flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

I have been running Adobe CS3 Master Suite on Win Vista since purchasing last November with no issues. Recently I received this msg. when trying to open Photoshop..."AMT Subsystem Failure
The licensing subsystem has failed catastrophically. You must reinstall or call customer support." Neither Photoshop nor Soundbooth (the only two programs out of the full suite I had installed) would open.
I had, at one point, made some tweaks in the computer services, run a disk clean, and registry clean/fix to speed things up.
I have researched the issue and tried numerous "fixes" including a Microsoft utility designed to hunt down and fix corrupted registry files, the Adobe Clean tool, and a system restore to an earlier state, all with no joy. I even went so far as to upgrade my OS to Win7 thinking this would replace the missing/corrupted file (I was going to upgrade anyway). CS3 will not uninstall from Control Panel so had to surgically remove elements in the programs file. I left LR alone as it works fine.
CS3 will still neither uninstall nor install.
I'm at a loss...anyone know of this issue and have suggestions?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Isn't software security great? I would call Adobe support.

flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

Thanks for the reply Jerry. All accounts I have read of attempts with Adobe were futile or unintelligible. May try this as a "last resort".

kit_kit Loc: NYC

Run sfc /scannow.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

NEVER use a registry cleaner. That's what probably caused the problem.

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

Try this , I remember this happening several times in the past and using this method to fix.

I'm getting AMT subsystem Failure in Adobe CS3, turns out the issue was FlexNet was disabled. The solution could be very simple: Go to Services (Administrative Tools -> Services) and check service "FLEXnet Licensing Service" — it should not be disabled! Put it to manual mode at least. This fixed the issue on my XP box.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That's the shame of it. It's a crap shoot.

flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

Thanks "dance". Yep...tried that too and FLEXnet was set as required. Also checked anything with "Adobe" in the service description and all were either Auto or manual and "started".

flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

Copied the info on the web page...will be checking this out. Thanks very much for your help!

flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

Ran the scan... "Windows resource protection did not find any resource violations"...oh well, it was worth a try!
Thanks for your input.

kit_kit Loc: NYC

The next thing I would do is boot into Safe Mode and attempt the uninstall-reinstall from there.

flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

Tried the safe mode install (uninstall already done via programs as uninstall from control panel was ineffective) but safe mode approach proved futile as well. Install set-up begins as normal and progress bar completes but quietly goes away with no further action. Go figure....

kit_kit Loc: NYC

It's possible there's a conflict with your security software...especially if you have Norton installed. Try disabling all your security software. With Norton disabling is not enough. It needs to be completely removed.
Another thing that comes to mind is to right-click the installer and select Run As Administrator.

flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

No Norton on the computer currently...I'll try disabling anything to do with security and try the common method. If that doesn't work, I can try again running as administrator as suggested.
Let me say what a boost it is just to have the suggestions you've made...very tenacious of you to stick in there with me and help. A real pain in the butt made less painful through the help of a friend!

kit_kit Loc: NYC

I'm happy to help whenever I can. When you say, "No Norton on the computer currently" does that mean you had it in the past? If so, Norton could still be causing a conflict.

flyingcrown1 Loc: Moravian Falls

I had Norton 360 on this machine briefly but was uninstalled quite some time ago. I believe of this were the source of the issue, it would have reared its ugly head before now (no derogatory reference to the use of the tern "ugly" hedge-hoggers!).