topic ArcMap loads as administrator, fails to load as regular user in ArcGIS Desktop Installation Support Questions

ArcMap loads as administrator, fails to load as regular user

RobertPerry1 — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 11:02:39 GMT

ArcMap 10.6.1 starts fine when I "run as administrator" but hangs at "initializing application" when I run as a regular user.

I recently upgraded to Windows 10 from 7, both 64bit. ArcMap 10.5 had been working well with Win7. After the (clean install) upgrade to Win10, I installed ArcGIS 10.6.1 and successfully authorized the license (single-user). When installing I had to provide administrator privileges at the usual point in the installation process.

Now when I am using my "regular user" account, ArcMap hangs at "initializing application". ArcCatalog opens without problems. No error messages come up - the startup just freezes. After I click on the installation banner a couple times a message comes up: "ArcMap is not responding; do you want to close the program or wait for it to respond". I have waited up to 30 minutes before forcing it to close.

However, when I "run as administrator", ArcMap starts successfully.

My graphics card (Intel HD 5500) has the latest driver and I do not see any other graphic card software / drivers installed. The computer at first had only "soft" printers (PDF writer, OneNote, etc) and now has one network printer installed. I had the problem both before and after installing the network printer. I have uninstalled ArcGIS and re-installed.

I have reviewed the suggestions at the US and UK sites:

Fix ArcMap crashes: https://community.esri.com/docs/DOC-7545

Having trouble starting ArcMap 10? — CommunityHub

But none of the applicable solutions seem to work. Trying the suggestion (in "Having trouble ..." to create a log file causes the program to crash right away at startup.

Why would things work when an administrator but not as a regular user? I would prefer not to have to run the program as an administrator.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

Re: ArcMap loads as administrator, fails to load as regular user

AmnoyAm — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 16:27:05 GMT

Robert,

Open your Windows Explorer and go to C:\Users\<login_user>\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.6\ArcMap\Templates and rename Normal.mxt to Normal.old. This is where ArcMap stores it's setting for the user which may have become corrupt. If this does not work, start ArcMap as another non-admin user. If it starts, it's likely there is an issue with the local profile of original user. If this is the case, you may have your IT or admin look into this further.

Re: ArcMap loads as administrator, fails to load as regular user

RobertPerry1 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 08:47:35 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion. My local IT support provided a solution: log in as an administrator, install the program but do not complete the activation step, log out then back in as a regular user, and activate as a regular user. I found that the activation still needed admin privileges. After completing these steps ArcMap loads successfully while logged in as a regular user.

Re: ArcMap loads as administrator, fails to load as regular user

AndresCastillo — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 19:06:58 GMT

Nice workaround!