista is sh*tting me. It give me a headache to fix it, it hadn’t be fixed. Adobe made a krap out of the people money. I installed it, it only installed Adobe Acrobat, not dreamweaver, not flash, not photoshop, not contribute. Uffffffffff! Mr Adobe is damn fool spoiling Macromedia style.

164. Lou Says:
     December 12th, 2007 at 4:41 pm

     I knew I should have stuck with CS2. Everything was working fine and I just had to push my luck! I wish I had seen this page before I tried…

     Oh well you live and learn right?

     Thanks for all those with good tips and advice!

165. Adobe CS3 upgrade from trial version horror « i play all . com Says:
     December 13th, 2007 at 5:54 pm

     [...] software upgrades (boy do i miss Macromedia’s simplicity & seems i’m not alone – Adobe CS3 install horror… round 2): After trying the Dreamweaver CS3 for 60 days (30 days trial, plug in fake serial key, run [...]

166. soly Says:
     December 13th, 2007 at 9:12 pm

     adobe has taken a big s##t on us
     I miss macromedia

167. Becamelion Says:
     December 14th, 2007 at 4:01 am

     Many thnx for posting this message.
     Thnx to this message I managed to install illustrator in just under eight hours.
     Have tried so many things that i can’t seem to figure out why it eventually installed, sorry.

168. Daniel Says:
     December 14th, 2007 at 7:46 am

     same problem here… same error: “please insert adobe cs3 design premium to continue installation” SOLVED by copying the entire DVD to my local drive and runing setup as Administrator in VISTA.

     Good luck.

     Daniel

169. MS Tech Teacher Says:
     December 15th, 2007 at 5:26 pm

     I convinced my principal to buy an educational site license Master Collection CS3 ($9,960) for our school. It comes with 50 teacher home licenses. It ran smoothly for about two weeks before it screwed up my own laptop (I had cs2), my 30 class computers (we had different Element versions prior to this), and at least 3 other teachers. There seems to be a conflict with Flash. We’ve only had the software for 24 days. Boo-yah!

170. Lillput Says:
     December 16th, 2007 at 9:23 am

     This thread was passed onto me by a friend who was helping me to clear up the mess that Adobe updater started yesterday morning.
     I installed CS3 a week ago with no hassle. I had several other Adobe products on my machine including, I assume, some remnants of PSE (even though I thought to uninstall it before I tried installing CS3).
     The updater notified me that updates were ready so, having had no problems in the past, I allowed it to do its stuff. It aborted, telling me to contact my network administrator…that would be me.
     I tried firing up CS3 and it said my product was unlicensed and to uninstall and reinstall.
     That’s when the real horror story began.
     It would appear that something in the process trashed the following:
     NOD32 (antiviral stuff). IE7, Firefox, MS Office, and my sound card software and drivers. I haven’t had the courage to check anything else.
     And this is on a fairly bog-standard, home-based, desktop PC. As has been said several times in the thread WTF?????
     My friend posed a pertinent question “How do they get away with this?” Indeed.

171. Chy1 Says:
     December 16th, 2007 at 11:42 am

     Hi Everyone. I am grateful that I found your website at around 3am this morning as I sat at my desk and damn near pulled every strand of hair outta my head. I cannot believe I didn’t research CS3 prior to spending almost $500 for. Sure, it’s not the same as spending over a thousand dollars as some of you did. But I am not a graphic designer or anything…I just wanted to create a simple website and have used Dreamweaver in the past and loved it. I also wanted Photoshop since I learned it last year. I cannot express to you how upset I am. I’ve been working with this issue since I got the software on Friday, Dec. 14th. I stayed up all NIGHT…yes, ALL NIGHT working on this damn software. I have a new harddrive in my laptop which means that there aren’t ANY other software on it that Adobe could be conflicting with. Which is why I am completely pissed. I called Sony (since I have a Vaio) and tried to get them to help me with CS3. Of course they couldn’t being that it is a 3rd party software. But I did weasel a guy to help me with some of the problems I was having. Guess being a woman DOES come in handy at time wink wink…

     Anyways, he was not very much help because the problem continued to give me the same error messages, “Some problems occurred during installation–component install failed or Shared components failed to install”. This went on several more times as I uninstalled and installed again and a-freaking-gin.

     Keep in mind, this harddrive (C) is new, HOWEVER, my laptop has had a trail version of Dreamweaver and Photoshop 2 on it a few months ago….so I am not sure if these are still on my computer somehow, although the hard drive is new (??????) Maybe some of you can tell me if that is possible. So, then I just try it one more time, and the same thing happens. For kicks, I decided to select a product to see–just see—if it’ll work ANYWAYS…..Once I do that, I get the error message “Licensing for this product has stopped working”. So…it never gave me the chance to enter one. Hmmm…interesting.

     So, then I read all of the supposed ‘technical support’ that is on the Adobe website. Uggh! No help for me though. Remind you—I am not going on a day and a half of NON-STOP trying to get this software to work! Too bad Adobe service folks aren’t open during the weekends…damn them. So anyways, I tried everything they wanted me to try….restarting…reinstalling….creating a new profile…download to the desktop….messed with the Keys….even recovery—yeah, only because there isn’t anything really on the laptop that I don’t care if I lose it or not….and STILL nothing.

     At this point, I KNOW I am not going to be able to receive a refund from the company where I received the software (JourneyEd.com) and I feel as if I am now outta $500 and it’s freaking Christmas time at that…and what do I have to show for it? Nothing……except a wasted weekend, no sleep, major migraines (thanks Adobe—I haven’t had one in years!)…and $500 down the crapper.

     So, I am here. I’m on Crucial Limit’s website….(BTW I love the layout and the graphics…love it)…I see many other’s who have experienced the same thing. THANK GOD! There’s hope yet…

     Until……

     I stayed up again trying the same thing that listed here….and it didn’t work.

     So, now you guys…I’m sick….I’m tired…I’m angry….I’ve been crying (hey, don’t laugh…I’m really upset over this)….and I don’t know where to go from here.

     So I am asking….anyone out there, please help…if you can. I am going to attempt to call Adobe tomorrow morning—bright and early….but in my heart, I am feeling as if they won’t be able to help me.

     So…….where do I go from here???????? I have a software package that I can’t even use….and now I am beginning to feel as if I wasted money, time, sleep and frustration on this.

     HELP—–before I pull out the rest of my hair and send it all to Adobe..

     (hey, maybe THAT’LL get their attention?!?!?)

     Chy

172. Count Monaco Says:
     December 16th, 2007 at 6:49 pm

     IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT!

     I’m not dealing with this anymore. Screw Photoshop CS3. I’m going back to CS2. It’s a lot lighter and less complex without all the stupid registration and updating crap.

173. Hangie_8408 Says:
     December 17th, 2007 at 10:43 am

     I know this is late but for those still having the problem installing the program from a disc, I don’t know why this works but it does. I have one computer and two laptops all networked together. The computers dvd drive is shared out to the network. So when I would try installing Adobe Illustrator CS3 it would come up with the “Please insert Adobe Illustrator CS3 to continue installation.” I tried installing Ai CS3 on the computer and on one of the laptops. So I was up stairs with the remaining laptop, with the cd still in the computer. So I decided what the heck might it is well try it, it might just be I have two “stupid” computers. So, in the art of being lazy I Mapped a Network Drive to the basement DVD drive, instead of actually going downstairs and manually taking the DVD. And magically it worked. So then I thought maybe just maybe it might work on the other laptop if I do it this way. Yet again, It worked. So if you don’t have a network this is how you have to set it up to make it work. Follow these exact sets:

     Insert the Adobe CS3 disc into the computer

     Immediately cancel the Initializing of Adobe CS3 when it starts up
     (cancellation may take some time)

     Go to My Computer

     Right click the drive that has the CS3 disc in it

     Hit Properties

     Go to the sharing tab

     If need so hit the text that says, “If you understand the risk, but still want to share the root of the drive, click here”

     Then check “Share this folder on the network”

     In space required type in “T”

     Also check “Allow network users to change my files”

     Hit apply and then ok

     Go back to My Computer

     Hit Tools and then Map Network Drive…

     Keep the drop down menu that says “Drive:” to Z:

     In space provided for folder type in \\127.0.0.1\T

     Hit finish

     And finally the installation should start

     After installation hit finish, then restart the computer

     To unshare the drive again:
     After reboot, go to My Computer

     Right click on the new drive, a.k.a. Z:, hit Disconnect

     Then right click the drive that has the CS3 disc in it again

     Hit properties, and then go to the sharing tab

     And lastly uncheck “Share this folder on the network”

     If it asks a question choose “Yes”

174. Mari Says:
     December 18th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

     Hey, thanks for this useful post. I’ve been trying to install the CS3 Web Premiun for a while and am still having troubles. First, I had to upgrade my OS from MAC OS 10.3 to 10.3.9, which was the first suggestion I got from the Adobe site. I just re-run the setup from the hard drive, which was another suggestion but the stupid setup file doesn’t even run. I am glad to hear that you guys are at least getting error messages, mine doesn’t even tell me anything!

     I have to say that I am a big fan of Adobe tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator, and I LOVE Macromedia products such as Flash.. but this stupid full of errors setup process is UNACCEPTABLE. I went to a few CS3 meetings at Adobe when they were about to release CS3 and I was so excited that my company got it right away.. well that was a few months back. From excited now I am frustrated and not willing to waste more of my precious time trying to install this piece of s**t.

     If anyone knows why the installer won’t even open on a Mac running OS 10.3.9 please let me know.. And no, I don’t want to upgrade to Leopard right now, I have the CD right here sitting next to me, but I heard that that upgrade is another pain in the a**, so if you have any suggestions, let me know.

175. Lillput Says:
     December 24th, 2007 at 2:25 pm

     Chy1 – I got the self-same error message (couldn’t install some shared component) when I did a clean install.
     I’d completely reinstalled my OS, formatted the drive on which all my apps lived and then reinstalled stuff.
     I tried twice to install CS3 on this lovely clean machine but got the same message.
     As it was talking about shared components, I went and found Adobe Reader v8 and installed that. Then tried CS3 again…and it worked. May have been coincidence but…?
     Hope your woes are over now. My machine is now largely restored but it took a week of work from me and a couple of friends to get me there. Grrrrr

176. aeyc Says:
     December 25th, 2007 at 11:02 am

     after months of postponing to reinstall
     after 2 days of trying, I finally installed it! I used the Silent Install for this.

     1. Copy your CD into you C: drive. I created an “Adobe CS3″ folder in my C: drive. Thus making the absolute path of my installer C:\Adobe CS3

     2. Run CS3 Clean Up if you previously installed Adobe CS3 and had errors. I used LEVEL 4. Run it for 2 times. If you still see C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\Active X folder in the cmd prompt or when you check it in you C drive, just ignore it. It just wouldn’t get deleted and I dont know why.

     3. Run a Registry Cleaner, I used CCleaner and ran it for 3 times just to be sure. Then BOOT your PC just to be sure that there are no traces of CS3.

     4. follow this link http://www.deploymentpro.com/applications/display/Adobe/Creative_Suite/3x

     then go to the 2nd message and scroll down to the part where you can see the codes on how to create an application.xml.overwrite file. Just that part.

     5. Go to Adobe CS3 folder then to Payloads folder then open the “Setup XML file” (C:\Adobe CS3\payloads\setup.xml) look for this line “driver folder=”AdobeNAME OF INSTALLER” (You could clearly see it cause its only on the 3rd line).Take note of the name of the driver folder then put the “application.xml.overwrite” file inside it.

     6. Go to Start -> Run ->

     7. Type CD (which stands for change directory) PATH OF ADOBE INSTALLER then press enter. Example: C:\Adobe CS3 -> ENTER You would then go automatically to your installer folder.

     8. (Your cmd should look like this)
     C:\Adobe CS3\

     9. Now type this
     C:\Adobe CS3\setup.exe --random=1

     then press enter. It will return 0 which means that everything is OK.

     It would start the setup. You would see the registration screen and everything. When prompted which one to install just choose one. It would install right away. Then you would see that it created an “install.xml” and “remove.xml” file.

     10. Go again to Start->Run->cmd now type his command
     C:\Adobe CS3\setup.exe -–mode=Silent --deploymentFile=deployment\install.xml

     This would now again start the setup with the registration screen. Now choose the softwares you wish to install. What I did was to first install Illustrator because I really need it and I only chose 1 so it would install faster. As usual it would first install the Shared Components then it would install Illustrator. I left it installing then when I got back it was installed! Whoopie!

     A very Merry Christmas for me! I hope this steps could help you guys out. I felt what you’re feeling right now. I was on the verge of pulling off my hair and scream my lungs out because of several unsuccessful installs.

177. vrogy Says:
     December 26th, 2007 at 10:23 am

     Having a similar install nightmare here, the cleaning script isn’t_actually_cleaning for me. Bloody speccy, really.

178. Adam Stevenson Says:
     December 26th, 2007 at 5:59 pm

     Well today I had a similar problem with Adobe, but with CS2. After reinstalling and installing CS2 on my computer about 5 times, I said I needed technical support. What would happen is that I would be able to install and activate the software, but when I ran the software I would get “Invalid Serial Number”. It did not matter what program I opened in the CS2 package, it would not allow me to run the software.

     Now this is where it gets kind of funny. So I first tried calling technical support on the issue and they said I needed to pay $40 to install their software since it was not the latest version. I then asked for a manger, and he said and I quote, I cannot get you a manager right now, and it will be 2-3 days before one can call you back. Then when I asked him for the name of his manager, his exact words were “I do not know the name of my boss.” He then went on to explain that someone could call be back in 2-3 days, but I could not talk to anyone above him right now. Finally I asked if I was to pay the 40 dollars and if it was a bug, would I get my money back. At this point, I could no longer understand him well enough (Indian call center – cheaper but when your customers cannot understand them… what is the point?) and asked for a new representative. At this point I was HANGED UP ON during the transfer process. Great help I got!

     So I waited 5 minutes and called back customer service, told them again I had an issue with installing the software for the first time, and needed to talk to someone about the error I had. This time, they forwarded me quickly to technical support in America (why could this not have happened before) and I talked to wonderful gentleman. He too mentioned that I needed run WinCS3Clean and use option 2 to remove CS2 stuff as well. So first I uninstalled CS2 and then ran the program twice (like he said to do) and tried reinstalling again for a sixth time. Did it work? Nope!

     At the end of the last conversation, the technical support representative said if this did not work, I was to ask for a new serial number. Well since it did not work, I called Adobe back and requested a new serial number. Not only did I have to give them my old serial number, they require proof that I actually purchased the software. The good news was I had bought it from the Adobe Educational Store online, and just had to search my Google mail box for the receipt. I gave the guy the order number, and he says that he thinks this will be enough to get me a new serial number in 4-5 days. At first he said I had to send something in, but then after I questioned this, he mentioned that I might be able to get away with just the order number. I asked why would it take so long to get a new serial number and he replied that 3 teams had to validate that it was in fact a correct order number. Now, we are in the information age are we not? Cannot customer support access a order number and find out if in fact it is valid? Why do I have to wait 5 business days to get a new serial number that is computer generated? More importantly, why can the software just not install and work the first time through? Really if there was another software package that could do the same thing, I would be changing where I got my graphics software.

     I will keep you informed on how things turn out.

179. godblessthosepagans Says:
     December 27th, 2007 at 12:18 am

     These comments are almost enough to make a new user of Photoshop (me) turn off my computer forever. I, however, had zero problem installing my CS3 on Vista. My problem happens when I am actually using the program. For example, if I am in Bridge and switch back to Photoshop (or vice versa), or am opening up a file from a folder to work on, I often am confronted with a little pop-up window telling me Photoshop has stopped working. If I click the X I am sent back to immediately before the window appeared. I lose no information or file, ect…I just have to perform the same action again, and sometimes again before the twitchiness sorts itself out. This problem pales in comparison to the nightmares I have read above, but it is an annoying problem nonetheless. If I knew this was just a harmless quirk, then fine, but I can’t help but think that one day every photo, file and pixel I possess will just disappear with no warning. I can’t be the only one to have encountered this issue.

180. Robert Says:
     December 29th, 2007 at 6:42 am

     After 6 months of pulling my hair off and scratching my head, I had finally found my solution to install my Adobe CS3 Master Collection by researching and merging all the necessary steps and ideas I can possibly harvest from the Adobe website and their Knowledge database. My solution may not work for all of you but I hope that this would help for those who took time trying my formula. This procedure may answer to those who have issues where in when installing Adobe software and suddenly hangs for so long. Hope this helps and Merry Christmas and a Happy new year to you all!

     Notes:
     -You don’t need to copy/paste CD files into your hard disk.
     -I recommend you install the softwares 1 at a time so you won’t be wasting much of your time pulling your hair off.
     -Don’t install Google desktop. Uninstall it as it will hinder you from installing the software
     -Don’t install older versions of flash. Just to make sure, uninstall your current flash player and delete all the files related to it as it will also hinder you from installing the software. (Especially older versions of Flash player) the latest for now i think is Flash Player 9 as I have installed it with Adobe Master Collection
     -Don’t Install BETA versions of any other Adobe products. This will hinder you from installing the software.
     -May not need internet connection in order to install this. I did it successfully online.
     Requirements:
     -Your Adobe Master Collection disk
     -Patience if you need.
     -A good reading material
     -Caution (Follow the procedure step by step)

     Steps before installation:
     Step 1-Adobe Script Cleaner
     Download and run the Adobe Script Cleaner
     (Highly recommend running if you haven’t installed any Adobe product or just recently nuked your pc)

     Step 2-The Bonjour file
     Let’s check for the irritating bonjour file which is probably the main reason why the installation hangs when you install Adobe and remove it if present.

     Go to C:/Program Files and see if the folder Bonjour exists if it is, then continue on with this step. If it doesn’t, then move on to the 3rd step.

     There are 2 files inside the Bonjour folder. One is a .dll file and the other is an .exe file
     1.) Go to Start>run and type or copy paste everything inside the []
     ["C:/Program Files/Bonjour/mDNSResponder.exe" -remove]
     Note: there is a space between .exe” and -remove
     Then press enter
     2.) Rename the .dll file to mdnsNSP.old
     3.) Reboot and go back to that folder
     4.) If the .exe file isn’t deleted yet, it’s ok you have to
     remove the Bonjour folder that contains both of these files

     Note: The bonjour folder will appear back each time you do an install attempt of any of the Adobe CS3 products. So you must remove this first before installing any Adobe CS3 product in the Master Collection so as not to freeze your installation. It is ok if the file appears in the Program Files directory during the installation as the installation will work as I tried all the possible means of getting rid of the irritating Bonjour file and found no other way to stop it from coming back to the Program Files folder but have successfully installed the program. If the installation hangs, then try removing it by following the procedure above and try again.

     Step 3-Disable all services (optional)
     (This made my computer install the Adobe CS3 products a little bit faster)
     1.)Go to start>run and type msconfig
     2.)Go to the 1st tab and click on Selective Startup
     3.)Move to the services tab and click on disable all
     4.)In the list, search for plug and play and Windows Installer. Check these items
     5.)Restart in order to make the changes
     Note: Make sure the 2 Remote Procedure call services and the DCOM service still remains checked
     All services unchecked will be disabled. Causing your anti-virus and other programs to probably act strange but we can turn it back on after we are done installing by going back to start>run type msconfig and click on Normal Startup which will enable back all the services disabled after the installation is complete click ok then restart your computer.

     Step 4-Final preparations
     Check if the bonjour file is present. If yes, then do Step 2 and proceed to Step 5.

     Installation procedure
     Step 5
     Insert the disk, install the software you want to install (recommend install the software 1 at a time) and hope for the best that it will work without any other problems.
     Note: If you want to keep watch of the bonjour file as it causes the freezing of the installation, go back to the C:/Program Files folder and watch it appear. If it doesn’t, then you’ll have a higher chance of having a smooth installation. If it does however, all hope is not lost yet just keep looking at the progress bar if it still moves. Grab a reading material and wait. If it doesn’t for about 20-30 minutes or more, then cancel the installation to avoid wasting time and remove the bonjour file again and start over with the procedure. If it freezes if you clicked the cancel button then restarting should clear up the problem.
     After installing, it may be good to reboot your computer to refresh things if you have successfully installed.

     Step 6 If you did the optional step 3, then follow these steps to bring back your computer in its normal state.
     1.)Go to start>run and type msconfig
     2.)Go to the services tab and click enable all services
     3.)Restart to do the changes

     I also hope that this procedure could probably be applicable to Adobe CS3 Web Premium and to other Adobe installations that experience this issue. So far, I’ve installed about 7 Adobe CS3 products with this procedure doing it one at a time. But got hit by errors like “Component install Failed” which was included with the Adobe CS3 product.

181. Raft Says:
     December 29th, 2007 at 12:33 pm

     I had success installing CS3 production premium after using the cleaning script. My problem is installing Ultra CS3 in DVD 7 & 8. I get this error:

     “Error 1335: The cabinet file ‘MSL1014.cab’ required for this installatio is corrupt and cannot be used. This could be indicate a network error, an error reading from the CD-Rom or problem with this package.”

     I have try to copy dvd to desktop and run from there but still get the same error. Has anyone bump into this problem or have any advice?

182. Steve Dodds Says:
     December 29th, 2007 at 4:01 pm

     If it wasn’t for how much I need and love many Adobe Products. (PS IL AE FL DW etc) And that there are no clear excellent alternatives for those, I think this round of over paranoid copy protection and nightmare software installs that make me feel like I’m on a Windows box, I would dump Adobe and move on.

     I’m on a mac it’s never been this crazy to install anything, till now!

     Imagine how great it would be if you could just drag and drop Adobe software into the Applications folder, like so many others I’ve seen and used.

     Adobe needs to sit down and re-think what is installed where, spreading it all over the computer is nuts.

     the other day I was working in PS and FL. Something crashed my system hard, (I think it was FL) so hard I had to shut it off at the power, (extremely rare on my OS X Mac!) when I got back to launching PS, no go… It said something like ‘we are sorry but you can’t run that on this computer, please uninstall and reinstall your adobe products…’ WHAT!!!!! the activation crap broke and killed a day of work and sleep. After about 4 hours of uninstalls and reinstalls, it still didn’t work, so I used the new Time Machine Leopard feature to restore my system from the hourly backup when it did work. What could I loose? my Adobe apps ran again after that and I was able to finish my project at 6am the morning it was due, no sleep. But ultimately I had to reinstall Leopard (archive and install) and a few other applications to get everything back to normal later. Time Machine is awesome, saved my butt, but it’s still a new product and does not seem to be 100% in regards to system level backups. It was missing some files for things like Apache and other built in system level odds and ends. The Archive and Install over the top of everything fixed those things. Didn’t lose any of my important project files at all.

183. oxyk Says:
     December 30th, 2007 at 12:49 am

     Uhhh, the same thing – I have open project and badly need Adobe. I has full cs2 on my PC (win XP sp 2) and it works perfectly, but I decide to upgrade…. holly s*t, I delete all, install-reinstall 5 times, used cleaner script with level 4 – and get nothing!!! was installed only acrobat (that will never run without other programs) and some common programs that useless. Every time I install in I get the same results – 3 components installed
     What can I do else to install it???

184. Thomas Says:
     January 2nd, 2008 at 2:18 pm

     In order to avoid the “you can only install one adobe product at a time” problem, use the “windows control panel – add remove program – install program” and point out the setup.exe file from there.

     /Thomas

185. Adam Stevenson Says:
     January 4th, 2008 at 12:45 pm

     Howdy Everyone,

     Ok for everyone that is struggling with CS2 install on a 64 bit system, the key is getting the install directory correct. After doing countless searches on the internet, I came across this site:

     http://ntcompatible.com/Adobe_Creative_Suite_2_Premium_Edition_c12255.html

     It specifies to avoid the “Your Adobe Photoshop user name, organization, or serial number is missing or invalid” or the application just from hanging, it is necessary to just change the install directory to: C:\progra~2\Adobe\ to avoid incompatibility issues C:\Program Files (x86)\. It makes a good point that you have to use C:\progra~2\ not C:\progra~1\, as C:\progra~1\ points to program files, and you need it in C:\Program Files (x86)\ for it to work correctly.

     I hope this helps the numerous people on this blog with the same or similar problem.

     -Adam

186. Vanessa Bender Says:
     January 10th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

     I had the same install problem w/ CS3 and had to use cleanscript. I took the time to back up my whole HD too because I was scarred of the little red warning in the Read me files. THEN I found out I can only install it on to 2 computers and I have 3 (home office and laptop.) I called them and they said I could only install it twice. Anyone know a work around to this one? thx! Vanessa

187. Eric Willis Says:
     January 11th, 2008 at 3:47 am

     I was having an issue (similar, same error messages) on Windows 2003 Server Standard with installing Adobe InDesign CS3 Server.

     Here’s the resolution that Markco came up with that worked for both of us: http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c05c74c/5

188. Roy Says:
     January 11th, 2008 at 9:21 pm

     I have just spent 5 days trying to install CS3 Production Premium and I’ve finally succeeded.
     I tried everything that was on this page but still couldn’t get it to install fully.
     I ended up opening every folder on the c: drive to see if I could find anything that would cause it not to install and I did.
     There is a folder in c:\WINDOWS\system32 that is called Macromed and this have a flash file in it.
     I deleted this and then ran the Adobe CS clean up script on level 4 twice and then the Flash uninstall program from the Adobe site and then I used CCleaner 4 times.
     After rebooting I was able to load on CS3 without any problems.
     Thanks to everyone for their solutions.

189. Wrecked Says:
     January 12th, 2008 at 6:26 pm

     Hi!
     I’m torturing myself over 3 hours now with CS3. Fuck adobe. So simply. Fuck the “I can’t promise anything” habit. CS3 are not bad products, how is it that you can’t make a fucking installer? For God and Our Sake use Inno Setup Compiler, it’s freeware and it won’t cause such pain in the ass. Hail the author, cool you are.

190. sangos Says:
     January 14th, 2008 at 7:58 am

     Sorry if this is bad news…but the only way to install ID CS3 without a single hitch…(close IE and retry problem included)….is can you believe it…Horrors…CLEan Re-install Windoze XP!….got this after 106 hours of work!!!Am a DCSE tech by the way..thanx

191. Zelane Says:
     January 14th, 2008 at 9:45 am

     Hi guys, at first i had the same problem as all of you, but i managed to fix it in about an hour.

     First i had try to install from the disc
     I got please insert disc error
     Then i copied to my hard drive, same error
     Then i burnt a second disk, same error
     Then i used the add/remove progs to unistall
     Then i ran the install from my local C: drive and it worked

     So my advice is, copy to your local disk, uninstall your previous install attempt (or use this clean script) and fresh install from your harddrive. Good luck all

     Vista x64 home premium

192. Eric Nyholm Says:
     January 23rd, 2008 at 10:04 am

     Ghaaaaaaaaaaa! Same problem here! It’s makeing me crazy.

     Fuck it! I’m ínstalling GIMP instead.

193. Jenn Says:
     January 24th, 2008 at 1:17 am

     I’ve been trying to install CS3 TRIAL for 5 hours now. I’m on a new laptop running Vista with almost no Adobe software, other than Flash and Reader. I’ve gotten error screens saying EI was open, error screens saying the software didn’t install, only shared components. I’ve even gotten error files trying to REMOVE the components so that I could reinstall! I’ve rebooted more times today than in the last year, and I still can’t even remove the shit that CS3 left on here. I’m about to go back to CS2, which is on my desktop. At least it worked the first time!

194. Dave Black Says:
     January 25th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

     I am sick and tired of these installation toubles….i’ve been at it since mid December and nothing seems to work…worse still CS3 premiun costs £1600 in England…That’s about $3200….I’ve essentially paid a high premium for a headache!

195. MarcoPolo Says:
     January 27th, 2008 at 3:39 am

     After installing CS3 Web Premium and got the automatic updates acrobat professional DOES NOT WORK…
     My advice: disable automatic updates
     My Fix: Clean the windows installer with: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
     and don’t delete folders manually…
     been going to bed until 3 for the last 3 days…..
     adobe: get your act together!!!! CS3 is the BEST…but your install… don’t ask us!!!! ISBT

196. Gaia Fraudula Says:
     January 27th, 2008 at 7:14 am

     I have the same trouble installing a legal copy of Photoshop cs3. Impossible. Now a friend installed an black copy bought in Vientiana, Laos for about $ 10! And the damn thing works!

197. Jeff Says:
     January 27th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

     I downloaded the trail Photoshop CS3, it is extracted to the desktop by default. its not installing, so I go to the folder and double-click the Setup.exe file, its not working. then I use the command line to run it, I got these:
     Begin Adobe Setup
     UI mode: Full GUI
     End Adobe Setup. Exit code: 4
     Any clue? thanks.

198. Danny Says:
     January 29th, 2008 at 7:48 pm

     I just downloaded a free version of adobe after effects and it wont install i get internal error 2739 anyone know how i can get pass this?

     btw im running vista home basic

199. Renee Says:
     January 30th, 2008 at 1:57 am

     I have photoshop cs3 upgraded from cs2. I’m using a fully updated windows xp with plenty of other adobe products on it. Install from disk did not work and from what I gather that is a problem with the installer and they are aware of it. Had perfect awesome install.

     Here is the problem I have now. Photoshop keeps forgetting the program preferences. It keeps my workspace in this instance although I also have the problem of losing my workspace.

     It was working fine and then mysteriously quit working. I had heard that custom settings and tools can get corrupted as well. I did a complete reset of all that stuff and was very careful not to reload anything custom. I have reinstalled the program and it worked for a short time before becoming “forgetful”again and done tons of other troubleshooting stuff. Still for no reason every time I open photoshop either my preferences or my workspace is missing.

     I also copied backed up preferences onto the current ones and still by the time I finish opening photoshop everything is back to default.

     I have followed an official troubleshooting guide on it. I’m going to be reinstalling my computer soon (only because it needs it not because of ps). Will see if problem returns. Please if anyone has any other troubleshooting ideas I’d really appreciate it.

200. helper XD Says:
     January 30th, 2008 at 7:42 pm

     if you are on a mac, copy the .dmg file to ur desktop and run the setup from there rather than the dvd

     if you are on a pc, do the same

201. Ani Says:
     February 4th, 2008 at 9:52 am

     What about if having installed, uninstalled, cleaned registry and reinstalled CS3 – and now wanting to try Adobe CleanUp- CS3 wont remove from the add/remove list. I have tried finding and deleting all CS3 folders from the registry – I know this is bad but I have taken a backup…The problems only started, after successful installation of CS3, with some errors coming up to do with links to .dll files (and plug ins I think) when opening illustrator and bridge…(didnt get round to opening dreamweaver and p’shop before I started fiddling and ‘fixing’
     My machine has win XP Media Centre, and old package of CS. Now errors (1311?) occuring at xp startUp and nothing doing when I try to install CS3 for the third time…

     Appreciate any support as I know it takes time to answer these pesky requests.
     Ta
     Ani

202. DotNetCodeBuilder Says:
     February 6th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

     Boy am I happy to have found this site. Adobe was constantly telling me that my CS3 installation problems on Vista were specific to my computer – nop one else experiencing the same issues. I knew that comment was a load of B.S. The Adobe tech support team has limited skills on troubleshooting computers in general. It appears that they’re not trained on their own products as well.

     I’ll definitely forget about upgrading to any new releases in the future for my 30 + PCs and Macs.

203. Stephen Says:
     February 7th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

     I had the same license issues after each of many, many attempts to install on XP. Used cleancs3 level4 and all the other mumbo jumbo found here and talking w/adobe tech support over the course of 2 days. Always had problems reported by the install program (POS if you ask me) for Shared Components and CS3 and then got expired license errors when trying to run any of the programs I’d just installed.

     Looking in event viewer I saw the same error occurring during each failed install relating to permissions on c:\windows\system32\macromed\flash\FlDbg9c.ocx. I managed to delete this folder after turning off Simple File Sharing and tried cleaning again and reinstalling. During this next install I noticed this folder and the files in it were recreated. I also noticed that the permissions on the .ocx file included Deny for Everyone. So during the install I changed the file permissions to Full and the install completed successfully.

     So on my system, either simply deleting the macromed folder or that plus changing the permissions on the .ocx file resolved my problems. I noticed both Fred and Roy above obtained their joy along this same path. Hope this helps someone. This may be the worst software installation experience I’ve had since 1982! Good work Adobe!

204. Pissed off Says:
     February 12th, 2008 at 12:12 pm

     THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!
     This problem is obviously large enough to require a real fix.
     I wish Apple would make photo and illustration programs, then we could all switch and never use crap Adobe again, just like we did when we all switched from Premier to Final Cut.

205. Scott Says:
     February 13th, 2008 at 10:26 pm

     This is good information. Hopefully, I will eventually get this screwed up bundle to install.
     But, my experience is a bit different. I believe my install initially froze due the power saving settings on my plugged in laptop turning off the hard drive. After that I was screwed. So, far I have deleted everything three times the last time after a level 2 clean and the install just freezes at about 75% complete. I guess I’ll try level 4 and see what happens.

206. Seb Says:
     February 14th, 2008 at 4:24 am

     So there I was, got my Creative Suite CS3 DVD in the mail and quickly installed it on my work laptop, only to find out that there was no serial key in the package. I called Adobe and they told me that they will email me that info shortly. After the suite was installed I opened the applications and enjoy an “upgraded” Adobe Std Web Suite in the trial mode. Having not heard from Adobe about that license key I call back after a couple of days and remind them. They send me the license key details in an email but warned me that I have to uninstall the software and reinstall it and enter the license key.
     After obtaining the license key I uninstalled the suite and tried in vain to reinstall. Nothing would work. I was able to successfully uninstall, but tons of files were left behind all over the place and the licensing issue came up. I tried the instructions provided above without any luck.
     I wasted 2 days and I am waaayyy behind on my work and Adobe could care less.
     The best $1000 ever spent
     I will try reinstalling the OS tomorrow. This seems to be the only thing I haven’t tried yet.
     This is unacceptable ADOBE.
     I wish google created web/graphic design IDEs.

207. tiger_2008 Says:
     February 14th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

     I said “F*(*****) Adobe! Test the dam thing out first “THOROUGHLY” before selling the product! I read most of the messages posted here and as I read more and more, I began feel sick and frustrated frustrated . My sympathy toward for those people who purchased the product and have to go through all the F***KIIng steps which they shouldn’t have to do. Adobe, let me say this again and clearly, please test your product first before putting on the shelf. And again, F***********K U, Adobe!!!

208. hachimitsu Says:
     February 15th, 2008 at 12:30 am

     ok so here is the solution!! http://www.mininova.org/com/908543 I posted a possible HOW TO INSTALL thing at this torrent site’s comments page

     go check it out –

     also: ADOBE is trying to save their tails –
     http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/microsites/microsite.do?msid=MS_CS3_1_1

209. James Says:
     February 15th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

     I’ve installed two different “boxed” copies of CS3 Design Premium without any problems.

     The only problem I got was with Flash, because I was trying out the trial version of Flash CS3 Professional and it wouldn’t accept my serial number… but this was fixed when I realized I had to install Flash CS3 Design Premium instead. (because that was what my serial number was for). AFter that, things worked fine.

     I had an activation issue with one system from work, but this was solved within minutes after speaking with an Adobe Tech support individual.

210. Olwen Bruce Says:
     February 17th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

     I hope you all have CS3 installed by now. Make sure you don’t buy the first print run of InDesign! Classroom in a book; lesson 11 is missing. There are so many mistakes in the book, Adobe as dedicated a WHOLE page to them
     Still, I love the product and when compared to Quark and thier help line/updates, well what can I say, there is no parallel!.

211. ray Says:
     February 18th, 2008 at 7:19 am

     i am working with dreamweaver cs3 and the performance is just horrible, its like your installation experience, but just nonstop. adobes interfaces in general did not change much since 199x and all they do is add new version numbers, like cs3 blabla. they make the libraries bigger, the scripts are firing in all directions for no good reason, and the software does not learn a single behavior from the user. if errors occur, but that dumb adobe/macromedia software just tries to pass closed ports until timeout. idiotic error handling. adobe software is very usefull, yet primitive, their faulty standards cannot be put in place by anything else, there is no open source design suite to match or compete and drive them out of their igloo. very frustrating. i still love their products very much but they are about to go down with that monstrous attitude.

212. Mehmet Arslan Says:
     February 18th, 2008 at 11:48 am

     My friend has been attempting to install CS3 for a few days. Finally he told me the problem and I guessed what is going on wrong.
     In the original CS3 CD there is an emty file: Adobe CS3. This is the main cause of the problem.
     Do this:
     When you triying to install the program you should create a file which having the name Adobe CS3 in the Adobe file in local C: (if it already exist). Or if Adobe file doesn’t exist in C: before, simply create a file named Adobe CS3 in C: and install your program in it.

213. Mark Says:
     February 19th, 2008 at 5:03 am

     hi mehmet, what do you mean with “create a file named Adobe CS3″? Do you mean a Folder with the Name “Adobe CS3″ and then install the program there?
     I’m really at the bottom line now, so many hours trying without success …

     thanks to all of you

214. Mark Says:
     February 22nd, 2008 at 2:43 pm

     Maybe this can help someone; I finally managed to install this CS3 after 2 weeks trying. I always got the error 1904 Flash … could not be registered. All tips to manually register this flash file failed.
     Then I’ve noticed that the flash intro of http://www.cruciallimit.com did not start, so I tried, logged in as admin, and turned of Safe Mode in IE to install the Flash Player until the Flash intro started (around 4 times … ???!!) So after that, logged in as admin, copied the CS3 files on HD and started the install. I really had big big eyes when I saw that all components installed without failure … thanks to all for the tips …

215. Chris Says:
     February 23rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm

     Thanks for the post.

     After many unsuccessful attempts to install Photoshop CS3 and unable to get in touch with Adobe Tech support on a Saturday I gave your formula a try.

     I trashed all of my CS & CS2 applications, ran the clean script level 3 a couple of times, rebooted and copied the Install DVD to the desktop and only then I was finally able to install CS3 with success.

     Mac 10.4.11

216. Yazid Says:
     February 24th, 2008 at 4:25 am

     i used to work with corel software, when cs2 was released i though about converting to adobe software due program errors in corel draw, so i bought some books and illustrator sc2 and the first problem was that it takes too much time to start the program and never work from the first time, sometimes i had to restart my computer and try to open illustrator 3-4 times to make it work.
     so i got back to work on corel draw, when cs3 was released i did the same i even liked it more but im unable to install illustrator cs3 and indesign cs3 together i tryed every solution i found on the web i even formated my hard drive and installed a fresh copy of xp and still wont work so i think im gonna stick to corel draw this time also.
     corel draw shutdowns in the middle of work sometimes but it makes a back up file that bothered me before but its realy better than wasting all that time on illustrator

217. carlos Says:
     February 24th, 2008 at 9:21 am

     I just want to thank U for showing other the way to fix those problems… I had spent almost a weekend trying to install and no luck until I found your blog… thank you so much for the info!

218. Joseph Says:
     February 24th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

     Wow thought it was just me. CS2 Illistrator taking around 2 days to install. Software hangs requiring system reboots etc.. Installation night maires. Want to get work done. Resource hogging. What the? I guess Adobe is nolonger a good investement if this keeps up. I see down sizing and in the near future and product reorganization. Company is to large to maintain its Quality of Service. Pushing out CS3 only to collect money from customers. And whats with that price tag? Back to the Pirates I mean Parrots.

219. Yazid Masa Says:
     February 25th, 2008 at 3:54 am

     FINALLY!!!
     I found the solution! I have Photoshop CS3 extended, Illustrator CS3 ME and InDesign CS3 ME installed on my computer now, Damn I almost gave up.
     You can install all CS3 programs with these steps:

     Before you do anything you need to remove any CS3 program installed on your computer and use “CS3 clean up script” from “http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cs3clean.html” you will also need “Windows Installer CleanUp Utility” from “http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301″ ((Make sure that everything is removed you may need to run the level 4 a couple of times until everything is removed)) that will solve the insert CS3 to continue problem for your first installation then follow the steps below:

     1. Install any ONE CS3 program Ex: Illustrator CS3 and activate it.

     2. Go to “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe” there you will find 3 folders “backup”, “caps” and “Installers” those contains the files that makes the conflicts for CS3 installation process, MOVE those folders to a new folder in the same directory Ex: “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Illustrator”.

     3. Install your second CS3 program and activate it.

     4. Move the folders “backup”, “caps” and “Installers” to the same folder you made earlier and accept to replace the files.

     5. Go on with those steps for your all SC3 programs and when you finish installing all of them ONE BY ONE go to the folder you made and copy the folders you moved and paste them back into “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe” and accept to replace the files.

     6. Reboot your computer and enjoy.

     NOTE: This should work with mac also all you have to do to move the folders “backup”, “caps” and “Installers” until you install another CS3 program.

     I will try to make a software the does all these steps automatically I will post it if it works.

     Please forward this as much as you can so ppl don’t go through the pain we went through.

     Regards
     Yazid Masa

220. john Says:
     February 28th, 2008 at 10:48 pm

     Hey there, well all i can say is that im getting freegin pissed with all this, already lost 3 productive days because of this shit.
     So basically i’ve tried everything and im still not able to install cs3 photoshop or illustrator (only premiere cs3, for some odd reason, i did), i had no betas before, only cs2. I downloaded the *.exe from adobe.com, trying to run them as trials to check out the “new shit” before using it, BUT I CANT FUCKING DO IT.. and now i got no cs2 or cs3 so I CAN’T DO SHIT, THANKS ADOBE.

     Help?

221. 6numb9 Says:
     March 1st, 2008 at 3:01 pm

     OK, this thing is driving me CRAZY
     In the begining I had the same “Insert disk in drvie D’\..” but i resolved it by deleting everything and running CS3 CelanClean.
     The installation went on but it only installe the “Shared Components” and the other components “Failed”
     Then I also tried the Event Viewr,and I saw a “Bridge Start Meeting” error, well I downloaded Adobe Bridge Start Meeting Update 1, and tried then.
     And agin it only installs the Shared Components,adn this time in Event Viwer it tells Something about ” Adobe Flash Player 9 ActiveX — Error 1904.Module C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\FlDbg9c.ocx failed to register”
     I don’t know,i tried to delete everything, and the .OCX files and every flash files.
     Still It only install the Shared Components. Each time i try again ust by installing ONE component it still install AGAIN the shared components (even if i have them) and everything else fails
     So>PLEASE—if someone can help i will really appreciate

222. bandicoot Says:
     March 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm

     Thank you for this article. Was struggling with uninstall-install-manually clean registers routine for over a day. After using your instructions for the Cleaner I am up and running again.

223. Chris Says:
     March 6th, 2008 at 10:38 am

     =========
     In order to avoid the “you can only install one adobe product at a time” problem, use the “windows control panel – add remove program – install program” and point out the setup.exe file from there.

     /Thomas
     =========

     That worked for me. Thank you.

224. Deb Says:
     March 8th, 2008 at 11:00 pm

     OMFGGG!! I am trying to uninstall Dreamweaver CS3 and it has already been 20 mins, and it still isn’t finished! SO ANNOYING!! Adobe, you suck!

225. Seethanaman Narayanan Says:
     March 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

     To succesfully install let’s say Adobe Photoshop CS3 after several attempts with INSERT PHOTOSHOP CS3 message you need to run the installation AGAIN, after the INSERT PHOTOSHOP CS3 message klick cancel and WAIT for the report. When it reads that app was not able to find its original installer you MUST write down the address and copy the install files there and run from that location. If you have already installed cracked version of let’s say Adobe Illustrator CS3 you MUST COPY original folder of Adobe Illustrator CS3 to the location from where you installed it on your machine. Than all you need to do is run the installation of Adobe Photoshop CS3 again and choose to uninstal components. Clean your registry with some app and run the instalation again now choose INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH instead of ENGLISH. Done.

226. Frustrated Freddy Says:
     March 13th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

     Adobe, this software MUST be bloat-ware, it takes SOOOOOOOHHHHHH long to install!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     I totally agree with this comment [suggested book title] from the original posting…

     “How to find a job when you’ve been fired for missing a deadline because you were installing Adobe CS3″

     All I’m trying to do is to install adobe Illustrator from the Web edition (Photoshop already installed) and it’s taken 30 mins already – and I’m still waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

227. Olwen Bruce Says:
     March 14th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

     Hey guys, look how many people it takes to put all this together so we designers can have seamless production. There are 17 programs and all the help you can actually use. If you are using windows you know you need more patience than Mac users.
     I love using and teaching the print portion this software, thanks to the Adobe team we have a fast and easy interface and Acrobat to send it off to print.

     Olwen Bruce

228. carla Says:
     March 15th, 2008 at 10:16 am

     Hmmmm, I may have a different problem.
     Installation was fine. But , opening a file in the program has
     blown my hard drive —twice now.
     So badly that I’ve physically taken my computer to the “shop” (twice now)
     It’s a new system, so each time I blamed the person who configured and built my
     pc. Unbelievable. We are really at the mercy of Adobe. argh.

     what do you think?
     I’d love an opinion.

229. Cradle Says:
     March 18th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

     Hey all, i just put my Adobe Photoshop CS3 cd to install it, during the installation it asks from me to close Internet Explorer, BUT.. my internet explorer isn’t even open. I tried CTRL + ALT + Delete > Processes and i ended the IE process, but it keeps coming back so.. if anyone could help.. i’d Appreciate it.

     Cradle.

230. Berg Says:
     March 20th, 2008 at 12:59 am

     I tried to install Adobe CS3 Design Premium but I got error messge : Please insert Adobe CS3 Design Premium to continue installation. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Please let me know (ba-do_1983@hotmail.com) I need to use this progarm to do my project.

231. thebjoern Says:
     March 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm

     In case anyone else is having these Error 1335 problems… I just managed to get past mine. Sorry if I am not posting in the right place here, as mine is not related to any CS3 product, but I thought maybe it helps someone with a CS3 product as well.

     Anyway, for weeks I was trying to find out more how I could get around that problem “Error 1335, data1.cab corrupt” or something like that (was trying to install a student version of premiere pro 7, as I am just learning about cutting etc). I was really annoyed, google for days on end, trying all the suggested solutions (uninstalling antivirus software, uninstalled adaware, spybot, windows defender, disabled firewall, reinstalled windows installer, unregistered and reregeistered it, cleaned temp directories, tried to install in different locations, cleaned up and defragmented hard drives etc) and just couldnt get it to work. But I knew the files were fine (even created an iso on my HD of it) because I installed them on my old PC before.

     Anyway what I did now was to install it on another PC, copied it across but it wouldnt just start like that, as it said it wasnt properly registered. So I ran the setup.exe on the disk again in the hope it would see the already existing files and only would add the missing stuff (ie registry entries etc), and luckily it did, so it got over the problematic area, and now I finally got it working. Hooray!!

     Hope this might help someone with similar problems, all the best and kind regards
     Bjoern

     P.S. This same workaround (ie install on another PC, copy across, re-run installer) just worked for some other software that I couldnt install before as well. Wohoo

232. Irritating FlexBuilder 3 errors/bugs » Just Another Rant Says:
     March 25th, 2008 at 4:26 pm

     [...] everything went really smooth. I got all of my linked resources set up and began coding. After the CS3 install debacle I was thinking “wow that went really smooth”. And the install went great. However as I try and get [...]

233. webdesign Says:
     March 26th, 2008 at 5:05 am

     Pfft i got an error as wel ! i bought a new serial and tried to reinstall it ! now i am stuck with an error msg saying invalid product code ? but i never got to put in a new one ? some body got the same error ?

234. I.Ty. Says:
     March 29th, 2008 at 7:24 am

     Hey,

     I use Photoshop since version 3.05 and the installation process was never more difficult than with CS3. Okay – I admit, that I installed the Web Premium suite.. and I admit that I somehow managed to install CS3 while CS2 and 7.0 were also installed (and still run) without having to wipe my hard disk.. but it took me a lot of time and trial-and-error…
     That’s not what it is supposed to cause for people.. if I buy a software which costs as much as 1,5k €.. I expect it to install flawlessly and to work at least as error-free as it can.. the installation is horrible .. and I don’t even want to speak about the uninstallation process. I have the feeling that the uninstallation process is something like “del filename.ext; delay 1000″ .. really .. I used to programm installation routines with InstallShield in a software house .. if I were to deliver such an installation routine there, I’d get fired the next day.

     I am really happy about the programs themselves, because they really work well (that’s to be expected though, because they are all but cheap). But please Adobe .. improve the installation routines.

     Thanks and have a good day.

235. Don Says:
     March 30th, 2008 at 5:51 pm

     I too get an error message after install: Its says Adobe CSM3 component failed to install and Flash Player 9 Active x failed to install

236. Martin Says:
     April 1st, 2008 at 10:03 am

     The solution Honey described actually worked for me. Incredibly! Thanks!

237. Steve Horstmeyer Says:
     April 1st, 2008 at 10:30 am

     Maybe I am lucky but I have Photoshop CS2, Acrobat Pro 7, Illustrator 9, and a number of earlier adobe apps on my system.

     I installed CS3 Design Premium from the CDs onto Win XP Pro. It took 21 minutes with no errors.

238. Elizabeth Peggs Says:
     April 1st, 2008 at 11:45 am

     So – I would love to spend some time comparing my ‘experience’ with yours however, we have spent the last 36+ hours attempting to get the CS3 Web Standard to install and work so I have no time left.

     If there were another option I would pay double and smile the whole way. We were a bit concerned over here when Adobe purchased Macromedia and our concerns have proven to be warrented. The Adobe ’support’ personel are lovely but illequiped and reccomend busy work to try and solve problems. While telling me to delete files and saying ‘don’t worry mam it will be ok’ – were I a bit less knowledgable I likely would not have an operating computer left – nevermind the program I just spend hundreds of dollars to purchase.

239. John Heckmatt Says:
     April 2nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm

     I came across your blog when trying to trouble-shoot another problem with this unfortunate CS3 package. Your blog reminded me of the week I spent trying to install CS3 originally. Summary of original problem: – Installation of CS package gave error message that Acrobat component would not install. – Re-installation attempt gave same message. – Installation generally very slow. – When I registered the product I was then not able to re-install (as above) – During this time, the package downloaded several updates, but when they installed they all gave error messages (exception Adobe Reader and I had to cut the updates. The remedy provided by Adobe was not successful initially. CS3 sat on my hard drive, refused to work and yet I could not uninstall it. The installation disk would die on spinning. Eventially I had to purchase and use “Perfect Uninstaller” to remove CS3 as Windows refused to do it. I was then able to run wincs3clean, where previously it had refused to run. I deleted every Adobe programme I had – mainly old versions of Acrobat reader. I also suspended my antivirus programme, this advice is buried somewhere in Adobe’s documents. I was then able to re-install CS3 successfully. I hope this is helpful.

240. nlaptop Says:
     April 5th, 2008 at 7:30 pm

     Well… I faced the sam problem but the solution didn’t work for my Vista laptop. BUT an extremely simple solution worked. I have installed Dreamweaver CS3 on my PC and everything worked fine, so I wondered why. The truth is that I have copied the installation file ADBERWVCS3_WWE on the desktop before installing,
     SO I did the same on my laptop…and GUESS WHAT? IT WORKED!

     IF you try this, please let me know if it worked for you!

241. SL Connell Says:
     April 7th, 2008 at 10:14 am

     I put off upgrading to CS3 patly because of the bad installation stories I’d heard, partly because I couldn’t decide on which bundle to buy since I couldn’t afford the Master Suite, and partly because most of the places where I teach had not upgraded yet. I was hoping that things would have improved by now (4/2008), but they most certainly have not. I had the issues with having to download the lousy command line “cleaner” to get rid of the trial remnants of Photoshop and I still can’t get Acrobat to work – it keeps asking for serial numbers, but won’t accept the key that worked for the rest of the suite. I had problems activating CS2, but not as bad as this. I’ve been an Adobe customer since the computer dark ages & I find it truly offensive that they use their dominant position in the market to abuse paying customers with punitive licensing practices. I have started encouraging my students to look at alternative software unless they work for companies that will pay for and support Adobe’s problems.

242. tommy Says:
     April 8th, 2008 at 9:01 am

     I uninstalled all my Adobe/Macromedia software and tried the command line clean up a few times before giving up and reformatting my hard drive, installing XP again and then installing the Web Premium CS3 software I purchased and it finally worked. It took 4 hours and was an inconvenience, but at least I didn’t lose days of productivity like many of you.

     I will say CS3 is a great upgrade for the interoperability of Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash which are the programs I use primarily; it was worth it for me.

243. MArky MArk Says:
     April 8th, 2008 at 6:10 pm

     Honestly this was the single most helpful article I’ve read for this issue out of like Umpteen million. I nowmally do not reply to things like this, but you don’t understand how much I owe you. Again thanks ALOT.

     Mark-A

244. Vadim Says:
     April 9th, 2008 at 3:52 am

     Phew… At last I am able to at least start the setup process! Thank you so much for the work performed. It does help to start installation.

     What about Adobe… Ladies, your Suite is perfect except its installation utility. Setup.exe to be more precise. Please, kill its builder. Is it so hard to DELETE a wrong Registry key if it conflicts with the installation path?! Should I point you a Windows API function that does it?!

245. mmuhlenkamp Says:
     April 10th, 2008 at 12:01 am

     I’ll have to try what you did. I can’t believe that you posted this almost a year ago and I get my upgrade now and the same problems still persist. You’d think they’d have fixed something that’s this bad by now. Adobe needs to take a clue from install wizard.

246. Reggie Says:
     April 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pm

     I recently bought a used Desktop from a friend. I was installing an Anti-Virus on the computer because he said he never had any on his computer. The computer crashed several times after installing Norton Anti-Virus. Eventually I got it to work. He had a pirated copy of the Adobe suite on his computer but after the computer crashed it messed up activation on the computer. It asked me to reactivate the suite but I didn’t reactivate the suite because I had a legal copy of CS3 that I was going to put on he computer. I let the temporary activation expire and then deleted the suite from the computer. I installed my legal copy and everything went fine until I tried to open one of the applications. This window pops up telling me that my Temporary activation Expired. When I tried to activate my copy it says you have entered an invalid authorization code. I finally figured out that I should have deactivated the pirated copy and then installed my legal copy. But the only way I know how to deactivate the suite is to open up one of the applications go to Help>Deactivate. But I can’t open a application up to deactivate. I have added/removed the suite several times. I used the Adobe clean script and nothing works. Any advice.

247. anyOtherGuy Says:
     April 15th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

     I never had a problem.
     Even with my PC being so full of apps and truly in need of a deep cleaning.
     All I had to do was click on “NEXT” a couple of times.

     Explain that!

248. Wayne Says:
     April 16th, 2008 at 2:03 am

     Yes, an entire day wasted. I finally got my order of CS3 Master Collection from my retailer. Got it home, went to install, and NO setup.exe files anywhere on any of the disks. I call Adobe tech support, and three hours on the phone – being switched from one tech to the other and being hung up on during one of the transfers between departments, they finally say they are going to send me new disk. I need to phone back to ensure that they are going to send me ALL the disks and they confirm they will – 3 to 5 business days- which brings us to next week. Of course, during this nightmare, I uninstalled all my prior Adobe products and will be without tools for productivity for this length of time. I guess I can reinstall my previous version of CS and of course, reactivate the friggin software and then delete again and run their hell hole scripts again to rid of their crap to reinstall CS3 once the disks arrive.

     I try to install with .msi and of course, all applications need setup.exe to install, exept Acrobat. That one tells me that my NEW serial number is invalid. I am fuming, call Adobe AGAIN and they tell me that the serial number is indeed invalid. WTF? They say they can issue me a new serial number, but I need to fax them a copy of my proof of purchase. Whatever. I plead with them to just let me email a scanned copy. They finally say okay after being on hold for another 20 minutes. It will take 24-48 hours for this new serial number to come my way as they have to confirm I legitamately purchased the software.

     I do not own one bit of stolen software on my computer, but what do they expect when they pirate their own customers. I am seriously thinking of getting a refund on this crap and grabbing an illegal copy. I will even pay for the illegal copy if it works. I am losing time here. Way to go Adobe.

249. iamstruglling Says:
     April 17th, 2008 at 11:00 pm

     On CS3 master collection. When the installation finishes it just says: ” shared component failed to install” on most of the applications. I have had enough of this bullsh@t. I’ve tried XP pro x86 and x64, XP Pro media centre, Vista ultimate x86 and x64 and Server 2003. And the only one it worked on was server 2003. I’ve tried formatting, script clean, manually search and destroy all adobe files, this is stupid. I’m trying to study but with this stupid installer it just doesn’t help me.

250. Alexa Thymia Says:
     April 20th, 2008 at 11:49 pm

     Still having terrible problems with installtion of the Adobe CS3 Web Premium on April 19th, 2008 (meanding that a year later they have apparently not fixed it). Spent 15 hours downloading (that was a nightmare) the software (had to do it three times), installed it three times to get error messages saying that some components (Dreamweaver and Illustrator) could not install properly. I am very pissed off. I tried many things listed on the forum. I’m getting a refund. Will use Coffee Cup HTML editor and KompoZer I guess. I agree with whoever said this: This is entirely unacceptable.

251. Blue Says:
     April 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pm

     Try reading the read me file on how to install the software….. hmmmm works for me.

252. Boss Mac Says:
     April 22nd, 2008 at 5:54 am

     After following every hint, tip, suggestion from everyone that posted here I managed to get mine working again. In my case, I’ve had my CS3 Master Collection installation for a while now but everything went haywire after dowloading some new updates. Adobe Updater would restart my PC constantly. I decided to uninstall everything and did the CleanScript four times. I reinstalled and just when I thought everything was fine I get a nice message saying “Component install failed”.

     After dedicating an entire day (and I mean a full 24 hours) of non-stop uninstalling, reinstalling, cleanscripting and install cleaning I decided to just revert back to my old individual Photoshop CS3 installation. It installed just fine, everything went smoothly but if I won’t give up on my expensive Master Collection just yet. I tried reinstalling the Master Suite with an individually installed Photoshop CS3 already installed. I opted to install just Acrobat and Dreamweaver since I also needed those. After a short installation (short compared to the normal installation) it finished just fine. I fired up Dreamweaver and Photoshop and they both worked. I installed Flash and InDesign and both of them finished just fine.

253. Dewy Says:
     April 26th, 2008 at 8:52 am

     Hi all. I obviously had a similar experience with installing Adobe CS3 Master Collection Professional. I tried to install the suite and after 12 straight hours (yes I stayed up from 8 PM to 8 AM before I had to go to class at 9 AM) of the install process (windows installer kept maxing out) only the supplemental items were installed. NONE of the actual programs were installed. So, trying to uninstall the other items seemed to be the best way to go. No luck. CPU kept maxing out and everything would freeze. After 3 days of frustrating downtime, 2 bottles of Excedrin Migraine and 1 trip to the computer geek store here in town, I found this awesome forum.

     Basically I learned to 1) Copy the discs to my hard drive, 2) Use Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, 3) Use the CS3.exe from CS3 clean up script, 4) Shut everything off in msconfig (except the main Microsoft items), 5) Reinstall CS3MC from the hard drive with the discs as far away from the PC as possible. That worked great and litterally 20 minutes later (after starting install) I was producing a movie in Premiere CS3.

     When I dropped the files from the discs to the hard drive I put the main folders in > D:\CS3\1 , 2, 3, 4 (1,2,3,4 being folders for the different discs – only had to drop the Adobe CS3 folder from each disc into the corresponding folder on the hard drive). After starting the Setup.exe from folder 1 and letting it complete, I was asked to insert disc 2. So, I put the Adobe CS3 folder from folder 2 directly in D:\ and clicked OK. Once that was finished, I put that Adobe CS3 folder back into folder 2 and put the Adobe CS3 folder from folder 3 into D:\ and clicked OK. Did this also for disc/folder 4 and was good to go in no time.

     The only saving grace in this whole process would be this forum. Without the tips here I would have sent it back and stuck with CS2. Thanks for your help and I hope this post helps whoever sees it next.

254. Drew Says:
     April 27th, 2008 at 5:36 am

     I am indebted to the writer of Adobe CS3 install horror… round 2 ! This has saved me SO many wasted hours. Adobe need to pull their fingers out in future ! Do Mac users suffer this bollocks !

255. Jayden Says:
     April 29th, 2008 at 10:02 pm

     I have the definitive answer to solving this problem in Windows, and, I suspect – on the Mac.

     1. Backup all your files/bookmarks/email/settings;
     2. Wipe your hard drive;
     3. Reinstall Windows (in my case, Vista);
     4. Install CS3 (in my case, Master Collection);
     5. Smile

     I tried every single possible solution on this page, and many other sites with other information such as Silent Installs, and deleting folders such as the Marcomed folder in system32.

     If you are having this issue, and it is not solved by any of the above (specifically the very helpful post by “Robert”, amongst others)… take my advice – you will save yourself a day or two of PURE frustration by reinstalling everything. I finally did it and EVERY single piece of CS3 software installed beautifully. Just be careful to make sure you have or save all your other software installers, software keys, and settings.

     I’m an Adobe shareholder and I must say that this experience has left a bad taste in my mouth… I’m thinking twice about continuing the investment.

256. The level of insanity is. . . Says:
     May 5th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

     . . . too much for words. Their own “advisories” are a testament to the nightmare.

     I’ve been using Acrobat Pro 5. Dreamweaver 8, and Contribute 8 for a few years. The ONLY THING I set out to do two days ago was to add Fireworks. (Would have loved it if I could have just gotten at standalone version of Fireworks 8 . . but no. . .)

     Tragically, I made the HORRIBLE mistake of reading their hype and thinking “Gee, why don’t I try out Acrobat 8 Pro and Flash while I’m at it?”

     And so began the lost weekend. I fear the only way to recover will be to uninstall every Adobe and Macromedia application and plug in I’ve got, clean up the mess that’s left behind, and just install the bare bones necessities. Aside from generating a bizillion page faults, what can their uninstalls possibly be doing for more than an hour? Given the amount of crap it left behind, actually uninstalling sure isn’t high on the list.

     It urks me that at the end of it all, I’m still gonna need Fireworks . H-opefully I can find somebody reselling it on ebay. I refuse to hand another dollar directly to Adobe.

     And speaking of dollars, if I could afford it, I’d be on a plane to Adobe HQ in San Jose to pay Shantanu Narayen and Johnny Loiacono a little visit, and . . . .oh, I don’t know. . .

     Would tar and feathering too much? Or too little?

     A couple infuriating excerpts from http://www.managementcv.com/documents/ADBETeam112807.pdf (Which I had to view in html from google. It may be awhile before I can open another PDF.)

     === ======================
     . . .Shantanu Narayen, recently assumed the position of President, Chief Executive Officer, Director of Adobe. . . He is responsible for Adobe’s tactical market plans, product development. . . Shantanu Narayen’s 2006 base salary was $575,000 and he received a cash bonus of $376,925. . . As of February 15, 2007 Narayan’s Adobe holdings consisted of 102,357 shares held by the Narayen Family Trust, of which Mr. Narayen is a trustee, and 1,059,766 shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding options held by Mr. Narayen exercisable within 60 days of February 15, 2007. . .

     . . .John “Johnny” Loiacono is the Senior Vice President for Adobe’s Creative Solutions business and was recruited to Adobe in April of 2006. . . Loiacono served as executive vice president of software at Sun. . . He also , , worked in sales. . . These skills were readily evident during an awkward and extended “pregnant pause” demo glitch at the CS3 launch event in New York on March 27th!
     =========================

     A real gem they’ve got — developers couldn’t even make the crap work for their big launch. (But isn’t it wonderful that Loiacono’s sales background enabled him to get by the mess with a joke — or whatever the heck he did. . ).

     Anyone up for a class action suit? Know a good/creative lawyer? Time is money. Not to mention the pain and suffering.

257. CISNKY » links for 2008-05-05 Says:
     May 6th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

     [...] Adobe CS3 install horror… Very poor installation program. I got round the problem uninstalling all Adobe programs and using the uninstall script at Level 4 twice before re-installing. (tags: adobe cs3 install software installation) [...]

258. D Says:
     May 7th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

     After installing Flash CS3 everytime I try to start it I get this error message :

     AppName: flash.exe AppVer: 9.0.0.494 ModName: cooltype.dll
     ModVer: 5.4.15.1 Offset: 000a2a98

     What do I have to do to get this to run?? Thanks.

259. Kerry Says:
     May 10th, 2008 at 10:18 am

     I finally got cs3 to install. Always got to the point where it would not install the shared components.
     I tried all the clean scripts up to level 4. Still no go. I was just playing around and “right clicked” the setup.exe file. ?Clicked “Run As” – Then unchecked “Protect my computer and data from unauthorized program activity” – click “OK” and voila – InDesign CS3 installed. Tried it on Photoshop CS3 and it installed. I didn’t even uninstall shat I had tried before. Just ran the “repair”. I had be screwing around for days reading and trying to install but this FINALLY did. whoo hoo!!!

260. Mito Says:
     May 11th, 2008 at 4:14 pm

     Well my CS3 pain partners… I got since first beta release all of those problems and resolved each one of them… looseing time of course… But just 4 Hs ago some fuk#@n friki error… Y have creative Suite 3 premium… PAYED..
     I noted I have never installed indesign couse never needed 4 months ago. So when I want to install only indesign from the dvd the No DISC problem appears… I have seen this problem before with illustrator and acrobat and the only solution was Uninstalling the whole package and reinstalling all but this time with the needed application … (40 minutes after the deal) a message of RE-REGISTER your software and a “Licence Type: Repair” botters me saying I have 5 days to re register my suite… and the Licence given by adobe doesn’t work I will attemp to call them but this should not happen ever is a loosing of time… and today is hollyday and no adobe support in Argentina right now.. I have 2 design deadlines tomorrow What should I say to the client…? “Adobe screwed me up” I will call support tomorrow…

261. J-dizal Says:
     May 17th, 2008 at 9:57 am

     You guys are great. I am thankful for people that take the time to help others. I have a concern though.

     Their are pages upon pages of chatting back and forth. It would take me a good while to scan through this thread to shift out the answer I am looking for. Can there be a link at the top made that leads to the post that shares the the solution so we don’t have to scan through the whole thread.

     Just a thought for user friendliness. But don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for what you have done here.

     Thanks,

262. Dan Says:
     May 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am

     Adobe CS3 Not Installing All Components?
     This is what worked for me…

     Here were my problems.
     - I was trying to move my Adobe CS3 Master Collection Installation to a new PC
     - I followed the correct steps in “Deactivating” the suite through one of the major programs.

     BEFORE uninstalling.
     - I continued by uninstalling the suit off of my old machine.
     - Next I tried to install on the new machine. (Vista Ultimate)
     - The install seemed to have gone okay, but at the very end, not all programs were installed, only the extra components. I mean, I love bridge…. but where the hell is my software?
     - After uninstalling and reinstalling at least 20 times over a 15 hour period I still had the same result. And a HUGE headache.
     - I even tried using the CS3 CleanScript to in between every installation and still no luck.

     What I Found:
     1. Sometimes the Adobe CS3 CleanScript will not remove the entire adobe folder from the hard drive. This may/may not have cause my issue, but I certainly knew it shouldn’t have been there. I went in and manually deleted this folder.

     * Note that the “Adobe” Program Files folder would not delete at first because there was an EXE that was running from this folder, in the background. It would just tell me “You cannot delete this item” or something along those lines.
     - I ran my windows task manager
     - Found the Adobe related EXE in the Processes Tab
     - Right clicked, and clicked “End Process Tree”.
     - This disabled the program, and I was freely able to delete the “Adobe” Folder.

     Continuing…
     - Once that folder was removed, I went ahead and made sure that ALL Adobe anything was removed from the machine.
     - When the coast seemed clear, I ran the Adobe CS3 CleanScript again, and it found a few registry keys, “Zapped” them
     - I ran it again to be safe, and it found nothing.
     - I continued by rebooting the machine
     - When the machine had rebooted, I had found a page that instructed me on how to install directly from the hard disk. (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c0585aa).

     *** I give major thanks to Dewy2008 for posting his story, and the link to “Just Another Rant” (http://www.cruciallimit.com/blog/?p=74). These were helpful in trying different methods (if this doesnt work)

     Finally! So…
     - After copying all 4 discs of my master collection to the hard drive (file structure below), I ran the CleanScript for a 3rd time to be sure everything was gone.
     -Nothing was found, which was good.
     - Then, I went ahead and started the install from the hard drive
     - As I was beginning the installation, I ran into a message “Please Insert Disc 1 into Your Drive”.
     - I panicked a little bit at first, but then realized that my CD-ROM was the reason I was getting this message. As the default device for installations or whatever, it was trying to find the CD through my CD-ROM instead of the hard drive.
     - I cancelled that install attempt then…
     - I went in through my Windows Control Panel
     - Opened my Device Manager
     - Found my CD-ROM
     - Right clicked, and disabled the drive (no worries, you can re-enable this later)
     - Once the drive was disabled, I fired up the install again (from the hard drive).
     - And walah! The setup stopped looking for the CD and used the hard drive.
     - I follwed these steps from Dewy2008 while installing…

     “When I dropped the files from the discs to the hard drive I put the main folders in > D:\CS3\1, 2, 3, 4 (1,2,3,4 being folders for the different discs – only had to drop the Adobe CS3 folder from each disc into the corresponding folder on the hard drive). After starting the Setup.exe from folder 1 and letting it complete, I was asked to insert disc 2. So, I put the Adobe CS3 folder from folder 2 directly in D:\ and clicked OK. Once that was finished, I put that Adobe CS3 folder back into folder 2 and put the Adobe CS3 folder from folder 3 into D:\ and clicked OK. Did this also for disc/folder 4 and was good to go in no time.”

     *** As I was following each step, moving folders back and forward, I watched the install not only install the extras, but the programs as well!
     *** The installation went incredibly smooth, and a little faster since it was on my hard drive.
     *** My software works, it was reactivated, and now I can meet my Monday dead line with little to no worries.
     *** Be sure to re-enable your CD-ROM from the Device Manager in the Control Panel after your
     installation.

     On a more personal note… I’ve been a huge Adobe user since I can remember. Since Photoshop 4. And let me tell you, Adobe has always had their ways of protecting their software. If I hadn’t spent all the money to go legit and support Adobe by buying the CS3 Master Collection I swear to the heavans it would have
     taken me 1/8 the time to download a pirated version, and be on my way.

     First… I recommend they find a way to install the “Shared Components” a lot quicker, and segment
     the installation process, so there is less likely a chance this will happen again. The big final question is… Why would the hard drive installation work, and not the CDs? Why pay for all this pretty packaging, wait in the mail for weeks, when I didn’t need the CDs to begin with? Should Adobe consider download delivery? It is a huge set of files to download… BUT it may be quicker to download a few days, than wait two weeks for your package.

     Either way, I wish you all the best in trying to fix your issues, and I hope this helped.

263. Bill Patterson Says:
     May 28th, 2008 at 2:16 pm

     I have macromedia suite 8 and it works fine. I got adobe web cs3 but after reading all this am afraid to install it. Will it run with suite 8 on the same PC? I am running XP Pro with 2 gigs of ram.
     Do I have to remove all the suite 8 stuff?

     Any help would be appreciated

264. Crucial Says:
     May 28th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

     @Bill technically it should work just fine. A few guys at the office who didn’t install any of the betas ran both copies for a bit with no issues. Needless to say I didnt have much luck with that though

265. Pixel Says:
     June 1st, 2008 at 4:04 pm

     …and here I thought I was imagining things. Adobe has royally screwed things up in the biggest most possible way ever. Not only is the software bloated… I mean Acrobat pro being over a GB!!! Geesh, thats more than MS Vista OS! So yes, I literally went out for a coffee at starbucks, did some other errands, came home and it was still installing – and this was the trials. Now that I am uninstalling, its like, holy crap dude, I might as well go on vacation.

     To top it off, as a web designer, I didn’t realize adobe removed and dumped ImageReady. Fireworks does png’s much better but thats all. So now they expect all of us to completely change everything. What they should have done was perhaps incorporated some fireworks stuff into ImageReady and had ImageReady as a standalone application for web designers and dumped FW.

     Anyway, don’t know what to do now.. we don’t have anyone else to use software from as Adobe has become the monopoly. I thought there was laws on monopolies like the take over they did of macromedia? I really don’t have any ambition to use anything past CS2 now. I put Studio 8 back on and Photoshop CS2.

     Don’t get me started on the fact adobe now forces everyone to have suites of crap. I would rather “build my own suite” from adobe and not be dictated to.

266. stickman Says:
     June 2nd, 2008 at 7:17 am

     Hi there angry people,

     I’m having the same problem with CS3 Web Premium. Everything was working fine and after the false virus alert from NOD32 I deleted a couple of files. I tought “no problem I’ll install it again when it’s fixed.
     Yeah…..right! That is when my nightmare began. I read most of the posted replies and I can say:
     ‘ve been there done that’…. no good. I was trying to figure out why the Adobe software just don’t work. It must be the greed that drives these people. Eventough they know the stuff doesn’t work, they don’t give a sh@#t about that. All the see is $$$ in there eyes. But they forget that: the crap they produced is not 100% compatible with Macromedia, and the paranoid-anti piracy atitude cloggs your brain and narrows your site. I just want to say to you all be carefull with the suggestion about fixing the error. Most of the fixes don’t come without another one. It is just a matter of time.
     I have allready made my mind up and that is: F#CK Adobe….@*#PITA !!
     And now it’s back to Microsoft to look for replacement.

     And Adobe… I want my fucking money € 1800,- again you crooks.

267. bob Says:
     June 3rd, 2008 at 2:07 pm

     having the product license problem myself, I dont understand a software company being so backwards with an install, even if I am upgrading beta for good ole fashioned paid for software, after 4 days of back and forth, I returned the software which is amazing cause they actually took it back, now I’m reformatting and I have a downloaded pirated copy I’m about to install, sorry it had to come to this, but the software has already paid for itself it tears so why pay for it when the pirated copy works better, salute Adobe, you reap what you sow, or not.

268. Diane Says:
     June 5th, 2008 at 5:09 pm

     I have been dealing with this issue for a day and half now…you’re paragraph about the excedrin, etc. gave me a much needed laugh. Fortunately I’m not on a tight deadline…but I am loosing billable hours. I would really like to back bill Adobe.

     Anyway, thanks for the chuckle…

269. Georgina Says:
     June 8th, 2008 at 8:45 pm

     Hi All,

     after half a day of frustration I finally got to this thread and read crucial’s blog. Hoorraaaayyy!!! His suggestions worked!!!! (With more champagne I would kiss the ground…) Just to repeat them in case they can help someone else:

     (I have a PC with Vista Ultimate)

     1. Uninstall all Adobe software through the Control Panel
     2. Copy all files from your CS3 DVD to your hard drive (I made a new folder “Adobe” directly on the root drive)
     3. Go to the URL listed in Crucials blog for the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, download it and run it as per the instructions
     4. Go to the URL listed in Crucials blog for the CS3 clean up script and run it twice at Level 4 (I didn’t bother with backing anything up and all my files are fine – but if you don’t do this and something happens to them don’t blame me)
     5. Right click on the Setup.exe file in the Adobe CS3 folder you have copied from your DVD to your hard drive and select Run As Administrator

     Good Luck! This is where for the first time the Setup window REMAINED – don’t panic if it flashes off for a little while – keep calm and all should proceed smoothly…

270. S.Jaafar Ahmed Says:
     June 11th, 2008 at 4:51 am

     ************************
     # Berg Says:
     March 20th, 2008 at 12:59 am

     I tried to install Adobe CS3 Design Premium but I got error messge : Please insert Adobe CS3 Design Premium to continue installation. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Please let me know (ba-do_1983@hotmail.com) I need to use this progarm to do my project.
     ************************

     I’ve had this problem on many PCs. It seems to be happening when you install Photoshop first, then install Illustrator.
     What I did to overcome this one is:
     1. Run Illustrator CS3 setup.
     2. Select second option to remove the Illustrator component(s).
     3. Remove all components and especially the shared components.
     4. Re-run the Illustrator CS3 setup.

271. Brian Says:
     June 14th, 2008 at 2:51 pm

     I’m having the same issue flash activeX and plugins will not istall.
     Tried all the clean ups. the errors don’t really say why it will not install.

     Any ideas?

     I’m running XP media center if that would cause any issues

272. David Carson Says:
     June 14th, 2008 at 8:59 pm

     I’ve been installing programs on computers for many years, and I’ve NEVER had the hellish experience I’m going thru now trying to install Premiere Pro CS3… I’ve opened a web case, but as it’s Saturday night, I expect no help for at least two days…

     Note this line from the first response to this blog entry:

     I can’t make any promises, but I do know that lots of people inside Adobe feel the same as you about the post-beta install experience… there’s lots of incentive to improve this in future cycles,

     POSTED OVER A YEAR AGO!!!!

     Once I get Premiere installed, I will begin exporting all my projects so I can switch to a different editor.

273. David Carson Says:
     June 16th, 2008 at 9:24 pm

     OK. As is so often the case, Rant today – Regret tomorrow.
     After 3 days of cursing Adobe for an unending series of installation failures, I finally tracked the problem down: It turns out that having Carbonite running can cause installation confusion in Windows. I de-activated Carbonite, un-installed all the problem Adobe Aps that I had been wrestling with, rebooted, and then installed 4 Adobe Aps with no errors at all.

     And, having used Premiere Pro CS3 for 1 day, I have to say so far the program rocks.

     It just seemed right to post this.

274. Some Girl Says:
     June 18th, 2008 at 6:15 pm

     As an Adobe Tech Support agent, my advise is this:

     If you have ANY trials installed and then purchase a suite (Design Premium… etc.), UNINSTALL the trial first… otherwise your product won’t work.

     Hope that helps too.

275. Richard Says:
     June 22nd, 2008 at 10:36 pm

     The only solution that work for me is to copy all files from the DVD to the hard drive (Ctl-A) and install from there.

276. raysofrha » Blog Archive » continued Adobe rant Says:
     July 2nd, 2008 at 11:08 am

     [...] one who is in love with the Adobe installation process.  Here is a much more solution prescriptive rant on the now infamous Adobe CS installation process.  Come on Adobe! How can a company with such cool [...]

277. Alex Says:
     July 2nd, 2008 at 11:11 am

     DUDE OMG thank you so much!!! i was having this error

     “Adobe Photoshop CS3 cannot be installed because it conflicts with
     * Adobe Photoshop CS3″

     i saw that i was like your fucking joking right?… so i uninstall it but the unistaller only removed the uninstaller so now im really like WTF then i delete all the files manually and go into the registry reboot and try to install again same error so i found ur blog and i was like THANK YOU GOD!

278. Robert Says:
     July 4th, 2008 at 5:19 pm

     I was all set to BUY Photoshop today, but the trail would not install and since this is the same as the real version, why should I buy it? Adobe lost a sale. Why don’t they fix this?

279. Brian Says:
     July 4th, 2008 at 8:22 pm

     Ditto.
     I can’t even get the trial to install on my XP Home PC, even after trying all the tips I’ve read about. It installs fine on my XP PRO laptop, but not my PC – returning the “Licensing for this product has stopped working.” error after installation is completed.

     My July 3rd call to Adobe Support stated “This is a known issue. Please check the Adobe site every couple of weeks for a possible resolution.” Yeah, right, but what’s an alternative to the CS3 suite?

280. Brian Says:
     July 5th, 2008 at 3:12 am

     UPDATE, July 5th:
     I actually got the install to work!!

     After repeatedly receiving the “Licensing for this product has stopped working.” error on a new, trial install, and having tried everything in this blog to date (multiple times across 4 days), one or a combination of both of the following two actions apparently worked:

     (1) I installed a copy of PhotoShop CS3 that was not part of the CS3 Premier Suite.

     (2) I kept the Windows Task Manager open during the install and when the Bonjour service (mDNSResponder) started running – I immediately selected mDNSResponder and chose End Process.

     Personally, I think (#2) was key for my circumstance. I have no idea why it worked, but renaming the mDNSResponder.exe or .dll files never prevented the Bonjour service from restarting during the install process. Only shutting down the mDNSResponder process from Windows Task Manager seemed to result in a clean (no component install failure errors).

     Good luck to everyone and PLEASE, let us know what worked for you so that we can all get back to work!

     July 6th — I’ve also noticed that sometimes the CS3 applications will start to launch, then immediately close down without error or notice.  After rebooting and cursing a few times, I finally looked at the Windows Task Manager and once again found the “mDNSResponder” service running.  I ended that process and immediately the CS3 application launched normally.

     Thanks for everyone’s contributions to this blog!
     Brian

281. Thomas Says:
     July 18th, 2008 at 3:21 am

     So… Adobe is trying to eliminate the amount of pirate users by making it impossible for ANYONE to install? *Smart*

     Let’s have our grocery stores pickpocket their customers to make up for the amount that people steal. That’s smart too.

     Thanks for the rant. It was actually helpful The light of hope i’ve been trying to find for the past several weeks.

282. Isabella Says:
     August 8th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

     I installed my FIRST version of CS3 Design Premium with no problems at all. Until one year later when I went to open Photoshop and was greeted with the message that my serial number had inexplicably expired. Weeks of trying to deal with various so-called tech services people at Adobe produced NO solution whatsoever.

     So, because I had to WORK, I got ANOTHER CS3 Design Premium and installed that. Same message. My serial number was expired — and I hadn’t even had the opportunity to type it in!

     Back to the phones. After two very frustrating nights of dealing with Adobe’s offshore script readers with fake American names, I called San Jose and climbed the ladder as far as I could. Two days later, I heard from someone in Ottawa (at least she was in this hemisphere) who promised me she would have someone on her team call me the next night to continue the cycle of installing/uninstalling/installing…

     The guy who finally helped me was actually very nice. He stayed 3 hours overtime and we finally got it done. I had to run the CS3 cleaner at level 4 10 times! And of course it removed all my other Adobe products. But at least now I can run CS3.

     Just in time for CS4 to be released. I do not want to go through this nightmare again.

283. mp Says:
     August 23rd, 2008 at 6:58 pm

     I downloaded a cs3 EXTENDED several months back……..used it for 30 days then REMOVED from my computer….today i bought cs3 STANDARD from the store…..inserted disc, it all loaded …..when asked for serial number WOULD NOT TAKE serial number….wanted a cs3 EXTENDED number ….. when I called support, they were USELESS and said TECH support would need to handle it ON MONDAY ….. 700 dollars and cant use all weekend, it WILL BE RETURNED TOMORROW and ADOBE had yet LOST ANOTHER CUSTOMER!

284. Nathan Says:
     August 25th, 2008 at 5:54 am

     Well, it seems as a ‘temp fix’ – the only work around for the ‘product license expired’ issue is to roll the date on the workstation back – prior to September 1st. While this allows the applications to start/run/whatever, which IS the MOST critical – it makes collaboration rather difficult and will make tracking changes quite the challenge…

     Thnaks, it worked for me!

285. xleo Says:
     September 1st, 2008 at 10:19 pm

     here is my solution for installing Flash CS3..

     1. stop bonjour servisi..

     2. delete all files/folders in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Installers ..

     3. with MS “Windows Install Clean Up” utility remove Flash CS2/3 entries..

     4. copy your trial .exe to the harddisk (will be not on dvd) and run it again..

     success…

286. cj4gta Says:
     September 3rd, 2008 at 1:53 am

     you don’t have to do anything fancy to get the CS3 installer to work unless you have previous versions installed. Just copy all the installation files from the dvd to your hard drive and then fire up the installer from there. it worked for me

287. Jason Says:
     September 4th, 2008 at 11:21 am

     My credit card was in hand, ready to purchase CS3 Web Premium (for $1,800!)

     But, wait… the trial version suddenly completely stops working. I click on any of the program icons and absolutely nothing happens. How am I supposed to activate my $1,800 serial number when the serial # screen doesn’t even appear?

     So I uninstall, reinstall, try to contact support, etc. 3 days later, CS3 still doesn’t run.

     Obviously, I will not be purchasing something that I have no confidence that can even get to run! Maybe the purchased version will work better, but then again maybe it will not! Maybe support cab help me install it, or maybe they’ll tell me, “Sorry, can you format your drive and reinstall your OS and try again?”

     So, I’m downloading CS3 serial cracks as we speak. If I can get that to work, maybe I’ll do the right thing and buy it – but then again maybe I won’t bother.

     Congratulations, Adboe! My credit card is now safely stowed back in my wallet. However, I do plan on sending you a nice shiny bottle of red ink you can use to log the $1,800 that you lost in your books on my order.

     Merged with comment on September 05, 2008 @ 14:41 – Crucial (admin)

     About all I get now is one of the following error messages:

     “You cannot use this product at this time. You must repair the problem by uninstalling and then reinstalling this product or contacting yuor IT administator or Adboe customer support for help.”

     and

     “The licencing subsytstem has failed catastrophically. You must reinstall or call customer support”

     … or the programs just lock up with no error and I need to “end task” them.

     Did I mention this is all on a brand new PC (less than 2 weeks old, completely clean, no software on it)?

     I did manage to obtain cracked serial #s but they did not help – the keys were accepted but then the program just locked up a couple steps later. This is exactly what I fully expect would have happened had I entered authentic keys. After further unstalls/reinstall, I still get these error messages and/or the program just locks up and does nothing. I don’t condone the use of keygens, but I refuse to lay out money on something that I have no faith will work.

     4 Days lost, still no working software! As frustrating as this is, THANK GOD I did not purchase this program! I’d be completely flipping out had I lost almost $1,800 on this package.

     I’m abandoning ship and will install my old versions of Dreamweaver 8 and Fireworks that I have laying around from my old job. Technically, I did not purchase them either, but I know they at least work and I have the keys from my old employer that purchased them for me! I fully intended to do the right thing and lay out the full money for this package – but it just plain-old don’t work!

     Hopefully CS4 will be better? Anyone want to take bets on whether it will actually work when it comes out? (not me!)

     Sorry again Addobe! No sale!

     Merged with comment on September 05, 2008 @ 16:26 – Crucial (admin)

     Sorry! One more post then I’ll leave you all alone, I promise… I just can’t resist this one!

     What, exactly the hell, was wrong with the Macromedia installer that Adobe felt the need to “improve” on???

     The old Macromedia versions of both Dreamweaver and Fireworks installed flawlessly, the first time – even though CS3 had been previously installed, crashed, uninstalled, crashed, and crashed again. Macromedia had no conflicts, no errors, no crashes, no slow pauses — it just worked.

     I do wish that I had Flash and Photoshop – but I guess I’ll remote in to one of my client’s office computer for now whenever I need them.

     Now, how am I going to spend my $1,800 that I am NO LONGER spending on CS3?

288. Lollie Says:
     September 9th, 2008 at 9:50 am

     my Photoshop encountered a problem and I had to uninstall the whole suite, but 1 component could not uninstall, now I cant start installing again, and when going to Add & remove programs – CS3 is still there, then when I click on change/remove, nothing happens . .

     After removing all adobe files etc from the computer – I now get the message that “setup has encountered a problem and cannot continue, the configutation data for this product is corrupt” when trying to run setup again. I dont know what I can do now..
     So I am NO-WHERE, have work to be done on Photoshop, and cannot do a thing..

     can anybody please help me??? I’m lost!!

289. Darki699 Says:
     September 16th, 2008 at 1:54 am

     Adobe are stupidly insane. I’m having the same problem, already spent too many precious hours trying to install their crappy product. S O B s .

     I bet that’s the end of Adobe, because after an annoying product such as CS3, they loose credibility and people do have other options.

     If they hired some proffesional programmers instead of the so-called “programmers” they have, which are pro’lly under-paid idiots, they wouldn’t have so many problems. But they are greedy. pricing their product at 1k USD per pop and bugging it up a bit to keep us not intrested.

     blaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…

290. robh Says:
     September 22nd, 2008 at 10:05 am

     You guys moaning about a mere US$1800! The process of converting CS3 for sale in the UK (change spelling of color to colour) is so taxing that we have to pay a premium. On the pricing the change is equally complex – change the dollar sign to a pound sign and leave the number the same.

     With an exchange rate of nearly 2 dollars to the pound Adobe software over here is rip-off pure and simple. Never mind, there are some good open products around.

291. HelpingHand Says:
     September 22nd, 2008 at 4:00 pm

     CS3 installation problems are varying. Some get a “Component install failed” message when they try to install CS3.
     What causes this problem (and probably also other problems)? It’s Flash CS3. Now what? You can install Dreamweaver CS3, Photoshop CS3, Flash CS3 as stand alone products without a hassle (normally). Only the CS3 Suite causes troubles (most of the time).

     A working solution is to install Flash CS3 as stand alone application prior to the CS3 suite. After having Flash CS3 installed, you can install CS3 – but you can’t install the integrated Flash CS3. The problem you now have is that your stand alone CS3 needs an own key. If you don’t need Flash, you can now simply use the CS3 Suite without Flash. You can even uninstall Flash and use your CS3 without problems. But if you really need Flash CS3, contact Adobe and force them to give you a free key for your separate Flash CS3 installation you’ve had to do because Adobe is incapable of providing a CS3 Suite that installs without a hassle. And if you call them, tell them they’re stupid ignorants.

     Hope this helps.

292. HelpingHand Says:
     September 22nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm

     @Lollie

     Make sure you delete the file caps.db located in Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/caps and the content of the Installers folder in Program Files/Common Files/Adobe directory and the content of the backup Folder. This should help to make your CS3 ready for a re-installation.

     Good Luck.

293. Adobe CS3 install horror… round 2 » Just Another Rant | tutorialqueen.com Says:
     October 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 am

     [...] Adobe CS3 install horror… round 2 » Just Another Rant Just Another Rant … a weblog about Flash, Actionscript, web development and any other thing I feel like ranting about. [...]

294. AimEE Says:
     October 4th, 2008 at 12:05 am

     ~sigh~ Photoshop CS3 Extended Trial is driving me crazy. I install it and everything, but when I try to run it, and error message appears saying: “Could not initialize Photoshop CS3 Extended because the file could not be found…Does anyone know a solution to this problem. Please Help!!
     Thanks everyone =]

     AimEE*

295. Steve McDaniel Says:
     October 5th, 2008 at 11:23 am

     When reading this I feel the pain. I am running on the God of PC’s for the most part. Top of the line everything and faster than greased lightning. But it is humbled by the crappy software know loveably as “Fricking CS3 Installer” by those of us who have to install it.

     Adobe should be totally ashamed of themselves for releasing crap like this.

296. Diablo Says:
     October 8th, 2008 at 3:32 am

     Calm down boys!!
     Its so simple!!!
     “The Adobe CS3Clean Script for Windows”..
     http://download.macromedia.com/pub/creativesuite/script/3/wincs3clean.zip
     Goodluck boys..

297. Guillermo Says:
     October 12th, 2008 at 8:20 am

     After trying to install Flash CS3 trial on my pc for 3 hours the “The Adobe CS3Clean Script for Windows” made it possible. The installation was crashing just after beign launched.

     Good luck,

     Guillermo

298. Andy Says:
     October 18th, 2008 at 6:59 am

     HERE’S HOW I SOVLE PROBLEM WHEN ADOBE MASTER COLLECTION CS3 WOULD NOT INSTALL ON MY COMPUTER RUNNING WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL

     I had problems uninstalling and reinstalling my Adobe Master Collection CS3. The problem being that the installer would run and then disappear without initiating the uninstall/installation process.

     Here are the simple combination of steps which worked for me.

     1/removing Adobe Master Collection CS3 by running add/remove programs

     2/running the Adobe CS3 clean script. I’m almost 100% certain I chose option 1 when running the script http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cs3clean.html

     3/out of desperation and realising I had nothing to loose because I had an image of the fairly newly configured hard drive I was using, I deleted the Adobe “Installers” Folder located inside the Adobe folder at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe

     Steps 1 and 2 above did not solve my problem.
     Step 3 did solve my problem. However, I do not know if step 1 and 2 were required for step 3 to work.

     GOOD LUCK

     PS. Please let users of this site know if this solution has worked for you …and if so, pass the solution on elsewhere too.

299. Arati Says:
     October 22nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm

     Thanks for the help, trying it, hopefully will be successful.

     In addition to the stupidity quotient of Adobe, did you notice that the ReadMe for the Adobe Cleanup Script is a PDF?

     Oh, and by the way, CS3 costs upwards of 60,000 Indian Rupees, in Delhi, more than a top of the line laptop!

300. putting the gun down now... Says:
     October 25th, 2008 at 8:59 pm

     spent 10 hrs trying to get this installed…i had the “initializing files” popup then disappearing…that happened when i tried to install with either the autorun.exe or setup.exe

     im runnin XP pro SP3 x86 on an intel pent 4, 4 gb RAM, plenty of drive space….

     **i have the 3gb switch on my puter, and now when i boot into the 3gb OS i get an error about “not enough registry space, future requests will be ignored”, i originally tried to install onto that (the 3gb) so i installed all this onto the “normal” xp pro**

     (sorry ’bout not posting links to all this stuff but im not digging thru the masses of bookmarks from all this; its all well documented anyway and are in most of the postings ive found)

     what didnt work for me….installing in safe mode, creating new admin, running as admin, using msconfig with just essentials, installing from disc

     heres what i did (a culmination of everything that didnt work and adding another process onto it one at a time……which is basically throwin almost everything i found at it)

     –uninstalled any and everything adobe including commom/ shared files in all users (docs and settings) and program files
     –ran the wincs3clean script cleaner from adobe at hidden level 4 until nothing came back (bout 4 times just to make sure)
     –ran Windows Installer CleanUp Utility to make sure nothing adobe/macromedia/apple/iTunes existed
     –ran CCleaner until nothing was left anywhere; checked their uninstall tool
     –ran Revo uninstaller to make sure nothing was left
     –registered java.dll thru cmd.exe
     –disabled all AV/firewall
     –ran flash player uninstall from adobe
     –ran adobe stock photos CS3 patcher/remover
     –copied disc to desktop
     –moved only the CS3 folder into C drive, re-named CS3_master

     —————->>>made IE my default browser; doesnt make sense to me either
     —————–>>>enabled Bonjour service; another doesnt make sense, cause apple and iTunes use it (at least thats what it says in the “services” description
     —————->>>moved “deployment” folder out of CS3 folder

     –ran setup.exe from new CS3_master folder

     and………it worked!!! everthing installed except Acrobat, which i could really care less about at this point…the three i indented (before running the setup.exe) were done together, not individually…

     adobe really has some work to do on its next release especially the installer…this is the most expensive software i ever installed and the most downright pain in the ass, buggy, pulling my hair out bullshit ive dealt with in a while…if i had paid fer this and not the company, i’d be outraged….

     hope i could help someone put there…good luck………….ya gonna need it

301. Mju Says:
     November 10th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

     Horror !!!!!!!!!! Purchased Adobe CS3 production premium. 1st I installed all apz except Encore – I´d like to add later – completely impossible !!! Installer stuck no matter what.
     So, Adobe, are we users or beta testers? Shame on you for waisting time of so many people !!!!!
     Really nice! Fuck

302. Agnus Says:
     November 13th, 2008 at 7:39 am

     Yes, Adobe sucked this installation.. i’m having the same problems as author of this article. I only hopes his solution be working for me. Thanks for advise! Adobe – don’t screw it next time!

303. Jim Says:
     November 19th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

     Swapped out my 80 GB drive on my Macbook Pro with a 250 GB drive. Re-imaged and CS 3 will no longer run. Tried to re-install as suggested and receiving ridiculous “Setup Already Running You can only install one Adobe product at at time. Please complete the other installation before attempting to install Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection” alert. Screw you. I am an IT Director of a large California school district and we purchase thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of Adobe licensing every year. As a district, we’re now seriously considering putting a moratorium on any continued purchase of your bloated, irresponsibly engineered Adobe products. It’s obvious one hand doesn’t talk to the other at Adobe, Inc. Get your sh*T together or face a future of irrelevance.

304. See-ming Lee Says:
     November 21st, 2008 at 3:56 pm

     Installing CS4 at the moment and am having severely crappy experience… thanks for your post, I now understood what Adobe Technical support meant by Level 3 and 4 (as it’s not on their help doc). your blog post also gave me some courage to uninstall everything from Adobe before installing CS4 – but I *really* don’t want to… esepcially since I’m running a huge batch of photographs from Lightroom and am playing with AIR with Flex 3 right now… Anyhow… I’ll let you know what I got back with.

305. texas319 Says:
     November 28th, 2008 at 12:45 pm

     thanks i just skimmed through your page and went str8 to the Cleanup Utility and the ran it twice and reinstalled.

306. Bungle. Says:
     December 5th, 2008 at 9:24 am

     Hi All,
     I have been reading this blog with much intrege trying to locate any information regarding the registry keys for the CS3 package.

     I have not had any problems installig the software itself (simply draged the setup to the local hard drive and ran in from there) but i cant compleatly uninstall the F***ing thing!

     after uninstaling I ran regedit and removed all the keys i could find in my KEY_LOCAL_MACHIN & HKEY_CURRENT_USER but when I come to reinstall the software it will still find my original product key and “days left of trial”

     Any sugestions on where these keys may be located would be a HUGE help to me. Thanks,

     Regards,

     Bungle.

307. Crucial Says:
     December 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am

     @bungle try running the CS3 clean up script again (choosing option 1) and run it over and over again until it cant find anything else to clean. If there’s still the problem then run it on option 3, then option 4 until it cant find anything else. If there are still traces you might also try running Revo uninstaller, it does a really good job of cleaning up remnants left after an uninstall. Hope that helps.

308. Bungle. Says:
     December 11th, 2008 at 4:32 am

     @Crucial,
     Thanks. “Revo” was a big help. It found a lot more than I did.

     I am begining to wonder if Adobe hide there licencing information in the registry.

     I think they may attach the info to other files, simmirly to the message you get sometines when you copy certain files to disk “This file has information attached to it, this info will be lost during copying”

     Unfortionatly this is an area I know nothing about, the search continues…I may possibly just try to play arround with CS4. does anyone know if the trial carries over from CS3 to CS4?

     Thanks again,

     Regards

309. Jackle Says:
     December 13th, 2008 at 7:09 am

     Shouldn’t error messages TELL you what the problem is? not tell you to ask someone else what the problem is.

310. NoPixies Says:
     December 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 am

     Story goes like this,
     There is gold in them there hills. It is fascinating reading to get to hear tales such as the above. Pioneers OFTEN get burned, but they always get it figured out. Love you adventurous types…

     Do not under any circumstance EVER buy anything version x.0 and expect it to work. Plus if it is a TOOL you plan on using to actually make money on. Give it 6 mos for the bugs to get shook out and another 6 mos to get it running right, THEN install it. Why do you think software companies offer incentives to people. They need debugging help and you are it. STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES… Human nature I suppose. Maybe we are all LEMMINGS?

     Wanted to say thanks to all you brave souls who made my job easier!

311. midnitesunltd Says:
     December 27th, 2008 at 6:54 am

     Vista — Solution for many receiving the “component install failed” error

     Hi all this may or may not work for you, however this is what I had done and what helped me and got this to work.

     First of all, scream in a pillow – We all understand.

     MOST Importantly be sure that you are an admin user before doing any of this. Also be sure to back up your registry and/or drives before proceeding with any fix, just a CYA (cover your A$$) thing. You can back up your registry easily using the eusing free registry cleaner.

     1/ uninstall instances of adobe, flash, macromedia programs and components from the add/remove programs

     2/while you are at it might as well remove any other programs that are not needed

     3/After any uninstallations continue on by running the windows installer cleanup (if you click on it to run it and receive an error “permission denied” then you didn’t run it as an admin. Do run as an admin open the file that the windows installer cleanup program is in, right-click and run as an admin. Remove any instances of Adobe and Macromedia.

     4/after that is complete move on by using a registry cleaner — Try Eusing Free Registry Cleaner. You can find this on cnet.com under the downloads. Clean up the invalid file or folders and move on.

     5/ Reboot and run both the registry cleaner and the windows installer cleanup again.

     6/ Reboot and then run the CS3 Clean up script.

     7/ Reboot

     8/ Attempt to reinstall your CS3 Product.

     9/ Do Cartwheels around the house and take a nice sigh of relief as you are not crazy it is a program issue.

312. jw Says:
     January 9th, 2009 at 10:14 am

     had similar problems trying to install design premium after I’d installed After FX. got it to work by emptying \Local Setting\Temp, then Uninstalling Design CS3, and reinstalling with the Design Suite installer in the exact same location on my hard drive as I had previously put the After Effects CS3 one. Ie if you moved the demo to a folder other than the one on your desktop like me, try moving any subsequent adobe installs to the same folder path.

313. murth Says:
     January 9th, 2009 at 6:45 pm

     Reinstalling CS3 on Vista

     the under listed steps worked for me after sweating through the nose for two weeks!

     1. go to CONTROL PANEL open FOLDER OPTIONS click VIEW and select SHOW HIDDEN FOLDERS

     2. open My COMPUTER go to PROGRAM FILES and PROGRAM DATA, delete the Adobe folders within

     3. browse to the USERS folders, in the ADMINISTRATOR’s (your own) folder resides APPDATA: inside are LOCAL, LOCAL LOW and ROAMING delete Adobe folders in here too
     * i believe ProgramData and AppData which are hidden folders actually harbor the CS3 installation horror!

     4. run window DISK CLEANER and CCLEANER or any other cleaning programs about twice each to erase any residual traces of Adobe path. RESTART (you may run the cleaner again to be triple sure!)

     5. upload DVDs 1 to 4 into four folders numbered accordingly 1,2,3,4 on your desktop. inside each of these folders reside a recurring folder CS3 which also as a folder PAYLOADS in it

     6. starting from folder 2 trough 4, copy the contents of the PAYLOADS into the folder with the same name and corresponding place in DVD1,s folder (in the dialogue boxes that pop up while pasting: Skip similar files,merge similar ones with different content weights but do not duplicate)

     7.now that all files resides in DVD1 folder open the CS3 within and click SET UP to start installing
     Voila and CS3 is installed, you are not even asked to change any disk at all!

314. Mohit Says:
     January 11th, 2009 at 3:26 am

     i have so problem in adobe after effectCS4……
     when i open the setup.then critical error found in setup session has dependencies that cannot be satisfied please the setup log file…
     plz tell me how i open this software…

315. focusp Says:
     January 11th, 2009 at 10:56 am

     I got it to install by using the windows cleanup and the Adobe cleanup and copying the DVDs to the desktop. See Adobe’s instructions here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb400615&sliceId=2 The bit about msconfig and enabling FLEXnet licensing service was important too.

     Thanks for all your input on this.

316. Renny Says:
     January 11th, 2009 at 6:45 pm

     OK.. not sure if anyone can help but…

     I TRIED to install Adobe prem pro and it wouldn’t accept ANY seriel codes so I decided (as the PC seemed to be a LOT slower after this) to uninstall, even though acording to the programme, it had not fully installed in the first place.
     But now it refuses to uninstall.
     Either it tells me to close the programme first- its not open- its not even been fully installed- or it says I don’t have the permission to do so regardless of who am logged in as.

     Its obviousley a load oF CR@P and I’d really appreciate any advice in getting rid of it please!

     Thanks in advance

317. Crucial Says:
     January 11th, 2009 at 7:24 pm

     @renny you may need to just reboot into safe mode and uninstall. Then use the cleanup script to remove any leftovers. Another option would be to use Revo Uninstaller… that is the best app around for uninstalling software and its free.

318. equivocal ramblings » Blog Archive » On the Frustration Experienced in Trying to Install Photoshop CS3 Says:
     January 17th, 2009 at 7:52 am

     [...] been fired for missing a deadline because you were installing Adobe CS3″. — Dave Gillem, Crucial [...]

319. Thomas Müller Says:
     January 17th, 2009 at 10:46 am

     Hello all,

     we have the installation problem after imaging new Notebooks with Win XP. After this we’ve installed Adobe CS3.

     WHAT a HORROR!

     “Licencing doesn’t work!”

     10 times deinstallation – following the hotline Adobe kb’s – installation again

     - with the same error!

     -> Adobe doesn’t know any solution
     -> Adobe has no interest in solving the customer porblems
     -> Adobe doesn’t support their products

     If there is any chance to change the products and producer – we immediatly will change!

320. Ruhaizad bin Daud Says:
     January 18th, 2009 at 8:06 pm

     why not use GIMP?

321. reda lazri Says:
     January 21st, 2009 at 11:20 am

     Hey, I’m sorry for you and for everyone who is stuck with these problems (including myself), I read what you wrote, there’s plenty of useful information, I spent all day long to install the CS3, it’s a pain !!!

322. CS3 - Instalowanie po trailu. | hilpers Says:
     January 22nd, 2009 at 11:37 pm

     [...] narzêdziem (np. BootIt Next Generation – bez instalowania mo¿na u¿yæ za free) i spróbuj. Poza tym: http://www.cruciallimit.com/blog/?p=74 — pozdrawiam Tomasz [...]

323. yigit Says:
     January 26th, 2009 at 12:27 am

     for the ones that have error though the internet explorer is not on ;
     Ctrl – Alt – Delete and open task manager on the second column find iexplore and kill it
     That worked for me I hope the same for you all

324. tjhooker Says:
     January 26th, 2009 at 8:32 pm

     cs3 on osx 10.4.11

     csclean script level ‘2′ is inadequate.
     the csclean script level ‘3′ seems excessive. it may require reloading flash, fonts and other stuff.

     NOTE: Yes, there is a hidden level ‘3′. (see postings above). Very revealing and helpful is typing ‘3′ then answer yes yes yes (or whatever it was) in order to see the output of the script but not run the script!!

     i found cs3 installed properly by following the sequence:

     1) run csscript level 2
     2) run the following directory removals.

     sudo rm -fr /Applications/Utilities/Adobe\ Installers
     sudo rm -fr /Applications/Utilities/Adobe\ Utilities.localized/Adobe\ Updater5
     sudo rm -fr ~/Library/Logs/Adobe
     sudo rm -fr ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe\ Illustrator\ CS3\ Settings

     no doubt, a pain in the ass . thanks for the pointers.

325. J Daly 13 Says:
     January 29th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

     in event viewer – I keep getting this message
     Product: Adobe Flash Player 9 ActiveX — Error 1904.Module C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\FlDbg9c.ocx failed to register. HRESULT -2147220473. Contact your support personnel.

     Does anyone have a solution to this error message?
     I ran clean script level 4 several times, unistalled flash player
     however I still have adobe files under program files folder and common files folder under C drive, should I just all folders with adobe

     Any help is appreciated
     This blog is very helpful and very long – too many people have experienced the same type of erros which is very sad.

     I’ve spend 2 whole days and have attempted about 10 times now to install this stupid software, its beginning to drive me mad!

326. long Says:
     January 29th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

     i got new pc, and i also got abode cs3 master collection
     so exciting, i install,
     but i wait for 1 hours, after that i found only some of my adode had installed
     the 4 abode i need are not install ( photo shop, abocrat, indesign, illistrator)
     i do not know what happen, i try so many time, i quit

     (but the software art good for other old pc)

     can you show me how
     Thanks

327. J Daly 13 Says:
     January 29th, 2009 at 10:58 pm

     Thanks for all your suggestions as I did a combination of many suggestions to finally install CS3 web premium

     First I ran CS3 clean script at level 4 for about 2 times, uninstalled flash player, ran ccleaner three times until there was nothing left to fix and repair and then typed in msconfig into vista search box and checked selectice startup and system services then went to services deselected all and selected only windows installer rebooted and then installed CS3 at this point everything installed but Acrobat, so then I rebooted in normal mode, did the same procedure as above but without the msconfig and just tried to install acrobat which was successfull then went to msconfig checked selective startup and windows installer rebooted and then installed the rest of CS3 and it was successfull – all this hard work just for installation, now I have to learn the product, I know a little of each but I did not think the first major headache would be installation, I am really dissapointed in CS3 so far.

328. Joesph Says:
     February 1st, 2009 at 5:46 pm

     First up…. adobe forcing people to buy collections because of how “creative” they get with pricing. They make they individual software bloated in cost but they can simply combine them for cheap (for them) but force us to buy costly suites that most of it I don’t use. I mean their CS4 intro offer of the upgrade version being $599 until February which it then goes up an additional $200 to $799 is crap. That is a lot more cost then they used to be. And I’d like to wait for adobe to smarten up but how long can I keep using Studio 8 and a Photoshop CS2 upgrade before they say, sorry, anyone who is using Studio 8 will NO LONGER qualify for upgrade pricing. Has anyone heard if this will happen at some point?

     I would like to see it done as “Build your own Suite” where each one you add you get more savings to your order.

     Now as for installation issues… what a frakking nightmare! Not to mention the size of these applications now, for example, Acrobat taking over a GIG! DAMN! Each install was like 40 minutes each!

     Can someone please explain how Adobe was allowed legally to buy Macromedia and become a monopoly? Is there no way to create a class action suit against Adobe for screwing with customers?

329. Emily Says:
     February 3rd, 2009 at 11:48 pm

     Hi! i know you all posted here a while ago, but i am having a problem re-installing my cs3 software onto my laptop after replacing my harddrive. my install disc is scratched and becasue the new cs4 has come out, adobe no longer has any access to replacement discs. they told me my only option is to find someone who can make a copy of their install disc… i have windows and Creative Suite 3 Design Standard.

     Thanks so much to anyone who can help!

330. Pissed off Consumer Says:
     February 20th, 2009 at 2:14 am

     This is truly sad… Adobe suggesting to someone to get a friend to make a copy of a disk… Well… That is telling you to break the law cause that is a form of piracy and if that is what they will suggest the go download uTorrent and just look it up online. You can download the whole thing from the torrent.

     I too made the mistake of buying CS3 and didn’t have any issues installing… No it is the activation BS that I am going through. Once I got it activated now all it wants to say is PRODUCT LICENSE EXPIRED! WTF? This makes no since. How the hell did a product license expire that just got activated for the first time? Yeah that is retarded.

     From the sounds of you you all had hell with the installation process… Adobe really “SCREWED” up this time. Yes I say “SCREWED UP” because I don’t want to put on here what I really want to say. I agree with one of the other posts… Macromedia never should have sold out… lol.

     Come one ADOBE TEAM you all have to do better than this. People are having problems with CS4 as well. WTF? again. Didn’t learn from the first mistakes?

     Maybe you all need to start doing it all as individual packages again but still work together in a suite… Hows that sound… don’t get me wrong but Microsoft never had that trouble with office professional and it is a suite. The hell is you all’s problem…

     Adobe makes good software but for the price people paid for CS3 and CS4… Come on you can really do better or loose customers. That simple.

     Emily… If you haven’t gotten the answer to you post like I said… It is BS they tell you to have a friend copy the disks for you… Just google Adobe CS3 torrent and use uTorrent and download it. If you don’t have the serial key you can get a key gen and use that to activated it.

     Kind of wish I would have done that… A friend of mine did and had no problems with anything. Installed perfect activated and works… I bought my copies which I am not going to say what it cost cause “CRAP!”… I have problems with mine saying PRODUCT LICENSE EXPIRED!

     Hopefully that will help you out. BTW I hope you have a decent high speed internet connection for the download but it better than waiting for someone that has the freakin’ disks.

331. A.G. Says:
     February 21st, 2009 at 8:53 pm

     Hi

     I am frustrated. I get the “Session has dependencies that cannot be satisfied” message when I try to install the CS4 Master Collection and I don’t know how to solve this.

     I just saw you on a forum, answering this question.
     Any chance you can help me to solve this?

     Thanks

     A. Gottesman.

332. Sensee Says:
     February 23rd, 2009 at 3:41 pm

     I have never had such a miserable experience installing software in my life.
     I STILL HAVE NOT gotten my software installed.

     but- I have the perfect solution:

     DO NOT EVER BUY LEGAL SOFTWARE AGAIN! – ESPECIALLY FROM microsoft OR adobe.
     software companies that manufacture this kind of nightmare DO NOT DESERVE TO PROFIT FROM IT.

     Further – PIRATED SOFTWARE INSTALLS MUCH EASIER, AND MUCH FASTER.

     even though I have a legal copy of this software – I’m going to look for a pirated version, that I know will install.

     who cares if pirated software doesn’t come with support – especailly when adobe tells you to:
     1) uninstall all of their software & reinstall it
     2) if that fails – reinstall windows, and all software

     I have never heard such a load of crap in my life – and believe me – i’ve heard plenty!

     SPEAK WITH YOUR WALLET – TELL ADOBE WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR DOLLARS (or yen, or whatever).
     DO NOT BUY THEIR SOFTWARE – IF YOU MUST HAVE IT – PIRATE IT!!!!

     software companies will ONLY stop abusing legal users if we STOP SUPPORTING THEIR TACTICS!!!!!

333. mimodona Says:
     February 28th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

     I am so sorry you went through this painful experience, but thanks for sharing. In fact I had the smae problem with InDesign, but I found this easy trick which seems to be working for me. It’s being installed, and I am so excited. I hope it’ll be OK.
     All you need to do is copy all installation files from CD/DVD to your hard drive, then rename the
     file DeploymentInstall.xml to Deployment.xml and open in notepad and copy-paste this code in the file:
     —

     remove

     —-
     It simply doesn’t let the Deployment file mislead the installation file. As you can see it originally prompt the installation file to look for required files in C drive.
     Please let me know whether it is working or not.

     Sorry guys. It seems that the code I copied was automatically removed.
     Anyway, you simply need to remove whatever you see in properties block. In fact whatever you see between and
     Don’t forget to rename DeploymentRemove.xml to Uninstall.xml
     Good luck

     edit: multiple posts combined by Admin 3/1/09 @ 5:12pm

334. pcoptima Says:
     March 8th, 2009 at 7:06 am

     make with 10 min job… XP SP3
     1. Unistall
     2. I used “Registry Trash Keys Finder” (http://www.databack4u.com/snc/rtkf_eng.html)
     3. WinCS3Clean (adobe website)
     4. Restart PC

     Done!!! New install work great
     (Use firewall for lock licence file upgrade)

335. Chester Says:
     March 11th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

     Decided since I had the means to actually buy this product, that I use it daily to do my job, and that I’d like to have a copy for myself to continue my work when I get laid off too (company owns the copy I’ve been using), I’d drop the $450 on CS3 Web Premium.

     What a mistake that was!
     Maybe it’s good ol’ Karma biting me in the ass for using so much pirated software in the past, but holy hell… it took me 23 hours to finally get this god damn thing installed.

     I tried everything Google was good enough to share with me. I ran the CS3 cleanup tool numerous times on level 4 and was about to reformat my hard drive (I did it 3 months ago, so wasn’t worried about losing anything other than having to set up Apache again) when I noticed Bonjour.

     I hate Bonjour. I hate anything that Apple relies on, but god damnit, it looked like CS3 depended on this “virus” running properly, so went ahead and installed the bloated iTunes 8 just to make sure. Now, I don’t know if installing iTunes to get a working version of Bonjour did the trick, or if what I’m about to say next is what did it, but by that point, I was desperate to try ANYTHING that might make the install work…

     I noticed the install failures were all the result of the shared components failing, so I did the uncheck all boxes thing that installed none of the software, and just the shared components and damned if they didn’t install. Did Photoshop separately to avoid the long ass uninstall if it failed again, and damned if that didn’t work too! Put in the serial number, activated, and it worked! So did the rest of the suite when I did those all next as a batch!

     So, could be one or the other, or maybe both but what worked for me was installing the latest version of iTunes for nothing else than a stable version of Bonjour and installing the shared components FIRST and the actual software AFTER.

     Sorry for the long story, but after the hell I went through yesterday, if there’s anything I can add to make this process any less of a pain in the ass for anyone else in the future, I feel like I’m obligated to tell you everything I know.

     And I’m with some of the rest of you… This is the first and the last legit version of Adobe software I’m going to bother with. If I had just pirated the damn thing like I was thinking about doing in the first place, it would have taken less than 20 minutes to install the first time I tried.

336. Rodney Says:
     March 23rd, 2009 at 11:58 am

     AMAZING…it installed perfectly after I ran the clean up tool…thank you!

337. Adelle Says:
     March 31st, 2009 at 8:32 pm

     One day after Photoshopping, I tried to open the program again but it wouldn’t work. Something about needing to reinstall it. It was spring break and I was at home, but I had left the discs at school, so I had to wait to come back to reinstall it. No worries, I thought.

     So when I got back, I popped in the discs, uninstalled everything, then tried reinstalling it. It installed the shared components, but everything else had FAILED. I tried uninstalling it, installing it again several times, and around the third time I started to get frustrated.

     I Googled the pop-up error alerts and whatnot, then came across this page! I tried using Dan’s method of manually deleting Adobe folders, using the CleanScript several times–first on level two, and then twice on level one just to make sure it was all cleared out. I copied the disc contents to the hard drive and began installation from there, using the method Dan talks about dropping the disc contents into D: when it prompts you to. Finally, the Adobe CS3 folder popped up under my programs, and after several minutes of installation, Photoshop popped up! And it opens, starts up, and works!

     Yay! I just hope it doesn’t happen again.

338. justastranger Says:
     April 9th, 2009 at 3:27 am

     Haha nice story, I feel your pain. It shouldn’t be this hard to install adobe software.

     ” Dear Adobe why does your installer suck this much! It used to be easy to install but ever since u came up with CS, its a total pain in the ***. “

339. Chadwick Says:
     April 20th, 2009 at 11:33 am

     Well, I am furious… I spent all day yesterday literally 12 hours trying to fix this one problem. It took so long because it literally takes up to 30 minutes to uninstall CS3 each time it fails. I have tried everything mentioned here, and still nothing works!!! I thought for sure the very last thing I tried would work since I created a completely new administrator profile, but NO! I’ve used their install cleaner, ran it on all levels, including 4.

     I’ve uninstalled my antivirus, then uninstalled Photoshop, then ran the utility at level 4 multiple times until it comes back with nothing, then reboot my machine, after reboot create a new administrator profile, logout out of current profile and log back into newly created admin profile, copy contents of disc to hard drive, try to install… AND, NOTHING, SAME F’ING THING ALL OVER AGAIN. I’ve HAD IT, any help, PLEASE… I really don’t think you can get more thorough than what I just laid out before everyone here!

     ————————————
     Combined multiple posts – Admin
     ————————————
     -Submitted on 2009/04/20 at 12:11pm

     Okay, here is the very last thing I am going to try… Im at work right now, so I’ll try it in a few hours and let everyone know how it goes. I noticed Chester mentioning the “Bonjour Service”. I installed the latest iTunes software before trying to install Adobe CS3, which means the latest version of Bonjour is now also installed (I checked my services log to verify that it is running). So, I am wondering if it could be the Bonjour service is causing these redundant install issues.

     Here is my configuration… Currently I have no antivirus software (I uninstalled it for this process, BitDefender 2009). I have no firewall running (I turned it off for this process), the Bonjour service is currently installed and running.

     What I am going to do is…

     Stop the bonjour service (services.msc), uninstall Bonjour, uninstall iTunes (v 8.1.1.10), uninstall ALL currently installed adobe products, run the cleaner utility on level 4 multiple times until it returns no results, reboot my machine, log back into the machine, verify there are no instances of bonjour running, do a fresh copy of the disc contents to my local drive, and try the install one last time with no bonjour running.

     I will post later this evening and let everyone know if this worked or not. I am really curious as to whether the people who already had success with the cleaner utility had the most up-to-date version of Bonjour installed on their machines… my guess is that they did not, but this test will determine if it is in-fact the bonjour service.

     See you all shortly, -Chadwick

340. Chester Says:
     April 20th, 2009 at 2:03 pm

     Chadwick,

     You might also want to try installing only the shared components first by unchecking all of the CS3 software, i.e. Flash, Photoshop, etc. and then going back and installing the actual software afterward.

     Doing what you plan to do with Bonjour mixed with what I just mentioned is what worked for me. Normally, I hate to mix methods since I can’t say which one solved the problem, but I was desperate for anything that would work. (which it did)

     If it helps, I installed on a 3 year old Vaio, Intel Core Duo, their crappy mobile chipset family, and XP Pro.

341. John Says:
     April 20th, 2009 at 3:01 pm

     I had this same issue and it irritated the crap out of me. Luckily I had the perfect uninstaller when I needed to remove stuff and start over. Finally got everything working but it was such a headache.

342. Chadwick Says:
     April 21st, 2009 at 4:05 pm

     Hi Chester, I tried that too, just installing the shared components first and then going back to install the main components and same problem. My final resolution was to reformat and install Photoshop on a clean OS, this worked… but it literally wasted 4 days of my time for data backup, troubleshooting and reformatting. Thank you very much to everyone on here offering help, it is greatly appreciated!

343. Angry Mofo Says:
     April 29th, 2009 at 2:40 am

     Adobe is a piece of shite, no wonder people download instead of paying hundreds and thousands for somethig that you have to figure out how to install because their coders couldn’t be arsed!! wasted too many days of my life with adobe

344. katie Says:
     May 6th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

     I’m so glad to have found this page. I’m on complete edge with this software. At first I was thinking it had to do with my brand new laptop and vista…apparently NOT. I was in the stages of returning my laptop too in that it was the ONLY reason why I got the computer…was so I could do work away from home. Looks to be that won’t be happening anytime soon!

     I have like many others here spent days on this…pulling my hair out and being completely peeved to put it nicely. I’m angry that a software company that charges what they do can pass on a program that has this kind of issue…I don’t see how there isn’t LEGAL ramification against Adobe…I think they should be sued to have this issue resolved…in that there is CLEARLY an issue. They need to hire people that will personally install this program for anyone that’s ever had issues…that or develop a program that works easily to install for those that have this purchased and have it so people can have it downloaded off their site or mail it out. Obviously it would take time and money on their end but it would only be FAIR.

     So I’ve gone through literally hundreds of pages and links and still have not had this resolved. I have window vista home premium service pack 1 64-bit operating system. I’ve been able to get rid of the error messages but can not get the software to install…it’ll go through the 30 mins of installing and then pop up with wasn’t able to install???? I guess the last resort is to try to call them up and spend hours on the phone with them.

     Anyone know of a good attorney that would take on such a case. Maybe we should start small and go to a news station about this! Ahhh…well it’s a nice thought.

345. katie Says:
     May 6th, 2009 at 11:01 pm

     I got it to work…this is what I posted on the Adobe Forum that I had promise to post back if I had resolved the problem…The link I followed is listed bellow where I was able to get it to work!

     “This was an EXTREMELY Painful process but I FINALLY got it install on my LAPTOP. I can’t tell you how amazing awful that was to do…this is the link that is my saving grace on this one. http://blog.flexuous.com/2007/07/20/adobe-cs3-install-hell/ Follow it carefully and it’s awesome that this person took the time to link everything you need. The key thing though is step 5 and 6! I believe that was my hangup from prior tries.

     Good luck to everyone out there…there seems to be a lot more people on here that got it to work…I would say 30-40 percent…which is great compared to so many other links that claimed they got the software installed.

     I’ll go try to make do with the hair that I have left on my head and tend to the hole in my wall from banging my head against it so many times!”

346. virginia wedding photographer Says:
     May 8th, 2009 at 9:40 am

     amazing thread. can’t believe the headaches.
     Thanks to Katie for the latest link.. will check.

347. luvwknd Says:
     May 19th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

     Adobe’s software is pure crap, no other way to say it gracefully! They’ve go to hell in a hand basket and our marketing department is currently looking at alternatives!

     Stay away from any Adobe suite!

348. Dirk-Jan Says:
     May 25th, 2009 at 6:06 pm

     Man, im glad I found this blog.. could have saved me a lot of time earlier on.

     Adobe should really be ashamed of itself..

     thnx for pointing it out perfectly.

349. Chris O Says:
     May 26th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

     This was a 3-month problem for me. The clean removal script did not work for me. After repeating the same things over and over, here is how it worked – and I think removing the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Installers did it.

     1. Ran winsc3clean various ways, various times
     2. Removed all references to Photoshop in the registry.
     3. Used ERD Commander to boot to the OS, and removed all Photoshop folders in program files and the profile.
     4. Logged back in and was able to install Photoshop CS3.

     Thank you all.

350. Fahad Says:
     June 3rd, 2009 at 3:23 pm

     1- run CS3Clean.exe choosing level 4.
     2-restart windows.
     3-copy contents of the disk to desktop
     4-install.

351. Zelda Bell Says:
     June 6th, 2009 at 7:16 pm

     I have gotten a lot of helpful information from everyone here. To date, I have installed and uninstalled 8 times. The 7th time, (after running the cs3 clean script of course), I used the tip about keping task manager open and shutting down “Bonjour” and that was very helpful except that time I thought I would be conservative and only install Dreamweaver just to see if it worked. It did install successfully but when I went to install the rest of the suite of course I couldn’t, no matter how many times I ran the cs3 clean script. So I went throught the registry and there are still many files from Dreamweaver and Coldfusion, (other website mgt. program made by Macromedia I think), in various parts of the registry. So I think I will try the registry cleaner noted by pcoptima on March8 2009. That might get rid of the junk. At this point I will really need this program soon for work and will need to use Illustrator. So, I will try tilting at windmills again! Just call me a cockeyed optimist!

352. Jeff Says:
     June 6th, 2009 at 9:31 pm

     I have (twice, now) found that copying the Adobe CS3 folder from the DVD onto my local drive (D) inexplicably allows the Reinstall to begin from the DVD drive. ???? Anyway, I think it’s because when I originally installed CS3, it was from the DVD drive which at that point was the D Drive. Since then I have added another logical drive to my hard drive which is now currently the D Drive. So it must be a path thing or something. I still cannot get my Illustrator to update to 13.0.1 or 13.0.2. I’m giving up for now, it takes too long to reinstall everything. Crazy. I’m not going for CS4.

353. john doe Says:
     June 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am

     All it’s true and what a horror of experience!
     Shame on you Adobe, I was using your software for a decade and such a mess I never seen before, shame on you A!

354. Lala Says:
     July 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 am

     I still haven’t been able to install beyond Adobe 8 professional. If I get some extra time, I’ll try the registry cleaner. This is utterly ridiculous. We need to boycott Adobe! I will never…ever, ever, ever purchase another Adobe product.

355. Andy Says:
     July 3rd, 2009 at 2:19 am

     Had similar issues installing Adobe CS3. Kept asking for the media. When I copied it to a local hard drive it installed. What a stupid installer!

356. LnddMiles Says:
     July 21st, 2009 at 5:26 pm

     The best information i have found exactly here. Keep going Thank you

357. Randy Ambrose Says:
     August 6th, 2009 at 7:28 pm

     I’m using an iMac running 10.4.11 – I got the infamous “blank installer alert” screen that is a problem for so many trying to install adobe software. From everything I read, the problem is either there isn’t enough RAM on your computer, OR is has something to do with having a bets version of safari, OR it’s because you had a previous trial version of one of the adobe products. I tried de-installing my Safari 4.0.2 (just in case) – DIDN’t work. I tried to de-install all adobe software – DIDN’T work. I tried creating a new user and that DIDN”T work either. What eventually did work follows. Downloaded Clean Script CS3 (according to someone at Adobe it works better than Clean Script CS4). Open the .dmg file and run the clean script CS3. WARNING – this program puts you in the TERMAL of the mac. This can be VERY DANGEROUS!!! Be extremely careful and make sure everything you type is perfect. YOu can really damage things in terminal. Also I recommend backing up your important files before doing any of this just in case. The instructions for Clean Script CS3 tells you to do this also. You can download Clean Script CS3 at http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cs4clean.html . The first question you will be asked is language – type e (for english). Then you’ll be asked to accept the terms and agreement. Now here is where what I found is a little different than the instructions from their site reads. You’ll be asked what level you want to run. Run level 2. The quit and start over and run level 2 again and quit. Then start again and run level 4 – In the instructions level 4 isn’t a choice but you can type the number 4 there and it will run. Do it twice just like you ran level 2. Then quit and restart your machine. I thin installed dreamweaver again and did not get the blank instal alert. Installation went perfect!

358. Ana Says:
     August 13th, 2009 at 7:49 pm

     i don’t have words to say THANK YOU for all the info..i was going crazy …i took me 3 days and i also lost a project…THANKS

359. Rhys Says:
     September 12th, 2009 at 9:42 am

     Tried all of the above to no avail. One last trawl of the net found this:

     1Goto Start -> Run, type in services.msc in Run box and press Enter.
     2 Navigate to FLEXnet Licensing Service and enable it. Make sure ’status’ is started and ’startup type’ = automatic
     3 Reboot and voila

360. henryc Says:
     September 12th, 2009 at 2:17 pm

     El problema se da porque cuando se graba el instalador en un ISO o disco, éste debe tener el mismo nombre o label que el original. Suerte.

361. Amber Says:
     September 14th, 2009 at 3:01 pm

     OH man, ever try to contact Adobe customer service on the weekend because Tech support is no avail? Well lets just say, I hope you have a strong phone signal and a very long fuse…I tried calling 5-6 times because of the exact torturous problem you have above. Finally I just dialed the number, went through the prompts and set the phone down on speaker and went about my business. Eventually Apu, the guy who runs the convient store on The Simpsons, picked up the phone. Unfortunately I couldnt understand a word he was saying and got cut off before he could figure out how to spell my last name. My cell phone is now severly deformed, but still works better than my Adobe software. Now, why would my phone not have any issues playing crappy hold music for 30 minutes, but I get on the phone with the guy for 5 minutes and it cuts me off? Really? Its probably all the the better though considering this poor guy was about to have a bad day. In any case, I just wanted to rant too, and since I thankfully found this website, maybe I can correct this problem when I get back to my own computer later on today. I’ll let you all know how it went

362. Amber Says:
     September 14th, 2009 at 7:38 pm

     Oh my gosh, thank you so very much. The clean up script and moving the dvd files to my hard drive and then installing did the trick.

363. joe Says:
     September 23rd, 2009 at 5:22 pm

     thanks for posting this. it helped reinstall my software after a HD crashed. mucho good charma to you

364. Jot Says:
     September 25th, 2009 at 2:40 am

     Thank you. THANK You. THANK YOU for posting this rant! Now I don’t feel so alone in my suffering.

     Unfortunately, I didn’t even get to enjoy the benefits of Adobe tech support, as I was (literally and there is no exaggeration here) on hold with Adobe via phone for more than 4.5 hours, and still never reached tech support! And this was after two days of trying 4 other times, but on those days I could only tie up my phone line for 1.5 hours. On the third day I thought “surely if I have half a day to wait on hold, someone will eventually help me.” Nope. Clearly, as you say, Adobe tech support is overwhelmed by Adobe’s product development shortcomings.

     And I didn’t get any help from Adobe tech support via email. I was also told by Adobe customer service that Adobe now has a $30 something a year tech support plan….I guess they make it difficult now for you to get free help for installation help after paying $500 – $2000 for the product. Seriously, call the Federal drug agents and bring in the sniffing dogs. What are they smoking at Adobe?!!

     I appreciate your tips for uninstallation/reinstallation – hopefully they’ll give me more success.

     Not only do I find Adobe’s behavior this time around “unacceptable” as you put it, but I also lost complete customer confidence and faith in Adobe. I have vowed to investigate competitors’ products and start the migration away from being an Adobe customer. I’ve also pledged to never say a nice word about the company again, and to encourage other people to also look into competitors’ products. Clearly Adobe can’t handle the responsibility that comes with being a relied upon software company. Adobe went way way too far this time and doesn’t care about its customers nor deserve them anymore.

365. Jennifer Says:
     October 12th, 2009 at 9:54 am

     you have correctly summed up my week with adobe! BUT after rounds and rounds of this nightmare i am unable to delete a few of the adobe folders, therefore possiblywhy cs3 is still failing on install??? I have not tried the flash uninstaller, will do that next.

     Ive been running the clean script on level 4 multiple times and have tried “rmdir” in the command prompt but the message is access is denied….on the remaining adobe folders?

     Iam completely annoyed, especially since most of the blog info i have found to help me is over a year old – which means this is and has been a huge problem. Tech support has been nothing more than an absolute waste of time!! Anymore help? thanks

366. Gary Says:
     November 1st, 2009 at 12:52 am

     Thank you to everybody for your contributions. Certainly better than official support options. I have a brand new windows 7 laptop that produced the Component Install Failed problem with CS3 Web with or without the flash player. I tried everything here with no luck, in fact CS3Clean would not even run on Win 7, did not try the msft installer cleaner either, new platform.

     What finally did work was Chesters suggestion to not ask for ANY apps in the first install, just the shared components. Then reinstall with the apps. Somehow, this went through on the first try, after about 30 attempts with different options over the past 3 days. This is not an intuitive thing to try, but it worked!!

     I also did the msconfig thing for this install with all windows services (except defender) enabled, all others disabled – and all startup items disabled.

     Huge relief, thanks again to all the contributors – especially Chester. Hope this helps some of you.

367. Cassie Says:
     November 13th, 2009 at 8:03 pm

     Wow well I’m at a loss – I can’t even install my CS3 from the disc, nor can I download it anywhere due to it’s age. OK sure I should have upgraded to CS4 but right now there is no point cos CS5 will be out before we know it and well heck with the cost involved and all why would I?
     I put the disc in, start the set up and select the programs I wish to install, sick back and watch the progress bar install shared components then see the pop-up requesting the install disc. Crap, it’s in the drive already so I’ve had it resurfaced professionally to no avail. I tried copying the contents of the dvd onto my hard drive and nadda yet again.
     Have run the clean up just in case I got lucky, but uhm yeah not so much.
     Have spoken to adobe about the possibility of an archived CS3 Web Premium download that I could utilize, and uhm yeah not so much again.
     I even resorted to trying to download the suite online, but uh yeah not so much luck again due to it’s age.
     Anyone have any ideas by chance? I’m fresh out :/
     Thanks in advance!
     Cassie

368. Hater Says:
     November 18th, 2009 at 11:56 pm

     No surprise, Premiere SUCKS. You all should sell it on ebay and switch to FCP, save yourself the stress. I have had the misfortune of using AP since 4.5-5.0 on Win 98, 6.5 Mac, PP1.5 on XP and now CS3 on vista. Never has it ever worked right. Auto save? Never works, 5.1? not on my computer, and help from Adobe? its been over 5 weeks since I asked them why my 5.1 wont work, have they even replied? NO. And yes I have wasted countless hours searching and downloading patches and fixes left and right, all to no avail. Same BS no matter the ver, or platform it JUST SUCKS. I have had to re-edit hours worth of work due to this lousy program so many times and it just happended again. F Adobe and their POS program too. I guarentee as soon as I can I am going to FINAL CUT suite and a mac and never looking back. At least the platform and the program are from the same company and have a clue how to intergrate the two. ADOBE stick to graphic progs and stop pretending you know anything about video you’re embarrasing yourselfs with all those names at start up. get real jobs at MacDonalds.
     Sincerly pissed
     Hater

369. Xevian Says:
     November 28th, 2009 at 10:51 am

     I thought i was a dummy when i had tried to upgrade my Adobe cs2 but it seems your right. it’s been a hassle dealing with this errors when installing adobe cs3. hope it isnt the same with cs4 anymore.

370. Crucial Says:
     November 28th, 2009 at 11:19 am

     So far I have not had any of the same problems with CS4 (fingers crossed)

371. Matyko Says:
     December 7th, 2009 at 4:42 pm

     Thanks for the help, the level4 thingy twice helped me through the struggle.

372. Rikk Says:
     December 13th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

     I have been using Adobe Premiere since the original version of Pro. Although I have managed to use it to produce some pretty major stuff, I have to conquer, that I also have used many versions of it (currently using CS4 on a Mac) and both on Mac and PC, and it is a very unstable, crash-happy program. How I’ve gotten two hour episodes out of it is beyond me. I moved to Mac because my PC just couldn’t handle it anymore, but after about a year, I’ve run into the same problems with Premiere. Seriously considering a move to Final Cut Pro. This software is fine for editing small clips and the like, but don’t try to do anything serious with Premiere. You will quickly become a very angry dude, smacking your keyboard and yelling curse words at the screen after the 115th crash in just one work day.

373. Redsandro Says:
     December 24th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

     I can feel your pain. I’ve had similar unacceptable behavior with my CS3 Master Edition for which I chipped about 5 ribs from my body to Adobe.

     I am pretty convinced all this complicated shit is caused by anti piracy measurements. Have you ever noticed how big software from the free and open source realm, like Open Office, Blender, InkScape etc. just works even if you reinstall your OS that sits on a different drive or partition? That’s because without selling copies as your main drive, you don’t feel the need to hire a team of 12 programmers to make the software unnecessarily [insert worst swearwords you know] complicated.

     Most of my software just works after I reinstall windows, all I have to do is make sure I back up my settings. But Adobe and a few other companies that are irrelevant for this blog are really stupid and old fashioned. They don’t get that downloading a copy and mounting all the images at the same time and using some cracktool is so much easier than filling in your credit card number alone. And still they need to install that 2 gigabyte complication emulation layer with flexnet random failing licensing booger to $@ shit up for the paying customer. It’s pretty insane to install a permanently active SERVICE just to run a program. Printing. Antivirus. Firewall. Okay. But a permission-service? Come on change that damn marketing model because there’s clearly a lot of annoyance easily discoverable with a google query, but you never read something like “ooh I wanted an illegal copy but I was stopped by that massive annoyance of an anti piracy policy!” No, pirates laugh in your face when you mention the hell that is called licensing issues.

     In stead I have to sit and waste time and swap 4 DVD’s and uninstall and repeat till my $@! energybill is as high as Photoshop alone costs before I can try to circumvent the rain of bugs I encounter when I want to render a mashup of a video from my phone.

     I hate them for that.

     But otherwise their software is really awesome. You don’t think I would have bought it if I didn’t really really want to use it, right? No they should really keep up the good work!

     But lose the bad work.

374. moochips Says:
     December 25th, 2009 at 9:42 am

     got this effin problem!!!!!

     so do i have to uninstall ALL adobe for it to work??TT,TT
     i have photoshop cs2 and i don’t have the freakin’
     installer..at the moment..><

375. Gravehunter Says:
     January 10th, 2010 at 4:05 pm

     Somehow I Have Photoshop CS3, Bridge, Stock Photo and Device Central installed on my computer and do not want to have them on here but also I have no way to Uninstall them I have gone to start then cntrl Panel and then Add/Remove Programs and it is not listed there anywhere but when I click on open containing folder it shows it to be in my C: drive under Programs and also when I click start and view all programs they are just an Icon short cut and not in a folder like say Zoo Tycoon or other programs would be in with an Uninstall Button? and when I go through the main folder for these programs by Adobe I can not find anything that points to Removing/Uninstalling this product any help would be great ! ! ! !

     Thanks Gravehunter_73@hotmail.com

376. Crucial Says:
     January 10th, 2010 at 8:49 pm

     @Gravehunter you may try using revo uninstaller, that works pretty well fro taking care of leftover files the uninstallers dont remove.

377. Amy Says:
     January 13th, 2010 at 1:01 pm

     Anyone,

     In May 2008 I installed all of CS3 from shipping disk onto my brand new Mac, no issues.

     Three days ago I needed to erase my HD, reinstall Snow Leopard, and rebuild my computer with my back-up.

     Afterward I got the “”Licensing for this product has stopped working” error telling me to uninstall and reinstall.

     First re-install I got “The licensing subsystem has failed catastrophically.” Called tech and was told to uninstall then reinstall.

     Second re-install I got “”"License has expired”. Per the Adobe Support pages (mostly from other users and not Adobe (I reset parameters and removed the FLEXnet file. Then I got “The licensing subsystem has failed catastrophically.” I called tech and was told to uninstall and reinstall. (I was also told I had exceeded the number of times I was allowed to install which is a whole other RANT in and of itself. YOU ARE THE ONES TELLING ME TO UNINSTALL AND REINSTALL!)

     Third re-install I got everything to install BUT Illustrator. I read through those posts, so I uninstalled, I deleted EVERYTHING Adobe EVERYWHERE, including Tweet Deck, all Acrobat readers, etc, libraries, user files, logs, EVERYWHERE. I emptied my trash. I ran step 1 and 2 of the CS3 Clean app, read those logs (no errors) deleted those logs, emptied the trash, reinstalled and STILL NO ILLUSTRATOR.

     I am 6 hours into this whole process. I want to try what you did and run steps 3 and 4 from the CS3 Clean app but I am not sure how to get to them to run them? I will re-delete EVERYTHING but is there anything else I should know??

     This is RIDICULOUS!!!!!!

     Can anyone help? Again I am MAC OS X 10.6.

378. Fred Fark Says:
     January 22nd, 2010 at 5:16 am

     I FOUND A WAY AROUND THIS! I had a correctly completed install on PC #1. On PC #2 I got the failed component message mentioned above. Tried reboots, uninstall/reinstall. As a last resort I tried copying over the Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 directory from C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 (in my case) [copy any and all directories that you may need.

     BOOM – Worked fine – 100% – no problem.

     So if the installer fails – try another PC – and once installed successfully – copy it to the PC having an issue. (I dropped the directory onto a USB key from PC #1 and then copied onto PC #2)

     ENJOY!

379. Mornixuur Says:
     January 27th, 2010 at 11:54 am

     One for the record. Bought adobe CS4 standard yesterday. Shrinkwrapped unopened box. Installed it with the provided serial nr. Started it and up came the box with the trial period /serial option. Huh? Do i have to input the serial again? Weird. I try but it says serial not valid. Then i notice that is says CS4 extended. Huh? So somehow i previously installend and removed trail version interfered with my brand new version. I tried several installs and fiannly removed everything from adobe from the pc. Cleaned the registry by hand. And just for good measure booted windows vista in repair mode and fixed the mbr just in case they fucked that up. Clean install but to no avail. Still got adobe extended with a non working serial. Today i called adobe customer service and they asked me for the serial nr on the box. I provided it and they concluded not a valid number. Can’t help you, go back to your supplier. Wtf? I called my supplier and i can return the box tomorrow. But i surely don’t understand how a serial number from an unopened box can be not valid. I think the real problem with Adobe is that they don’t have any serious competition.

380. Steven Christenson Says:
     January 30th, 2010 at 1:36 am

     Count me as a confirmed Adobe hater after my experience on my Win XP laptop. I have a company issued laptop. Since it has a smallish space on it after installing all my work related cruft, I installed PS CS3 on my USB2.0 harddrive. After a year or so the drive flaked out (fortunately I had been backing up my images). I bought a new hard drive and got pretty much the same behavior described in the original article…. hmmh. I THINK I remember that I may have had the trial version before getting the official version. Tried a couple of times and each time got “Please insert….” WTF?

     I tried contacted Adobe support online and got back an “I’d be delighted to help” email which included a NON WORKING PHONE NUMBER in Maine! Wow, great support!

     Thankfully a google search found THIS page – heaven knows finding anything on the Adobe site should just say “abandon hope all ye who enter here”. Well, the good news is the cleanup utility (mode 3) allowed me to finally reinstall PS on my external drive.

     I was DELIGHTED to be getting back to images that needed work. Started PS and worked for a while, exited. Started… exited. Upon the next start it gleefully told me “There are updates to install, install now?” Why I’d be delighted!!!

     WRONG… clunk, clunk… molasses ensued. Eventually it popped a peculiar message “Update failed. Choices are: continue installing other updates, or fail the installation”… Hard choice… I chose “continue installing other updates”. LONG LONG TIME later it completed. I clicked the PS icon and guess what… “program not found.”
     *******
     Hold on to your butts because the “update” deleted EVERY folder on the hard drive leaving only “Programs\Adobe Bridge CS3″. Gone are my raw and processed images, my downloads, and even a few other programs that I had loaded onto the hard drive.

     B E V E R Y A F R A I D T H I S P. O. S. M A Y D E S T R O Y Y O U R S Y S T E M !

381. RashardAnthony Says:
     February 4th, 2010 at 11:55 pm

     I had similar issues with CS3. However, the way I got it to work was to copy ALL files to a folder (I normally use the desktop) and name it ADOBE CS3. Yes, you have to name the folder that for it to work. If you are installing CS4, you guessed it, the folder MUST be named ADOBE CS4.

     Once I figured out that little tidbit, I haven’t had an issue installing Adobe products on any machine. There must be a hardcoded check in the installer for the folder name.

     Hope this helps.

382. randee Says:
     February 6th, 2010 at 7:26 pm

     I have had the same problems. While it will install easily on one computer, it’s a headache on another.
     Furthermore, I have had problems getting it to copy to the harddrive. Souce disk cannot be read, yet, it installed fine on another machine just minutes earlier.
     I agree. This was the worst software launch, next to the upgrade fiasco of Windows 7.
     I won’t touch another adobe upgrade until at least CS7. That’s barring, they have anything worth upgrading to by then. For $1500, someone should come to your house and upgrade it for you.

383. Matsuo Amon Says:
     February 6th, 2010 at 11:45 pm

     Wow this post have been a very great solution to my problem. I thank you very much for posting this. took me 2 whole days to figure out what’s wrong with the installation asking me to insert the very cd I have in my drive, lol. Thanks so much.

384. Jojo Marababol Says:
     February 8th, 2010 at 10:55 pm

     I had terrible problems with Adobe CS3 series line specially Flash. Here in a school where I work, we have Adobe CS3 Flash Professional installed in one of our labs. It was a pain installing it at the beginning since I couldn’t seem to figure out an elegant and easy way of deploying it via our network. So what I did was to install it on one machine and then cloned it using Norton Ghost to prepare the HD for the other machines.

     Now comes the nightmare – I was asked to uninstall CS3 from teh computers. Hey I think – no sweat! I go into Control Panels – Add/Remove programs, select the CS3 Flash and click uninstall. So far so good. The program uninstalls itself properly with no hitch but it sure does take a very long time. When finished, I restart the computer! Hey! What the @%!$$^&&*@! Now I can’t connect to the network anymore. When I do an ipconfig /all all my network values have been reset to zero! What is it with this piece of software crap? I spent three days trying to figure this out. It’s a good thing that I did this initially on one computer and not on the whole lab or else faculty and students would be on my back. Imagine ending up with a labfull of computers that can no longer be configured for the network?

     The solution? I downloaded a nifty utility called WinSockXP Fix which I run right after uninstalling the CS3 Flash program. Strange as it seems but it appears that CS3 damages the Winsock and registry entries of XP during uninstall.

     I don’t understand why a company should make their products so difficult to manage specially on a network. I have tried installing a single copy of CS4 on one of our computers and it was such a pain since it appeared to be installing some other non-essentials which I didn’t want to get installed.

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