ArcMap stopped working in September and I can't get it to function again!

[OriGalili]

I have had ArcGIS on my computer since October 2018. I am a Masters student in Israel and the software is under the university license.

2 months ago- September 2019, the program just stopped responding, though the license is still up to date. In order to get technical support from ESRI Israel, the IT guy at the univeristy needs to put in a request, which he is refusing to because the program is on a private computer (I have not recieved access from the university to any other computer).

So for 2 months now i've tried everything (bought additional RAM, when to a technition to "clean up" my computer, uninstalled and reinstalled, upgraded from version 10.4 to 10.6) nothing is working and I desperatly need tech support. I have even called tech support in the USA and in England and havent been able to get any assistance. What am i supposed to do now?

Please any advice would be much appreciated. Desperate times here...

[DanPatterson_Retired]

student licenses are issued and controlled by the university.  I suspect that you will have to contact the IT person again.  Your institution must have a different licensing agreement than is the norm for universities.  Students are expected and encouraged to install the software at home or on their laptops.  License provision is done through the university and software downloads through My Esri, once permissions are granted

[RobertBorchert]

What Dan says and I would also suspect the university yanked your license for your personal computer because it is a license violation for the university. 

You may be best served by contacting ESRI and getting a student version

Also based on your time line I would suspect your university handed you a student license, which are only valid for one year.

https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-desktop-student-trial

https://www.esri.com/en-us/store/arcgis-student-use

The second link allows you to purchase a student version.

[OriGalili]

Please, it is most definitely NOT a matter of licensing! I was very clear when i described my problem. I want to know what would cause the program to freeze or how i would be able to get tech support from ESRI. I am not interested on personal interpretations on whether I violated license agreements- which I absolutely did not.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Since you have a university license, you have to go through the designated personal which are empowered to deal with your license and licensing issues.  If there is a problem, then they are the ones that have to file a Support Case.  The option to buy a Personal Use license frees you from that issue

[RobertBorchert]

Well the best of luck in your career as a Professional GIS person.  You obviously do not know what the problem is after all this time and should probably learn to be a little more adult when you ask for suggestions and people give them to you.  I did not write that you violated licensing, just that it was possible that your university did or your student license expired after its ONE year.

[RachelSears · Accepted solution]

Hi Ori,

Have you tried a clean uninstall of ArcMap? This does more than a regular uninstall because it removes all traces of ArcGIS components from your machine. This will resolve issues where a corrupt DLL might be causing this behavior. Here are the steps:

1. Ensure no ArcGIS Desktop processes are running in the Task Manager.
2. Uninstall ArcGIS Desktop from your machine using the Control Panel.
3. Rename or delete the following folders:
   1. C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\ESRI\Desktop10.x and any other Desktop folders
      C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.x
      C:\Program Files(x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.x
      C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\ArcGIS\
4. Open the registry editor (regedit on Windows) and delete or rename the following:
   1. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ESRI\Desktop10.x
5. Restart your system and re-install ArcGIS Desktop normally.

Let me know if you are having any trouble with the steps. 

Hope this helps!

-- Rachel

[DanPatterson_Retired]

And if it works... pass it on to your IT people Ori Galili 

[OriGalili]

Hi Rachel!

Thank you for the detailed response!

I'm feeling very hopeful about what you told me to do, but there is one thing i'm unsure of:

"Open the registry editor (regedit on Windows) and delete or rename the following (WARNING: If you are using a license that is checked out for Offline use, make sure to check it back in or it will break your license😞

1. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ESRI\Desktop10.x"

There are some other folders in that section named "ArcGIS Connection" "ArcGIS File Handler" "ArcGIS Online".. and a few others.. should I delete those as well?

Also, I'm not sure what you meant by "check it back in or it will break your license"... my license DOES enable me to work offline and I dont want to do any damage.. how do i check it back in?

Thanks a bunch!

Ori

[RachelSears]

Hi Ori,

For your first question, deleting/renaming the Desktop10.x folder should be sufficient.

As to your second question, I realize that it was really only applicable when doing a clean uninstall of ArcGIS Pro when the license is taken offline, so I will remove that line from my previous post.

Hope this helps!

- Rachel