CS3 - The preferences file is corrupt and will be reset to default settings

Honestly, I've been using this program for years now and I'm still amazed at how jack-screwed it continues to be.
Why is my "preferences file" corrupt all of a sudden, and why pray tell, do I get this message every time I relaunch the program? How can this be corrected?
And while I'm frustrated and ranting....why does Illustrator constantly give me a "this program is not responding" error almost everytime I close it down for the last 10 years (literally) no matter what version I've used and no matter whether my PC is new with a new install of AI or on any other configured PC?
And why does Illustrator take 5 minutes to close when CorelDraw closes in 5 seconds without an error?
Ok... I'm beginning to ramble, AI does that to me. How about we tackle the error message on the thread title? Your help is much appreciated.
Thanks.

If resetting the preferences does not work then trashing the Settings folder and the plist file should.
You first quit Illustrator then;
Users/Username/Library/Preferences/Adobe Illustrator CS3 Settings (you trash this folder) and then navigate a little further down in the list of preferences to com.adobe.illustrator.plist and trash that as well.
As far as why this has been happening for the last ten years would suggest one of three things to me, one; you have some corrupt files that are still in use or have been revised over the ten years and you still use them from time to time. They work fine but course you problems and now the systems have been updated to the point that the problems they cause are dramatic, two; you are using fonts that are old and while are not really corrupt in that they are serving their purpose they are causing the font cache or preferences to be corrupt and finally three you may have plug ins that have had problems that may never have been fully resolved and again they work fine except that they cause this problem(s).
That is what it suggest to me. And of course the fact that Illustrator is extremely sensitive to system problems with bussing and font corruption more so then most programs.

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'the preferences file is corrupt and has been reset to the default settings' - cs4 Mac

greetings!
every time i start illustrator i encounter a new error.
"the preferences file is corrupt and has been reset to the default settings."
"the corrupt file will be backed up as Adobe illustrator Prefs.err"
this problem manifested after i added some more .ai and .ase files to my swatches directory. i do not believe anything else changed.
not sure how to diagnose the problem. is there a debug mode or something? perhaps an offending file.
an option would be to try remove each added swatch file or folder individually, but this would be a very very time consuming process for me.
i use cs4 on a Macbook pro running Snow Leopard - 10.6.2 and would appreciate your advice.
thank you
-s

s,
Every time you close down Illy, the current preferences (which may have been changed while you worked on files) are saved, and every time you start up Illy, those preferences will be used.
Usually, preference corruption probably occurs randomly, caused by the OS, but if something in your files change the preferences to something that is not viable you will get an error like that.
You may press Cmd+Option+Shift during startup, which will replace the current preferences with the defaults, and probably you will get rid of the error message. It is probably not a cure, though.
If the error is persistent, the cure would be to get rid of the offending things in the files you work with.

CS5 - Preference file is corrupt and has been reset.....

EVERY single time I re-open Illustrator, I get this message that my "Preference file is corrupt and has been reset to default, and the old one was backed up...."
C'mon!!! What gives???
Why does this program version have so many issues???
Anyone know why this may be occuring??
Thanks good people!

I'm having a similar issue. My preferences file get corrupted over and over again. Super annoying. For example, according to my preferences, labels are supposed to be shown when doing drawings or rotating. Then it decides to just stop with the labels. It's happened numberous times and the only fix is to reset my preferences by deleting the preferences file.
Also, along the same lines, I have a certain color book swatch panel that I have the 'persistant' option checked. Yet I have to find it and re-open in everytime I open Illustrator.
The issue comes from Adobe working to hard to get worthless CS 5.5 out and ignoring fixes for their programs. It's BS.

The preferences file is corrupt: adobe illustrator cs4

greetings!
every time i start illustrator i encounter a new error.
"the preferences file is corrupt and has been reset to the default settings."
"the corrupt file will be backed up as Adobe illustrator Prefs.err"
this problem manifested after i added some more .ai and .ase files to my swatches directory. i do not believe anything else changed.
not sure how to diagnose the problem. is there a debug mode or something? perhaps an offending file.
an option would be to try remove each added swatch file or folder individually, but this would e a very very time consuming process for me.
i use cs4 on a Macbook pro running Snow Leopard - 10.6.2 and would appreciate your advice.
thank you
-s
Message was edited by: Shenzi

The problem is that you're not getting rid of the corrupt Illustrator preferences. To do that, go to User/Library/Preferences and drag the entire Adobe Illustrator CS4 Settings folder to the trash (or to another drive if you want to keep it for some reason). Illustrator will then create a new Preferences folder the next time it's started. It's unlikely the problem was caused by swatches files, but if the error comes back after deleting prefs, then you'll need to determine which swatch file is causing it.

I bought a song, and it says the file is corrupted and will not download what should i do?

I bought a song, and it says the file is corrupted and will not download what should i do?

If you see the "Purchased" option on the main screen of the iTunes Store, here's what I'd do:
1) Go into your library and delete the file if it downloaded. If not, go to your downloads and delete it from there to stop it from download.
2) Go to the Purchased pane in the main iTunes Store section, locate the item, and try the download again.
Also, you may wish to turn off any anti-virus or anti-malware programs before you try this again, as that sometimes is what can be blocking the download. Otherwise, contact iTunes Store Support:
http://www.apple.com/emea/support/itunes/contact.html

I am getting a photoshop error could not load photoshop because the preferences file was invalid and cln't load actions because of an unexpected end of file encountered.

I am getting a photoshop error could not load photoshop because the preferences file was invalid and cln't load actions because of an unexpected end of file encountered.

Are you trying to open Photoshop directly, or open it by double clicking on a Photoshop document, like a PSD file? If the former, then you might need to reinstall. Resetting Preferences would be the firs step, but I am not sure if that will work if Photoshop is not opening in the first place.
Try doing so anyway. Hold down Shift Alt Ctrl (Shift Opt Cmd) while opening Photoshop. OK the message to delete Preferences.
If you get the unexpected end of file error while trying to open Photoshop via a PSD document, then there is more than a good chance that that file is toast.
If still stuck, we need to know Operating System, and Photoshop version.

Acrobat 9 installed on Windows 8.1; upon Save, error every time: "The Organizer Database is damaged and will be reset..."; no "Organizer90" file found (to be deleted, as www suggests for solution with XP, VIsta, 7)

I've installed my old faithful Acrobat 9 Pro on my new Windows 8.1 computer. The program works, but every time I save the document, it tells me "The Organizer Database is damaged and will be reset. Quit the program and close all browsers." (Something close to that text.) I've entered the error online, and a solution does appear for XP, Vista, and Windows 7. It tells me to have Windows Explorer show hidden files, and then look for "Organizer90" within Users/[me]/AppData/LocalLow/Adobe/Acrobat/9.0, and then delete that file -- which will make Acrobat generate a new one. But there is no such file there. Please help with alternate solution. NOTE: When I "Check for Updates" in Acrobat, I'm told that there are no updates available at this time, but also told: "Please note that some updates for the following products cannot be determined at this time: Adobe Updater." Seems like things are out of whack.

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About 90% of the time, when I try to close a PDF nothing happens. After repeatedly clicking the X I get the following message. The Organizer Database is damaged and will be reset the next time Acrobat is launched. Quit the application and close any curren

Anybody had this Problem?
garym57236896

You must be using an old version of Acrobat as Organizer hasn't been in the last two versions of Acrobat. Here is the KB that covers that old error: Error "The Organizer Database is damaged and will be reset..." | Acrobat 9

How do i retrieve file vault protected files from an external hard disk that used to be my mbp's hard drive? the hard disk got corrupted and will no longer boot. I put it in an enclosure and attempted to copy my files but failed because of FV encryption.

This external hard disk used to serve as the main drive of my mbp. It got corrupted and the OSX would no longer load. I upgraded to a 500gb hd and used the old hd as an external drive. I tried to copy my files but i could not access them because of the filevault encryption. 110gb of hd space appears as used which means that my files are still in the drive. Is there a way to retrieve these files? thanks

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Windows says the itunes download file is corrupt and will not install

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I need to install Firefox, but every time I try and download it, the downloaded file is corrupted and I cannot install Firefox on my Windows 7 Desktop PC

I had Firefox installed as my standard webbrowser, but recently it started having problems in regards to websites, some websites wouldn't work as they should. For instance I couldn't open my hotmail email account, it was just a blank white page. Or I would get just code and text on a site that I would normally see images and a designed lay-out. The problems started after I used a demo PC-cleaning program, which removed unnecessary files from my computer. I figured it removed necessary files for firefox to work properly. So I uninstalled Firefox using the uninstaller (but keeping bookmark information etc.) and tried dowloading Firefox 5.0 but the download always crashes or gives me a corrupt file

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Installed the trial of acrobat xl. go to start it and it says the installation file is corrupt and cannot run

just as the title says. what to do

reset your preferences -
acrobat: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/acrobat/X/pro/using/WS58a04a822e3e50102bd615109794195ff-7feb.w .html
adobe media encoder: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1713540
after effects: http://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/preferences.html
dreamweaver: https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver-cs6-cc.html
flash: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash/kb/re-create-preferences-flash-professional.html
illustrator: http://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html
indesign: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/526990
lightroom: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/setting-preferences-lightroom.html
muse (mac): https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1246022?tstart=0
photoshop: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/375776
photoshop elements: http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/Photoshop_Elements/troubleshooting/1_delete_p references_file.htm
premiere pro: http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/premiere/pro/troubleshooter/trash-preferences.html
if that fails, uninstall, clean (if a pc, Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs) and reinstall.

I receive an error message every time I close a file "The Organizer base is damaged and will reset the next time Acrobat is launched." But it never fixes itself. What's the fix?

I receive an error message every time I close a file "The Organizer base is damaged and will reset the next time Acrobat is launched." But it never fixes itself. What's the fix?

Hi mjsa1,
Please see Error "The Organizer Database is damaged and will be reset..." | Acrobat 9.
If you're still having trouble, please let us know!
Best,
Sara

Evert ime i close a pdf i get the following message - rthe orgnizer data base is damaged and will be reset the next time acrobat is launched but after relaunching i still get the same message

every time i close a pdf i get the following message - the orgnizer data base is damaged and will be reset the next time acrobat is launched but after launching
i still get the same message

You must be using an old version of Acrobat as Organizer hasn't been in the last two versions of Acrobat. Here is the KB that covers that old error: Error "The Organizer Database is damaged and will be reset..." | Acrobat 9

CS3 - The preferences file is corrupt and will be reset to default settings

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