Thumbnails Missing in Vista Explorer Large & Extra Large View

Thank you for the tip, Robin.

Followed your recommendations precisely and in addition, deleted all references to Acrobat and Reader in the registry . . . and all Reader or Acrobat folders in the Program Files folder after uninstalling.

Running the 8.0 install was a pain in the ass due to the "not enough space in the "temp" folder" message . . . the Reader 8.0 folder in C:|Users\(your name)\AppData\LocalLow\Netopsystems\temp disappears quickly if you don't catch it at the right time . . . but got it done.

Still no explorer thumbnails in 8.0 after a spot check. Upgraded to 8.1.1 from within Reader 8.0 (except the language pack) . . . *still* no thumbnails in Vista explorer View > Extra Large or Large icon mode. Furthermore, now I don't see any previews in the preview pane! (not that I use that feature anyway)

Adobe really needs to get its install act together! I imagine it will take them a few months to figure this out, if they even notice it at all. Everything was fine with 7.xxx. Maybe I'll clean everything out and downgrade. Moral of this story: NEVER enable the automatic upgrade feature of ANY software. ALWAYS upgrade manually and ONLY if you really have to and ONLY if you have a certain path toward getting back to the previous version. Don't count on system restore points, because they don't always work (and they will delete any downloaded .exe files while keeping your "data" intact).

In fact, it is an upgrade problem. I had the same problem on my computer (Vista Ultimate 32bit, Acrobat Reader 8.1.1). Then I looked on my wife's laptop (Vista Home Premium 32bit, Acrobat Reader 8.1.1) and she does have the thumbnail previews. I checked all the settings on both computers, and they were identical.

In fact, the only way in which they differed was that my install of Reader 8.1.1 was new, whereas my wife's started out on her computer as Reader 8.0, and was updated to 8.1.1 through the Update tool. Thus I found the following solution:

1. Uninstall Reader 8.1.1. This leaves some files behind (notably the Preview Handler which I suspect is giving all the grief), so restart the computer and then delete the Adobe Reader folder altogether.

2. Install Reader 8.0. Adobe's site does not have this download anymore, but you can still find it here:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/01/30/download-adobe-reader-acrobat-pdf-8-standalone-offline-installer/

Download the Reader 8.0 installer in your preferred language.

After you download and run it, for reasons best known to itself it unpacks an installation folder called "Reader 8.0" in C:|Users\(your name)\AppData\LocalLow\Netopsystems\temp. It may then complain that there is not enough space in the "temp" folder to proceed with the install. No worries: just move the whole "Reader 8.0" folder to C: or any other partition. then run Setup.exe inside "Reader 8.0" and it should work. Once Reader 8.0 is installed, restart the PC again.

3. Now you still want to upgrade to 8.1.1., if only because it has an Outlook 2007 preview handler (and an explorer preview pane handler for Vista). start Acrobat Reader 8.0, goto help and select "Check for Updates". It will now announce that Reader 8.1.1. is available. Go ahead and update.

This is the only way you can update to 8.1.1. while retaining the thumbnail previews, as it only replaces certain files. A straight install of 8.1.1. will not work as that replaces everything.

Hope this is useful. It worked for me.