How to reinstall PhotoShop v26?

[Nedlaw]

Hi. Using PS v26 on Win11 (all apparently updated).

I installed v26 using CC Desktop about 3 weeks ago when it became available as part of a regular Adobe update. Since that time, PS has gotten flakier and flakier -- first altering the New dialog it presents when choosing all/copy/ctrl-N. Then it got sluggish. Now it won't boot when I click the program icon. I must go to the file manager to click it, and now it has stopped responding to that. It no longer runs. (I've checked task manager, and there does not seem to be any kind of remnant that Win thinks is running.) All other programs (including InDesign) are working just fine.

Obviously, something in PS has become corrupted. (I am behind a hardware firewall with Malwarebytes and other AV running; it's unlikely a virus snuggled in just to disrupt PS.)

I'm seeking a way to a) remove PS and then b) re-install it. CC Desktop does not seem to offer either function. I can manually remove the software using Windows. How to re-install? Custom settings/brushes/plug-ins not an issue. (I don't have any for PS.)

Suggestions?

Thanks.

-j

[D Fosse]

It's present in the CC desktop app, but there is no option to uninstall? That's really odd.

Try to sign out of the CC app and then sign back in.

Do not uninstall from Windows, at least not yet. That's usually causing other problems.

[Ged_Traynor]

@Nedlaw have you checked here

First thing to try is a preference reset before uninstalling

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually
Remember to back up your settings before doing the preference reset
https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preset-migration.html

[D Fosse]

I am behind a hardware firewall with Malwarebytes and other AV running

By @Nedlaw

Maybe this is precisely the problem...? Maybe some of this (you have several?) sees a false positive in the PS .exe. Or maybe they conflict.

Now, you may have special considerations that I don't know about - but I usually say that the market for third-party antivirus has more or less collapsed, because the built-in Windows AV is pretty much state of the art. They pour enormous resources into this, and it's really hard to see how any third-party vendor can do any better. You don't need them.

As for resetting preferences, always a good suggestion, you obviously can't do that if the application won't open. But you can go into your user account and manually remove the Settings folder - which is what a preference reset is. It will get rebuilt. It's here:

You can just move it to the desktop in case you find you can restore later.

[Nedlaw]

Thanks to all for advice. This is what I love about the forums.

• I have dragged preferences to the desktop, per the Adobe link. PS does not open afterwards, even when I follow all the aliases to the actual installation location of the program proper (trying the aliases in-between, of course).
• Thank you @Ged_Traynor for pointing out where the uninstall command has been buried. In the years of using subscription CC (mostly InDesign) I've never had to uninstall/reinstall one of the apps. But I'm going to have that experience this afternoon!
• About being behind a hardware firewall and using Malwarebytes... software does jostle around over time and things change, but I've been using this specific firewall -- updated regularly -- for about 6 years (and other models before that, drifting back into the ever-so-hazy 90s -- a firewall was a purchase right after I got onto the Internet). I use MWB along with Windows' built-in (they are compatible, according to MWB), and MWB has documentably saved my butt at least once. I have not ever had a recognized problem with this configuration -- which doesn't mean I've never had an UNrecognized problem.

Again, thanks to the community for the advice. I will post my results.

-j

[Nedlaw]

Alrighty then. This is what was going on. How it got that way... we don't know. But... Windows.

1.  Following excellent advice, I located the PS preferences and moved them to the desktop. Clicks on various aliases and the program itself in its installation location after removing prefs would not launch the program. (Recall that the program had been failing piecemeal until it would not boot. This was not a graceful fail, but it didn't exactly crash, either.)
2.  With PS not in evidence on the computer nor appearing in Task Manager, from CC Desktop, I attempted to uninstall PS. CC Desktop told me that before it could uninstall, I had to close PhotoShop. But not only was PS not open, it would not open. Apparently, enough of the application was in memory to convince the OS that it was already running, even though it did not show up on Task Manager.
3.  I put all my open stuff away (all non-PS) and rebooted the machine. You know, I don't think I do this at all often enough. Windows should probably be rebooted at least once a day for its own good.
4.  After rebooting, the first thing I did was attempt to launch PhotoShop. It launched. I re-made the two or three preference settings I use, then played with some graphics. Everything appears to work normally now. Huzzah.

So... What happened? I'm pretty sure that between the installation of PS26 18 days ago and the product's failure a day or so ago, I rebooted the machine at least once. Leaving Windows running for three weeks is not something I would normally do. At the same time, I cannot state unequivocally that I DID reboot. I just believe I did. So, maybe mea culpa.

Something during that installation process did not go as planned -- but not obviously. Over time, the operation of the software degraded. Garbage collection? Strings lying around in memory? Some minor incompatibility with the other stuff running in the stew that is a major operating system? I dunno. I suspect that it may happen again. At least, next time, I will know what to do.

Thanks to the community for the help.

-j

[D Fosse]

Ok, thanks for reporting back.

I reboot every day, maybe that's why I never have any problems 😉