WriteFile() error and DWMX 2004 won't start

[atomix]

I have had Dreamweaver MX 2004 installed for a while now, and it's been working fine. I haven't used it for about a week or so, and today when I started it, I immediately get an error box titled "Error: WriteFile()", and the message in the box says "The handle is invalid". The only option is "OK", and when I click on it, DWMX just exits. I have uninstalled, rebooted and re-installed with no luck. The previous version still seems to run.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[Cheech]

This sounds like a bug I saw in XP SP2 is that what you are running as an OS?

[Peace][Pipe]

 

[atomix]

XP with SP2 is it. My apologies - should have listed that sooner...

 

[Cheech]

Have a look at the microsoft support site there is mention of workrounds on there

Cheech

[Peace][Pipe]

 

[Wolf67]

I have the same problem, anyone that have a solution to this? I have searched the internet and doesn´t find any solution. I have reinstalled dreamweaver but nothing helps

 

[atomix]

Here's what I did to get this to work, and it was confirmed by their support people.

There's a service called "Macromedia Licensing Service" and it was set to manual and not running. What I did was to manuall start it through the control panel, then run Dreamweaver and poof, it worked.

Their support staff said that this service is set to manual by default, and that Dreamweaver and their other products start it when they start to validate the license, but in some cases (they don't know why), it doesn't work. So try starting the service through the control panel then start dreamweaver - hopefully you will be OK. If it does work, please post back so the next person knows, too.

 

[Wolf67]

No! i did as you told me, but no it doesn´t work. Any more suggestions?

 

[atomix]

Unfortunately not. Since I purchased my product fairly recently, i was able to use their free e-mail support. I have pasted the e-mails I got from there below. Hopefully one of them will help you. There were three responses from them, and I've numbered them below. Again, good luck:

***********************
Response #1 from them:

In regard to your Tech Inquiry about Dreamweaver MX 2004 not launching, it is possible that one or more files from within Dreamweaver may been corrupted by something in Windows.



As an initial Troubleshooting step, please try the following steps and see if they solve the issue.



I. Resetting Dreamweaver's Configuration

Dreamweaver MX 2004 users in a multiuser environment (Windows XP, 2000 and NT, or Macintosh OS X) can customize Dreamweaver uniquely. Each user can customize Dreamweaver MX 2004 to his liking without overwriting the other users' settings. Each user can have his own set of extensions installed, custom keyboard shortcuts and interface layout.

It is possible that the configuration folder of Dreamweaver on your user account may be corrupted.

Follow the direction indicated below.



1. Open c:\Documents and Settings\<your windows username>\Application Data\Macromedia\Dreamweaver MX 2004
2. Rename the Configuration folder to Configuration Back-Up
3. Launch Dreamweaver


II. Dreamweaver MX 2004 Clean uninstall

To Clean Uninstall is to remove the Dreamweaver application and at the same time remove the license on your machine to avoid system conflicts.

1. Please download the Macromedia License cleaner tool from the Macromedia website.

The license cleaner can be downloaded at:

http://www.macromedia.com/go/cleaner

2. After you download the license cleaner, install and run it on your machine. It will present you with a screen displaying Macromedia products; put a check mark beside Dreamweaver MX 2004. If you are prompted to restart your machine, please restart your machine.

3. Proceed to Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and choose Dreamweaver to uninstall it, if it does not appear on this list, please proceed to "Installing in Safe Mode" section.


III. Install in Safe-Mode

Before doing this you may need to download the Evaluation Copy of Dreamweaver MX 2004 from the Macromedia website as you will be using this, please take note of your existing serial number as you will be using it on this installer.



The Dreamweaver MX 2004 Installer can be found at:

http://www.macromedia.com/downloads/

Alternatively, you could also run the installer from your CD whichever is more convenient. But I recommend that you download the more updated installer from our website.



Some problems with Dreamweaver are caused by a corrupt or incomplete installation. For most users, Dreamweaver installs fine without any special set of actions. However, if you have experienced problems with a prior installation of Dreamweaver, you may want to consider reinstalling Dreamweaver using the guidelines below.



1. Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel. Use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall Dreamweaver.

If you are using the default Windows XP Start menu style, then choose Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove.

2. Choose Dreamweaver from the list.



Then reinstall Dreamweaver in Safe Mode as follows:

1. Copy the Dreamweaver installer from the installation CD onto the Desktop. (This is necessary because the CD-ROM drive will be disabled in Safe Mode.) On the CDs for MX and MX 2004, browse the CD with Windows Explorer > open the FSCOMMAND folder > and copy DW_Client_Installer.exe to the Desktop. If you downloaded the application, make sure the installer is fully downloaded and available on your hard drive.
2. Reboot the computer system in Safe Mode: Windows XP, 2000, 98, ME, 95
3. Restart the computer.
4. When the computer begins to boot back up, start tapping the F8 key.
5. When the Windows startup menu appears, select Safe Mode.
6. If you have trouble booting up in Safe Mode, log in using the Windows administrator account or a user account with administrator privileges.
7. Exit from all applications that may be open. Disable any virus protection software if Safe Mode didn't already disable it.
8. Run the installer yo! u copied to the Desktop in step 1.
9. When installation is complete, delete the installation files copied from the installation CD.
10. Restart the computer in normal mode.
11. Launch Dreamweaver.





We hope this has helped you. Please feel free to send your feedback, by replying to this e-mail. If you have a new issue, please feel free to contact us again using our Web-based form:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/email/complimentary/

Best Regards,
******************************
Response #2 after the above didn't work. First, my e-mail:
Unfortunately, my problem still exists - I still get the "The handle is invalid" error window when i try to start Dreamweaver. I did the following:

1. I renamed the Configuration folder as suggested in section I then ran Dreamweaver - no luck - still the same error.
2. I downloaded the License cleaner tool (version 1.101804) and put a check by Dreamweaver MX 2004.
3. I then removed MX 2004 via Add/Remove software through the Control Panel.
4. I downloaded Dreamweaver MX 2004 and saved it in a folder
5. I rebooted the system in safe mode.
6. I extracted the Dreamweaver Installer from the zip file to my desktop
7. I ran the installer.
8. Rebooted in normal.
9. Attempted to run MX 2004, and I still receive the error.

More suggestions?



I am sorry to hear you are having issues in Dreamweaver. Your issue was escalated to me to see if I can help.

It seems that an application on your system is conflicting with Dreamweaver. Try to launch Dreamweaver after doing a clean boot of your operating system.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353

If Dreamweaver starts up normally after doing a clean boot, you can enable your start up items one at a time to determine what application is causing conflicts with Dreamweaver.

Please let me know what happens.

We hope this has helped you. Please let me know if you have any additional questions on this issue by replying to this e-mail.

If you have a new issue, please feel free to contact us again using our Web-based form:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/email/complimentary/

Have a nice day.

*****************************************
And the next go-around, first my e-mail...

Before I started the clean-boot process you suggested, I first checked the services to see what was running, and I noticed that the Macromedia Licensing Service was not started and was set to manual. So for fun, I started it, then ran DWMX and it asked for my product key and started successfully. I then checked the services again and noticed that the license service had stopped again. I exited DWMX and ran it again, thinking that it would die with the error. It didn't - it started OK.

I then did a regular re-boot and checked the service. Again, manual mode and it wasn't started. This time I didn't touch it - I just started DWMX, and it came up with no problems.

So I don't know what solved the problem because I did not do the clean boot as you suggested - I didn't get that far before DW started to work OK. But it's working for now.

***
and their response...
****
Thank you for writing back.

It is great to hear that you have resolved you issue in Dreamweaver.

By default, the start up type of the Macromedia Licensing Service is set to manual and it automatically starts as soon as you launch Dreamweaver. Sometimes, application cannot invoke the licensing service to trigger the Activation process and thus you need to manually start it. Once you are able to activate your application, everything should be all right.

Applications and/or other services running on your machine might have conflicted with the activation process and thus you get these types of issues.

We hope this has helped you. Please let me know if you have any additional questions on this issue by replying to this e-mail.

If you have a new issue, please feel free to contact us again using our Web-based form:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/email/complimentary/

 

[eatprunes]

I had the same problem and found this Hotfix and it worked

http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_18933