PrePro [CS4] error because of missing plug-in

Question

Hi there,
I got a problem when starting Premiere Pro CS 4.2.1.
The thing is that I deleted a plug-in that was connected with Premiere Pro.
A few days ago when I upgraded to Apple Logic Studio 2 I decided to get rid of all everything I don't need anymore.
And since I decided to not use that specific plug in anymore I deleted it. I didn't think that any problem with Premier would occur though.
Now when I try to start Premiere the following error occurs:
"(the Plugin) cannot find the default file def.p5a. Please locate the file in order to use the default preset." All i can do now is click "ok". Afterwards I'm promted to locate the missing file, which isn't on my system anymore anyway. So all i can do now is cancel that procedure. Then the next error message appears:
"(the plugin) cannot find the default controlmap file controlmap.txt. Please locate the file now." Again, the only option that remains is "ok". But that doesn't seen to achieve much, because nothing happens and that dialog stays on the screen forever. I can click "ok" as much as I want, it doesn't go away!!!!! Argh!
How can I tell Premiere that I don't want to use that plugin anyway?
Is there anyway to start Pre without checking for all plugins and then deselect it within premiere somewhere? This is driving me nuts. I can't work with Premiere anymore. So please help me out here.
Cheers!

Answer 1

OK, you had a VST (probably as a .dll), that is still listed in your Registry, and PrPro is hanging on loading, or trying to load it.
Let's step back a moment, and see if this ARTICLE offers any help. If nothing else, it will give a bit of background on VST's.
Now, PrPro tries to load all VST's. From the above article, in the case of #3, it will freeze in the launch process. However, it is also writing a "blacklist," telling the program to NOT try and load that VST again. This can result in having to launch many times, while that blacklist is being populated with all of the offending VST's. If you have a large number of say "instrument" VST's, this can mean many failed launches, until all have been added to that list, one at a time.
If you have removed that "known bad" VST, but PrPro is still trying to load it, then something is telling PrPro that it IS still around. I would guess that this stems from an entry in the Registry, that was not removed, when you uninstalled the VST. I would look into a Registry cleaner, like CCleaner, to try and clean up the Registry, and hopefully remove all references to that now missing VST.
Going back some versions, one user, Eddie Lotter, was working on a blacklist file to help PrPro get past the #3 VST's. What I do not know is if CS4 writes to a physical, and separate blacklist file, like Eddie's Blacklist.TXT file, or if that info is inside another file. Maybe Jeff, or others, can comment. If there IS a true, separate Blacklist.TXT (or similar extension), one should be able to manually edit it (always make a copy of it and store it safely away) to reflect the offending VST.
I'd look at things in that order: keep trying to launch the program, in hopes that it does catalog all #3 VST's, and will finally complete that cataloging and launch; try a Registry cleaner; look for a Blacklist.txt, or similar file, and try to edit it to include that VST. Make sure that you get the exact and full name that PrPro is looking for.
Good luck,
Hunt