ArcCatalog 10.2.2 Crashing

[JillSlater]

I have installed ArcGIS 10.2.2 on a 64-bit computer running Windows Server 2012 R2. ArcCatalog continues to crash at various times, often when it is sitting idle, but usually when I click anywhere in the ArcCatalog window. ArcMap doesn't seem to be affected. I am also getting a message in the windows toolbar "ArcGIS is currently not connected to online resources". I uninstalled and reinstalled ArcGIS and the behavior is the same.

I see in the System Requirements that .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 must be installed - this computer has .NET Framework 4 installed. Is 3.5 a minimum requirement or could this be causing an issue?

[RobHykys]

While I'm not certain if that is the source of your problem, .NET 3.5 SP1 is a requirement at 10.2.2. In my experience, when attempting to install 10.2.x on a new machine running Windows 8 and .NET 4, the ArcGIS Desktop installation will halt if this requirement is not met.

[JillSlater]

Thanks for the response. I should also mention I am not seeing any application errors in the windows event viewer. Has anyone else had issues with ArcCatalog crashing even when sitting idle or just activating the window?

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

Jill,

I looked at my .net on my Win7 and a Server 2008 R2 and although I thought I had 3.5 installed, Add/remove programs only shows 4.5 and 4.0 respectively...actually a surprise to me.

My guess is you have already tried the renaming of the normal.gxt to normalgxt.bak in

     C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.2\ArcCatalog

when you restart ArcCatalog, a new clean one will be created.  With this being a fairly new install, that may not be it, but always worth a try.  and if is doesn't help, you can always rename it back (after deleting the fresh one)

Also, I know we have had various issues with machine that had IE11 installed...and some minor issues if IE10 (although I have a workaround for that).  typically that came with an ActiveX type error, but also worth checking.  we've rolled all ours back to ie9.

just a few things to try/check.

[JillSlater]

Thanks for the suggestions. Renaming the normal file actually seems to have worked for me so far, no crashing for a couple of hours now. I hadn't tried it because I assumed a new install would not have become corrupted yet, but maybe that was the cause after all.

Thanks!

Jill

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

Hope that is all it was. You wouldn't think that could be the problem if it was a new install, but always a simple check.  If it was an upgrade, or uninstall/upgrade, I can see where it may have issues.  Give it some time, and if it sticks, make sure to mark the answer so others know...in case they search for the same. 

[DanSchultz]

Yes, The last couple weeks ArcCatalog crashes whenever I have ANY item highlighted in the catalog (left) pane and click the "Preview" or "Description" tab in the right pane.  Every time.  Occasional random crashes also..  Running 10.2.2 Desktop in Windows 7 64 bit.  It just started in the last couple weeks, I believe.

[RickBombaci]

I am experiencing the same problem with ArcCatalog crashing every time I click on the "preview" or "description" tab in the right pane. I am running 10.2.2.3552, Windows 7 Pro, with .NET 4.5.2 installed. Has anyone come up with a fix for this problem? Renaming normal.gxt did not work for me.

[curtvprice]

Here are the full instructions on resetting your profile, which does often help:

Resetting your ArcGIS application profile​

These kinds of crashes sometimes have to do with the display adapter. If your display adapter is not compatible, desktop can crash ungracefully (no error message, just blam). (Much more common with ArcMap.)

If the Description tab is crashing, you may want to make sure Internet Explorer is your default browser so the XML parser from IE will be accessed correctly.