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Participant
January 30, 2019
Question

Help! Acrobat Reader DC has completely stopped working

  • January 30, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 678 views

I'm running Windows 7 64 bit, and Acrobat Reader DC recently stopped working completely. If I try opening PDF documents or if I try running the program, I momentarily get a rotating busy indicator, which seems to suggest something is happening, but the program never actually opens, and it doesn't appear in task manager either (all I see are armsvc.exe*32 - Adobe Acrobat Update Service under processes and AdobeARMservice under services). I've tried every possible solution I could think of or that I found online, but nothing seems to have worked!

Including:

  • I've tried numerous times to uninstall and reinstall Acrobat Reader, both through Add / Remove Programs and by using the Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool (which I saw referenced here: Reader DC completes installation but can't open application or a pdf)
  • I went through the steps I found here: Resolve the issues when uninstalling Adobe Reader 8.0 to completely remove all references to Reader in my computer's registry before reinstalling
  • I went to Add / Remove Programs in Control Panel and clicked where it said "repair installation errors" for Acrobat Reader
  • I temporarily disabled all antivirus and anti-malware programs to make sure nothing else was somehow preventing Reader from opening
  • I went to msconfig and restarted my computer using selective startup to ensure no other programs were interfering with Reader
  • I ran 5 different anti-virus and anti-malware programs, as well as the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool to make sure I didn't have any viruses or anything else that might be preventing Reader from operating properly
  • I even spent several hours on the phone with two different computer repair support people who remotely connected to my computer, but they couldn't figure it out either!

This is incredibly frustrating, cause Reader used to work fine, and now it suddenly stopped for no discernible reason. Does anyone have any other ideas of how I can fix this??

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    1 reply

    AnandSri
    Legend
    February 5, 2019

    Hi Scott!

    I am sorry for the trouble you had, what is the current version of Acrobat you have? To identify, refer to Identify the product and its version for Acrobat ...

    If you have Windows 7, make sure you have SP1 or above. Check for any pending updates of Windows from Control panel and install them.
    For testing purpose, please create a test user profile with full admin rights and install Adobe Reader and check.

    Download Adobe Reader from https://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/

    Let us know how it goes, I have also replied to the direct message you initiated.

    Thanks,

    Anand Sri.

    Participant
    February 5, 2019

    I've been trying to use and re-install the latest version of Acrobat DC Reader, v. 19.010.20069, which I downloaded directly from here: Adobe - Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Distribution. I also tried downloading and installing it from Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Install for all versions​, but neither seemed to work.

    I already have all of the latest Windows updates.

    And my current user profile already has full administrative rights.

    As I said, I've already spent many hours doing all sorts of troubleshooting -- including these basic steps as well as much more advanced things like editing my computer's registry -- and I've also spent hours on the phone with several computer repair technical support associates who remotely connected to my computer and tried all sorts of possible solutions, and none of us were able to figure out what was going on or how to fix this. I really need some more advanced troubleshooting suggestions at this point.

    Thanks

    Participant
    February 5, 2019

    Per your direct message, I'll collect log files from my computer and send them to you.