A possible reason for the startup problems of Adobe® Illustrator® can be:
The connection to the Network License Server (Adobe® Illustrator® starts up but hangs while initializing the Licensing plugin).
The connection to the Deskpack container.
Invalid or wrong DNS number(s) on the Mac
Symptoms
Adobe® Illustrator® hangs at start up. Or after start up, it runs slowly and every few minutes the spinning beach ball appears.
Solution
A possible root cause of the problem is that Adobe® Illustrator® cannot find or access the Network License server that is defined in the Preferences.
On Mac:
The first thing to do is go to User/Library/Preferences/ByHost and delete the com.esko.LicensePreferences.XXXXXXXXXXX.plist file.
After you restart the Adobe® Illustrator®, you will be prompted to enter the name of the Network License sever (or the IP address).
If you are using only Local Licenses you can cancel this window.
If this does not help, check whether the firewalls on the Network License server are turned off.
On Windows:
Go to Start > Programs > Esko > System Controller > License Client Configuration and verify the server name.
If necessary, fill in the name of the server or use an IP address.
Another cause of slow start-up could be the connection towards the DeskPackContainer which is failing. This is defined in the Server Connection Assistant. Eventually a message will pop up stating that the DeskPackContainer share could not be found in the network, and you'll be asked to check your Server Connection Assistant settings.
This information is stored in the Illustrator®Preference file. Go to User/Library/Preferences/Adobe Illustrator CSx Settings/<current language>/ and delete Adobe® Illustrator®Preference file to start up clean without a server connection. This will again open the DeskPack's Server Connection Assistant on start-up of Illustrator®.
The DNS number(s) should be validated by the customer's IT person. If they are not valid remove or correct them. CAUTION: Completely removing the DNS number(s) may affect Internet access and/or e-mail functionality.