Lightroom CC will not start after update

[Charles Bostian]

I have been a Lightroom user since 3.5 and continuing through all the later versions. I switched to CC about six months ago and it worked reasonably well until a week ago (about September 25) when I installed the latest update. After that LR would not start. I uninstalled that version and reinstalled it. Twice. I tried it after each new installation and it still would not start. Photoshop CC works fine. When I reinstalled LR I first told it to keep the preferences file and the second time I told it to delete the preferences file but the result was the same. I am using Windows 10 which itself had a major update a few days before I updated LR.
I have read all the postings I can find about this problem and they are not helpful. They say to delete the preferences file and force LR to create a new one. The only way I can find to access the preferences file is in the question accompanying the uninstall. If there is another way to access it, please tell me.
Also, I cannot tell if LR is starting up and immediately shutting down or if it is not starting at all. The Windows Task Manager shows a brief flurry of activity when I try to start LR but it lasts less than a second.
This is my first post on this forum so please correct me if I have overlooked something obvious.

 

[Hal P Anderson]

Welcome to the forum.

Here's a post on resetting the preferences file:
Resetting the lightroom preferences file - updated

 

[Charles Bostian]

Welcome to the forum.

Here's a post on resetting the preferences file:
Resetting the lightroom preferences file - updated

Hal, Thanks very much for your prompt answer. Unfortunately, this does not seem to help.

The information about file location in the post on resetting the preferences file doesn’t match what I see on my machine.

If I do a search for “Preferences” I find

Program Files>Adobe>Adobe Lightroom>Resources>Installer>Preferences>Lightroom6Preferences.agprefs

This file is dated from my last update. (October 2) It has the correct file name.

When I go to the Adobe Creative Cloud (32 bit) App and hold down Shift+Alt before clicking on Open , the dialog box about resetting preferences appears. At this point Adobe Photoshop Lightroom appears in my Task Manager under Apps, as it should. As soon as I click Yes, Lightroom disappears from the task manager and nothing else happens.


If I use Windows Explorer and go directly to a LR 6 catalog and double click on that, nothing happens. If I go to an old LR 5 catalog and double click on that, it tells me that the catalog needs to be upgraded. I tell it “yes” to upgrade. The upgrade seems to happen but LR still does not open.

If after doing all of the above I delete the Preferences file (I saved a copy) and try to launch LR, still nothing happens.

Charles

 

[Jim Wilde]

The location as I specified in that post is correct. Please ignore the preferences file that you found in the installer package, that is not what Lightroom will use once it has been installed. Please look in the location that I specified in that post to see if the preferences file is there.....if it is not, then the problem is likely that Lightroom, for whatever reason, cannot write into that location. Maybe permissions are incorrect, though that would be very unusual.

Try right-clicking on the Lightroom start menu icon and selecting "Run as Administrator" to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Charles Bostian]

Jim, Thanks very much for your note. You were indeed correct about the file name and location. My Windows Explorer had somehow been reset after the last update so that it did not show hidden files.
I found the old preferences file and renamed it so that it wouldn't be used. Then I tried to open LR while holding down shift+Alt. Again, it asked me if I wanted to reset the Preferences file. I clicked Yes and the system behaved exactly as before. LR would not start. No new preferences file was written. There must be something obvious that I am overlooking....
I am going to uninstall LR again, restart my system, and reinstall it and see what happens. I'd appreciate any help!
Charles

 

[Charles Bostian]

Finally I contacted Adobe Support. It turns out the problem was with my Microsoft Visual Basic files. After these were re-installed, LR worked fine. The process took an hour. Here is what I learned. Don't spend a lot of time trying to fix this problem. If resetting the Preferences file doesn't fix it, contact Adobe.
Thanks to everyone who offered help!
Charles