Meltdown! Photoshop.exe disappears...

After 2 trouble-free years of Photoshop/Illustrator use I find myself confronting an awful situation: both PS-CS and AI-CS, when their shortcuts are clicked, produce an "Application Missing" response. Any attempt to find the "missing" applications .exe files comes up empty.

I have run both Kaspersky AV and Search and Destroy to clean out univited intruders and both have come up empty as well.

Normally, I would go the add|remove route and reinstall I suppose but, being on the road (and for some time yet), this option is not available to me. My Creative Suite CD's are 3,000 miles away and effectively inaccessible.

Any thoughts, suggestions how to possibly track down the problem and get out of this mess (short of a reinstall)?

Any suggestions and thoughts appreciated...

WindowsXP|Pro

Are the .exe files in their correct folders on the HDD?

Can you start the programs from Start>RUN and typing in Photoshop or using the browse button to locate the Photoshop.exe file?

Nope all around:

When I go into the designated location: D:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe PhotoshopCS, the only subfolder is Plug-ins. NOTHING ELSE!?

It's as if the entire Creative Design Suite has been eradicated?

With Start>Run: DB "Windows cannot find Photoshop...."

I just this minute checked Add|Remove programs (WIndowsXP)and Adobe Creative Suite is listed with 3.87MB... (???) Adobe Acrobat 6.01 is intact with 318MB...

Some kind of virus, worm, Trojan Horse. Who knows... (Mangles the registry?)

Is it possible the system has "reverted" to some earlier "restore point"? I'm a Win2k guy and don't the details of that XP feature . I suppose, however, that they wouldn't be in Add/Remove programs if that had been the case.

:-(

Brent

Cary,

Some kind of virus, worm, Trojan Horse. Who knows... <<

Do you have inquisitive children that have access to the machine? The kind that know where the delete button is? <g>

Seriously, it does sound as if someone has deleted a chunk of files and folders. Suggest a complete re-install

Normally, I would go the add|remove route and reinstall I suppose but, being on the road (and for some time yet), this option is not available to me. My Creative Suite CD's are 3,000 miles away and effectively inaccessible.

since you're on the road, maybe you can download the 30 day tryout version of PS CS and use that. Just don't be changing your system clock or the tryout will bomb thinking you're trying to defeat the copy protection.