Captivate Project that was working, can no longer open

[JaceInman]

I was literally working on a Captivate project earlier this morning. I saved it, and we activated our Adobe CC Captivate version from our serial number. I am not able to open the project. How can I fix this? Weeks worth of work are on hold...

Here's what I am being told when trying to open the project.

It was 100% fine before in the demo version, before the serial got activated.

Moderator: this thread is not giving any real solution. It turned out that  OP was trying to open a CP10 file in CP9 instead of the reverse. A Captivate file made in a recent version can never be opened in an older version, statement which you can find a lot on these forums.

[Lilybiri]

Captivate is not in the Creative Cloud. What do you mean: did you upgrade from Captivate 9 to Captivate 2017?

[JaceInman]

Yes, that's what I meant.

[Lilybiri]

Try deleting the cache and cleaning the Preferences. Was the project properly closed? No files with lck extension in the folder with the cptx-files?

I hope you also kept the previous version (CP9).

[JaceInman]

I am not sure how to delete cache / clean preferences, is it through this? I just cleared it, still not working.

The project was properly closed. No files with lck extension in the folder.

We upgraded, so no there is no more CP9 on any machines since it was in demo mode.

[Lilybiri]

Clean Preferences: in the subfolder 'utils' under the installation folder of Captivate you'll find two CleanPreferences files. Run that one which fits your OS.

Did you turn on Backup for the files, do you have a backup file?

I'm asking this, because clearing the cache, which you can from the Preferences (they are available before opening any project, from the Welcome screen: depends on the OS, for Windows it is under Edit menu), by using the button in General settings, will also clear the cache of that project. If you don't have a backup, the cache folder may be the last possibility to restore a previous version of the project.

Last possibility: re-install the trial version of CP9 to see if you can open the project. It is perfectly possible to have multiple versions of CP. On my desktop I have 5 versions of CP.

[JaceInman]

I just cleaned the preferences.

I didn't know there was a backup function, nor that it would be necessary to run. So no.

What should I do here? I am perplexed that this is even an issue.

[JaceInman]

OKAY Thank heavens, it works in the demo mode.

How can I port this over to my CC Captivate?

[Lilybiri]

Do you mean that you installed Trial version of Captivate 9 and that you are able to open the project in that version?

Please turn on the backup in Preferences, General Settings. Put a copy of that project safely away before trying to open it in Captivate 2017. There is no Captivate CC, CC means Creative Cloud, and Captivate is not part of the Creative Cloud. You talked about a Serial Number, which means you have a perpetual license, not a subscription license. CC only exists with subscription licenses.

Are you on Windows or on Mac, please? If you are on WIndows, you have to run Captivate as Administrator. Open Captivate, then try to open the project from the Welcome screen, using Browse button.

[mohanadas]

Hi,

Are you trying to open the file in Captivate 9 after saving it in Captivate 2017?

If not, can you write to us at mdas@adobe.com and send across your file, and we will look into the issue. You can upload the project on a shared location e.g. Dropbox and send us the link

Thanks,

Mohana

[JaceInman]

Hello Mohanadas.

I am actually trying to do the opposite. My project was created while on the demo version (I believe it's Captivate 9), we activated the demo to 2017 (I believe). Could you assist? The solution before yours (running Captivate as admin) still yielded no results.

I emailed you shortly ago.

[JaceInman]

Solved.

Turns out that later versions of Captivate are not compatible with earlier versions. For some reason we got Captivate version 9 purchased instead of 10. All is well.

[Lilybiri]

Of course, you even get that warning whenever you save an older version to a more recent version. This thread is very misleading, because the original question was giving wrong information. I will lock the thread, have marked it as Assumed answered. There is no correct answer at all.