Hundreds of Adobe Illustrator images don't open after running CCleaner

[p b]

I use Adobe Illustrator CS6 and after running CCleaner on a Windows Vista system, Illustrator cannot open any of the .ai files that were on the system that was CCleaned.  Illustrator software seems to think the files are text files now and gives me a Text Import dialog box, which doesn't work.  I CAN open old files that were not on the system that was cleaned, and I can create new images, save them, and open them fine.  Any idea how to restore these images?  

[mta]

have you tried right clicking on one of those .AI files from My Computer, and select Open With..., then Choose default program and re-associating Adobe back to the .AI file extension?

[p b]

Mta, Thanks for replying to my dilemma.  That was a really good idea.  I tried it and unfortunately got the same result.  Any other ideas?

[mta]

OK, just to clear my confusion.

You haven't lost these .AI files, they just don't open when double clicked?   or don't open from with Adobe when you go File, Open, etc?

 

And these files that DO open, they also are .AI files?  If they work, where were they when CC ran?  (just trying to get a pattern in my head as to what works and not, trying to find a common thread)

And you can create, save and open .AI files from this point in time, after CC has done the 'damage'? (for want of a less sinister word)

 

If Yes to all above, and the file re-associate didn't work (just checking - you didn't just do a one-off, but went down the "set as default" for all .AI files path) you may have to re-install Illustrator (or does it have a Repair option) as some link somewhere seems broken.

 

when you ran CC, did you do a Registry Cleaner as well?

[p b]

Mta,

 

Yes, the files are still technically there, but they don't open correctly when trying to open them with Computer or Illustrator File>Open.  When I try to open one of them, Illustrator apparently thinks it's a text document and gives me a "Text Import Options" box.  If I say 'ok' to that, the document opens but it is completely blank.

 

I did some more tests and actually I can NOT open many old files that were on a thumb drive and not on the system that I CCleaned.  It appears that if the image does not contain a linked file, it does open, but if it does contain a linked file. it doesn't open right.  When opening old files that were not on the system Illustrator does not give me the Text Options Box, but it does give me numerous repeated messages: "Could not find a plug-in to read the linked file (a .jpg background in the image).  After several repeats of this window in which I choose either 'replace image' or 'ignore', the file opens without the linked .jpgs and then gives me another box: "Could not read the file because the plug-in could not understand this file".  When I click 'ok', the document closes.  In some tests I received the latter message  ("Could not read the file because the plug-in could not understand this file") without the previous windows.

 

Yes, I can create a new document, save it and re-open it fine.  

 

When I tried to open with 'computer' I did choose Computer>Open With>Choose Default Program.

 

Yes, I think it ran the registry cleaner too.

What do you think?

[mta]

looks like CC or it's Registry Cleaner has broken something AI needs.

CC doesn't go after anything that doesn't live in a folder that CAN be cleaned, so I'm guessing you either told it to (via INCLUDEs or winapp2.ini) but that's unlikely or something AI uses (a plug-in maybe or a template or a scratch area) lived in a folder that was cleaned.

 

with the Reg Cleaner, if you did a backup of the registry that CC offered you to do (but many people skip) then you can double click that .REG file to re-import the registry keys that were cleaned and hope that restores AI for you.

 

but I'm of the opinion you are going to have to re-install it from the CD (or wherever you got it from) and see if it has a repair option (like Office does for example).

 

hopefully the repair/reinstall process re-establishes those plug-ins, otherwise you are going to have to get those again too.  if you don't remember every getting plug-ins yourself, then it must be something AI does for you, through updates or some internal process.

 

however you get it going again, keep all the stuff you used because when it comes time to rerun CC, even with unticking the obvious boxes(Abode Illustrator in the Applications tab - if it's listed), there maybe something missed and it could rebreak AI again.  it may come down to start CC with nothing ticked and ticking one box at a time, click Analyse and see where/when AI gets flagged.

[p b]

Mta,

 

Thanks for your reply1

 

CCLeaner didn't invite me to make a backup so I'm wondering if maybe it didn't clean the registry.  Does it do it automatically?  Adobe has suggested that I uninstall the Adobe software, run their cleaner, and reinstall the software, which I'm doing, but it'll take about 3-4 hours and I don't want to do that everytime I run CCleaner.  According to Adobe the problem was CCleaner and I shouldn't use it.  They feel modern OS's don't need defragging and I should stay away from those types of programs.

 

I'm kind of worried because even when I tried to make a DVD backup of a bunch of .jpg files that reside outside Adobe, my computer couldn't read them as .jpgs.  Something just seems wrong.  Could CCleaner have caused that in the same process you think?

 

Thanks MTA...

[mta]

just to clarify...

 

if you ran the reg cleaner side of CC, it always prompts if you want to backup the registry prior to the reg clean, so maybe you actually didn't do a reg clean - which eliminates that side of things.

 

CC does not do a defrag, Defraggler is the program for that.

 

CC cleaning has no backup option

 

OK....

as to 'modern OSs not needing defragging' - there is no right or wrong answer really.  personally I think they (PC's) do still need defragging but I think users do it way too often.  once a month is overkill, but it depends on the usage and the type of files that get changed.  A few times a year is more than sufficient for me.

 

and with just cleaning in general, CC is excellent.  sadly for you it seems to have gone pear-shaped somewhere but I'm still of the opinion CC may have only done that indirectly.  in other words, it may not have directly been responsible but due to where AI keeps its pieces, it may have inadvertently caused your mess.

 

as to the other JPG issue, sadly I can only guess.

 

the golden rule with these sort of programs is If it ain't broke - don't touch it

running them should make things better but there is the chance, no matter how slight, that it makes things worse.

 

all I can say is many people use CC daily and have no issues. your problem is the exception rather than the norm (not that that helps you!)

 

my advice, if you do run CC again (and I think you should), run Analyse instead of Run Cleaner, have all boxes unticked and tick one at a time to see where AI comes into the picture.

 

Good luck with the reload.

[p b]

Thanks MTA,

 

I've never run Analyse and don't know what you're telling me.  Unticking the cleaner I understand, but how will I now when/where AI becomes  a potential problem?  I've never really been interactive with CC.

[mta]

Using CC 101....

 

forgive me for dumbing it down, but I'll assume you know nothing

 

so when you start CC, it has by default certain boxes pre-ticked.  and you would normally leave it there and click the Run Cleaner button and let it do its thing.

this is probably what you did, and what has caused your problem.

 

so on that assumption, next time you start CC (along the top) you'll find two tabs, one for Windows and the other is Applications.

go through each of them and untick (deselect) ALL boxes.

this means do nothing essentially.

 

instead of clicking Run Cleaner, if you hit Analyze instead, that does a What If... scenario.  it shows what will be removed if you clicked Run Cleaner.

so your way forward should be to tick one box, click Analyse and look at the results.

each line in the list is clickable - double click each line and see what files it contains.

then add a tick to the next box in the list, re-Analyse, re-look at the results etc etc etc

 

eventually you should see a list of files that refer to AI, or has AI in them in some manner.

once you find how CC is disturbing your AI installation, the file, or folder or whatever in question, can be added to an exclusion list.

 

the end result is for you to happily run CC without it killing AI.

[p b]

Mta,

Very helpful and very clear.  Thank you!  I tried to 'like this' to your response but got an error saying I exceeded my quote of 'likes' for today, even though that would've been my first... ever.  

 

Uggh, electronics! 

 

My computer is getting very slow and I just know Adobe put all kinds of little tentacles everywhere that is gunking up my system... that's what it does. I did the 'uninstall' and there's still CS6 files in several directories that I found.  

 

What's your best defrag suggestion?

[mta]

I've only been a member for 2 years and that Like button hasn't never work during my time, I believe it may never have worked.

 

Not just Adobe, but a lot of uninstall processes leave a few, if not a lot, of crap behind.

Mainly this was done in The Good Ol' Days to stop people installing, say, Norton's, using it for a year, then uninstalling and reinstalling and trying to jig another year for free.

 

Two ways to clean up left over junk would be either check the programs web site for a software removal tool, or use a 3rd party tool, like Revo, to hunt down left over tracks.  But the later potentially (slightly) runs a risk of things going pear-shaped.  Anything that goes 'above and beyond' the norm has to be weighed up with any unwanted risk versus gain.

 

You can let this cleaning thing rule your life if you want, but really, CS6 is using a few kilobytes of storage, do you really want to chase up that small gain?  if it's more, well that may be different.

 

As to my defrag suggestion.  First you need to get your CC sorted, but despite the AI problem, maybe CC did do a clean of your system.  No good defragging a PC that is full of crap, temp files, full recycle bin etc.

 

So if you think the PC is clean enough, get Defraggler and run that.

The only default settings that I think need changing are in Settings, Options, Advanced tab, tick the box to Stop VSS, and tick the box to Use custom fragmentation settings - then click the Define box and tick BOTH Exclude boxes.

[p b]

I have new information and would really appreciate experts weighing in.

 

I uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe CS6 (including Illustrator), and I'm getting the same problems so I'm not sure CCleaner affected the software.  I still can't open .ai files right.  Oddely enough, Illustrator opens .jpg files that were downloaded and reside elsewhere on the drive, but it can NOT open .jpg files that were made by Adobe software.

 

If I don't figure this out I will lose HUNDREDS of hours of work and graphic assets.  Help!

 

Driving me nuts.  Inexplicable.  Anybody else have any ideas?

[mta]

not being a CS6 user, I can't give specific help on that front - hopefully others will chime in.

 

but just to get you going, any chance you have another PC that you can install Adobe on and try some on these .ai files on?

at least that will get you going as a quick, temporary fix.  and it will prove if CC was the root cause.

 

as to Adobe, I'd be trying their support chat line again, this time not mentioning CC because as soon as they hear that they are going to clutch that straw with both hands!.

 

in theory, if you are still getting those plug-in related messages, it would indicate something else needs to be installed; add-ons, updates, packages etc.

I mention this because a few years ago when I got my Nikon DLSR, even the Nikon supplied software wouldn't open RAW files until I installed a plugin from Micrososft.

[p b]

Mta,

Thanks again for chiming in.

I did test the files on another system with the same Adobe software and I get the same problems on .ai files AND .jpg files that were on the same system as I've been writing about.  They were both backups.  One is a copy of .ai and .jpg files made after this problem started and the other is a backup on DVD from a couple weeks ago and was in the DVD drive when I ran CCleaner.  When you run the default cleaning does it clean or affect disks in DVD drives?

 

Illustrator on both systems can read/use .ai and .jpg files that were made from the last available backup made in June which has been outside the system for months.

 

What do you think?

[p b]

Have new information that someone smarter than I may know what to do with ...

 

1-  Illustrator CAN open .jpg files that : 1) reside outside of the directories where there are Illustrator files, work and links to Illustrator work, and 2) have never been used by Illustrator or any other Adobe program.  It can NOT read .jpg files made with Adobe software and/or or which are in directories.with other Illustrator work.

 

and

 

2- I tried opening one of these 'unopenable' .jpg files with Adobe Photoshop.  The file would not open in Photoshop either but I was given an interesting message:  "Could not place the document 'name of file.jpg' because a JPEG segment marker segment length is too short or... (and then the message cuts off..  I can't open the box or see anything else of the message.)

[p b]

Nobody in this forum to help with this issue?

[mta]

It may take a while for a member who can help to see this post or maybe we have no Adobe gurus with any helpful advice.

 

In the meantime, if you haven't yet, I'd be getting in touch with Adobe Support.

 

And CC doesn't (can't) effect files on CD/DVD's as they are ROM. (Even rewritable ones not yet finalised aren't touched I believe)

[Kramy]

They feel modern OS's don't need defragging and I should stay away from those types of programs.

 

That must be why they build defragmenting into all their installers and updaters. To be hypocrites. (During the optimization phase when installing or updating, they use a tool like wincontig to defragment all the files. )

 

http://wincontig.mdtzone.it/en/

 

Whether it is necessary really depends on your OS, programs, and storage. Hard drives can get a performance boost by moving important files to the faster edge of the drive, and ensuring files can be read in one spin. Solid State Drives (on the other hand) do not require defragmenting, and it actually reduces performance and wears them out faster. (SSDs are newer/faster drives that use NAND flash rather than spinning magnetic platters. Tablets and smartphones use NAND for storage, as do many high end PCs.)

 

Certain operating systems and programs do a better job of avoiding the need to defrag all the time. On Linux there is a filesystem feature that allows the OS to indicate the size required to store something. They call it 'extents' - so when you download a 1.5GB file, Linux can place the file in a large empty area. Windows has no such feature, so it fills whatever gaps are available as the data comes in. This is especially obvious if you have a drive for downloads - as you fill it, files will end up unfragmented... then as you clear out old downloads to make space for new ones, you leave gaps everywhere, which Windows then tries to fill. Over time you end up with so many gaps, that Windows will dump practically every 1MB in a new tiny space, so a 1.5GB download can end up in thousands of fragments. This screenshot demonstrates it perfectly.

 

 

All that said, an SSD would not care that the data is fragmented. Most can read upwards of 100,000 fragments per second, while spinning hard drives are limited to 100-200 fragments due to the travel time of the read/write head... you can see why defragmenting a hard drive might be a good idea when fragmentation gets really bad.

 

That said, on drives with large numbers of files, defragmenting can take ages - days or even weeks! On such drives, I prefer to just copy all files to a scratch drive, reformat, and then copy them all back. This won't be an option for your OS/Windows drive, but it does work for storage or backup drives. If doing so, it's recommended to use a tool that verifies everything copied correctly, such as TeraCopy. It has a 'test on write' feature that checks the CRC checksums of all files to verify they copied correctly.

 

http://codesector.com/downloads

 

It may not be compatible with every version of Windows, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend replacing the regular Windows filecopy dialog with it. (It will ask.) It has limited support for super long paths, which are getting more and more common, and can spit out some cryptic error messages. The main developer seems to have abandoned it.

 

 

as to 'modern OSs not needing defragging' - there is no right or wrong answer really.  personally I think they (PC's) do still need defragging but I think users do it way too often.  once a month is overkill, but it depends on the usage and the type of files that get changed.  A few times a year is more than sufficient for me.

 

I agree that most users do it far too often. Avoid doing it for Solid State Drives, do it occasionally for Hard Disk Drives - but be sure to check Defraggler's health tab first to see if any error counts have moved beyond 0, before working the drive really hard.

 

If you're a more advanced user, controlling where data ends up can be a useful strategy and have a bigger impact on performance than defragmenting. Hard drives get progressively slower towards the end, due to the laws of a circle's circumference. (More data passes under the read/write head in one spin on the edge... less data in the centre of the platter.) Thus if you have something important like Windows, Games, an empty partition for FRAPS recording, etc., you would want those things on the first part of the drive(s). The end of the drive(s) will be slower, so you stick things there that aren't as important... downloads, archived/encoded footage, old video files, etc.

 

I see it all the time where people pack their drives 95% full, install a new game, then complain on forums or Steam that it stutters horribly. (And of course blame the developer.) Load the game onto an empty drive (or tiny partition at the start of a drive) and there's no stutters.

 

It's because of this...

 

 

The blue line represents the speed reading sequentially (In a line - a non-fragmented file.) It is over twice as fast at the start of the drive than it is at the end.

 

The yellow dots represent moves to a file to begin reading it. Towards the start of the drive it averages about 10ms, but by the end it's up to 20ms.

 

At 60fps a game has 16.66ms to draw each frame. Some games use a 2-3 frame buffer to reduce stuttering, but increase input lag. If a game suddenly realizes it needs a model or texture to continue, it will have to wait for it... and if it needs five of them, it has a problem. At the start of the drive it might be stuck for 50ms, pretty much draining the 3-frame buffer, and possibly causing a stutter. At the end of the drive, it would be stuck for at least 100ms. Probably more, since on a clogged 95%+ full drive, the files may be fragmented as well. Put each texture or model in just 3-4 pieces, and watch as the game stutter becomes 300ms or more - very noticeable.

 

 

 

My computer is getting very slow and I just know Adobe put all kinds of little tentacles everywhere that is gunking up my system... that's what it does. I did the 'uninstall' and there's still CS6 files in several directories that I found.  

 

What's your best defrag suggestion?

 

No offense, but I wonder if CCleaner even caused your PC's problems. Your computer is getting slow? Could you download/install Defraggler and post a screenshot of the Health tab? I'm wondering if your PC's odd behaviour is being caused by a failing hard drive.

 

 

2- I tried opening one of these 'unopenable' .jpg files with Adobe Photoshop.  The file would not open in Photoshop either but I was given an interesting message:  "Could not place the document 'name of file.jpg' because a JPEG segment marker segment length is too short or... (and then the message cuts off..  I can't open the box or see anything else of the message.)

 

Sounds like one of your adobe programs may be corrupting your files and their support took the easy path out and blamed it on CCleaner. Just my opinion based on what I read. If your hard drive checks out okay and you never ran CCleaner registry cleaning, I lean towards Adobe's software being at fault.

 

-Kramy