Adobe Application Manager Errors

[DaveH5]

For the last week or so I'm seeing an error message in my Windows 10 Application log on every boot, and then repeated at random intervals.

The error is this -

Faulting application name: AAM Updates Notifier.exe, version: 9.0.0.281, time stamp: 0x5776ade0

Faulting module name: UpdaterCore.dll, version: 9.0.0.30, time stamp: 0x5773799f

Exception code: 0xc0000005

Fault offset: 0x0006287e

Faulting process ID: 0x2a30

Faulting application start time: 0x01d3a8c7ece02e87

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE\PDApp\UWA\AAM Updates Notifier.exe

Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE\PDApp\UWA\UpdaterCore.dll

Report ID: 6e36136e-8581-4762-aa2c-41421964a69a

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

I have tried to uninstall and reinstall AAM, but there seems to be no uninstall option for it.

I downloaded the latest version and just reinstalled it, which seemed to work OK, but the error messages are still there.

I'm not 100% sure, but they may have started when Windows 10 was last updated on "Patch Tuesday" last week.

Is this a known issue?

Things do seem to be still working OK apart from the error messages.

AAM Updates Notifier.exe is not shown as running in my Windows Task Manager. Should it be?

This is the standalone version of AAM, not the version included with the Creative Cloud App, which I don't use as it constantly nags me to update an application I haven't got installed. This is due to a bug triggered by the presence of Premiere Pro CS6 on the system, which has never been resolved.

I only have one actual CC application installed (Muse) so I've never seen any need to have the CC App installed anyway.

Any help gratefully received!

Cheers,

Dave.

[robertr40042824]

Hi Dave. Thanks for the info. I give that a try earlier today and it worked. Good job working with tech support. So glad this got resolved without anymore major surgery on our systems.

FYI, the empty file at "ProgramData\Adobe\AAMUpdater\1.0" is not a file at all, its a symbolic link that points to "Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Local\Adobe\1.0" You'll notice that most of the files in that folder were created when the updater ran the first time, or maybe they are recreated every time it runs depending on the Adobe updating process.

I knew that zero byte thing looked familiar but I just couldn't place it.  I've used symbolic links to relocate my Documents, Photos, Downloads and few other large folders from the SSD that my programs are on to one of my larger spinner drives.

Take core and thanks for finally finding a solution - the Gods reward persistence!

Don't forget to make the thread as Solved to help others.

Bob R.

[Bob Dunkley]

Hi Dave, many thanks for that - although I should point out that the folder C:\ProgramData\Adobe\AAMUpdater is hidden and needs to be enabled to view.

Regards

BobD

[DaveH5]

Thanks Bob R and Bob D!

I hadn't realised it was a symbolic link, that makes perfect sense.

It looks like it just needed to be removed and recreated, why I can't imagine, but at least it fixed it, and Adobe support are obviously aware of the problem as the support guy went straight to it once he was made aware of it.

I wonder what it was that caused it to malfunction. I still think it's likely that the Windows 10 update changed something that stopped it working properly, and which reversing out the update did not correct, but I guess we'll now never know!

All's well that ends well anyway!

Cheers,

Dave.

[DaveH5]

Well sorry to report that the errors are back again!

They started again on Thursday evening (15th), which was after the latest Patch Tuesday updates to Windows 10, which I suspect was no coincidence, although the updates happened for me on Tuesday 13th, and it did seem OK for a couple of days after that, so I really don't know whether the updates are relevant to the problem or not.

I've tried doing what the Adobe support guy did to apparently fix it last time, removing the C:\ProgramData\Adobe\AAMUpdater folder, but it doesn't fix it now. If I run the scheduled task manually, the folder is recreated, but the error is thrown, and is thrown again every time the task runs.

Are any of you seeing this again too?

Cheers, Dave.

[robertr40042824]

Hi Dave. Same here. Error occurred on 3/15 and again on 3/19 (today). Maybe the April MS major update will fix it but for now I'm just going to use Task Scheduler to disable the task.

[DaveH5]

Oh dear, I didn't have a lot of confidence that the applied "fix" would last for long!

At least it did last about 10 days!

Yes, there is supposed to be a major Windows 10 update soon, so we'll see what that brings.

I did delete all the AAM folders again, and also removed the scheduled task, and then reinstalled it again, but I'm not holding out much hope.

Rather worryingly, the installer didn't put the scheduled task back, but it reappeared when I logged in using Muse.

Cheers, Dave.

[Steven_Day]

guys this I am pretty certain this isnt a windows update issue its an adobe issue.

The reason I know this is because I am running win7 on a desktop AND a laptop that have both started flagging this exact error in the events log on the dates you confirm.

I also know for definite that its not a windows update issue that is causing this for me because my windows auto updates are off on both machines and have been for several months. The only thing thats updating under windows is Defender.

however I would ask if you have acrobat reader DC running as this little beauty is a master of stealthily updating adobe apps without you knowing. the activation of the genuine validation checker and the like. It wouldnt surprise me in the slightest to find that this little b*****r had changed something on or around the 14th feb.

Strangely I have one that appears to run the updater but flags the error in events with no popup and the other does the whole popup thing and does not successfully run the app. both error at 2am and both generate the same error to eventlog. also can i say that the desktop is only running CS5 apps with no CC installed. the laptop has one CC app installed and the rest are CS5.

[DaveH5]

Thanks Steven. I'm actually now working again with Adobe technical support on this, and I'm also pretty convinced that it's nothing directly to do with any Windows updates now, although it is strange that the errors suddenly started appearing when there had been no obvious update to any of my Adobe software.

I am waiting for a response from technical support at the moment, and I do get the impression that they have acknowledged the problem.

I now have the full Creative Cloud Desktop app installed again, and the error is still there with that.

Now of course there is a much bigger issue for me in that they've just announced that they are discontinuing Adobe Muse!

[robertr40042824]

Hi Steven_Day and DaveH5. Thanks for the updates and glad to see that Adobe Tech support is working on this. Sorry that Muse is being retired - very aggravating.

I suspected that this issue is wide spread. Note that I do not have Reader DC installed. I have Reader XI along with Acrobat 9 Standard. I also have the acrobat updater disabled in Task Scheduler to avoid Reader DL being installed. FYI, installing Reader DL hoses the file associations for Acrobat 9 and unfortunately Reader DL then prevents Acrobat 9 from being set as the default PDF reader.

Please keep us updated on any developments.

Bob R.

[Steven_Day]

while looking at what was and wasnt causing this I  found that reader DC updater in addition to the scheduled task entry also runs from the startup set in msconfig and has a running update service which can be seen in the services menu. so if i were you i would check if your version has these too.

in mine its called adobe updater in services,

its like trying to turn off a damned virus this stuff.

[DaveH5]

Just to pass on that I've now finished working with Adobe technical support about this.

I got the impression that they had finally reproduced the problem locally.

They closed the case saying that it had been referred on as a bug, and should be fixed in a future update to the Creative Cloud Desktop app. I assume that the standalone Application Manager will get the fix at the same time.

We'll just have to wait and see!

Cheers,

Dave.

[robertr40042824]

Hi Dave, thanks for the update and for working with Adobe support. It looks promising.

A few thing have happened on my end as well. Yesterday morning I noticed that the Adobe Creative Cloud icon was active on my quick start menu. There were 3 updates available, Photoshop CC, Lightroom Classic CC and Camera Raw CC. The updates took a significant amount of time to download and install, indicating that they contained significant changes. Then after reading your update of yesterday I went to task scheduler and enabled the AAM Updater and set it to run at 9:00AM today. It did not produce an error.

This tells me that the Creative Cloud update process does not need the AAM updater to run on a scheduled basis, which is interesting.

Another thing that I am curious about is did the recent update reset whatever it is that was causing the AAM failures or are we seeing a repeat on the short term fix by virtue of the updates?  I suppose that its possible that Abode squashed the bug already but the timing of their response to you appears to be too close to the update to allow sufficient time for that to happen.

I guess time will tell. I'll post back if the AAM error returns.

Bob R.

UPDATE: 2018-04-26

A few minutes ago the Creative Cloud Desktop App updated on my desktop. Maybe this is the log awaited fix for the AAM Updater?

Did you notice this as well?

Bob R.