ADE started crashing...opens for about 10 seconds, then disappears! I Uninstalled and installed a freshly downloaded installation file for Windows (I am on Windows 11). What else do I need to do? Should I download a prior version?

Forum|Forum|4 days ago
February 12, 2026
2 replies
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As I previously stated, Adobe Digital Editions stopped launching fully. I downloaded an ASCM file from Libby, but it never translated to an ePUB file (file did not show in My Digital Editions). So, I launched ADE hoping to open the file there, but after about 10 seconds it just closed. I uninstalled and reinstalled with a freshly downloaded file, and that has not changed anything. Wondering what I need to do to get this fixed, as I read all my books on a Nook and have had no trouble in the past downloading converting and sideloading ePUB files to it.

Pascal FOURNIER

Participant

Bonjour j’ai le même souci. .Si vous avez la solution, merci par avance de me la transmettre..

Pascal FOURNIER

Participant

souci comme CGGoD4D

CGG0D4D

Participating Frequently

Hi Pascal, here’s a solution that isn’t permanent. It works only one time. Then, it stops working and you have to do everything again for it to work again, one time. And then again. And so on. Not a great solution. But so far that’s all I can find. One other user confirmed this worked for them for library ebooks.

Here it is:

manually delete the activation.dat file (under user/library/application support/adobe/digital editions) (this will de-authorize the computer, so have your user ID and password ready!)

click on an acsm file to open it (ADE must be the “default” program to open acsm files, so when you click on the acsm file, ADE automatically opens)

ADE opens, but needs re-authorization

enter user name and password to re-authorize

ADE "fulfills” the acsm request

don’t press anything else in ADE!!!

click on another acsm file you want to open in finder

that also gets fulfilled!

keep going until all acsm files are fulfilled, if you have many

if I click anything in ADE (back button, file menu, etc.) it starts quitting again. back to square one!

After this point, it keeps quitting (as someone described, it flickers on the screen for ½ seconds and then quits, gone!) To be able to open any other acsm files after this I have to repeat the manual delete and re-authorization. When I repeat the manual deletion and re-authorization, and click on acsm files to open them, ADE works again, only one time, until I click on something else in ADE itself, and back to quitting!

I did not have to install/uninstall ADE nor restart my computer (mac). Just the manual deleted of the activation.dat file did the trick for one-time use.

CGG0D4D

Participating Frequently

I’m having the same issue, but on my Mac. Manually deleting the activation.dat file, restarting, and re-authorizing helps for one time ADE use - open the acsm files by clicking on the file itself (not via ADE’s open file function) and don’t touch ADE, meaning just click on the acsm files one after the other if you have multiple (ADE is my dafault for opening the acsm files). This works for me...until I touch ADE, say, hit the back button to see the library/list of books, then it quits. And it keeps quitting no matter what I do after that. So only that first instance of opening ADE and clicking on the acsm files works after deleting the activation.dat file. So this is not a solution, just a temporary thing. This is on the Mac, so it might be different for you. I just thought I’d let you know, in case you want to read your book now! Maybe it’ll work in PC, too.

PMcmil5450Author

Participant

Thank you for relaying your experience! I was able to Open the ASCM file on my desktop with the same version of ADE, and it converted perfectly. I then copied the ePUB file to the My Digital Editions folder on the laptop and was able to sideload to my nook (the reason I use my laptop is that my desktop is a dinosaur and slow as crap!). I'm going to try uninstalling again, restart the laptop, and see if that makes any difference. I may also deauthorize the laptop and reauthorize it and see if anything changes. Hopefully we both get answers soon!

CGG0D4D

Participating Frequently

Unstalling/re-installing did not help me at all :( The problem persists, but I am able to get one-time use with the method above. Adobe is not supporting ADE anymore, so we’re looking at some enterprizing person out there who can solve this...

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