CS4: "Critical errors were found in setup. Please see the setup log for details" !!

[Ki...@adobeforums.com]

I am using Win XP Pro SP3. I have CS3 installed, and successfully installed Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash from CS4 Design Premium. Then I successfully uninstalled DW, FW and FL CS3.

When I tried to open a SWF in Illustrator it failed to open, and then I tried to create a really simple SWF (a rectangle) by exporting from Illustrator and tried to open that and it also failed. Whenever I tried to open or place ANY SWF into Illustrator I get a "file *** is in an unknown format and cannot be opened" error.

I decided there must be a corrupt file, maybe the upgrade must have affected some Illustrator files, so I tried to repair the CS3 installation. After over 2 hours of INTENSE FRUSTRATION having to constantly switch CS3 and CS4 disks many MANY times, the installation failed, listing "common files" that were missing from non-existent folders such as "C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Desktop\Adobe CS4\Fireworks CS4\payloads\etc

When I tried to repair the CS4 installation after loading all the profile settings it errors before the installation window comes up, with "Critical errors were found in setup. Please see the setup log for details". Then it shuts down the installer. I then tried to do a system restore and system restore failed on all restore points!

Please help:
1. Where is "the setup log"?
2. Will creating and populating the folders mentioned in the failed CS3 installation from the CS4 disk allow it to work?
3. How can I uninstall CS4 if I can't even get to the installation window?
4. Has Adobe just DESTROYED MY REGISTRY BEYOND REPAIR!!!???

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

1. C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Installers, look for *.log and *.log.gz

2. & 4. No. Don't panic.

3. Use the CS4 Clean utility found on the support pages. Use it to unregister each and every bit and piece of Adobe on your system, including Adobe Reader, CS3 and the debris of your CS4. In addition, use your system "Add or Remove Programs" panel, to remove Adobe AIR, Adobe Media Player and a few other things not covered by the general install. After that, delete the folders manually. With everything out of the way, you should now be able to successfully install CS4.

Mylenium

[Ki...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks Mylenium. I have managed to get things working again by restoring a drive image. There still seem to be some installation issues, but I'll sort them out later (I hope) with a CS4 uninstall/reinstall.

The problem with AI not opening SWFs is still there though, so I'll introduce it in a new thread.

[Ki...@adobeforums.com]

OK - Adobe CS4 Clean Script utility instructions say "Uninstall the Adobe Creative Suite 4 products prior to using the CS4 Clean Script." !! The problem is I can't even uninstall CS4 from the "add-remove programs" in the Control Panel!!! (a progress bar comes up, reaches the end and then nothing happens) What do I do?!!!

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

No, the info is not correct. You can use the script without uninstalling. You are only advised to try a proper uninstall. It's really more of a recommendation than a prerequisite...

Mylenium

[Ki...@adobeforums.com]

CLEAN SCRIPT DIDN'T WORK!!!
Now I have uninstalled my software and can't reinstall anything. If I try reinstalling from my CS3 disks it still looks for CS4 disks as before and fails ultimately with errors as described in my first post. If I try installing CS4, the "Initializing" window comes up and the progress bar stops at 0.9 of the way and then nothing happens. I have left this in this state for over an hour. There is no way I want to reformat, it would take me 4 days to rebuild the hard drive. I think Adobe is irresponsible, no, IMMORAL to release software with such a high likelihood of such extreme malfunction.

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

Oooh, please. The software has been tested thoroughly. I myself can swear to have installed a number of CS4 programs a hundred times during development. I recommend you provide the install logs somewhere for download along with a dump of your system info Start --> Programs --> Accessories --> System Information) and we will see what could be causing this state.

Mylenium

[Ki...@adobeforums.com]

Apologies to Adobe, I hope you all can ignore that frustrated outburst for what it is. Adobe is a very responsible company and always willing to help sort out these issues.

[chris_le...@adobeforums.com]

i’m haveing a huge irritation useing illustrator cs4 live paint bucket because i can use everything else apart from the paint bucket which should be the easyiest tool to use sometimes it works with the white arrow sometimes it doesnt i sometimes get this below message

“the selection contains objects that cannot be converted. live paint groups can only contain paths and compound paths. clipping paths are not allowed”

the lines which i have drawn are connected which i believe have to be in order to use the paint bucket and i have no clipping paths so i am am baffled

presume it is because the line is set to 0.01 it seems the live paint bucket wont notice thin lines, but i tried makeing the line thicker so i could use the paint bucket and it still doesnt work.

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

No problem, Kiwi. We've all been there. Even us privileged people that do testing. As I said, the best you can do is provide the logs and files. Tech support will want to have that info anyway, if and when you call them (in case you will still buy the product at some point) and run into trouble, so consider this a test case. If the files don't exceed 10 MB, you can also mail them to me directly mylenium<|>at<|>mylenium.de and I will have a look if time allows.

Mylenium

[Ki...@adobeforums.com]

SUCCESS!!

1. Adobe CS4 Design Premium remained in "Add/Remove Programs", so I tried deleting the Adobe CS4 Design Premium key from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

2. I noticed whenever I tried running setup again: a) MSI would report setup is completed successfully, b) Adobe CS4 Design Premium would be back in "Add/Remove Programs", c) the Adobe CS4 Design Premium key would be back in the Uninstall key in registry

3. I noticed the the Adobe CS4 Design Premium uninstall key in registry referred to a folder like "55230b0b70661df0f212e88f0b655f7" in the ..\Common\Installers folder

4. I deleted the key AND the folder and setup worked properly!!

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

Hey, that's great to hear. Congrats! Though really the CS4 clean utility should have taken care of the matter in the first place...

Mylenium