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SteveRuddy
SteveRuddy
Known Participant
July 21, 2014
Answered

Error Message Server Busy During Startup

  • July 21, 2014
  • 33 replies
  • 70164 views

During LR startup I get a Server Busy Window that says

This action cannot be completed because the other program is busy. Choose switch to to activate the busy program and correct the problem.

This does correct the problem but why is this necessary and how to I get rid of the error during start up?

    Correct answer photoguy815

    A fix to Lightroom's “Server Busy Error” on a Windows 7 64 bit computer:

    I see in the discussion threads there are a LOT of frustrated people over this Server Busy issue, so I hope this helps someone. This is what Adobe tech support had me do, which fixed my problem. I got through on the phone right away, and the fix took no longer than 20 minutes to determine, with the support person remoting into my computer.

    • I already had Lightroom 5.6 installed through my Creative Cloud subscription, and it had worked for a few weeks for me, although with increasing problems with the Server Busy box popping up. I was able to get rid of it by switching to Switch and Retry, but eventually it locked me out entirely.
    • Tech Support told me the problem was a permissions issue.
    • Try the following and see if it solves your problem:
      • In C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe, find the SL Cache folder and move it to your Desktop.
      • In C:\ProgramData\Adobe, find the SL Store folder and move it to your Desktop.
      • R Click on your Lightroom icon and “Run as Administrator”.
      • If it opens correctly, that shows it is working now.
      • Close Lightroom and reopen the application normally.

    At this point I was good to go again. 9/17/14

    33 replies

    Show previous replies
    P
    PJ_Traveler
    Participating Frequently
    November 19, 2015

    I followed the suggested steps of moving the SL data out of the adobe directories....

    This resulted in LR wanting me to RE register.  The Adobe site was down....

    finally, it is re registered, but now the SERVER BUSY error is back......

    F
    Frank Richards
    Participant
    July 5, 2015

    christonabicycle - Apparently this fix works for some, but not all.  My experiences have been the similar to yours in that the "Retry/Switch To" dialog reoccurs in a short time.  In my case, this is only a LR 6 issue.  I do not have this problem when using LR 5.7 or PS CS6.  I suspect that Adobe has retched up their license checking routine with CC, since this appears to be a permissions related issue.  I have tried various fixes including spending many hours on the phone with an Adobe expert.  I am sure that Adobe could fix this, but seems not to be interested.  So I guess we are just screwed, or in my case, I'll stick with the LR 5.7 and PS CS6 which I know work.

    Frank

    Chrisinhouston
    Chrisinhouston
    Known Participant
    July 5, 2015

    Funny thing but I have not had this issue pop up now for over 2 months! It used to happen every time I restarted my computer and booted LR up. Now it never happens and I didn't do anything different or try any of the new suggestions, it just stopped. I had just assumed Adobe changed something.

    F
    Frank Richards
    Participant
    June 13, 2015

    When you remove the SL files, you are removing the registration data for LR.  Follow the path other than trail and you will be asked to register LR.  You will need the serial number for LR 6 and maybe the serial number of prior LR if you have upgraded.  It is a pain, but it does fix the problem for a while, or maybe permanently, if you are lucky.

    Frank

    M
    MelPainter
    Participant
    June 13, 2015

    I tried moving the SL cache folders etc - and when I tried to open lightroom it asked me if I wanted  to start a trial!

    Hastily moved the folders back!

    Mel

    F
    Frank Richards
    Participant
    June 1, 2015

    Update.  I had already downloaded LR 6.0.1 and it did not correct the problem.  Clicking "Switch To" works for a while, but the LR eventually locks up when loading.  From my perspective, this seems to be a permissions issue associated with more stringent license validation, rather than a disc related issue.  Anyway, I have given up on LR 6 and gone back to LR 5.7 which functions just as it should.   I notice Adobe folks have not entered this discussion nor is there any indication that there may be fix on the way.  Sad state of affairs when a broken product is introduced and not supported.

    christonabicycle
    christonabicycle
    Participating Frequently
    June 3, 2015

    OK, I'm seeing that others are reporting issues with LR and external drives that may have taken a nap.  I am seeing the same behavior.  If I "wake" them or have been using them recently, LR starts up OK.  Otherwise, it's the old wait and "Switch To" routine.  Very annoying.

    m2

    F
    Frank Richards
    Participant
    May 26, 2015

    This problem cropped up shortly after installing LR 6.  (OS is Win 7 Pro) I never experienced it with LR1 through LR5.  The preferred solution on this forum works for a few days and then we are back to the Server Busy dialog box and LR locks up again. 

     

     

    I finally navigated my way through the Adobe support menu to a live chat (no phone support for LR6 that I could find).  After being passed through 3 techs during the chat, the last tech (name available on request) finally called me and took over my computer. After 4 hours on the phone and totally reconfiguring my computer (screwing it up bigtime), it appeared as though the LR problem may have been fixed.  Not so, LR 6 has locked up again (4 days later) with the same problem.  It appears to be time to give up on LR 6.  Thoughts?

     

    christonabicycle
    christonabicycle
    Participating Frequently
    May 26, 2015

    Jeez, Frank.  I'm in the same boat with same system.  Not happy.  Not fixed, and I, too, wonder how long I will stick now, although the lack of alternatives may make me stay longer.  Hope it's not longer than it should be.  Time will tell.  Concerned about stability and etc now.  Not good.

    M
    Must_Warn_Others
    Participating Frequently
    May 26, 2015

    I think I got too excited too soon. After a couple of days the "server busy" pops up again ... only during startup of the apps. I thought I had fixed my DreamWeaver ... sadly, not. Both Dreamweaver and Lightroom exhibit the same "server busy" error although Lightroom seems to "work through it" more easily (after some switching back and forth between the start menu and Lightroom). Dreamweaver on the other hand can you leave you questioning why your life's not simpler.

    M
    Must_Warn_Others
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2015

    Unbelievable. I've been living with this for years. Actually, LR is okay ... but I used your fix to take care of Dreamweaver which did the same thing. I hope she's gone for good.

    christonabicycle
    christonabicycle
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2015

    Must_Warn_Others -- which fix are you referring to that worked for you?  I'm still on the prowl for something that works.


    Must_Warn_Others May 22, 2015 7:08 PM (in response to SteveRuddy)

    Unbelievable. I've been living with this for years. Actually, LR is okay ... but I used your fix to take care of Dreamweaver which did the same thing. I hope she's gone for good.

    M
    Must_Warn_Others
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2015

    The one from photoguy815 on 9/17/2014 ... here.

    He mentions the routine at the end of this message. The only thing I have left to do is dig in and better understand why this fixes the problem. And I don't want to keep those two directories on my desktop even though it looks like they may have been regenerated when I started Dreamweaver. As a side note ... in step 3 when I ran DW as administrator it asked me to sign in to my creative cloud account which I had already done ... and then it notified me that the DW installation would be tied to my Creative Cloud ID ... which, I would have thought was the case already. It actually looked like it was "applying permissions" to the application that should have been done when I first installed DW. Regardless, there is nothing like stable software to help you be more productive and now I can use DW without having to go through 5 minutes of gyrations to get it started.

    [photoguy815 instructions]

    Try the following and see if it solves your problem:

    1. In C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe, find the SL Cache folder and move it to your Desktop.
    2. In C:\ProgramData\Adobe, find the SL Store folder and move it to your Desktop.
    3. R Click on your Lightroom icon and “Run as Administrator”.
    4. If it opens correctly, that shows it is working now.
    5. Close Lightroom and reopen the application normally.
      christonabicycle
      christonabicycle
      Participating Frequently
      May 16, 2015

      People, just take the 6.0.1 upgrade and see if it fixes it. 

      It did for me and hasn't failed for two or three days now.

      G
      Gary Gray
      Participating Frequently
      May 16, 2015

      I did the 6.01 upgrade right after purchasing the 6.0 upgrade.  The problem has been there at least since 5.x and 6.01 did nothing to resolve the problem for me.

      H
      h4xintl
      Participating Frequently
      May 16, 2015

      I did what I said in #57 and haven't had a problem in 3 days (picture my crossed fingers here).

      LR6 stand-alone upgrade is the only program to have given me a problem. Although it may be possible for different apps to create a similar problem, I agree that this appears to be an Adobe-induced problem. All of my seven hard drives, LR6 and the and computer have been sleeping, shut down and restarted since I upgraded to 6.01. I remain hopeful.

      John

        G
        Gary Gray
        Participating Frequently
        May 15, 2015

        I began seeing the server busy error while still running LR 5.7.x, late in the update cycle.  I upgraded to LR 6 stand alone and I get the problem just about every time I open LR6.   I tried the fix posted earlier, it fixed it for one computer reboot.  The problem still persists.

        I'm on a Windows 7 Pro platform, 16 gigs of memory.  No other problems with any other software.

        What a pain.

        christonabicycle
        christonabicycle
        Participating Frequently
        May 15, 2015

        OK, I did the 6.0.1 upgrade yesterday.  It fixed it for me and has held through about 10 reboots. (win7 update files --- grrrr).

        Good luck folks, and I hope mine holds!

        By the way, the folder removal or renaming mentioned above did nothing for me.

        G
        Gary Gray
        Participating Frequently
        May 15, 2015

        Here's what I've noticed.  The problem doesn't always appear when starting LR.  It seems to be more prone to do it if I'm loading LR for the first time in a while (I haven't figured out how long a while is), but once it clears, I can reload different catalogs and it seems to load without the error.

        I'm wondering if it's looking for an idle hard drive or something.  Some hard drives go to sleep and don't necessarily wake up very fast when you try to use your system.

        Chrisinhouston
        Chrisinhouston
        Known Participant
        May 10, 2015

        Well, add me to this list for the Server Busy Error message. I upgraded from LR 5.7 to 6, I am not a CC member and paid the usual $79 for the upgrade and started getting this message almost immediately. I tend to go several days without closing out LR or restarting my computer so while I don't get the message often I do if I have restarted my system. When I open LR I get the message for about 1-2 minutes and then it goes away by itself and the catalog loads but that is time I don't always have. I tried moving those folders to the desktop but that didn't seem to help.

        Nothing else changed since I upgraded, I use my C drive for all programs but images are on my internal F drive a 2TB which is only half full. I have a fast fairly up to date machine with 16gb ram so I don't think it is a hardware issue.

        R
        Ryadia™
        Inspiring
        May 11, 2015

        Far be it from me to support another brand here but you might find an interesting solution to this 'Windows' problem if you present the question of "server busy error message" or "Switch tasks or retry error message" in a Corel Draw forum!

        Yep... I first got his problem 4 years ago when I installed Corel Draw. It took a while but eventually they provided a fix for it that is probably still documented on their support forums. The problem is a Windows matter. Not an Adobe one. If it were and Adobe issue, other brand software users would not also get the same errors, would they?

        If you can afford the $65 payment Microsoft ask for, you might strike a technician there who has come across this issue and give you a fix for it. It has only come back on my computer since I put a new drive and fresh Windows on it. If I get time later this week, I'll put the old drive in a PC and see if I can find the permanent fix message.

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