Bridge Not Responding

[Kris]

I've been having trouble with Bridge not responding for at least a few weeks. I updated to the latest Bridge hoping that would help, but it didn't. Usually re-starting the PC solves the problem, but last night that didn't help & it's not working today either.  This morning I reset Bridge & chose the first 2 options but not the option to reset the Workspace & it's still not responding. 

 I have a PC desktop running Windows 10 and Photoshop 21.0.1. It is under 12 months old, and has 32GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 1.1GB free out of 1.84GB. The last time I shut down was last night. I run a cleanup program about once a week.

Thanks!

Editing to add Bridge is version 10.1.1

Edited September 13, 2020 by Kris

[Kris]

oops - 1.1 TB out of 1.84 TB free.

[Damien Symonds]

How strange!

If you go to Task Manager, are there any clues there?

[Kris]

I forgot to mention I checked that too and no clues. Sometimes when I shut down I get a msg about something not closing. Im not home right now and can't remember exactly what it says but when I googled it refers to something about Adobe .  I'll be home tonight and will let you know. 

[Kris]

I got further into the folders before Bridge quit responding. Then I went to Task Manager & closed it.

The msg I sometimes get when shutting down is LogTransport2.exe not shutting down. The msg is brief & the PC shuts down & as far as I can tell it starts without any problems when I turn it on. I

[Damien Symonds]

I've moved this thread into Brian's area.  This is beyond me, sorry.

[Kris]

Thanks for your time on this, hopefully I have it fixed.

I tried some of the steps from this page  https://helpx.adobe.com/bridge/kb/troubleshoot-errors-freezes-bridge.html  Ctrl Alt Shift wasn't working so I had to go into Edit>Preferences>Cache; I checked everything that wasn't checked. In Cache Management I selected Compact Cache Now & Purge All Local Cache Files. Then I disabled all Startup Scripts.

[Brian]

What sort of Antivirus Software are you running? When was the last time you installed Windows Updates? 

[Kris]

Feature update to Windows 10, version 2004 - successfully installed on 8/13/2020

I have Bitdefender Total Security; also have Malwarebytes Free 4.2.0.

Thanks, Brian!

[Kris]

Screenshots of the updates & optional updates in case that's helpful.

[Kris]

I just opened ACR & got this msg. I forgot I've gotten this msg in the past month. I click OK & continue to use the program & Photoshop.

[Brian]

On 9/17/2020 at 11:16 PM, Kris said:

I forgot I've gotten this msg in the past month

Photoshop does not like your video drivers. I'm wondering if this is the source of your problems. What Make / Model is your computer? Is there software that checks to see if there are any driver updates?

[Kris]

@Brian  I have a Dell XPS 8930, new in Nov 2019. Windows Update shows up to date except for the Optional Updates listed above.  On 9-18-2020 Windows updated Intel Corporation – SoftwareComponent – 2.9.100.1 

When I hover over the icon in the task bar for NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver it shows update is available. I tried to update it yesterday & today &  got an error msg & to reboot. I did that both days & when hovering over the icon it doesn't show an update.  The other screenshot is what I get when I open NVIDIA.

I went to Dell to check for updates & downloaded their program - I haven't run any of those updates yet. 

[Brian]

Yeah, you want to install Video Driver updates from DELL and not the manufacture. Even if it's a NVIDIA Card and you see a driver on NVIDIA's website. Dell does tweaking to the hardware / drivers that they put into their computers and it's always best to get these drivers via their software tool. Sometimes you can put in the Microsoft Drivers and they don't do much, if anything, at all. Most of the time you need to go to Dell and get updated drivers from them, especially for the video cards. The other stuff, like Chipset and USB seem to work with either the Microsoft or Dell versions.

I would go ahead and install those Dell Updates. One of the Updates is for your BIOS. Just make sure when you update, do not have anything else running and it will force you to reboot. With a BIOS update, things might sometimes appear to have locked up; I would leave it alone and let it do its thing. The downside is that there doesn't seem to be a video driver update, so you might have to call Dell for Support. Something is screwy with your video driver, Photoshop / Bridge is complaining & acting weird, especially since it won't update properly. Actually, thinking about it, it's probably detecting a Update on NVIDIA's website, so a phone call to Dell is likely in your future.

[Kris]

@Brian thank you for your help. I had trouble with some of the Dell Updates - appearing to be locked up just as you said. It looks like something updated, but the video driver is not working when I open ACR. I'll try running an update over night & will probably end up calling Dell this week.  

[Brian]

Chances are you are going to have to download a fresh copy, then manually remove the driver, reboot and then install the new video driver. Dell Tech Support should be able to help you with this, or at least point you in the right direction.

[Kris]

I was hopeful I finally had this issue resolved, but it's not. I've tried many different things including the recommendations above; 2 calls to Dell, on the first call they uninstalled NVIDIA & reinstalled it from NVIDIA's site. Bridge worked when I was on the phone with them but the next time I went to use Bridge, it wasn't responding, so I uninstalled & reinstalled NVIDIA, It's been a few weeks but I'm pretty sure I downloaded NVIDIA from Dell's site. I  restarted my pc after uninstall & install (Dell tech didn't do that.)  I've gone to Dell's site to check for updates & it's up to date. Dell tells me this is a software problem & they would charge to help. 

I've looked at Adobe's site to try to find a solution & have run Bitdefender virus scan on the system, Malwarebytes scan & CCleaner. 

Last week I uninstalled Bridge & chose the option to keep my preferences. I re-installed & it worked for about 3 days but it stopped working again. Screenshots of Task Manager attached. The first ss is from today  before ending the task. The other ss is  from yesterday after trying to closing Bridge with Task Manager & trying to open it & it won't open, but it shows running in the background.

I'm stumped & would appreciate any suggestions.  Should I try uninstalling Bridge & not keep my preferences?

[Brian]

Honestly, at this point, I would try using Bridge 2019 if you could. The 2020 versions of PS and Bridge are really quirky and have all sorts of bugs. In fact, Bridge and Ps CC were just updated to completely new versions. I think these updates were pushed out a few days ago. I’d try updating and see how that goes for you. Other than that, I’m thinking of a format of the HD and reinstall of windows/everything. Something is botched up and I have no idea why. 

[Kris]

Thanks - when I started my PC today I had a notice about updates for Bridge & ACR so I did that, restarted the PC & Bridge is working now. If it's an issue again,  I'll see if I can go back to Bridge 2019 & last resort formatting the HD. 

 

 

[Brian]

The latest version of Adobe CC products, i.e. Photoshop, Bridge, seem to have all sorts of issues. When an update hits, it fixes some things but breaks others. So a format is the absolute last resort because I'd hate for you to nuke the HD, only to re-install the latest version of Photoshop CC / Bridge CC and be right back into the same spot. The only reason that you should format is if the 2019 versions do not work as well. Then I can say it might be a Windows issue.

Actually, there is one test you can run.

1. Head to the Start Menu and (just start typing) type CMD.
2. The CMD Prompt will pop up at the top. Now hold up, the next step is important!
3. Right-Click on the CMD at the top of the Start Menu and select "Run as Administrator."
4. A command box will appear.
5. Type the following command: sfc /scannow
6. Press enter. The Windows System File Checker will do its thing. Go get coffee or watch Netflix. This will take a few minutes. Hopefully it will repair stuff or not find any other issues.

[Kris]

It doesn't look like I have an option to revert back to Bridge 2019. The only options are Versions 11.0 & 10.1.1  I didn't find 2019 on Adobe's site. The latest version worked for a couple days & now it's not working again. I won't format unless absolutely necessary.

Thanks for the suggestion on running the test. I haven't done it yet since I didn't get a command box to type in the command on your Step 5 above. A window opens with the option to click Yes or No; I've clicked No since it's different than your directions.

 

 

[Kris]

I just googled to try to learn more about the CMD prompt. Is this the command box that should come up? I got to it by typing cmd in the File Explorer address bar.

[Brian]

Yep. Type CMD and see where it says, "Run as administrator" on the right? CLICK THAT. This opens the command box with Administrator Level Privileges, which is what you want when you need to fix stuff or do system-level things.

Then all you do is type sfc /scannow. That's sfc (hit the spacebar once) then type /scannow (all one word.)

Then Hit Enter.

After it's done, type the word exit and hit enter. This will close the Command Box.

[Kris]

Thanks for the further explanation - I'm glad you spelled out to hit the spacebar after sfc - I probably would not have noticed that space.

I ran the scan; it found corrupt files & successfully repaired them. I opened Bridge & it didn't respond so I re-started the computer & got a msg about Task Host Window Task Host is stopping background tasks & I clicked the option to restart. It took a few minutes before it booted up again. I opened Bridge 11.0 & it worked. 

I don't see an option to revert back to Bridge 2019 but in looking at a forum on Adobe's site  https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge/is-adobe-bridge-cc-2019-free-of-charge/td-p/10173369?page=1 I came across a link to downloading Bridge from https://prodesigntools.com/adobe-cc-2019-direct-download-links.html I haven't done that yet, but did a search to learn more about that website & found this on Adobe's site:  "ProDesignTools links are safe and approved by Adobe. However owing to Adobe's new legacy policy, many direct download links have been removed..  They may or may not work anymore.  Nancy O'Shea, ACP"

[Kris]

Bridge 2021 is not responding more often than not so I tried to download Bridge 2019 from ProDesignTools. Google Chrome blocked the download with the notice it can't be downloaded securely. After reading the possible reasons why & not knowing enough about the site I discarded it. 

I ran the Windows System File Checker again today & it did not find any integrity violations; restarted PC – Bridge wouldn’t open; tried opening Bridge while holding Ctrl Alt Shift; wouldn’t open; restarted PC; opened Bridge while holding Ctrl Alt Shift & it's working now but I've done this before & it doesn't last more than a few days.

Do you have any thoughts on downloading Bridge 2019 from ProDesignTools?