Creative Cloud won't start (I've done my homework)

[Justin Ball 1]

Please Help!

To be clear, I've never had issues in the past two years, but suddenly, I can’t get Creative Cloud to open. Each time I open it, I see the following message:

“Adobe Creative Cloud is taking longer than usual to load,” followed by, “Unable to reach Adobe servers. Please check your firewall settings to ensure that the time settings on your computer are correct, and try again”

Using Windows 10 Pro (64-bit), I tried the following after the app wouldn’t open:

• Closing and restarting the app - same message
• Restarting PC - same message
• Checked my subscription status = only installed on 2 systems. 
• Closing all Adobe-related tasks in Task Manager and restarting the app - same message
• Closing ALL applications that are open on my system - same message
• Reparing Creative Cloud using Creative Cloud Unistaller - same message
• Uninstalling Creative Cloud using Creative Cloud Unistaller - same message
• Uninstalling Creative Cloud and all Adobe apps - same message
• Truning off firewall settings - same message
• Creating exception for Creative Cloud & CCX Process in Windows Firewall Defender
• Updating Windows 10
• Upgrading to Windows 11 
• Downgrading back to Windows 10 
• Reset my router and checked internet speed (Metronet Gigabit = 700Mbps Up, 900Mbps Down)
• Testing connection to Adobe Servers - confirmed CONNECTED
• Opening the app using Wifi (300Mbps Up, 500Mbps Down)
• Installing Previous versions of 32 and 64-bit Creative Cloud 
• Uninstalled earlier version of CC and replaced with most recent version
• In (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe Desktop Common\CEF), changing the name of “vulkan-1.dll” to vulkan.dll 
• Removing Adobe Intermediate CA and Adobe Content Certificates via “Manage User Certificates,” then restarting Creative Cloud 
• Removing Adobe User and Adobe App Certificates via Credential Manager
• Downloaded the latest C++ distributables (both 32 and 64-bit) 
• Downloaded ALL C++ distributables - same message
• Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool - same message
• Limted Access Repair Tool - same message
• Creating a Local account, uninstalling Creative Cloud, and Reinstalling (as admin)
• Installing Previous versions of 32 and 64-bit Creative Cloud 
• Temporarily disabling virus & threat protections
• Using different browsers to download Creative Cloud (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome)
• Clearing browser cache & cookie data
• Deleting contents of OOBE folder (C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Adobe\OOBE)
• Renaming OOBE to OOBE_old
• Adobe Log Collector Tool (email confirmed, awaiting response)

[kglad]

i know you've done each, but it's not clear they were done in the correct order.

uninstall every cc app including preferences per https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-remove-app.html

then uninstall the cc desktop app, again using the correct uninstaller per https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html#sa_src=web-mes...

clean your computer of cc files per http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

check for, and if available, update your os

if windows is your os, repair all ms visual c++ versions that can be repaired (use google if you don't know how to do this)

if windows is your os update your ms visual c++, if it can be updated (use google if you don't know how to do this)

restart your computer (don't skip this)

reinstall the cc desktop app using the "alternative download links" at the bottom of the page at https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/creative-cloud-desktop-app-download.html

use the desktop app to install your cc programs/trials

NOTE: win 11 users that have trouble with the latest win 10 installer often have success with the older win 10 installer.

[kglad]

i see your post was moved to enterprise & teams forums indicating you should contact to your plan administrator and/or it department.

[SuJoshi · Accepted solution]

Hi @Justin Ball 1

I am hoping that your issue is now resolved. If not, I request you contact your IT team, who can raise a ticket on your behalf so that the concerned team can investigate the issue and get appropriate logs to find the root cause.