Computer says LR is already running: My partner had an issue with Lightroom and shut it down. When he tried to re-open it told him there was already a copy open. There wasn't. He...

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

My partner had an issue with Lightroom and shut it down. When he tried to re-open it told him there was already a copy open. There wasn't. He un-installed LR but when trying to re-install was once again told it was already there. Any ideas about what might be going on. He's running a high end Dell All-in-One.

Thanks!
Donna

Spider223

Found this,

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/i-can-t-open-a-program-it-comes-up-program-already-running/td-p/1029733

It may be that some of the processes associated with the program are still running in the background. Try opening the Task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and checking both the Applications and Processes tabs. If the program shows up in Applications, just end the task. If there are processes that obviously go with the program under the the Processes tab, end each one.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Ask him if he knows how to to open "Task Manager". He'll be able to view any incident of it running. If it is, tell him to "end task". Then reboot the computer and check to see if it has solved the issue.
Mark

donnahde wrote:

My partner had an issue with Lightroom and shut it down. When he tried to re-open it told him there was already a copy open. There wasn't. He un-installed LR but when trying to re-install was once again told it was already there. Any ideas about what might be going on. He's running a high end Dell All-in-One.

Thanks!
Donna

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Spider223 wrote:

Found this, br br https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/N... (show quote)

That is the way to do it! then shut down for 30 sec and reboot

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Thanks very much, Spider. Great ideas! Unfortunately, we found nothing running under either of those taps related to Adobe or Lightroom.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Thanks, Mborn and Mark but he found nothing to end in task manager as I wrote to Spider.

ralphfr Loc: Long Island, NY

It's kind of strange that the OS let it be uninstalled while it said it was still running. If that is what happened then the registry may have some orphaned entries in it. Run CCleaner and have it check the registry. If it finds bad entries then back up the registry and then have CCleaner delete those entries. Good luck.

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

ralphfr wrote:

It's kind of strange that the OS let it be uninstalled while it said it was still running. If that is what happened then the registry may have some orphaned entries in it. Run CCleaner and have it check the registry. If it finds bad entries then back up the registry and then have CCleaner delete those entries. Good luck.

Very good Ralphfr: that's the best solution, I use this product all the time it does the job well. Doing the three finger solute is good to check as stated above too.

Linary Loc: UK

donnahde wrote:

My partner had an issue with Lightroom and shut it down. When he tried to re-open it told him there was already a copy open. There wasn't. He un-installed LR but when trying to re-install was once again told it was already there. Any ideas about what might be going on. He's running a high end Dell All-in-One.

Thanks!
Donna

It is possible that th3e Lock File is still present.

Close Lightroom (or cease any attempts to open it), and search you computer for a file "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat.Lock"

If you find such a file (on my computer it is located in my Lightroom folder where the catalog and Smart Previews are located), delete the file, reboot the computer and try to open Lightroom.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Thanks, Ralph. Windows 10 does not seem to have CCleaner (which I corroborated with a google search) but I did google Registry cleaner which seems to require a separate piece of software. The description of Registry issues does fit what he's been experiencing - frequent freeze ups and black screens that eventually recover. We think it's time to take it back to the Microsoft store at the mall. They replaced his hard drive some months back and he has a one year warranty for any computer in our house that needs service. Thanks again for your suggestions.

ralphfr wrote:

It's kind of strange that the OS let it be uninstalled while it said it was still running. If that is what happened then the registry may have some orphaned entries in it. Run CCleaner and have it check the registry. If it finds bad entries then back up the registry and then have CCleaner delete those entries. Good luck.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Linary wrote:

It is possible that th3e Lock File is still present.

Close Lightroom (or cease any attempts to open it), and search you computer for a file "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat.Lock"

If you find such a file (on my computer it is located in my Lightroom folder where the catalog and Smart Previews are located), delete the file, reboot the computer and try to open Lightroom.

Thanks, Linary. We'll try this before going to the Microsoft store. He's changed focus (after way too much frustration on Easter Sunday!) and is finishing up our taxes.

ralphfr Loc: Long Island, NY

donnahde wrote:

Thanks, Ralph. Windows 10 does not seem to have C... (show quote)

I'm sorry. You have to download the free version from the website. It is not a Windows utility app. The link is below.

It certainly could be a HD issue especially if you are experiencing issues beyond LR. You may want to try CCleaner first as it's also possible that whoever tried to fix the original issue may have restored your system thinking it was hardware and copied an existing software issue to the new drive.

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

Woodsman Loc: North of Peterborough Ontario

[quote=Linary]It is possible that th3e Lock File is still present.

I agree definitely look for the lock file and delete it. I have had similar issues when I have done funky things without thinking and finding and deleting the lock file has always resolved the already running issue for me.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

[quote=Woodsman]

Linary wrote:

It is possible that th3e Lock File is still present.

I agree definitely look for the lock file and delete it. I have had similar issues when I have done funky things without thinking and finding and deleting the lock file has always resolved the already running issue for me.

He tried that and did not find this file. Thanks!

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

ralphfr wrote:

I'm sorry. You have to download the free version from the website. It is not a Windows utility app. The link is below.

It certainly could be a HD issue especially if you are experiencing issues beyond LR. You may want to try CCleaner first as it's also possible that whoever tried to fix the original issue may have restored your system thinking it was hardware and copied an existing software issue to the new drive.

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

Ooooohhhh. Thanks for the link.