Troubleshoot installation | Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements | Windows

Last updated on 7 October 2022 | Also applies to Photoshop Elements

Resolve issues that occur when you install Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements on Windows.

Installation issues

Installation issues can be caused by many factors, including conflicting startup items, incorrect data in the Windows registry, and hardware conflicts. Follow the troubleshooting steps below to clear up many types of installation issues, including the following:

A blank or flickering dialog box
A frozen cursor or screen, blue screen, or unexpected restart
An error such as one of the following:
- "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor."
- "MS Setup Toolkit API Error, Bad Arg 3:AddSectionFiles to CopyList."
- "Not enough disk space on target drive while decompressing to [path]."
- "Setup is unable to initialize the setup program. There may be a scripting error."
- "Setup is unable to load the installation script file."
- "Unable to create a directory under C:\Windows\System. Please check write-access to the directory."
- "X:\ unavailable." (where "X" is the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive).
- "Device not ready."
- "Error reading CD-ROM.""Error reading device X:\" (where "X" is the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive).

Note:

For issues related to serial numbers, see Find your serial number.

Before you begin

To benefit most from this document, follow these suggestions:

Perform the tasks in order. Follow the order of troubleshooting tasks as indicated in this document.
Try to install after each task. Once you complete a task, try to install again to see if your issue has been resolved. If not, move on to the next troubleshooting step.
Track your results. Keep notes of the tasks you perform and the results of each, including errors and other problems. Adobe Technical Support uses this information to better assist you if you call.
Restart after each installation attempt or error. Always restart the computer after an installation fails or an error occurs to refresh its memory. Continuing to work without restarting the computer can compound the problem.

Important: Some of the procedures in this document initiate a User Account Control dialog that asks for your permission to continue. Read the details in the dialog to determine if you want to continue. If you choose to cancel the dialog, you cannot continue with that troubleshooting step.

Beginning troubleshooting

1. Make sure your system meets minimum requirements.

To install Photoshop Elements or Premiere Elements, your system has to meet or exceed the system requirements. For the most up-to-date information on system requirements, see Photoshop Elements Tech Specs or Premiere Elements Tech Specs.

To check basic system information, such as processor speed and how much RAM is installed, choose Start > Control Panel > System.

2. Delete previously installed application files.

To delete files from a previous installation attempt, do the following:

Move all personal files (for example, images, videos, or third-party plug-ins) from the Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements, and Elements Organizer folders and their subfolders to backup folders for safe keeping.
In the taskbar, right-click the Start menu and choose Control Panel (Windows 8 / Windows 10) or choose Start > Control Panel (Windows 7 / Vista).

Note:

The procedures in this document are based on the default Windows interface. If your interface is customized, some procedures vary. For example, navigating to Control Panel from the Start menu could be Start > Settings > Control Panel instead of Start > Control Panel.
(Windows 10 and Windows 8) If you're viewing the Control Panel by Category, in the Programs category, click Uninstall a Program. If you're viewing by icons, click Programs and Features.

(Windows 7) Select Programs > Programs and Features and double-click Uninstall a Program.

(Vista) Select Programs > Programs and Features.
Select Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements, and click Uninstall. Follow the onscreen instructions to remove the app.
When uninstall is complete, close the Control Panel and return to the hard drive location where the app was originally installed. Delete these folders (if the installer did not delete them): Photoshop Elements or Premiere Elements, and Elements Organizer. (By default, they are installed under the Program Files/Adobe folder.)
If the Confirm Folder Delete dialog box appears, click Yes.
Empty the Recycle Bin and restart your computer.

3. Check the CD and CD-ROM drive.

Dust or dirt on a CD can interfere with an installation and prevent the CD-ROM drive from recognizing the CD. Examine the Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements CD for dirt, dust, or fingerprints. Gently wipe the bottom of the CD from the center outward with a soft, lint-free cloth.

Verify that the CD-ROM drive can read other CDs. If it can't, examine the CD caddy or loading tray for dirt, and clean it with a lint-free cloth. If it still can't read other CDs, contact the CD-ROM drive manufacturer or the computer manufacturer.

If your disk appears to be damaged, contact the vendor for a replacement.

4. Install Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements from the desktop.

Some system components—for example, device drivers and virus protection utilities—conflict with the installer. They can cause an incomplete or failed installation. To prevent these conflicts, install from the desktop.

Copy the Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements folder from the disc to the desktop.
Open the Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements folder on the desktop.
Double-click the Setup (or Setup.exe) file, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Note:

Some of these procedures require locating hidden files and hidden folders, or finding files by their full filenames, including extensions (such as, Setup.exe or Sample_filename.ini). By default, Windows Explorer doesn't show hidden files, hidden folders, and recognizable filename extensions. For help, see Show hidden files, folders, filename extensions.

5. Install current Windows service packs and other updates.

See Install current Windows service packs and other updates for details.

Intermediate troubleshooting

If the tasks in the previous section don't solve the problem, try the following intermediate troubleshooting tasks.

1. Install Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements in a simplified mode.

Device drivers and software that loads automatically with Windows can conflict with the Elements installer and cause problems in installation. (Software that loads automatically includes screen savers and virus protection utilities.) To prevent conflicts, reinstall Photoshop Elements/Premiere Elements while Windows is in a simplified mode. In a simplified mode, nonstandard device drivers and startup software are disabled.

To reinstall in a simplified mode, do the following:

Insert the Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements disc into the disc drive.
Copy the Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements folder on the disc to the desktop.
Choose Start, type msconfig in the Search text box, and press Enter. (For Windows 8, right-click the Start button and choose Search.)
On the Startup tab, click Disable all. (Windows 8 does not have a disable-all option; instead disable each item individually.)
On the Services tab, select Hide All Microsoft Services, click Disable All, and then click OK.
In the System Configuration dialog box, click Restart.
Double-click the Setup (or Setup.exe) file in the Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements folder that you copied to the desktop in step 2. Then follow the onscreen instructions.
Choose Start, type msconfig in the Search text box, and press Enter.
On the General tab, choose Normal startup, click OK, and restart the computer.

Note:

If reinstalling in a simplified mode doesn't help, try installing and running on a different computer or on a different hard drive.

2. Install as an administrator.

The security settings in Windows 7, 8, 10, and Vista sometimes prevent applications from writing to protected file locations or registry keys. Setting the installer to run as an administrator bypasses the security settings and allows it to write to the protected areas.

To install Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements as an administrator, do the following:

Copy the Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements folder from the disc to the desktop.
Open the Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements folder on the desktop.
Right-click the Setup (or Setup.exe) file and choose Properties.
On the Compatibility tab, select Run this program as an administrator.
Click OK.
Double-click the Setup (or Setup.exe) file, and follow the onscreen instructions.

3. Install to a folder at the root level of the hard drive.

Create a folder at the root level of the hard drive. Make sure that the folder name has eight or fewer characters (for example, C:\PSE or C:\PRE) and doesn't include special characters, such as "#." Also, make sure that the path to where Windows is installed doesn't contain special characters.

4. Install in a new user account.

Create a user account that has the same permissions as the account that you use when the problem occurs. If the problem doesn't recur, the original user account could be damaged. For instructions on creating a user account, see Create a new user or contact your system administrator.

5. Disable UAC (User Account Control).

See Turn User Account Control on or off for details.

6. Update the video card driver.

Many video card manufacturers frequently update their software drivers. If you haven't recently updated the video card driver, contact the video card manufacturer for an updated driver, or download one from the manufacturer's website. (To determine the manufacturer of a video card, view the card's properties in Device Manager.) You can often determine if the video driver is outdated by changing the color depth and resolution of the video card. You can also determine if it's outdated by disabling graphics hardware acceleration.

To change the color depth and resolution used for Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements, see Change color depth and resolution for Windows 8 or Windows 7 and Vista. Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements require a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
To disable graphics hardware acceleration, see Disable graphics hardware acceleration in Microsoft Windows support. Depending on your video card, this feature may not be available in Windows 7, 8, and 10.

7. Verify that device drivers are compatible with Windows.

If updating the video card driver doesn't resolve the problem, verify that all other device drivers are compatible with your version of Windows (Windows 8 or Windows 7 and Vista). Device drivers are software files that allow Windows to communicate with devices such as scanners, mouse devices, and keyboards. Contact the device manufacturer to make sure you're using the latest driver for it.

8. Disable Windows Aero.

See Disable Windows Aero (Windows 7 and Vista) for details.

9. Optimize handling of temporary files.

Windows and applications store working data in temporary (.tmp) files that they create on the hard disk. Excessive or outdated temporary files can interfere with performance.

For details on deleting temporary files using the Disk Cleanup utility, see Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7 and Vista.

10 . Set the virtual memory paging file to the default size.

Windows 10 or 8

For Windows 10 and 8, see Change the size of virtual memory and use these settings:

Initial Size: Enter a value equal to one and a half times the amount of the computer's installed RAM.

Maximum Size: Enter a value equal to twice the amount of the Initial Size value.

Windows 7 or Vista

For Windows 7 or Vista, see Set the virtual memory paging file to the default size.

11. Repair and defragment hard disks.

Optimize your hard disks by repairing and defragmenting them: Windows 10 and Windows 8, or Windows 7 and Vista.

12. Scan the system for viruses.

Use current antivirus software (for example, Symantec Norton Antivirus or McAfee Virus Scan) to check the system for viruses. Virus infections can damage software and cause installation errors. For more information, see the documentation for the antivirus software.