InDesign CS6 crashing on start Win10

[Lunatron]

Hi,

I have CS6 and about month ago InDesign started to crash on start on Win10 first because of some recovery file it couldn't open, then start reporting that a problem caused program to stop working correctly. Photoshop and Illustrator are working fine so I don't know what is causing the crash. Can anyone help me?

Don't know if reinstalling CS6 would help cos Win10 is reporting the problem, so there's some kind of a problem with Win10 and InDesign, and if I reinstall it do I first need to deactivate PS and Illustrator, but I can't deactivate IDD cos of crash so I don't know if that's good way to go. And if I don't deactivate IDD will I still be able to reinstall it with serial number that's not deactivated?

Regards, Ivan

[BobLevine · Accepted solution]

CS6 is not supported under Windows 10 but you can try running it in Windows 7 compatibility mode to see if that helps.

[Lunatron]

What do you mean CS6 is not supported under Win10? I am working with CS6 Suite on Win10 free upgrade from 8.1 to Win10 since July 29, 2016...

[Bill Silbert]

Windows 10 is constantly updating itself. Last summer one of those updates made any pre-creative cloud versions of Illustrator unusable. It does not seem unlikely that the same thing may also happen to InDesign (at least in your case). Bob's suggestion about running in Windows 7 compatibility mode is probably your best option. Either that or go back to Windows 8.1.

[Lunatron]

Tried in Windows 7 compatibility mode - still crushing.

[Bill Silbert]

Unfortunately, you may need to either roll back to Windows 8.1 or upgrade to Creative Cloud.

[THuckabay]

No.  These crashes are being caused by updates to Windows 10 from Microsoft.  If you set the Compatibility Mode of CS6 applications (e.g., Photoshop CS6, Bridge CS6, etc.), to "Windows 7", then the crashes cease and the products again work normally.

[THuckabay]

You need to set every CS6 application that you use to "Windows 7" Compatibility Mode, and that has to be done for both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of the applications.  Also, if you are still experiencing crashes after that, try disabling hardware acceleration under settings related to your graphics card.

[BobLevine]

There is one other thing you can try.

I'm not a huge fan of in place operating system upgrades. You can pretty much re-set your machine to factory defaults and clean up a lot of junk by going to your settings. Choose Updates and Security and then Recovery.

Before doing this, back up all of your data, deactivate CS6 and any other software requiring it. You'll need to re-install everything afterward but you'll have a much cleaner installation of Windows.

[Test Screen Name]

Windows 10, Microsoft have said, will be the name of all versions of Windows from now on. We are on a new version, which you can think of as Windows 11 or even 12, delivered quietly at night. And we can look forward to a special fix soon which will make systems 30% slower for almost all of us. This is the joy of continuous updates, and why it’s folly to imagine you can opt out of Adobe’s updates yet still have Windows 10. All of this in turn is being driven by the guys making malware; we are in a state of siege and subscribing to software may be the least of our worries.

[THuckabay]

Yes, that's a great suggestion for anyone who has DAYS of time to waste....  You may not like in-place upgrades, and I agree they suck quite often from Microsoft so far, but your solution is that of a sledge hammer, and anyone who would try it needs to know that in advance.  MANY, MANY, MANY things can go wrong for anyone who would attempt what you are suggesting; unless a person is an IT expert, and has complete knowledge of everything installed on their system and in what order, as well as complete access to all that to reinstall it, AND days of time to waste, they should NOT attempt what you are suggesting.

[THuckabay]

For many who accept Microsoft's automatic updates to Windows 10, CS6 does in fact begin to crash.  These crashes are being caused by updates to Windows 10 from Microsoft.  If you set the Compatibility Mode of CS6 applications (e.g., Photoshop CS6, Bridge CS6, etc.), to "Windows 7", then the crashes cease and the products again work normally.

[THuckabay]

These crashes are being caused by updates to Windows 10 from Microsoft.  If you set the Compatibility Mode of CS6 applications (e.g., Photoshop CS6, Bridge CS6, etc.), to "Windows 7", then the crashes cease and the products again work normally.

[BobLevine]

THuckabay  wrote

These crashes are being caused by updates to Windows 10 from Microsoft.  If you set the Compatibility Mode of CS6 applications (e.g., Photoshop CS6, Bridge CS6, etc.), to "Windows 7", then the crashes cease and the products again work normally.

Which is EXACTLY what I suggested in my first response. The OP then replied that the crashes continued.

Try reading before you respond to six-month old thread next time!

[THuckabay]

Actually, Bob, I read everything you posted before I responded....  I stand by my statements.  In fact, you made a couple of suggestions, one of which no one other than an IT person who is extremely familiar with their particular system, setup, etc., should try, and as for the other, you made a non-definitive suggestion (i.e., you indicated it was something someone could try, without actually knowing if it would help).  My responses are based upon firsthand knowledge of what actually works, rather than an uncertain suggestion.

[BobLevine]

All evidence is to the contrary.

[THuckabay]

From where I'm sitting, yours doesn't look bigger.

[Laubender]

Hm…

I'm on Windows 10 Professional version 1803 and InDesign CS6 8.1.0 is running without flaws.
And I did not set it to Windows 7 compatibility.

Regards,
Uwe

[BobLevine]

It’s hit or miss. Same thing on the Mac side. You have users that swear it all works even on High Sierra and others that can’t even get it start up.

[Ed11F]

hi.  I'm having similar problem.  I don't use indesign cs6 a lot.  Opened it Thurs. this week and got message and it shut down.  I've talked to numerous people at adobe and uninstalled and reinstalled all adobe prog., restarted computer and same messaage.  today tried deleting creative cloud and installing patch, restarted computer and still same message.  it might work for you though.  Annoying as really costly for something I've already paid for and only use a few times a year.