How to locate hidden files before removing Creative Suite

My Dear Friends,

I have a mysterious problem regarding the re-installation of an older version of Creative Suite--but it is entirely unrelated to “online activation”. I wonder if some of you would be so kind as to point me to the solution.

SUMMARY:

Essentially, I have to re-install Creative Suite onto my laptop, but the installer tells me that I first have to un-install the existing copy which is already installed. Even if I un-install the existing of all Adobe products, including Creative Suite, and Creative Cloud Bridge, the installer continues to tell me that Indesign and Illustrator are already installed, and must be removed first. I have used the built-in un-installer, Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool, deeper-registry-cleaning un-install utilites, and lastly, a manual search-and-delete of any file containing the word “Adobe,” and always followed by a re-boot. Even so, upon running the new installation, I am greeted with the same “error message” from the same installer, telling me that Indesign and Illustrator are still “detected” somewhere on the computer, and must be removed before I can re-install Creative Suite. At that point, the installer will allow me to re-install Photoshop and Bridge, but not Indesign or Illustrator; those options are “grayed out,” and the check-boxes cannot be checked. (see screenshots) I have a separate installer for Acrobat, which works fine, as well, even though Indesign will not work.

So I think that my only questions are these: (1) where are these mysterious HIDDEN files on the computer that keep causing the installer to mistakenly believe that Indesign and Illustrator are still on my computer somewhere and that they must be un-installed before I can do a fresh re-install of the whole Suite? and (2) How can I delete those hidden files?

BACKGROUND:

Creative Suite CS2 had been working fine on my Dell laptop running Windows 10 Pro with 16 GB RAM, for over one year. Now, one year later, on October 16, 2023, I accidentally installed an unrelated utility that was meant for Windows 7, and, upon seeing that it was causing display problems, but could not be un-installed per se, I did a “system-restore,” to return the state of the entire Windows Pro system to what it was on the previous day, October 15. The System Restore window warned me that Firefox and Creative Suite might possibly not function correctly upon restoring the system, but I took a chance. After that, the whole computer was working fine again, but Indesign was not.

In fact, I spent the next few DAYS starting up the computer each morning, organizing files, freeing up space, surfing the Internet, and so on. There were no signs of any problems at all with any software, nor with the system (although I do not recall having opened Indesign or Photoshop during that time.)

Then, I came across an Indesign file that I needed to edit urgently, but when I opened it, Indesign would not work. Instead, it asked me for a serial number, as if I had just re-installed it. So, I put the same serial number as one year earlier, and it was accepted, but the program still did not open. I repeated the process multiple times, and even tried other serial numbers, which gave me the message, “invalid serial number.” The right serial number was always accepted, and the wrong numbers appeared as invalid, but the program would never launch in either case.

Curious as to whether other components of CS were still working, I opened Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Bridge, Designer, etc., and all of them worked normally.

After hours of trying different things to get Indesign to work, including a simple re-boot, I gave up.

I got the original installer that I had used MANY times on Vista computers (but only once before on this particular Windows 10 Pro laptop in question, one year earlier), and followed the instructions that I had written out for myself, years earlier, and previously followed, just to make sure I had the right serial numbers and took the same precautions as always, to install things in the right order, to the right folders, etc..

At that point, the installer, itself, would begin by asking my name and serial number, of course, and then would take me to the next screen for choosing my language preferences, as I recall; then, to the next screen that was warning me that a full re-installation of CS2 could not take place without my first deleting the so-called “existing” installation of Indesign and Illustrator, from my system, even though I had already un-installed them by that time. Curiously, it would allow me to re-install Photoshop and Bridge, but not Illustrator or Indesign. (A separate installer allowed me to re-install Acrobat, but the CS installer would not allow Indesign without first deleting “existing installations” (see screenshot attached)

Incidentally, I had installed Creative Cloud Bridge, one year earlier, but only as a stand-alone program; I had never upgraded CS2 to Creative Cloud, nor ever used a previous version of Creative Suite. So, during this ordeal, I un-installed Creative Cloud Bridge using the built-in installer, and that did not help.

Perhaps you will ask me, “How did you delete Creative Suite from your system before trying to re-install CS2? Did you just drag folders to the Trash Can on the Desktop?”

No, I did not. While the built-in un-installer was impossible to locate, I used something called Revo Un-installer, which is one of those shareware utilities designed to delete programs more thoroughly than the Windows un-installer, or even than the built-in un-installer associated with the program in question, that typically leaves behind many files in the Registry. I had used Revo for many years without ever having a problem with any program, and even to remove CS2 from other computers. IN FACT, Revo will not allow the user to un-install any software without first finding and invoking the built-in un-installer for the program in question, and making the user follow the instructions to delete the files that are normally deleted with that built-in un-installer. After that, it takes the user through its own separate processes, and through a series of screens in which the program scans the Registry and all other parts of the computer, for any other related files that the un-installers typically overlook. Then, it allows the user to select them all and delete them. In fact, it often hits a few that cannot even be deleted except after re-booting, which, in the meantime, it marks for deletion, and deletes them only upon rebooting. After doing all this, however, I re-booted and tried the Creative Suite installer again, but no dice; same problems: Photoshop and Bridge allowed; Indesign and Illustrator, not allowed.

So, I went online searching, and people were talking about the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool, but which was not designed for versions of Creative Suite earlier than CS3. I downloaded it and ran it to remove all Adobe products from the system, just in case it helped. I re-booted and tried the installer again, but no dice; still, the installer mysteriously “detected” Indesign and Illustrator somewhere on the system.

I did a manual search-and-delete of any file-name containing the word “Adobe.” (Those files I did drag to the Trash Can). However, I re-booted and tried the installer again, but no dice.

I ran Revo again, just to check for other Adobe software that might have possibly “confused” the Creative Suite installer. Lo and behold, I discovered some auxiliary programs that did not contain Adobe in the file name, but were produced by Adobe, and where displayed as such when grouped by Manufacturer. (e.g., “CS_2.0_WWE_Extras_1”.) I un-installed all of those, as well. I re-booted and tried the installer again, but no dice.

“Oh, but wait,” you might say. “CS2 was a problematic case anyway, years ago, as I recall....people were having issues with their CDROMs, as I recall, and so Adobe tried to appease its customers by uploading it to their website for free download, and then, later, they took it down, and....”

Well, yes, but, there is no relation to my particular case, as I will explain below.

As you well know, in the case of CS2 many users had reported problems with installing the Windows version from CDROMs, so Adobe's solution was to upload special installers to their website, and provide special serial numbers for those installers, so that any licensed user could simply use those installers instead of his own CDROMs and still install the software. In fact, I downloaded my installers from that site, as well, and discovered that they worked well, and DID NOT EVEN REQUIRE ONLINE ACTIVATION. I have since used this CS2 on multiple computers, even without any Internet connection, for years, without any problem, and I was never even asked for activation, or else, given the choice to “opt out.” CONSEQUENTLY, please note that my problem with installing Indesign is unrelated to activation issues altogether.

BUT, of course, one requirement for installation in every case, is that any previous installations be removed first, from the target computer, regardless of which source those installations came from (e.g., CDROM, downloaded special installers, etc.

Yes, I am aware of the problems that users have had with LATER VERSIONS of Creative Suite, such as CS3, CS4, CS5, in that Adobe had deliberately disconnected their “aging servers,” making it impossible for those users to re-activate and thereby re-install their own, paid, licensed software, inadvertently forcing them either to give up, upgrade, or else, to switch to another layout program. Unlike my issue, those were activation issues: users were required to activate, and when they tried, they were told that the servers were down. In my case, however, these “special installers” have never even asked me to activate; they simply ask me to delete two components of CS2 before doing a fresh re-installation.

(And, just to reiterate, if activation truly were the source of my current problem, then obviously: (1) either the Installer, or else, the running program, itself, would ask me to activate, which it never did; (2) the installer would not deny me access to Indesign while simultaneously allowing me access to Photoshop and other components of CS2 in the meantime; (3) the Installer would not have asked me for a serial number to “personalize my license” as it clearly did in the early stages of the problem, days after my “system restore,” before I had ever removed Indesign from my laptop; instead, it would have told me that I had an “activation problem,” for example.)

In conclusion, my only questions are these: (1) where are these mysterious HIDDEN files on the computer that keep causing the installer to mistakenly believe that Indesign and Illustrator are still on my computer somewhere and that they must be un-installed before I can do a fresh re-install of the whole Suite? and (2) How can I delete those hidden files?

Sincerely,

Erik