Dreamweaver not loading due to workspace file problem

Question

I went to launch Dreamweaver CS 5.5 and this message popped up:

XML parsing fatal error: Invalid document structure, line 1, file
C:\Documents...(file path)...Workspace\My Workspace.xml

It was followed by

The following panel layout is missing or could not be read:
C:...My Workspace.xml
The application will not have a correct layout. Please load one from
Windows>Workspace

After that, Dreamweaver acted as if it was going to load, but never did. When I tried to close the program, it crashed.

I followed the file path and I saw two files: My Workspace.xml 0kb and My Workspace 5kb. The second one has an unknown file type. I deleted the first file and renamed the unknown file type to My Workspace.xml; everything worked fine after that point.

Why did Dreamweaver do this? This has happened several times, but I have not changed anything that should affect that file type.

Answer 1

Firstly, if you are running a pirate copy, no one can really help you. I once spent close to an hour trying to help someone and it turned out to be his dodgy copy that was the reason for the failure. Some cracks edit some resource files causing errors or problems that may manifest at a later date (update, time bomb or anything).

I mean no insult by the last paragraph - What you are saying is not a widespread issue so I have to rule it out. If it is a legal copy, please read on.

Dreamweaver is a huge and complex program.... It is not "designed" to do this, and all I can suggest is that it is a bug.

The first thing I would suggest is a repair install.

Next, it most likely is related to an add-on/in that you have which is saving invalid data.

Has this happened more than once?

If the answer is no, then great - you found a solution!

If the answer is yes, try deleting and reopening, then closing without making any changes.

If you do not get the problem when reopening, it must be a change/customisation that you do. If you do get the problem, all I can suggest is uploading the my workspace.xml file (if it contains no sensitive data), so that I or someone else can compare to one from the same situation (after deleted, relaunch and close) to see if there are any changes.

Answer 2

FYI this can happen if your windows crashes and you force a restart - removing the file and letting dreamweaver re-create it solves the problem.

This happened on a legal copy.

Answer 3

This is one workaround, but I just deleted (moved) the XML file to the desktop and let it create a new one when DW opened up. This worked perfectly.