Installing Adobe CS4 on Windows 7 or Vista without BSOD
In case you are getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on Windows 7 or Vista while trying to install any of the Adobe CS 4 Creative Suites from the Adobe installation DVDs, try installing the software directly from your desktop.
The Adobe installer is, frankly, badly done. Numerous users are reporting installation problems, particularly with DVD 2 of CS4 Design Premium/ Production Premium. Myself, I’ve had major problems, including two BSODs, while attempting to install CS4 Production Premium on Windows 7 RC using the installation DVDs. I did not have any problems doing so on Windows 7 beta by the way.
I’m thinking the conflict arose either from my DVD drives or some of the memory overclock settings I used. In any event I didn’t want to waste any time trying to figure out what those Windows 7 BSOD stop codes were trying to (not) tell me and just get on with my installation.
Here is how you install any Adobe Creative Suite directly from your computer’s hard drive in Windows 7. To make things a bit more convenient disable AUTOPLAY. Not required but helpful.
1) Insert installation DVD #1 in your computers’ DVD drive. Windows displays the popup letting you choose to AutoPlay or open the folders. Click to open the folders. Create a folder on your Desktop. For this How-To let’s name that folder CS4_DVD1
2) Copy everything from the DVD to that new CS4_DVD1 folder you created on your Desktop.
3) Put in DVD #2. Open it up to view the folder contents. There are two folders, “payloads” and “extensions”. Open “payloads” and copy everything to the payloads folder on your desktop. If asked if you want to overwrite/merge files click YES.
4) Do the same thing for the “extensions” folder: copy everything to the “extensions” folder on your desktop.
5) Keep doing this with ALL other DVDs. Adobe Production Premium CS4 should require a total of four DVDs.
6) Make sure all contents from all “payloads” and “extensions” folders on the DVDs are copied over to the payloads/extension folders on your desktop.
7) Once that’s done simply click the “SETUP.EXE” icon inside your CS4_DVD1 folder, under ADOBE CS4/
Provided you copied everything from the DVDs to your machine properly, the installer will launch after a brief check of your system and install the Creative Suite. It should not ask you to insert any DVDs. If it does it means you didn’t copy some files over properly.
Doing it this way didn’t cause any more Blue Screen of Death incidents for me. Remember to check for updates after installing CS4.
SIDE NOTES: keep your CS4_DVD1 folder and all its contents around, maybe on a separate drive. You’ll need it again if you need to uninstall the Creative Suite. And before you ask- yes, you can create that folder on a drive other than your C: drive, and yes you can store it on a different drive as well. Me suggesting to put this on your Desktop is just for convenience.
Anti-Virus, iTunes, other Crap that Causes Problems
Keep in mind that serious users do not clutter their main machines with unnecessary software: I do not have any antivirus software, iTunes, Nero, or anything else unrelated to work on my production systems. I also turn off any Windows features I don’t need. I turn off search index, Windows Defender, many Aero features, and I do not overclock my CPU or memory while installing major software suites, like CS4. After everything runs smoothly feel free to overclock again. I highly suggest to stay away from any and all antivirus and anti-spyware software on your editing machine, as all those things use a large amount of resources and can cause many conflicts with your programs. If you really can’t get online without being hit by viruses I suggest you get a hardware-based firewall/anti-virus solution, or simply don’t go online with your production machine.
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