DVD Templates Have Disappeared!

[Ken Jarstad]

Steve, the DVD templates are always there, both NTSC and PAL. Even creating a PAL project will not reveal the DVD templates appropriate for PAL.

Bob, you have supplied a piece of the puzzle. I am only about two months into getting to know my way around Win7. Looking under AppData/Roaming/Adobe shows left overs from my version 8 trial as well.
AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Premiere Elements/2.0 contains the Preferences file.
AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Premiere Elements/2.0/Layouts contains layout xml configuration files for Editing, Titles and DVD, presumably for each mode.

Perhaps that explains why the Preferences file was not deleted even though I selected it to be deleted. If the programmer assumed a WinXP file structure then the uninstall might not be properly redirected. Isn't it strange that everything else including titles works correctly?

I actually like the new Win7 file structure. It make more sense. I guess I can paw through this DVD.layout file and see if I can spot any erroneous references but many of the items in there reference registry keys. Could get complicated!
Edit: actually, it looks like the layout files only describe the window locations and sizes, so I don't know where the reference to the DVD templates would be yet.

[Bill Hunt]

With Adobe programs, an uninstall/reinstall does not affect the Prefs files for any of their programs. They are left alone and will apply to the new installation in every way. One can "trash the Prefs" by either using a special keystroke (do not what it would be for PrE, but it's Ctrl for PrPro, and Shift-Ctrl-Alt for PS), or by Renaming the Prefs file to maybe "_old." Then, PrE will rebuild the Prefs file, but remember you MUST reset your Preferences, as they will not be at the default.

One comment. When Registry entries get hosed, and my Adobe programs go wonky, I always go with a Repair Install, and not from any backup program, but from the installation disc. It's quick and the installer module will do a full survey of one's system, including the Registry, and then repair/replace and broken files, add any missing files and then reset all Registry entries. To give you an idea of how quick this is, I had to do a Repair Install for every app. in my CS2 Production Studio, when PrE 4 broke all of them. The entire suite took me about 30 mins. to redo on my laptop. One program, and it should be within 10 mins. max.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Ken Jarstad]

Hey, I really appreciate all the help here. The Adobe PRE2 uninstall offers to delete the preferences and that's why I was mystified why it did not do it. The repair-reinstall was the very first I tried. The install redirection that Win7 does because of the altered file structure is obviously messing things up. The problem is complicated by inconsistent behavior. As I mentioned the Titles function works fine - and I swear up and down that my very first project on this Win7 rig did allow me to author a DVD with several menu screens. All subsequent projects have been autoplay with no menus - until now.

I suppose the next thing to try would be deleting all folders and files under AppData that refers to Elements and reinstall again to see if I can get it to work as it originally did. The PRE8 evaluation stuff is still there, too. I think I should also try the routine to delete the Preferences during startup to see what that does. Perhaps saving off the Preferences files beforehand (assuming the functionality is restored), changing the preferences and running a 'dif' on the two files would reveal the error.

[Ken Jarstad]

Well, I uninstalled PRE2 and then removed all references in
C:\users\Ken\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\

I also got rid of some junk in
C:\ProgramData\Adobe

When I got through there were no more references to Adobe Premiere Elements. C:\Program Files\Adobe was empty. I scanned the registry for A1E89C1119CE83B44BC45C2692D24835 as Robert supplied and found nothing.

I reinstalled PRE2 and it did not remember previous projects. However, it did not show any DVD templates either. I adjusted the interface as dark as it would go and closed PRE2. I reopened PRE2 with the Ctrl key and the preferences did not reset. I tried opening with Ctrl-Shift and the preferences did not reset. That means PRE2 loses track of those file locations.

If it were as simple as restoring the original preferences file I could manually do that as a workaround. The Titles are displayed properly so I think the DVD templates OUGHT to also.

I am pawing through the Preferences file printout looking for clues. You guys have been plenty helpful so far. Any more ideas?

[Steve Grisetti]

I really am beginning to believe that this is just a problem with the program being too old to run on Windows 7, unfortunately.

I was hoping there would be a simple fix. My daughter had an old XP game she couldn't get to work on Vista - but then we changed the name of a sub-directory from two words with a space between them to two words with no space between them and it worked fine.

From what I can see, Windows 7 doesn't seem to use a different structure for installing Premiere Elements than XP. But it may go deeper than that. Windows 7, for instance, doesn't have a DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS folder, for instance. It also calls MY DOCUMENTS just plain old DOCUMENTS. So the program may have problems finding preferences or something.

But I'm just guessing at this point.

Any chance you'd be willing to upgrade to version 3.02, Ken?

[Ken Jarstad]

Well, it seems tantalizingly close. At my age troubleshooting an app is easier than learning a new one. I've done troubleshooting for years and I am familiar with programmer gaffs. Seems like PRE2 should work completely or it should not work much at all. It's almost fully functional and I am very familiar with how to get things done. At this point the time spent pursuing a fix is showing diminished returns.

I have successfully installed PRE2 into the WinXP context of VMware Player and it does work but it has its own set of limitations. As a workaround I could use Nero 8 but its authoring is rather convoluted compared to PRE2. And, I have another old app, DVD Architect Studio v4.5 which says it is compatible with Vista. But the release notes talk about the older file structure 'Documents and Settings\Application Data' and so on. Does Vista have the older file structure like WinXP?

Steve, were you suggesting you might find me a copy of PRE3 really cheap?

[Steve Grisetti]

There are half a dozen on eBay right now. I'll also PM you with more information.

[Chuck Engels]

If I still didn't use mine I would be happy to give it to you Ken. Maybe someone that has moved on to newer versions can part with theirs for free (well maybe just pay for shipping).

[Bob]

But the release notes talk about the older file structure 'Documents and Settings\Application Data' and so on. Does Vista have the older file structure like WinXP?

No.

xp:
C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\Application Data\
C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\My Documents\My Videos\

Vista:
C:\Users\Bob\AppData\
C:\Users\Bob\Videos\

Windows 7:
C:\Users\Bob\AppData\
C:\Users\Bob\Videos\

[Ken Jarstad]

Hey, thanks Bob for listing the file structure. I remember working with roaming profiles in my IT days and what a hassle it was. This newer file structure looks much better, more straightforward. It also looks like PRE3 and later versions on Vista/Win7 will work properly in a real network environment with servers/domain controllers.

Since Win7 redirected the installation files onto the new file structure it is a wonder that apps like PRE2 work as well as they do. I'm sure PRE2 is looking for the DVD templates in the wrong place. However, I just found my test DVD I made right after I installed PRE2 on this new rig and it does have a full menu structure with several sub-menus. How did this happen??

No matter. I will try a newer version. Thanks all for the help.

[Clayton]

Ken, when I get home from work today, I will look around and I just may still have a copy of version 3. If so you are welcome to have it.

[Steve Grisetti]

Thanks for the offer, Clayton. I'm sending him off my copy today.

[Clayton]

[Ken Jarstad]

Way to come through, guys. Ken Jarstad is finally going to upgrade!

[Chuck Engels]

Is the version 3 patch still available? You will need that for the software to work, especially on Vista or Windows 7.