Adobe Bridge CS6 will not open

[canadianego]

I intalled PS CS6 yesterday only to find that Btidge does not open. I've searched for answers since then and have yet to find any. I've reinstalled it just to see if that would make a difference, but it hasn't. I'm currently running Windows 7 64bit. Photoshop runs great, the only problem is with Bridge, and apparently I can't get any help from Adobe until tomorrow

[Ashtree25]

Oh dear, that's not good is it?  I don't think I'll give up just yet - I'm hoping for a reply on a blog here about startup issues.  If I get nothing from there I don't know where I'll go next.  But at least I have CS2 still installed and I can use that version of Bridge - it doesn't open with PS CS6 of course, but it's one solution and at least I can use Photoshop itself, which I'm really pleased with.  If I do find the solution I'll let you know

Thanks for your response.

[Guest]

Ashtree25,

You seemed to have joined this thread with same problem as OP, which is OK.  But do not know it is exact same to add advice.

What have you tried?  It is very unusal one can not the program.  Does it start to load of do nothing.  Right click on Bridge.exe and Open?  File should have 20,276kb.

Have you checked Task Manager in processes tab to see in another Bridge.exe is running in background?  Only one program can be open.

[Ashtree25]

Hi Curt

The problem is that Bridge doesn't even start to load.  I've tried opening it from the start menu and from the shortcut on the task bar.  All I get is a rotating circle for about 2 seconds and then nothing.  If I try to launch it from within Photoshop (File, Browse in Bridge) the same thing happens, i.e. nothing!  If I go to File, Browse in Mini-Bridge, the panel opens at the bottom of the screen with a message "Bridge must be running to open files" and a button "Launch Bridge"  I click on this and get a message "Waiting for Bridge CS6..."  This message is eternal   Nothing further happens.  I've also tried right-clicking on Bridge in the start menu and the task bar and selecting open, but still nothing.

I haven't yet tried Task Manager - will try that in a mo, thanks!

Where would I find Bridge.exe?  I think the two locations I've mentioned are just short-cuts - one on the task bar and one in the programme list.

Thanks for your help.

[rob_ashcroft]

Ashtree

I think this is correct... (famous last words)

If you load CS6 PS first then load CS2 Bridge and open a file, it should use CS6 PS. The default for my CS6 Bridge is CS6 64bit PS, but if I have CS6 32 bit loaded it will use that from Bridge if CS6 32bit is already loaded.

You can also change the system settings to automatically load a different PS version, if you wanted to, so that a file opened from Bridge would start a non-standard default version of PS.

But ideally, you need to find out what your original problem is caused by.

[Ashtree25]

Hi Rob

Thanks for your response and suggestions.  The thing is, I can't even get Bridge open in any way shape or form, so I can't open a file from Bridge.  What I've been doing is using my old CS2 Bridge and toggling between that and Photoshop.  CS2 will open a file straight into PS CS6, so that's a relief but I really would like to be able to use the mini-bridge.

Cheers.

[Guest]

Many with this same situation have found that they have an uninstalled trial on the computer.  Bridge thinks it needs to have permission from this program before opening.  Uninstalled this results in Bridge working as normal.

[Ashtree25]

Hi Curt

I've checked and no, I don't have any trial version on my pc - the only other version I have is CS2 (I have the entire creative suite in this version).  I am loathe to uninstall this because I am at least able to use that version of Bridge.  Incidentally, when I installed PS CS6 I notice it installed 2 versions of both photoshop and bridge - the standard one (I presume this is the 32bit?) and the 64bit.  Will this make a difference do you think? 

[Guest]

I would definately NOT install CS2.  They should not conflict with each other.  And no the 32 and 64 bit version should also not conflict.

Trials conflict as they are competing applications.

[Ashtree25]

Thanks Curt - I take it you mean I should definitely not uninstall CS2?

[station_two]

Ashtree25 wrote:

Thanks Curt - I take it you mean I should definitely not uninstall CS2?

How much more clearly do you want Curt to state it?  That is exactly what he wrote in the very first sentence of his post #39. 

[Ashtree25]

Station_two, Curt's first sentence was "I would definately NOT install CS2. "  which is why I asked him to clarify that he mean uninstall, not install .  I realised it was probably a typo, but just wanted to be sure .  (with apologies if you were just having a joke here - sorry, lack of body language and all that, haha!)

[station_two]

Ouch, my bad!  I misread that.  You are 100% correct, sorry. 

[ChunXiaYang]

Please check your system TEMP folder path. And please set it back to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp if it is not this, and try to launch Bridge again.

How to chec and change the TEMP folder:
1.  open Control Panel\System and Security\System
2. Click Advanced System Settings
3. Click Enviroment Variables
4. You will see the Temp and TMP folder settings

Bridge Quality Engineer

Chun Xia

[Ashtree25]

Thanks Chun Xia for your suggestion.  I've just checked the TEMP and TMP folder paths and they are already exactly as you've noted,  so unfortunately this isn't the solution

Ashtree25

[ChunXiaYang]

Do you have time now? Can we setup a connection and let me check your computer?

[ChunXiaYang]

Please refer to http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/bridge_cs6_wont_open_running_on_win7.

Can you try to create a new account user (with adm rights) and install PS/Bridge again? Please let me know the result.

Thanks for the time!

[ChunXiaYang]

Besides create a new account, you can also try:

1. Find the folder C:\Users\[your user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge CS6
2. If you have import settings in Bridge, please back up this folder. Then delete all the stuff in this folder.
3. Launch Bridge again.

[Ashtree25]

Hi Chun Xia

Sorry for delay - been away from the computer.  So, update:  I set up a new User Account with admin rights and hey presto, I have Bridge working! Thank you so much! 

I'm still trying to work out, though, what impact this has on all my stuff - do I have to port everything across to this new user?  Or can I just leave everything as it is?

Once again, thanks for your help - I'm just so grateful to have found a solution to this!

Ashtree25

[ChunXiaYang]

If deleting C:\Users\[your user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge CS6 cannot resolve this issue, but only creating new account can, I am afraid that you need to port your settings to the new user. Because we did not find what cause this issue exactly. Sorry for this.

Anyway, I'm gald you can use Bridge now. Thanks for supporting Adobe products and Bridge!

[mj_wilson]

I've had this same exact problem.  I also tried all the suggestions, including checking settings, deleting C:\Users\[your user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge CS6 (including the directory itself).  No luck.   Adding a new user, then using it to start Bridge worked great, but that is not really a solution.  One added piece of info:  Bridge did recreate the above directory before dying, although it remains empty.  I haven't found any logfiles that might help understand how far it got.   Is there a log file or a registry setting that will enable detailed logging to help diagnose this?

There is obviously something in my normal user's profile or environment that is getting in the way of startup.  You (Adobe) have the code and the startup can't be that convoluted.  Someone should be able to walk the code, figure out what things are checked between creating the above directory and the next externally detectable step (like creating a file in this directory or logging something into a log file), then reply here with a list of specific things to check.

I got into a chat with Adobe support several days ago, where I went through several steps of ensuring I was using a properly licensed version only to be told that he didn't know Bridge and asked that I call during the day on Monday.  The sign off message to that chat was funny - they mentioned 24x365 support 🙂  Luckily, I've worked support in my past and I have a sense of humor.

[canadianego]

If anyone knew what to be looking for it sounds like you'd be the one. After giving up on Bridge and all of the current 'solutions', I've still had an interest in what went wrong, but not enough to deal with people telling me to come back when somebody competant decides to come around. I'm thinking this problem has been popular enough to become almost a priority now, so best of luck! (:

[mj_wilson]

Thanks!

Actually, I'd love to work for Adobe for a few days to dig in and fix this issue 😉  I'm a software engineer turned product manager in my day job for a company down the road from Adobe (in a non-competing industry) and greatly admire most of what Adobe has produced.  Actually, I guess I'd love to work for Adobe in general - it would be nice to work on my toys as a day job 🙂

These little problems can be extremely tricky to solve until you get enough information to recreate.  I can recreate it at will but don't have the tools to dig in.  I'm sure Adobe would love to solve this, but they obviously haven't recreated it themselves.  All they can do is try to make good suggestions or provide tools or debug procedures that we can use to provide them better info.

[Ashtree25]

Adobe, are you listening to mjw5997?  He wants to work for you and fix this problem.  From all I've seen and read, it sounds like an embarrassing percentage of your customers (who've spent, in many cases, an obscene amount of money for this software) are simply not getting the goods they paid for. 

I reckon, if you value your reputation, you'd be pretty dumb not to take on someone who is prepared to dig you out of this pit - you don't seem to have anyone else working for you who knows how to do it, so what have you got to lose?

[mj_wilson]

I'd bet it's actually a very tiny percentage of customers - many thousands of happy quiet customers, and a few having troubles and posting here.

[Guest]

mjw5997 wrote:

I'd bet it's actually a very tiny percentage of customers - many thousands of happy quiet customers, and a few having troubles and posting here.

I tend to agree.  Not an Adobe employee, or even a computer whiz, but dealing with thousands of complaints I have seen a pattern.

There are those problems that are true bugs and affect everyone.  Adobe can easily reproduce the problem in the lab and eventually write a fix.

Then there are the bugs that affect a small percentage of users, like this issue, that are not easy to reproduce in the lab.  For whatever reason it is some combination of OS, hardware, software, permission levels, installation (programs work best on C drive), and user errors that results in the program not working on that particular computer.   Because there are slight variations in all computer configurations a fix for one may not result in a fix for another.  One also has the added complexity of the user practices, such as did the user just delete a program so there are bits and pieces left over to complicate things, have they moved pieces of the program to other locations "to make it look more organized", was there a glitch in the install process or uninstall of old programs, are the OS, drivers, software up to date?

In complex cases that affect a small number of users, from my experience, the best bet for success is to have the users with the problems start comparing notes.  Anti-virus programs are always first on the list of potential problems, then come programs that "handle" certain issues, remapping keys, storing fonts, and so forth.

I don't mean to pass the buck, or give excuses for Adobe, but waiting for Adobe "to just fix it" will never happen if the issue can not be reproduced in the lab.  And to get it reproduced will require a lot of work from the users.  There are some really smart users out there and it may be someone like mjw5997 that identifies the problem. 

I post user fixes all the time as Adobe has not rewritten the code to address the problem of these particular issues.