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timurk92565940
Participant
Nov 22, 2018 2:42 AM UTC
Answered

Indesign won't start with no error message

Dear friends,

Indesign won't start on my Windows 10 machine with no error messages popping up.

I tried installing versions 14 and 13 and tested them in Windows 8,7 and Vista compatibility modes. The result is the same: the program loading process initiates, checks modules etc, then it ends abruptly with no error message.

What can I do? Many thanks.

Here is the log from the Event Viewer:

Faulting application name: InDesign.exe, version: 12.1.0.56, time stamp: 0x58c988ec

Faulting module name: PlugPlugOwl.dll, version: 7.0.0.95, time stamp: 0x58b6f48b

Exception code: 0xc0000005

Fault offset: 0x0000000000019d63

Faulting process id: 0x5364

Faulting application start time: 0x01d4820975d398a0

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2017\InDesign.exe

Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2017\PlugPlugOwl.dll

Report Id: 6d358c6a-ff4a-4b01-b103-9cf3e77fe681

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

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bozworld
bozworldCorrect answer
Participant
Feb 12, 2019 11:04 PM UTC

I had a very similar issue and Adobe let me know the following. The answer fit for the processor we were using. I think it's not just clock speed but model too. Older processors like the Celeron N2930 1.83GHz have the same issue.

"Unfortunately, the error you are seeing is caused by a conflict with your CPU. We are seeing this behavior with multiple processor models who's clock speed is 1.10GHz. We have a fix in the works which will be available in the next update, but we do not have a release date for this yet. Aside from operating with a different computer using a different CPU, we do not have any supported workarounds."

31 replies

iphulo
Participant
Aug 2, 2026 1:41 PM UTC

I'm struggling to have my indesign installed even after buying it

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nik.m
Community Manager
Community Manager
Aug 18, 2026 5:41 PM UTC

Hi ​@iphulo, we’re sorry about the trouble and for the delay in getting back to you on this.

You’ve posted on a very old conversation. If you’re still facing issues, it would be helpful if you could create a new post and share more information about what’s happening along with the operating system you’re working on. 

Thanks, 

Nikunj 

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bozworld
bozworldCorrect answer
Participant
Feb 12, 2019 11:04 PM UTC

I had a very similar issue and Adobe let me know the following. The answer fit for the processor we were using. I think it's not just clock speed but model too. Older processors like the Celeron N2930 1.83GHz have the same issue.

"Unfortunately, the error you are seeing is caused by a conflict with your CPU. We are seeing this behavior with multiple processor models who's clock speed is 1.10GHz. We have a fix in the works which will be available in the next update, but we do not have a release date for this yet. Aside from operating with a different computer using a different CPU, we do not have any supported workarounds."

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Participant
Feb 13, 2019 9:11 AM UTC

Hi David

Thanks for posting and letting us know. It's good to know it's not that we're getting our installs wrong and that it's an issue Adobe are aware of and are looking into a solution. We ended up going with Bob's suggestion of InCopy on single app subscriptions as this suits the needs of the users of these systems.

Cheers

James

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Srishti_Bali
Legend
Feb 15, 2019 3:31 PM UTC

Hi Everyone,

We are sorry to inform you that this is a known error with InDesign on Windows(with Old processors like the Celeron and Pentium between 1.2 to 1.6 GHz frequency). I would request if you can share your feedback and upvote this issue here: InDesign not opening after loading box – Adobe InDesign Feedback. Till the issue is fixed, we request you to use the previous working version(sometimes 2015). Please stay tuned for updates and thanks in advance for your patience.

Regards,

Srishti

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Participant
Dec 17, 2018 2:05 PM UTC

We are seeing the exact same issue with InDesign.

Granted the hardware is low powered but we only need a couple of users to be able to update a couple of text fields and it's stopping us from purchasing additional subscriptions on our teams license. At the moment we're trying these PC's on trials and have tried 2018 and 2019 which both show the same issue.

We're trying to run it on an Intel NUC6CAYH which consists of:

Celeron J3455 1.5GHz

4GB DDR3L

128GB SSD

Intel HD Graphics

We're not expecting the software to run fast at all like our dedicated designer's PCs but it should launch seeing as it's well within Adobe's minimum system requirements of a Pentium 4 or better.

Other apps like Photoshop and Bridge launch and work fine.

We have tried this on a clean install of Windows 10 with all of the latest drivers and firmware from Intel with just Adobe CC and InDesign installed. This machine is off the domain with no group policies applied it's as stock Windows as you could possibly get with no changes to system settings.

We see the same results regardless of the Windows 10 versions we have tested. We have tested 1607, 1803 and 1809.

If we pull the SSD out, make no changes and connect it to an NUC7i5BNH which consists of:

i5 7260U 2.2GHz

16GB DDR4

Intel Iris Plus 640 Graphics

We see InDesign open immediately. This leads us to believe there is something incompatible with the hardware or drivers with the NUC6CAYH but we are unable to fathom it. We have tried various GPU driver versions but we always see the same result with InDesign not even launching and the same error being reported in the event log.

All of the general advice online about clearing cache and prefs makes no difference. It's a clean install on a clean system with 1 user account it shouldn't be that which is causing the issue. Not when we put it in a different system and it works straight away.

Here's the error from the Windows Event Viewer

Faulting application name: InDesign.exe, version: 14.0.1.209, time stamp: 0x5beb1679

Faulting module name: PlugPlugOwl.dll, version: 9.2.1.39, time stamp: 0x5b923bf4

Exception code: 0xc0000005

Fault offset: 0x0000000000019d63

Faulting process ID: 0x12a8

Faulting application start time: 0x01d4960b764e2619

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2019\InDesign.exe

Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2019\PlugPlugOwl.dll

Report ID: 8e273acb-b188-45a4-9225-2bb70c319561

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

Many Thanks

James

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BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
Dec 17, 2018 2:10 PM UTC

Those machines aren't low powered; they're garbage. Suitable for maybe surfing the web and reading email but InDesign? No.

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Participant
Dec 18, 2018 9:14 AM UTC

That's very helpful Bob, thanks!

As I stated in my original post these users aren't our designers they are only going to change a few text fields for the designers to help them out. We don't expect this to run amazing at all but the software should open without crashing. To prove this point I installed InDesign 2019 on the most garbage system I could find lying around. A Dell D800 laptop. This system doesn't even support NX/XD so it's life stopped with Windows 7. It sports:

Pentium M (Banias) 1.7GHz

2GB DDR-333

64GB PATA (IDE) SSD

32MB GeForce 4 4200 (installed with Windows XP drivers as there's no Windows 7 drivers)

InDesign 2019 installed, launched and worked, slowly as would definitely be expected, but surprising usable for simple things.

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BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
Nov 22, 2018 12:17 PM UTC

Why are you running them in compatibility mode? And why are you showing us an error from InDesign 12?

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timurk92565940
Participant
Nov 22, 2018 3:18 PM UTC

I have tried running different versions of Indesign and used different compatibility settings. Nothing worked.

Below is the fresh crash report relating to CC 2019:

Faulting application name: InDesign.exe, version: 14.0.1.209, time stamp: 0x5beb1679

Faulting module name: PlugPlugOwl.dll, version: 9.2.1.39, time stamp: 0x5b923bf4

Exception code: 0xc0000005

Fault offset: 0x0000000000019d63

Faulting process id: 0x2794

Faulting application start time: 0x01d4827349cb0d3b

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2019\InDesign.exe

Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2019\PlugPlugOwl.dll

Report Id: c5a0c38d-9b98-4818-bd4f-c35a4a7c08ab

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

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BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
Nov 22, 2018 3:38 PM UTC

Let’s try something. Create a new user account on your machine and try InDesign from there.

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Derek Cross
Community Expert
Community Expert
Nov 22, 2018 6:01 AM UTC

Try resetting your InDesign Preferences, if that doesn’t work uninstall and reinstall the application using the drop-down menu in the Creative Cloud app.

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timurk92565940
Participant
Nov 22, 2018 9:00 AM UTC

Many thanks. Resetting preferences and reinstalling the app has not worked. Any other suggestions that you might have?

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Derek Cross
Community Expert
Community Expert
Nov 22, 2018 9:34 AM UTC

Assuming you have sufficient system requirements: InDesign system requirements

That you uninstalled InDesign using the drop down menu in the Creative Cloud App (see screen shot).

And you correctly reset your preferences then, uninstall InDesign again and run Adobe Cleaner before reinstalling CC2019 / CC2019. Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems

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