PS CS3: Unable to continue because of hardware or system error. [locked]

[whtrose]

[This thread from January 2012 has been locked by a moderator. The activation servers for CS3 have since been shut down and the answers here no longer apply. Please start a new thread for similar questions.]

photoshop cs3 stopped working. get error - unable to continue because of a hardware or system error. Sorry but the error is unrecoverable. Reloaded software - but not resolved. Any advice? Someone mentioned Settings files or profiles?

[Grant H]

that doesent sound like a PS problem...

whats your System details

G

[whtrose]

This occoured in Photoshop CS3 today. All other Adobe products are functioning normaly on this system. Premiear CS3, Encore, Audition function fine. Photoshop was working fine then failedduring the evening. We have removed and reloaded Photoshop CS3 and recieve the same error. Still the remaining Products run as expected. All other Aplications on the system run normaly as well. No other indications of hardware issues are logging. There is ample memory and space available on this system.

Someone else suggested I trash my PREFS (I am not sure How I proceed in doing that - any advice on how to delete the prefs - willing to try that at this point) Thanks

[Guest · Accepted solution]

Yes, a reinstall will not affect the preferences file.

To reset preferences click to start Photoshop and IMMEDIATELY hold down the crtl +alt + shift keys.  It is a little tricky so keep trying until you get a reset window.

[whtrose]

Reset of the Preferences took care of the issue. And you were correct is is tricky to get it to come up when entering the application. Took several attempts but I was succesfull. Thanks for the guidance. All is well and we are back in production. Have a great New Year.

[DrGtEyE]

This does not work any more.

[PECourtejoie]

Hello!

Here is some info on the preferences: http://adobe.ly/PS_Prefs

[randyb38137590]

Hi I have adobe photoshop elements 8 on a dell laptop running windows 7. I had received the same error message as the OP got a few months ago and I uninstalled and reinstalled today after I was finally able to find the serial number again. I followed the advice given above and successfully deleted the preferences but editor continues to give me the same message. What other possibilities could be causing this and how do I fix it? I dont have the money to upgrade to a newer version so I'm kinda stuck. The last thing the window says before the error message is "Initializing shared components"

[Peter McWilliams]

Hello all, Has anyone found an answer to this yet?  My Elements 9 stopped working with the same 'unable to continue because of a hardware or system error. Sorry but the error is unrecoverable.'

I've uninstalled and reinstalled, cleared the preferences and tried running in W.7, 8 and XP compatibility,  all to no effect.

What now??

[ray jodoin]

Hi, I tried the ctl alt shift. The message received was Delete the adobe photoshop settings file?

clicked yes

the message received was to have the primary scratch volume on a diff drive.

clicked ok

I get the unable to continue message.

I am using the old photoshop 6 program

Ray

[Tre5CCE]

Same thing is happening to me. This came after the most recent Windows update (I really hate Microsoft) and even if I delete the Settings File it still won't run Photoshop. I'm also on version 6.

[AndrewLe0nard]

I also have this problem

I find if I uninstall Photoshop 6, restart the computer, reinstall Photoshop 6, it will run until I close it down and then will not open giving the message above

I also suspect this is because of a Windows update

Is it possible to inform Microsoft of this? 

[DrGtEyE]

Same here. crtl +alt + shift does not solve the problem any more.

[AndrewLe0nard]

I have got Photoshop 6 to work by right mouse clicking on Photoshop.exe and chosing compatability mode "Windows 95"

[DrGtEyE]

Thank You!!!!

That is the answer!!!!