Photoshop 2020 on Windows 10 won't run unless launching as Administrator

[dreadPF]

When I launch Photoshop 2020 (21.1.2) on my Windows 10 PC (1909), it loads to the Ps splash screen and hangs at "Initializing".  Eventually it fails with the error in the screenshot below.

If I launch Ps using the "Run As Administrator" option, it loads fine.

Not sure if it is related but my Windows user profile folders (Documents, Downloads, Favourites etc) have been relocated to a different drive to where Windows 10 is installed (i.e. these folders are no longer located in C:\users\username).

At the moment I've set the Ps Start Menu shortcut to always "Run As Administrator" but I'd prefer to get it loading without needing it to elevate to administrator.

Appreciate any help or advice on this...

[nikunj.m]

Hi there,

We are sorry about the experience due to the Photoshop. Would you mind checking the permissions for the folders and the permissions for Photoshop? You can check the details here: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/required-permissions-photoshop-cs5-windows.html

Regards,

Nikunj

[TomChicago2011]

Have had the same problem and the only thing that works for me is to launch Photoshop 2020 as an Administrator.  Then it starts just fine. I was not getting the complete time out nor the error message indicating it was file permissions issue.  I went through Adobe's help article on required permissions and made sure that I as a regular user on my PC had access to those folders, but that didn't help.  Still need to run as an Administror.  Something happened with one of the Photoshop 2020 updates that created this problem. Sure wish Adobe would figure it out for us and fix it. Across multiple threads on the internet, hundreds of people are having this problem. 

[nikunj.m]

Hi Tom,

We are sorry about the experience with Photoshop 2020. Would you mind creating a new administrative user account on the computer to check if you are able to launch Photoshop there?

You can check the steps here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026923/windows-10-create-a-local-user-or-administrator-acc...

Regards,

Nikunj

[Maciek5C2C]

Oct 2020 same issue. Spent hours with support and changes all shortcuts to run as admin, but no apps will run from the cloud app.

I'm not joiking, 5 hours on the chat with support. Still not fixed. Was told my CPU is too olf, yet all apps work with my CPU if ran as admin.

No comment.

[Maciek5C2C]

Well, not quite the same error message, but...

[nikunj.m]

Hi,

We're sorry about the experience with the app & with support. If the app is working when you are running it as administrator, then that would indicate an issue with permissions on the application folders. Have you tried giving permissions to the folders manually? If not, you can check: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/required-permissions-photoshop-cs5-windows.html

You can also try creating a new user account on the computer to check if you experience the same behavior there. You can check the steps here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026923/windows-10-create-a-local-user-or-administrator-acc...

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Nikunj

[michaeld19700955]

creating a new user is not a viable solution .. and to be honest a shameful suggestion ... Adobe should have a tool that checks all the permissions for you and fixes any problems it encounters.

[JJMack]

Creating a new user is just test to see if Photoshop is working on your machine for users in general.  If it works on a new user ID on your machine then there is something wrong with your user id.  Like access permissions to something that Photoshop requires. Adobe does not administer access permissions on your machine.