Adobe Cleanup freezes my apps!

June 21, 2006 2:43 PM

Recent Windows versions of Adobe apps, specifically programs in the CS2 Suite and Acrobat Pro 7.0, all run some kind of auxiliary program called "Cleanup" not long after they start up. In my experience, "Cleanup" always freezes the Adobe app in question while it does whatever it's doing. So what is this program? Is it necessary? And if not, how can I stop it from running?
posted by limeonaire to computers & internet (14 comments total)

Speculation: It could be a garbage collection thread. Some garbage collection strategies halt the application while they run through the program's memory marking which bits are in use and which can be recycled for later use. In which case, you can't stop it from running, although tweaking the memory settings of the application may change the frequency with which it runs.
posted by pharm at 1:52 AM on June 22, 2006

[[nods]] I figured it was something cleaning up the program's memory. I just wish it wouldn't run—or at very least that it wouldn't freeze the program when it does.

*sigh*
posted by limeonaire at 6:33 AM on June 22, 2006

Is there really no one with an answer?
posted by limeonaire at 1:45 PM on June 22, 2006

There's no online documented indication from Adobe or Adobe product users that cleanup is a part of the installation process. Adobe site docs do recommend downloading and running the Windows Installer CleanUp utility on a failed installed, but it's not an automatic process handled by Adobe.

How do you get the name 'cleanup/? Is it from the (Ctrl-Alt-Del) Task Manager, showing a cleanup.exe file running at the time, or does the name simply come from a windows title bar? Check the program running with task manager open, if you haven't already, see what process name it uses.

Is it possible you're running a third part utility called Clean Up, as cleanup.exe, which is supposed to automatically clear Internet-related files? That type of program could certainly interfere with, and cause failure during, an Adobe product install, which (in my experience) hits the net for complete installation. Here and here is more information on the most common cleanup utility called cleanup.exe. If you got that beastie loading in your startup folder or run registry entry, yank it out of there.
posted by mdevore at 6:52 PM on June 22, 2006

It's called Cleanup.exe in both Task Manager and when Kerio (firewall software) pops up to tell me it's starting. I haven't ever installed anything that's supposed to clean up Internet-related files, though. And it's not an install thing—it's coming up whenever I start up one of the newer versions of these Adobe products.
posted by limeonaire at 4:34 PM on June 23, 2006

And yeah, it's not a startup item in the startup folder or msconfig.
posted by limeonaire at 4:35 PM on June 23, 2006

Further, it doesn't make anything else freeze—just the Adobe product in question.
posted by limeonaire at 4:36 PM on June 23, 2006

Hm. Okay, I lied. Looked again—it's Adobelm_Cleanup.0001. Does that help at all?
posted by limeonaire at 4:45 PM on June 23, 2006

Found this reference in Google Groups.
posted by limeonaire at 4:51 PM on June 23, 2006

Also interesting—although it hasn't given me an answer yet.
posted by limeonaire at 5:02 PM on June 23, 2006

And snark related to a similar question to mine.
posted by limeonaire at 5:06 PM on June 23, 2006

[[chuckles]]
posted by limeonaire at 5:10 PM on June 23, 2006

(I've been posting for the edification of future generations of AskMefites, incidentally.)

So yes, from my research, the consensus is that Adobe users don't trust this Cleanup process, and I've now chosen to delete all firewall entries pertaining to Adobe and reapprove every Adobe app that attempts to start up or otherwise exist. And I've just blocked attempted to block this Cleanup process from starting via my firewall settings—and when I do, the programs refuse to start up.

So apparently it's essential—sort of. I can close it from Task Manager after the programs have started up, but the programs will not start up without it.

Ugh. And now that I blocked it...I can no longer remove it from my firewall's block list. Yet another fun thing for me to solve...

Thank you, Adobe, for giving me the opportunity to go through all this crap.
posted by limeonaire at 5:48 PM on June 23, 2006

It's part of the Adobe License Manager. There's a service that goes with it - adobelmsvc.exe. You can't disable it as part of the normal operation of CS2.
posted by Caviar at 11:52 PM on June 26, 2006