Troubleshoot Mac OS 10.x system errors, freezes | Adobe software

If your system does not meet the minimum requirements for your Adobe product, the product may not run correctly. Visit the Adobe System Requirements web page to make sure that your system meets the minimum requirements.

To check basic system information, such as processor speed and available RAM, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu. For more information about your system, click More Info.

Back up all personal files (for example, Photoshop or InDesign files you created) to prevent potential data loss.

The latest version of the Adobe software can be more compatible with the operating system and drivers. Before you install an update, make sure that your system meets the requirements.

Visit the Adobe Product Updates page to see updates available for your product.

Re-create the Adobe application preferences file to eliminate problems that a damaged preferences file can cause.

The main preferences file is called "Adobe [Product Name] [Product Version] Prefs.psp."

The preference file's location is 
/Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe [Product Name] [Product Version] Settings/Adobe [Product Name] [Product Version] Prefs.psp

Important: The user library folder is hidden by default in Mac OS X 10.7 and later. See Access hidden user library files.

If you need a quick way to reset your preferences, you can do that in many Adobe applications by using a keyboard shortcut while launching the product. Hold Cmd-Shift-Option immediately after you double-click the application icon.

See this video for a walkthrough on resetting Photoshop's preferences: How to Reset Photoshop Preferences File

For additional instructions, search your product's Help system for “restore preferences.”

Some Adobe applications are designed to run only on an OS that has the language configured to match the language of the Adobe product. To change the language on your Mac OS X system, do the following:

Updates to the Mac OS X operating system can improve its performance and compatibility with Adobe applications.

Choose Software Update from the Apple menu, or visit the Apple downloads page. For assistance installing updates, contact Apple technical support.

Important: Before you install a system update, make sure that your Adobe application's system requirements meet the system update version.

To maximize available RAM and reduce the chance that another application or extension conflicts with the Adobe application, try all the following:

Quit open applications: Quit open applications (including virus-protection utilities). Then restart the Adobe application.

Note: If applications don't quit as expected, force quit them by choosing Force Quit from the Apple menu. Do not force quit the Finder.

Disable nonessential extensions: Hold down Shift while you restart the computer to disable nonessential extensions located in the user accounts Login Items folder. Then restart the Adobe application.

Quit processes that use large amounts of system resources: Quit processes that use more than 30% of system resources, and then restart the Adobe application.

1. Choose Go > Utilities > Activity Monitor.

2. Select each process that uses more than 30% of the CPU, and click Quit Process.  

If you lack administrator access privileges, the Adobe application may be unable to access necessary files. To determine if limited privileges cause the problem, log in as a user with access privileges, and try to re-create the problem.

If the problem doesn't recur, the account you were previously using lacks access privileges. Contact your system administrator to grant you access privileges.

To log in as an administrator, do the following:

Some system components, such as device drivers and virus protection utilities, can conflict with the Adobe application installer and result in an incomplete or failed installation. To prevent these conflicts, install the application from the desktop.

Occasionally, a user account can become corrupted and prevent the installer from accessing or creating the necessary files and folders.

Create a user account, log in to the new account, and then try to install or run the Adobe application. For information on creating a user account, see Install or run Adobe applications in new user account | Mac OS X.

If reinstalling the Adobe application doesn't solve the problem, try installing and running the application on a different hard drive in the same computer. Or, try the same hard drive installed in a different computer.

If the problem doesn't recur, the hard drive or the motherboard you were using previously could be the cause. For assistance, contact the manufacturer.

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.

If the problem occurs when printing, verify that you are using the latest driver and PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file for the printer. Download and install the latest driver and PPD file from the printer manufacturer's website. See the printer's documentation for instructions on installing the printer driver.

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, you could void the computer's warranty.

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 system errors. For more information, see the documentation for the antivirus software.

If you log in to an account with administrator privileges, but you can't install or run the Adobe application, then your disk permissions could be damaged.

To repair your permissions by using the Disk Utility:

To check for a damaged hard disk, which can cause installation errors, use Apple Disk Utility.  

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

Disconnect peripheral (external) devices one at a time. Peripheral devices include devices connected via FireWire, USB, Serial ATA, IDE, or SCSI.

If an error doesn't occur when a peripheral device is disconnected, there could be a problem with the device, the cable, or the connection. Contact the manufacturer of the device for troubleshooting steps for the device.

Important: Reformatting a disk erases all files it contains, so be sure to back up all personal files first. Also make sure that you have all application and system disks.

ICC profiles help manage color spaces on your system. A system error can occur if your Adobe application accesses a damaged ICC profile. Troubleshoot ICC profiles to determine if they cause the problem:

Damaged or incompatible PCI or PCI-X expansion cards can cause system errors. To check PCI or PCX cards, turn off your computer. Remove any processor accelerator cards, video cards, or other installed expansion cards, and then restart the computer.

Make sure that RAM modules are installed properly and are not the cause by doing one or both of the following:

• Change the order of the installed RAM modules.
• Remove all but the minimum number of RAM modules required to run Mac OS and the Adobe application and test to see if the problem recurs:
  • If the problem recurs, replace the RAM modules you removed and remove the others, testing again to see if the problem recurs.
    
  • If the problem does not recur, one or more of the removed RAM modules are the cause. For assistance, contact the RAM manufacturer.

Install the system software on a different hard disk (not a different partition on the same disk) and then specify that disk as the startup disk. Then, install the application to the new hard disk.

To specify the startup disk: