Expert: Amy - 10/20/2008

Question
When I opened illustrator this morning I am getting a Runtime error- This application has requested teh runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.Please contact he application's support team for more information.
When i am trying to reinstall from control panel the wizard was interupted and it says to complete install at another time, please run setup again.
I woudl be grateful if you could helpe me fix this problem.

Answer
Hello!

If you have not uninstalled AI yet, please delete your preference file as Len Hewitt writes in Adobe Forums (see below). If you have already uninstalled, you should delete the preferences anyway before reinstalling.

Hopefully, this will solve your problem!
-Amy

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Deleting Illustrator Preference File

Illustrator preferences are stored in the file Aiprefs. This file has no file extension, is a hidden file, and its location is dependent upon the operating system version.

Windows:

To locate the file from Windows Explorer it is necessary to set Explorer Folder options > View to "View Hidden Files and Folders"

Under Win XP and Win 2K, the file will be located in:

%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\~username\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator[Version][Settings-(CS/CS2)].

Mac OSX:

Users>~username>Library>Preferences>Adobe Illustrator CS Settings>Adobe Illustrator Prefs

If manually deleting this file, ensure Illustrator is closed first.

With Illustrator CS and later, it is also possible to delete the preferences by holding down CTRL+ALT+SHIFT(Win)/Shift+Option+Command(Mac) whilst starting the application and responding 'Yes' when prompted (but you do have to be really quick to do so - if the Splash screen displays, Illustrator has beaten you to it)