Unlike hardware, when you install software and something goes wrong, it’s much harder – and more frustrating – to get to the bottom of the problem.
After all, you can’t just send it back for repair or replacement. It usually takes time to uninstall and reinstall to see if that fixes the problem.
And it’s not always easy to work out whether the problem has something to do with the make-up of the computer itself or that version of the software, which may have a bug.
Sadly, these questions have plagued one of our readers, Richard Bennett, who has spent a considerable amount of time and energy trying to work out why his Adobe programs won’t run properly on his computer.
“I recently bought a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 and Adobe Premier Elements 7 as a bundle. They installed on my XP Pro computer and worked fine for about two weeks. However, they then both failed to work and came up with a message that said ‘Licensing for this product has stopped working’. This glitch is documented in the Adobe Knowledge Base 401528.”
Richard followed all the instructions in the Knowledge Base and also spoke to Adobe technical support numerous times and followed their instructions to get the programs to work.
In a bid to get to the bottom of the glitch, Richard even sent the ALM and AMT log files and other files (msinfo32) to Adobe to unearth the problem.
A short time after this, Adobe contacted Richard and gave him instructions to run an Adobe removal tool called CS3 clean. He has followed the instructions.
“I have uninstalled and reinstalled the programs at least five times but the problem still exists. I have run the Windows Installer Cleanup, cs4clean and cs3clean (level 3 clean option) and then reinstalled the programs without luck.”
Richard contacted Investigator to bring our attention to the problem. He isn’t upset with their technical assistance, but is concerned that the problem has not been addressed and may reappear at another time.
“Adobe has been very helpful when I have contacted them, but they have not yet come up with a solution that works. My additional concern is that I don’t want to have to go through this process every time it fails to work as the knowledge base says it can happen on installation, after it has worked successfully or regular use of the product.”
Investigator got in touch with a representative for Adobe to follow up on Richard’s case and see if anything could be done to help his situation. The rep was quick to respond and take Richard’s details to look into his case.
He was asked to send the Event Viewer file in to the company and was subsequently contacted by a local company representative about his situation.
“I have taken up your case with the Director of Asia Pacific Customer Care.We are evaluating what can be done. I completely understand your frustration with the situation and whilst we have thousands of customers for whom Premiere Elements (and CS3/CS4 products) is installed and fully functional, I appreciate this is of little solace to you and your current problem."
"With such issues, it can be a complex process isolating the cause – often unique to each case. While not wanting to delay a solution even further, I do need some time to work through your case with Customer Care.”
The Adobe rep also told Investigator it is committed to fixing the problem:
“Most customers find the solutions in the knowledge base correct the problem; however, there are some unique PC configurations out there which make technical support a challenge. Those customers that have unique PC circumstances are handled on a case-by-case basis. Adobe does take these issues seriously and is committed to helping their customers.”
Adobe has suggested that Richard may need to reformat his drive. Investigator will keep in touch with Richard to see if the problem can be accurately identified and addressed.
Here to Help
We welcome consumer complainst and questions, and we'll do our best to help find a solution for all parties involved. If you're the victim of poor sales, dodgy service or any other kind of dispute, we need to hear about it. if you'd like to help, email us here at investigator@pcauthority.com.au
Please note that the companies or individuals mentioned here are menat to illustrate the typical problems that an ordianary customer could face. If a company is mentioned here, it should not be taken as an indication that incidents described are typical of that particular company.
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