"Unable to continue because of a hardware or system error. Sorry, but this error is unrecoverable."
<rant>
My, isn’t that informative
Yep. It says you have a problem. Photoshop is not Norton Utilities, it’s a picture editor.
This occurs while the splash screen says Reading Fonts…
Might be something to do with, say, fonts. Search the forum for how to track-down a bad font. In short, eliminate all but the basic fonts, try Photoshop again, then add in groups of fonts until you find the bum one.
"Unable to continue because of a hardware or system error. Sorry, but this error is unrecoverable." > <rant> > My, isn’t that informative >
Yep. It says you have a problem. Photoshop is not Norton Utilities, it’s a picture editor.
So it’s okay to give useless messages because it is a picture editor?
Might be something to do with, say, fonts.
Yes.
I have neither added nor removed fonts since I last used Photoshop. Do fonts decay? Why do some Adobe programs choke and others not?
So it’s okay to give useless messages because it is a picture editor?
It’s not useless–just not very specific. Should it be able to jump into diagnostics mode and tell us which RAM chip is bad? Something beyond its control is wrong.
Why do some Adobe programs choke and others not?
Because other programs use Windows services to read fonts, while Adobe applications use a more sophisticated (and more demanding) proprietary programming library.
I have neither added nor removed fonts since I last used Photoshop. Do fonts decay?
Not anymore. But things do happen, such as other applications running in the background, or programs that change your computer’s configuration without telling you. It’s gotten so complicated in the last ten years or so; sometimes I’m amazed that Windows works at all. After ruling-out fonts, running a diagnostic program could be an interesting experiment.
So it’s okay to give useless messages because it is a picture editor?
It’s not useless–just not very specific. Should it be able to jump into diagnostics mode and tell us which RAM chip is bad? Something beyond its control is wrong.
It’s very generous of you to apologize for some obscure programmer’s laziness. That person knew quite specifically what was happening when the result of the operation was checked. That the error was cooked down to "something bad happened" is unconscionable.
Very well. I will take your advice to erase and re-install the fonts. The general purpose WIndows solution to problems. Sigh.
James,
You don’t know how the error was triggered. It may be Windows fault for how it reports an error condition to the application software. The app software has a "lookup" of sorts and when it receives a message from the OS, it responds with an appropriate reply as passed from the OS. So while it may, in fact, be a lazy programmer, it isn’t necessarily a lazy Adobe programmer.
I have neither added nor removed fonts since I last used Photoshop. Do fonts decay?
search for adobefnt*.lst and delete whatever comes up. the font list may have been corrupted somehow and deleting it will force the app to rebuild it.
How many fonts do you have installed? While W2K is not as picky as previous versions which had a limit of about 150 active fonts before things would go askew, if you have say 1,000’s of fonts, it would be wise to uninstall them. Also, what Dave says…
And yes, fonts can go bad. Especially TT fonts that come from the do-it-yourself free font websites. Quite often they are poorly designed.
How many fonts do you have installed? While W2K is not as picky as previous versions which had a limit of about 150 […]
311.
And yes, fonts can go bad. Especially TT fonts that come from the do-it-yourself free font websites. Quite often they are poorly designed.
We use Type 1 fonts almost exclusively, purchased from vendors like Monotype. These are fonts that we have been using for years, most of them since before 1996. No other programs have a problem with them. Windows 3.1, NT and 2000 have had no problem with them. Earlier versions of Photoshop have no problem with them.
Photoshop v6 and Acrobat Pro v6 suddenly have difficulty. Given this long history of success I am inclined to suspect the programs, no the fonts.
Given this long history of success I am inclined to suspect the programs, no the fonts.
I am inclined to agree with you. T1 fonts ‘can’ go bad, but usually are designed properly. W2K should handle 300 fonts easily.
Have you deleted the adobefnt*.lst files as Dave suggested? These files do corrupt.
—
Carl B. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Respectibility in art is appalling.
www.wuli.com
Have you deleted the adobefnt*.lst files as Dave suggested? These files do corrupt.
I can find no adobefnt* file anywhere in the Photoshop directory. There are a few in Acrobat Pro. Deleting them made no difference.
I think I have found a clue. If *any* font (type 1, tt, ot) is added or removed, Photoshop/Acrobat will no longer load; the "font server module" (whatever that is) is trashed (so says Acrobat). The programs *must* be re-installed. What a cramp.
James,
adobefnt*.LST files can be scattered all over your drives! At the last count I had something like 36 of them! You will get one created in every folder that has one or more fonts in them…..Suggest you do a system-wide search and delete all you find – They will be rebuilt as required
most of the ones i found were in program files\common\adobe. do as len suggests and do a system wide search and delete.
most of the ones i found were in program files\common\adobe. do as len suggests and do a system wide search and delete.
Yes, that is correct. And it worked. Yay! Both Photoshop and Acrobat Pro start again. Thank you all for your insight.
<python>… and there was much rejoicing.</python>
The programmers were lazy, they should have come to your PC to fix your fonts 😉
Yes, there are a lot of parameters that can go bad… hopefully, there are forums like this one with people willing to help, good job, Dave and Len!
