Illustrator CS3 crashes at launch (Mac OS 10.6.8)

Question

Hello everyone,
Can somebody please help me out from this.
I'm using Illustrator CS3 on Mac 10.6.8. As I remember, I had installed some new fonts which I doubt it may have caused the error. I tried removing the User>Library>Preferences>Illustrator Settings folder. Plus I validated all the fonts including the new fonts on FontBook. Still negative. So I can't figure out what's the actual cause and how to troubleshoot it.

Answer 1

code,
Item 11) in 5) in the list below is about font cashes; item 1) is about moving fonts (Illy may reject fonts that go through validation). You may also try to move preferences/folders as described in 4). 6) may be needed.
The following is a general list of things you may try when the issue is not in a specific file, and when it is not caused by issues with opening a file from external media, see below. You may have tried/done some of them already; 1) and 2) are the easy ones for temporary strangenesses, and 3) and 4) are specifically aimed at possibly corrupt preferences); 5) is a list in itself, and 6) is the last resort.
If possible/applicable, you should save current artwork first, of course.
1) Close down Illy and open again;
2) Restart the computer (you may do that up to at least 5 times);
3) Close down Illy and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup (easy but irreversible);
4) Move the folder (follow the link with that name) with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible);
5) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options (follow the link with that name, Item 7) is a list of usual suspects among other applications that may disturb and confuse Illy, Item 15) applies to CC, CS6, and maybe CS5);
Even more seriously, you may:
6) Uninstall, run the Cleaner Tool (if you have CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6/CC), and reinstall.
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html
External media: It is always recommended here to open/save from/to own hard disk, and to copy from/to networks and removable media. You may be lucky (for a while), but the chances of file corruption and other unpleasantnesses are immensely greater when you use anything but the harddisk, and it is better to be safe than sorry.
In addition to the (far greater) risk of file corruption, some issues are mentioned here:
http://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/illustrator-support-networks-removable-media.html