DW cc 2019 won't start

[wbear]

Tried opening DW 2019 this morning, and that empty dialog window with Adobe in the title that's been popping up on the first start of each day (just what causes that window is unknown) hung. The program will not start at all now. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling, same result. Booted in between, no change. Nothing was changed by me on DW, and I was working in it yesterday, no problem. I also tried forcing preferences reset, no help.

This is the reported error:

  Problem Event Name:    BEX64

  Application Name:    Dreamweaver.exe

  Application Version:    19.0.0.11193

  Application Timestamp:    5ba43399

  Fault Module Name:    StackHash_1dc2

Then tried launching cc 2018, and that failed because of a windows error:

"the application was unable to start correctly (0xc00007b)". Uninstalling and reinstalling got that working.

Running Windows 7 64 bit. If anyone has an idea on how to get back to being able to use this DW version, I'd appreciate it. Adobe support is totally closed on the weekend, so this starting on Saturday morning is unfortunate.

[ALsp]

Close all open apps. Disconnect your computer from the internet. Now try opening DW 19. Did it open?

[wbear]

Yes, it does. That implies something in either the license checking or updates?

The installed version on the laptop opens fine with internet enabled)

[ALsp]

Now try it when connected, but instead of clicking the icon, right-click and choose Run as Administrator.  I know that's a option in Windows 10, but Windows 7 is so old we do not have a test machine available any longer.

[wbear]

Same result, just took slightly longer to crash/quit.

[ALsp]

Try disabling any security/anti-virus software. If that doesn't work, try one more uninstall/re-install of Dreamweaver. If that doesn't work, I'm afraid you're going to have to call Adobe and let a support person take control of your computer to do an analysis.

[wbear]

Tried all that before coming here, no joy. As for allowing remote login? That won't ever happen, so maybe I'm never going to be able to use it. Terrific. Thanks, Al, for trying.

[ALsp]

A couple of more things to consider...

We make Dreamweaver extensions, so we have to have 19 installed, just to see if our extensions work. We always run 19 disconnected because it's much faster. That said, we would never use 19 for actual production because of all the bugs and the things Adobe has removed. And... we have absolutely no use for Bootstrap as we are capable of writing our own CSS much, much more efficiently, as well as having layout building extensions at our disposal. So, what do we use? A Creative Cloud subscription enables you to install Dreamweaver CS6, which is, hands down, a better product than Dreamweaver 19. So, those are your 2 final options...

1. Use Dreamweaver 19 when disconnected

2. Install CS6 from your Creative Cloud desktop app.

[wbear]

I actually own the "owned" version of CS6. I moved to CC because it wasn't too great at rendering things as they should look when using things like bootstrap. Ironic.

To say I'm disappointed in the direction Adobe has gone would be understating things substantially, but at least I get to pay a significantly increased premium to be that disappointed.

[ALsp]

"I actually own the "owned" version of CS6. I moved to CC because it wasn't too great at rendering things as they should look when using things like bootstrap. Ironic."

It is, sadly . It's as if Adobe used Bootstrap like a drug, tempting people. I guess I can't convince you that Bootstrap sucks. It's really a shame.

[wbear]

The methods and tech that drive design these days change so rapidly that I could easily spend all of my time just relearning it on every new site. Shortcuts like bootstrap and Dreamweaver allow me to spend a little less time learning and more simply progressing.

Anyway, the issue isn't fixed, but I can sort of work around it at this point using CC 2018 or starting 19 twice. I'm resisting Win 10 as long as I can (simply can't stand it), so that's out. Reinstalling Win7 seems overkill also, since it's only this one program out of everything I use, so I tend to doubt it's Windows, leaning towards changes in DW instead.

Ridiculous, but there you have it.

[wbear]

OK, not sure what specifically fixed this, but for now it seems it's working.

Steps:

Removed old versions of the Flash player (currently none installed)

Ran the winsock reset from Nancy's second link above (and partly due to Al's try offline notion) and rebooted.

On reboot, no mysterious blank window on first DW 2019 startup, and it's faster starting than before.

No idea if that will last over time (wondering if licensing was involved and it will come back at some point, even though I'm definitely licensed), but for now working. Thank you both for taking the time to offer help.

[wbear]

The mysterious blank window returned the very next day, convincing me it's a license check of some kind. It shows up just once per day (never did with any previous version), and forces me to quit DW. Restarting DW works, at least.

I'd be willing to request support from Adobe, but the first (2nd, third, and 4th) thing they demand is remote access, which I won't allow. No one gets that.

[ALsp]

Adobe tech support people tend to be trained to work with scripts. They do not tend to be expert in either web development or the application itself. We could probably help you by walking through things in a phone chat that would be too tedious to go through online, but our free support is reserved for our customers. If you are in the States, I would give it at least a shot. You can hover over my name to discover my web site, on which you can find contact information.

[Preran]

You are right. The window that you see is the licensing window doing a quick check on your computer. It usually lasts a few seconds before it disappears. I am guessing that your experience is different than mine, and the window stays put. Is that the case?

[Nancy OShea]

Do you have all the lastest Win 7 updates?

Please open your Windows Event Viewer  and tell us which faulting module is causing DW to crash.   

https://www.winhelp.us/event-viewer-in-windows.html

My guess is that you have a corrupted or missing DLL file.   Sometimes Microsoft sends out the wrong graphics drivers with their Win updates.  It's usually best to get driver updates directly from the graphics card manufacturer's website.

Or perhaps there is a conflict from another application like Lavasoft or Bins Utility. See link below for details.

Photoshop crashes with Lavasoft Chrome extension or Bins utility installed

[wbear]

Looks like mshtml.dll is the one that fails now. Saw a reference to that while searching for this issue, and it indicated a Flash player issue. Removed all Flash players (several versions existed) from Windows, and rebooted. On first start of DW 19 I get the same blank window and it crashes. If I start up again after that, I can access the program.

Up to date in Windows, and no Lavasoft Chrome extensions (only installed for testing) or "bins".

Graphics drivers were updated while troubleshooting this, no joy.

[TechByter]

I am seeing this problem, too. Uninstall/reinstall as unhelpful, but it appears that Dreamweaver will start in another user account. I've renamed the cache file (WinFileCache-4D8A80E4.dat), but that also didn't help. Because Dreamweaver was unable to start, it has not created a new cache file. Next, I tried deleting the preferences (select dreamweaver.exe in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Dreamweaver CC 2019 and double-click and pressing and holding WinKey+Shift+Ctrl). That also didn't help.

I am officially out of ideas.

[TechByter]

This may not help anyone else, but here's an oddball step to try.

Dreamweaver wasn't really crashing on startup, it just took 15+ minutes to start. I discovered this when I started Dreamweaver, forgot about it, and went to feed a cat for somebody who's out of town. When I came back, Dreamweaver was running.

Concurrent with this problem, several other issues cropped up starting on 29 December:

1. Windows crashed on shutdown.
2. Changes made in the Windows File manager didn't appear until I refreshed the screen (F5).
3. Google Drive was unresponsive.

Then I noticed that I had left a DVD in an external CD/DVD player. I removed the DVD.

• Windows now shuts down normally.
• Changes made in the Windows Explorer are reflected immediately.
• Dreamweaver now starts normally.
• Google Drive's normal operation has been restored.

So the problem was that Windows was apparently waiting for a signal from the external disc player. Once that was resolved, there was no longer a problem.

File under: User error combined with Microsoft goofiness.