Error on startup: "Could not find the user documents directory."

[chrisc24984145]

On application launch, the user gets the following error message: "Could not find the user documents directory." when launching Adobe Premier Pro. The app fails to launch.

User is on a Windows 7 PC and using an Active Directory profile with local admin privileges on the machine.

User has been using the software with no issue for more than a year.

Looking for a solution to this issue.

[Jim_Simon]

My best advice is Steps 3G and H below.

Unofficial Premiere Pro Troubleshooting Guide

[chrisc24984145]

Thanks for sending along that guide; however, not sure how to troubleshoot that if the app will not launch at all; it is failing on startup.

[Jim_Simon]

The recommended solutions don't require PP to be running.  They're system configurations.

[chrisc24984145]

I will check with the user to see if any system configuration changes had been made.

[chrisc24984145]

The user indicates that no folder or configuration changes were made. Without being able to launch the application, is there a way to tell what folder the application is looking for, so we might be able to find out where the launch process is failing and how specifically?

[Jim_Simon]

Is My Documents installed in it's default location on the C: drive?

Is the machine connected to any kind of network?

Are removable hard drives attached?

You need a Yes, No and No to those questions.

[chrisc24984145]

I will check the user's machine to ensure they have not altered the My Documents folder.

Yes, the Machine is networked.

No, there are no removable drives.

[chrisc24984145]

The user reports no changes to the My Docs folder location.

[Jim_Simon]

So that's two Yes and one No.

You need one Yes, and two No's.  Pull that thread.

[Ann Bens]

Documents does not necessarily need to be on C.

[Jim_Simon]

Agreed.  But it has been problematic at times.  So it's worth a look.

[chrisc24984145]

I'm confused by your response. Perhaps I am not providing sufficient information.

The software has been working fine for over a year; the malfunction has arisen without any changes made to the three criteria you have indicated. While I understand that any of those three criteria may be causing the problem, I'm not sure what the nature of that problem might be and thus my troubleshooting would be aimless; I'm trying to be as time-economical as possible.

Do you have recommendations on how one might resolve the issue you see with any of those criteria?

[Peru Bob]

Try creating a new user account with administrator privileges.

[Jim_Simon]

Take the machine off the network.  Physically disconnect it.  Leave it disconnected until you get PP working again.

After disconnecting, does everything else still work?  Can you access My Documents?  Does other Adobe software function properly?

[Ann Bens]

Could not find the user documents directory | Adobe Premiere Pro CC | 2018 - YouTube

[Peru Bob]

Is it me, or is the resolution of that video very poor?

I could see what was done, but couldn't read any of the text.

[cvid01]

The video was quite clear when I looked at it, although it may not apply to a Windows 7 computer.

[Peru Bob]

In Chrome it was blurry.

I tried in IE and Firefox and it was clear.

I'll see if there is a Chrome update.

[cvid01]

I watched it on Google Chrome version 74.0.3729.157 on a Windows 7 computer. Haven't tried watching it yet on my Windows 10 computer.

[chrisc24984145]

Thanks for the video link but the solution proposed there is for Windows 10; I indicated in my OP that the user is running Windows 7.

[chrisc24984145]

Update: working on collecting the machine to service it, this is still ongoing.