DNG converter weirdness

[pwp]

I use DNG converter just about every day of my life. I'm on PC Win764. After a big archiving session where I used lossy conversion on several thousand files to crunch down the size, DNG Convereter has stopped working. Check out the screenshot.

None of the grayed out panels work or respond. I uninstalled (V 7.2) by deleting the DNG.exe from C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe and reinstalled  and restarted. The issue was unchanged. So I uninstalled and reverted to V7.1. Exactly the same. Next I uninstalled and ran the new V7.3. Exactly the same.

Fortunately I can run my conversions on another identical Win7 64 PC on the network, but it's not ideal of course. Any ideas?

-PW

[RMC33]

I use DNG converter just about every day of my life. I'm on PC Win764. After a big archiving session where I used lossy conversion on several thousand files to crunch down the size, DNG Convereter has stopped working. Check out the screenshot.

None of the grayed out panels work or respond. I uninstalled (V 7.2) by deleting the DNG.exe from C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe and reinstalled  and restarted. The issue was unchanged. So I uninstalled and reverted to V7.1. Exactly the same. Next I uninstalled and ran the new V7.3. Exactly the same.

Fortunately I can run my conversions on another identical Win7 64 PC on the network, but it's not ideal of course. Any ideas?

-PW

When you did the un-install did you just delete the folder from your directory? That could be where the issue lies. Add/remove software is the best way to go about anything related to deletion as it catches all the files that a program can install unless you specify otherwise (like files created by the software etc.). I had a similar issue with my Auto Cad Inventor when I went from 2012->2013 because the installer left a few files that caused conflicts and did not allow me to save useable .DWG or .STL with my other software. It seems to me like the initial issue could be related to corrupted files that are somehow still present.

Anyone else?

[pwp]

Thanks RMC33. Yes, it's almost certainly a corrupted settings file somewhere.

The DNG Converter is not listed in the add/remove programs area. It just sits in C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe and runs when you call it in.

-PW

[RMC33]

It is weird that the Converter is not in your Add/remove. If you run the install utility does it give an option to repair an install/do a custom install? If so this may be a way to find setting files that could cause an issue. There also could be something that changed in the windows registry (unlikely). In all honesty when I had CAD bug out on me like that I had to re-format the issue was so bad. How long has it been since that PC has had a fresh windows install?

[pwp]

The DNG installer offers no options for custom install and no repair options. It's a simple little utility. Windows 7 should not need a periodic fresh install in the same way that earlier incarnations of the Windows OS systems did. It was a regular routine with '98 and earlier, much less of an issue with XP and pretty much unnecessary from Vista onwards.

-PW

[pwp]

My nearby computer expert took a look at this, and was able to solve the problem for me. He noted...

The problem was a corrupted settings entry in the Windows registry. When the following hex value was deleted, functionality was restored:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\DNG Converter\7.0\Preferences

Presumably the registry entry got corrupted somehow, but the DNG Converter software should not have been affected in this way. The software should be able to detect and repair/replace corrupted settings.

If Adobe engineers wish to replicate the error, what follows is the corrupted registry entry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\DNG Converter]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\DNG Converter\7.0]
"Preferences"=hex:6f,64,6e,4d,63,46,4e,44,0f,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,4a,00,00,00,4a,00,00,00,43,3a,5c,55,73,\
  65,72,73,5c,50,61,75,6c,5c,50,69,63,74,75,72,65,73,5c,24,4e,65,77,50,72,6f,\
  6a,65,63,74,73,5c,41,72,72,69,75,6d,20,4f,53,43,41,53,20,32,32,2e,31,31,2e,\
  32,30,31,32,5c,44,4e,47,20,37,2e,32,20,6c,6f,73,73,79,5c,00,00,00,00,12,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,07,00,00,04,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  01,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,3c,\
  00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,ad,04,00,00,35,02,00,00,05,07,00,00,86,04,\
  00,00,ad,04,00,00,35,02,00,00,05,07,00,00,86,04,00,00,58,02,00,00,51,02,00,\
  00,ce,ff,ff,ff,df,ff,ff,ff,02,00,02,00,01,00,00,00,3c,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,80,0a,00,00,a0,01,00,00,a6,0c,00,00,1e,03,00,00,80,0a,00,00,a0,\
  01,00,00,a6,0c,00,00,1e,03,00,00,26,02,00,00,7e,01,00,00,ce,ff,ff,ff,df,ff,\
  ff,ff,02,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

-PW

[RMC33]

My nearby computer expert took a look at this, and was able to solve the problem for me. He noted...

The problem was a corrupted settings entry in the Windows registry. When the following hex value was deleted, functionality was restored:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\DNG Converter\7.0\Preferences

Presumably the registry entry got corrupted somehow, but the DNG Converter software should not have been affected in this way. The software should be able to detect and repair/replace corrupted settings.

If Adobe engineers wish to replicate the error, what follows is the corrupted registry entry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\DNG Converter]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\DNG Converter\7.0]
"Preferences"=hex:6f,64,6e,4d,63,46,4e,44,0f,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,4a,00,00,00,4a,00,00,00,43,3a,5c,55,73,\
  65,72,73,5c,50,61,75,6c,5c,50,69,63,74,75,72,65,73,5c,24,4e,65,77,50,72,6f,\
  6a,65,63,74,73,5c,41,72,72,69,75,6d,20,4f,53,43,41,53,20,32,32,2e,31,31,2e,\
  32,30,31,32,5c,44,4e,47,20,37,2e,32,20,6c,6f,73,73,79,5c,00,00,00,00,12,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,07,00,00,04,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  01,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,3c,\
  00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,ad,04,00,00,35,02,00,00,05,07,00,00,86,04,\
  00,00,ad,04,00,00,35,02,00,00,05,07,00,00,86,04,00,00,58,02,00,00,51,02,00,\
  00,ce,ff,ff,ff,df,ff,ff,ff,02,00,02,00,01,00,00,00,3c,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,80,0a,00,00,a0,01,00,00,a6,0c,00,00,1e,03,00,00,80,0a,00,00,a0,\
  01,00,00,a6,0c,00,00,1e,03,00,00,26,02,00,00,7e,01,00,00,ce,ff,ff,ff,df,ff,\
  ff,ff,02,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

-PW

Wow. Would have been the last place I would have looked.