TechNote

Troubleshoot system errors or freezes (Technical Communication Suite 2 on Windows XP)

What's covered

Beginning troubleshooting
Intermediate troubleshooting
Advanced troubleshooting

This document can help you to resolve system errors that occur while you use Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 on Windows XP. System errors can manifest in many different ways, including (but not limited to) the following:

A blank or flickering dialog box
A frozen cursor or screen
A blue screen
An unexpected restart
A program 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."
"General Protection Fault in module [filename]."
"Invalid Page Fault in module [filename]."
"Application Error."
"Unhandled exception detected. Application will be terminated."
"Illegal Instruction."
"Segment load failure in [filename]."
"Application has encountered a problem and needs to close."
"Fatal System Error."
A STOP error

Many different factors can cause system errors, including conflicts among device drivers, applications, operating system settings, hardware, and corrupt elements in specific files. Although a system error may occur only when you work with Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 , Technical Communication Suite 2 may not necessarily be the cause--it may be the only application that uses enough memory or processor cycles to expose the problem.

To benefit most from this document, perform the tasks in order. Keep track of the tasks that you perform and the results of each, including errors and other problems. Adobe Technical Support can use this information to better assist you if you need to call.

Note: The procedures in this document are based on the default interface of Windows XP. If the interface is customized, some procedures may vary. For example, a commonly encountered difference is the navigation to Control Panel from the Start menu: You may navigate Start > Settings > Control Panel instead of Start > Control Panel. Additionally, the procedures in this document assume you are using the Classic View of the Control Panel: To view the Control Panel in the Classic View, click Switch To Classic View on the Control Panel navigation bar on the left side of the window.

Beginning troubleshooting

The tasks in this section can help you resolve the most common system errors. Before performing any of these tasks, back up all personal files (for example, Technical Communication Suite 2 files you created). Always restart the computer after a system error occurs to refresh its memory. Continuing to work without restarting the computer may compound the problem.

Note: Some of these procedures require you to locate hidden files and hidden folders. Some procedures require you to locate files by their full file names, which include extensions (for example, filename.ini). By default, Windows Explorer doesn't show hidden files, hidden folders, and file name extensions that it recognizes.

To show hidden files, hidden folders, and all filename extensions in Windows Explorer:

See "Show hidden files, hidden folders, and all filename extensions in Windows Explorer" (TechNote kb404856) for details.

1. Make sure that the system meets the minimum requirements for the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2.

Technical Communication Suite 2 may not run correctly on a system that doesn't meet the following requirements:

Intel Pentium 4 or later processor (1GHz or faster processor)
Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and higher or Windows Vista
512 MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
2.5 GB of available hard-disk space
DVD-ROM drive
1,024x768 screen resolution (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card

Note: To check how much RAM is installed, choose Start > Control Panel > System. The amount of RAM appears on the lower half of the General tab in the System Properties dialog box.

2. Install the latest version of Technical Communication Suite 2.

The latest version of Technical Communication Suite 2 may be more compatible with the operating system and drivers. Before you install an update or upgrade, make sure that the system meets the requirements.

Updates are available from the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/support/downloads. An upgrade, however, may solve a wider range of problems. (You may prefer to try the tasks in the rest of this document before upgrading.) You can purchase upgrades from Adobe Authorized Resellers and from Adobe directly:

To locate an Authorized Reseller, visit the Adobe website at http://partners.adobe.com/resellerfinder/na/findreseller.jsp and choose your country or region from the menu at the top of the page, or contact Customer Service. For contact information, visit the Adobe website at http://www.adobe.com/, select your region in the top right corner of the page, and then click Contact.
To purchase an upgrade from Adobe, visit the Adobe Store at http://store.adobe.com/store and choose your country or region from the menu at the top of the page, or contact Customer Service. For contact information, visit the Adobe website at http://www.adobe.com/, select your region in the top right corner of the page, and then click Contact.

3. Install current Windows service packs and other updates.

Updates to the Windows operating system improve its performance and compatibility with applications. You can obtain Windows service packs and other updates from the Microsoft website at http://www.windowsupdate.com/. For assistance installing service packs and other updates, contact Microsoft technical support.

See "Install current Windows service packs and other updates" (TechNote kb404859) for details.

4. Run Technical Communication Suite 2 in a diagnostic mode.

Some applications or services may cause system errors or freezes when running concurrently with Technical Communication Suite 2 . Services are specialized programs that perform functions to support other programs. Before starting Technical Communication Suite 2, disable other applications, including startup items (items that start automatically with Windows), and services.

See "Start Windows in diagnostic mode" (TechNote kb404860) for details.

5. Install Technical Communication Suite 2 from the desktop.

Some system components--for example, device drivers and virus protection utilities--can conflict with the Technical Communication Suite 2 installer and result in an incomplete or failed installation. To prevent these conflicts, install Technical Communication Suite 2 from the desktop.

Insert the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 disk. If AutoPlay starts, click Quit to exit AutoPlay. (You may need to advance to the next screen to access the Quit button).
Double-click the My Computer icon.
Right-click the DVD or CD-ROM drive and choose Explore. (Don't double-click the drive or AutoPlay will start).
Copy the Adobe Technical Communication Suite folder 2 from the Technical Communication Suite 2 disc to the desktop.
Open the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 folder on the desktop.
Double-click the Setup.exe file, and follow the on-screen instructions.

6. Troubleshoot third-party plug-ins.

Remove third-party plug-ins from the Technical Communication Suite 2 plug-ins folder, and then restart Technical Communication Suite 2. If the problem recurs, move the plug-ins back to the Technical Communication Suite 2 plug-ins folder and proceed to the next section of this document, "Intermediate troubleshooting." If the problem doesn't recur, then identify and address conflicting plug-ins.

To identify and address conflicting plug-ins:

Move one third-party plug-in back to the Technical Communication Suite 2 plug-ins folder.
Restart Technical Communication Suite 2 , and try to re-create the problem.
If the problem doesn't recur, then begin again at step 1. If the problem does recur, then contact the developer of the plug-in that you last moved, and inquire about an update.

Intermediate troubleshooting

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

7. Reinstall Technical Communication Suite 2 in a diagnostic mode.

Software and services that load automatically with Windows (for example, virus protection utilities) can conflict with the Technical Communication Suite 2 installer and cause problems in Technical Communication Suite 2. To prevent conflict, reinstall Technical Communication Suite 2 while Windows is in diagnostic mode doesn't resolve the issue, try installing and running Technical Communication Suite 2 on a different computer, or on a different hard drive.

To start Windows XP in a diagnostic mode:
See "Start Windows in diagnostic mode" (TechNote kb404860) for details.

8. Run Technical Communication Suite 2 in a new user account.

Create a new user account that has the same permissions as the account that you use when the problem occurs. If the problem doesn't recur, then the original user account may be damaged. For instructions on creating a new user account, see "To add a new user to the computer" in Windows Help or contact your system administrator.

9. Update the video card driver.

Many video card manufacturers frequently update their software drivers. If you haven't recently updated the video card driver, then 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 or by disabling graphics hardware acceleration. You can often determine if the video driver is outdated by changing the color-depth and resolution of the video card or by disabling graphics hardware acceleration.

To change the color-depth and resolution:

Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel, and then double-click Display.
Click the Settings tab.
Change the color depth using the Color quality menu:
- If the current color depth is 16-bit or 32-bit, choose True Color (which may be designated as 24-bit color; 16,777,216 colors; or millions of colors).
- If the current color depth is True Color, choose 16-bit or 32-bit color.
Change the resolution using the Screen resolution menu:
- If the current resolution is 1024 x 768, move the slider to a different resolution such as 1280 x 1024.
- f the current resolution is not 1024 x 768, move the slider to 1024 x 768.
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Restart Windows and Technical Communication Suite 2. If changing the color-depth and resolution of the video card fixes the problem, contact the video card manufacturer for an updated driver.

To disable graphics hardware acceleration:

Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel.
Double-click Display, click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
Click the Troubleshooting tab.
Move the Hardware acceleration slider to None.
Click OK to accept the new setting, and then click OK to close the Display Properties window.
Restart Windows and Technical Communication Suite 2. If the problem no longer occurs, contact the video card manufacturer for an updated driver

10. Verify that other device drivers are compatible with Windows XP.

If updating the video card driver doesn't resolve the problem, then verify that all other device drivers are compatible with Windows XP. 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 that you are using the latest driver for it.

See "Verify that device drivers are compatible with Windows XP" (TechNote kb404864) for details.

11. Check for font problems.

To determine whether a font causes the problem, reduce the number of fonts installed using the Fonts utility in the Windows Control Panel:

Note: Don't move the TrueType fonts installed by Windows. For a list of these fonts, see "TrueType Fonts Installed by Windows XP" (TechNote 326402) for details.

Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel.
Double-click the Fonts icon.
Select fonts in the Fonts folder--excluding those installed by Windows.
Move the selected fonts to a temporary folder on the desktop.
Restart Windows.
Try to re-create the problem in Technical Communication Suite 2. If the problem occurs, then it may be related to a font installed by Windows. If the problem doesn't occur, then move a small group of fonts back into the Fonts folder, and then restart Windows.

Note: For instructions on how to check font integrity, see "Troubleshoot font problems (Windows)" (TechNote 328607) for details.
Try to re-create the problem in Technical Communication Suite 2. If the problem occurs, then remove some of the fonts from the Fonts folder. If the problem doesn't occur, then add a few more fonts to the Fonts folder.
Restart Windows.
Repeat steps 7-8 until you isolate each problem font.
Delete each problem font from the hard disk and reinstall it from its original disks or CD. If a font continues to cause problems after you reinstall it, then contact the font manufacturer for assistance.

To reduce the number of fonts that are installed through a font utility, refer to the utility manufacturer's instructions.

12. Optimize handling of temporary files by Windows XP.

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 of Windows or applications.

Delete temporary files by using the Disk Cleanup utility included with Windows.

See "Delete temporary files using the Disk Cleanup Utility" (TechNote kb404871) for details.

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

Virtual memory allows the system to use hard disk space to store information normally stored in RAM. Windows XP manages virtual memory by using a paging file. You specify the minimum and maximum size of this file. If the size is different from the default in Windows XP, then applications may return errors. However, some applications may require a non-default size for the paging file. Change the size only if other applications aren't adversely affected.

To set the paging file to the default size:
See "Set the virtual memory paging file to the default size" (TechNote kb404877) for details.

14. Repair and defragment hard disks.

System errors can occur if hard disks contain damaged sectors or fragmented files. Repair and defragment hard disks, either by using the Error-Checking tool and Disk Defragmenter utility included with Windows or by using a third-party disk utility (for example, Symantec Norton Utilities). You should run such utilities on each hard disk or partition. More information about the Error-Checking tool and Disk Defragmenter appears below; for more information about a third-party disk utility, refer to the documentation for the utility.

The Error-Checking tool repairs bad sectors, lost allocation units and file fragments, cross-linked files, and invalid file names. To access the Error-Checking tool, choose Start > My Computer, right-click the desired hard disk, and choose Properties from the menu. In the Local Disk Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab, and then click Check Now in the Error-Checking area.

Note: To prevent Disk Defragmenter from moving files to bad sectors of a disk, run the Error-Checking tool before running Disk Defragmenter.

Disk Defragmenter rearranges the files and free space on your computer so that files are stored in contiguous units and free space is consolidated in one contiguous block. To access the Disk Defragmenter utility, choose Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.

15. Scan the system for viruses.

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

16. Identify the file that causes the problem.

If an error indicates which file causes the problem, then reinstall the application to which that file belongs. If that file is damaged and causes problems in Technical Communication Suite 2, then reinstalling the associated application can correct the problem.

If an error indicates a Windows file, then contact Microsoft for help replacing that file.

Advanced troubleshooting

If the tasks in the previous section don't resolve the problem, then you may be able to resolve the problem by reinstalling Windows XP and Technical Communication Suite 2, reformatting your hard disk and reinstalling Windows XP and Technical Communication Suite 2, or by determining if hardware is conflicting with Technical Communication Suite 2.

Disclaimer: Adobe doesn't support hardware and provides these tasks as a courtesy only. For further assistance, contact the hardware manufacturer or an authorized reseller. If you troubleshoot hardware problems yourself, then you may void the warranty for your computer.

Note: Before you remove or rearrange hardware, turn off and disconnect the power to the computer and any peripheral devices.

17. Contact Adobe Technical Support.

If none of the above steps has resolved the error or freeze that you are experiencing with Technical Communication Suite 2, then you need to contact Adobe Technical Support. You can find the support options at the Support Center.