Can't get out of outline view

[P***@adobeforums.com]

My Illustrator is stuck in outline view. I've tried the following:

1. Removed aiprefs with program closed.

2. I've checked File-Document Setup. Outline view is not checked.

3. I've tried clicking on View-Preview. Nothing happens. I've tried the Ctrl-Y, same thing.

4. I've tried Ctrl-Clickiing on the hollow eye icon in the layers palette. The eye turns solid, but as soon as I release the mouse and Ctrl key, it turns back hollow. (I've tried first releasing the Ctrl, then the mouse and vice versa. Neither works.)

5. I've gone into the Layers Palette menu and clicked on "Preview all layers."

None of these things work. I'm at a loss.How can I get back to preview mode? I'm an ex-programmer, and I'm very good with software, but Illustrator has me stumped.

I do think that there is something wrong with Illustrator; it does have to be started twice before it will work. I'm wondering if I can remove the program and reinstall it from the CS2 CDs.

[P***@adobeforums.com]

Could you elaborate on what you mean when you say that you have to open illustrator twice before it will works? does it say "Could not complete the requested operation" on 1st launch? if so, its fonts, you either have too many installed or 1 is corrupt.

If it is fonts, it could be causeing illustrator to display the art in this outline mode, but you didnt mention if it happens with a new document with just a square and a fill or if its a specific doc(?)..

Also, you might try a new user account.

[P***@adobeforums.com]

I do have a lot of fonts. It did also happen on a new document with just one rectangle on it.

I finally was so frustrated, I called Adobe support. I got a very nice man who, after working with me for a while, said that the problem was that I don't have enough memory-- 512MB, although the minimum system requirement is 384MB for running one creative application at a time, which is how I work-- and too many processes. Part of that is AOL, which has many and Norton Systemworks with its firewall and antivirus. Adobe has a lot of background processes of its own.

The technician finally got me started with Illustrator. It seemed fixed, at least temporarily.

When I got off the telephone, I tried Photoshop, which had been working, and found that when I tried File-Open and selected a file, none came up. Just nothing.

Then I went to InDesign, which also had been working, and found that I could no longer move items from one layer to another and masters to the pages. Those palettes didn't work as they had before.

All other programs on my computer work normally. Hardware and disk checks show nothing wrong.

As you can expect, I'm pretty frustrated with the Creative Suite. As a former programmer, I can tell operator error from program instability, and this is the latter.

I'd like to remove the suite from my computer and reinstall, for that could possibly solve the problem, but I'm afraid to do that for fear I will have problems with the activation, copy protection control.

[P***@adobeforums.com]

The activation software shouldnt give you too much trouble for 2 reasons.

1. Durring the uninstall it should ask you to transfer the activation, which will clear up an activation slot (which you have two of).

2. whether you transfer the activation or not, the re-activation on reinstall will see that it is on your same hard drive so it will not use an additional activation slot, it will simply re apply the 1 that is already in use.

So you should be fine as far as that goes. If anything does go wrong the activation department should beable to work around it for you though: 866-772-3623.

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Did you ever have it working properly?

I'm not sure "program instability" is a fair assessment.

The more modern the software, the beefier the system required to run it, but then you would know that.

I know the folks on the Mac side will scream bloody murder if you even mention the word "Norton" citing conflicts with Adobe products, but I'm not sure if that applies on the PC side. You might look into it.

[P***@adobeforums.com]

I think a program should work if your system meets the box specifications. I don't even have more than one of the programs working at a time. Nothing is said there about conflicts with AOL and Norton. One shouldn't have to discontinue use of the virus protection program to use other software.

Originally, InDesign worked wonderfully. I love that program. It's such a step above PageMaker.

All I know how to do, so far, in Photoshop is resize, crop and recolor photos. I'll learn that one later. At first, it seemed to work.

Both these worked as expected, and then I got to Illustrator . . .

I have removed the AOL task bar. I'm hoping that will help.

I'm considering ordering a computer with more memory, but, as I said, this has been very frustrating.

[L***@adobeforums.com]

I had the "Could Not Complete The Requested Operation" problem since the beginning. I have reinstalled Illustrator twice. It will work for a couple of start-ups and then it starts to crash again. Finally it gets to where it won't open at all. I am now back at the “it won't open at all” stage and I am QUITE fed up! I can't believe they would not have a fix for this. I am a graphic designer and am in desperate need of my software. I have a more than capable machine. Has ANYONE figured this out yet? I need to get my work done and I can't reload software every other week.

[P***@adobeforums.com]

I understand your frustration.

Once I got Illustrator back working-- although the last time, I needed to restart twice again-- then InDesign and Photoshop had problems. It's irritating since I do have the hardware requirements listed on the box.

I usually just run one program at a time, but sometimes with AOL in the background, and I do have Norton Antivirus. This gives a lot of processes, but I can't really help that.

One thing I did try and it seems to be working on a temporary basis, possibly. I uninstalled that task bar of AOL's that goes at the bottom of your screen if you have broadband. I wasn't using it. Except for the double-start of Illustrator this morning, it seems to have helped.

[CJC Williams]

Lisa, Have you checked out this (possible) solution from the FAQ?

Illustrator CS2/ CS2 gives "can't complete the operation" when opening.

LenHewitt - 12:30am Jun 14, 2006 Pacific

Illustrator gives "can't complete the operation" when opening, but is OK when trying to start for a second time.

This problem can be caused by too many fonts active on the system (or possibly one corupt font).

Reduce the number of active fonts either by deleting or by using a font manager program.

In the case of a corrupt font, you need to isolate it by progressively halving the number of active fonts until you can determine the font that is responsible.