Photoshop CS Causes Win Registry Problem

BM
Posted By
Bill_Mathews
May 3, 2005
Views
492
Replies
12
Status
Closed
When I open PSCS, it causes an error in the Windows registry.

What happens is that some ActiveX/COM entry in the registry is assigned an incorrect value.

For example:
"ProgID, "Photoshop.MediaSX," refers to an invalid ActiveX/COM entry,
"{A4F8ECCF-2A80-4171-76B8-59467228AA29}."

I want to stress that the selection of the particular registry entry seems completely random, and does _not_ necessarily reference any Photoshop module. In fact, the above example is the _first_ time anything to do with PS has shown up.

I’ve run virus and Trojan scans in Norton, Spysweeper, Pestpatrol, and Ad-Aware Prof. Nothing shows up.

The problem is specific to PS. Opening other programs does not cause the problem. The problem has occurred since the first time I opened PS.

I’d like to upgade to CS2, but "never do an upgrade when you’re having problems" – unless the upgrade is known to fix the problem.

Any ideas before I do a complete uninstall/reinstall of PS?

Thanks.

Photoshop CS, ACR 2.4, DNG 2.4.
Windows XP SP2, all current security updates

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BM
Bill_Mathews
May 5, 2005
Did uninstall/reinstall – several times – as spec’d, with the same result.

I think the problem is that this is an upgrade version, and I have to install PS 6.0 before I can install PS CS. I suspect that 6.0 isn’t 100% compatible with Win XP SP2. So when I install CS, there are some weird things already happening with the registry.

Unfortunately, there would seem to be no fix for this.

Bummer, and bummer.
MD
Michael_D_Sullivan
May 5, 2005
You shouldn’t need to install 6.0 in order to install CS or CS2. The installation process will ask you for the old version’s disk and/or serial number.
DM
dave_milbut
May 5, 2005
upgrade versions are exactly the same as full versions. they just use a different installer.
BM
Bill_Mathews
May 5, 2005
Thanks. I realize that I shouldn’t need to install 6.0, but the PS CS install program won’t recognize the PS 6.0 CD as legitimate when it’s put in the CD drive after the prompt to do so, nor does it give me a chance to enter the 6.0 serial # – only the CS upgrade serial #.

The PS 6.0 install program prompts for, and accepts, the 6.0 serial #.

Both the 6.0 and the CS installs complete without any error messages.

The only way the CS upgrade will install is if 6.0 is installed first.

In case anyone is wondering, PS CS itself seems to run just fine, so far as I’ve tested it. It’s just that it wipes out the registry, one entry at a time.
DM
dave_milbut
May 5, 2005
other than these seemingly random occourances in the registry, are you exibiting any problems?
DM
dave_milbut
May 5, 2005
btw, i don’t have any mention of "Photoshop.MediaSX" in my registry. XP Pro sp2 photoshop CS and CS2 installed. Maybe it’s a "secret key". 🙂
BM
Bill_Mathews
May 5, 2005
"other than these seemingly random occurrences in the registry, are you exhibiting any problems?"

No, but I did open the registry (regedit) and check to see if the ActiveX/COM error reported by Norton Win Doctor was an actual value in the registry. (Not the Photoshop one, but a later one.)

It was.

So, I’ve been lucky so far. But at some point, some entry essential to a key program is going to get changed, and then it’s crash time. Or it may already have, and I just haven’t hit it yet.
DM
dave_milbut
May 5, 2005
i’ve never trusted win doctor. i stopped using it when i got 98 after using nu from back in the dos days. after peter norton left…

by then it started causing as many problems as it fixed. if you’re experiencing no problems other than win dr errors, i’d leave it be.
C
chrisjbirchall
May 5, 2005
When you did the uninstall/reinstall did you delete the preferences file? You never know…

Chris
BM
Bill_Mathews
May 5, 2005
I used the ‘Delete user preferences’ option in the uninstall dialog – assume that it did.

I did use the option to leave the activation info, so I’d not have to reactivate. Should I try an uninstall and take out the activation info as well?

What would be the implication for reactivation? About 2 weeks ago, PS displayed a screen saying that the system configuration had changed and it needed to reactivate – which process then seemed to go without a problem. What is strange is that the system configuration had _not_ changed.
KC
Kent_C
May 5, 2005
Bill,

I’d try just the delete preferences without the uninstall first. Uninstall, by itself, doesn’t affect the preferences.
QP
Q_Photo
May 6, 2005
Bill Mathews quote:
“What is strange is that the system configuration had _not_ changed”. My reply:
Bill, actually this is not at all strange. You must accept the fact that you may get this message, from time to time, for no apparent reason. While it may seem strange to you and me, due to the fact that WE HAVE MADE NO CHANGES, Adobe seems to believe that this is a perfect form of activation. As far as CS2 goes, I would bow my head, and pay the troll at the bridge if I thought this would solve the problem. However IÂ’m not convinced that is the case.

I really hope that Dave’s “secret key” isn’t causing your problem…If it is, then I will have to bow to the troll and beg his forgiveness. After all my ranting & raving concerning REactivation, I so do not want to do that.

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