Participant

Question

Since update, Reader menu bar and toolbar are empty

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
September 5, 2017
2 replies
3905 views

A few days ago, Reader automatically updated to DC. Since then, the spaces for the menu bar and the toolbar are empty. Hovering the cursor over either spot produces a blue bar (running the length of the window), but nothing else. Using F8 or F9 merely eliminates the spaces where the two bars should be, or puts the spaces back. I used the Control Panel "remove program" feature to uninstall DC, went to the Adobe site and downloaded and installed XI, but no joy; it looks exactly the same, altho it now says Adobe XI. Here is a shot of how the window appears, with the cursor hovering where the menu bar ought to be:I am running WIndows 7 64-bit, and had NO problems with Reader until the most recent update a few days ago. Can anyone help me? I have very little functionality as things stand. (Incidentally, this looks like the posted picture whether the program is opened from Windows or inside a browser). Thanks.

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fabienl9928731

Participant

I join the conversation 'cause I have the EXACT same problem.

My screen resolution is 1920 x 1080.

Win 7 64 bit enterprise.

The issue came from nowhere, without any real meaning.
The only thing that changed in my computer was that I reinstalled my Video Card drivers a week before the Acrobat Reader DC issue came (but used the soft without problem until Saturday 2nd).

Problems :

- Blank menu (no font but can mouse-over).

- Some laaaaaaarge dialog boxes.

- Maybe others I didn't find yet.

I tried a lot of things :

- Soft re-install.

- Tried older version of DC.
- Tried Reader XI.

- SEGOE Font re-install (though there was no problem here).

- Clean soft then fresh install. Even after deleted every Acrobat Reader DC files I found (inside Program Files folder, or App Data folder).

- Stop antivirus.

- Activate or de-activate safe mode through Regedit.

Anyway, what a strange problem.

(Can it be a compatibility issue with a recent Win 7 update ? (There were some a few days before this issue started)

I'm using Foxit PDF Reader while it's not fixed...

AkanchhaS8194121

Legend

Hi Joemd,

As shared above, that it hasn't resolved after uninstalling reinstalling the application. Then you may try turning the "Protected Mode at startup" Off for a while and check.

1- Launch Reader>Help>Repair Installtion

2-Open Adobe Reader>Edit>Preferences (Command Ctrl+k)>Security(Enhanced)>Disable Protected Mode at startup.

Note: Please turn back the "Protected Mode at startup" On, as practically its not recommended to disable it permanently.

And if it works, then you may check- Protected Mode troubleshooting | Adobe Reader

Or Turn Off the internet security software (Antivirus) if you have installed any.

(Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn't disable your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable it to install or activate other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you're done.)

3- If the solution provided above doesn't work, the uninstall Adobe Reader using the cleaner tool -Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs

And reinstall through- Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Install for all versions

Regards,

Akanchha

joemdAuthor

Participant

Hi,

Thanks Akanchha for your quick response. I did some more poking around, and the problems are not quite as simple as I originally thought; the menus seem to be there, but not displaying correctly and without any text whatever. I discovered that right or left clicking (it varies by location) at different places in the blank area where the menu and toolbars ought to be produces drop down menus. There is almost NO text in these menus; in some places there are icons. By trial and error I DID locate the Help menu and by (tedious) trial and error, eventually found the Repair Installation choice. (Remember, these drop-down menus are largely blank, and I had to hover the mouse to determine that there were different entries (blank blue bars) and select one after another to see what they were). Anyway, running the Repair installation had no effect that I could see. I was able to use the keyboard combination you provided to get a list of Preferences, which included Security(Enhanced), but clicking on it or pressing enter when it was selected merely exited the list of preferences, and there was no further info on this page that was visible -- it was simply a list of preferences, with no further data. As you can see from this, the UI is severely deficient.

I then downloaded the Reader & Acrobat Cleaner Tool and ran it. The first time, when it was done, I still had the full installation, and was able to open it and it looked the same as before. The next time, I ran uninstall (via Windows) first, and then ran the Cleaner. I glanced a the logs, and it appeared to have cleaned up & deleted large numbers of registry entries, etc. I reinstalled Reader DC from the Adobe site. The new installation looked a little less strange, but had the same issues with menus & toolbars - they are absent any icons or text; by right or left clicking in various spots, I can get drop down menus, but they are either blank or contain occasional icons. I went through this process again (uninstall, clean & reinstall), with the same results.

It seems to me that there are either some residual files or settings that are not being removed before the new installation is installed, or that there is some basic compatibility issue with some aspect of my system. Could the display resolution possibly be an issue? Mine is set at 1920 x 1200. HELP!

joemdAuthor

Participant

Oh, one more aspect of the weird UI -- some windows that pop up when I click on unknown drop down menu entries look normal enough, except that they seem to extend to infinity. I discovered this when I wanted to exit the window, and scrolled and scrolled and scrolled to the right, and never reached the end of the window (where the exit, minimize & so on buttons would be at the top). The only way out was to use task manager to close the windows.

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