Skip to main content
_
_LNail_
Participating Frequently
May 4, 2008
Question

Adobe Acrobat 8.1 has stopped working.. Acrobat Reader same.. Vista..

  • May 4, 2008
  • 23 replies
  • 21613 views
I have installed Reader 8.1.2 and Pro 8.1.2. Pro doesn't even show a splash screen on starting up and goes straight into windows alert dialog that "Adobe Acrobat 8.1 has stopped working". "No known solutions are available".

Reader will show a splash on start-up and then go into the same windows alert dialog.

I've uninstalled and re-installed several times today. It was working fine last evening. Today it won't startup. There has been NO changes to the computer or software during this time.

Does anyone know of a fix or a workaround? Mission-critical machine here.

lnail
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    23 replies

    _
    _peterson_glenn_
    Participant
    January 7, 2009
    This is a long shot, but I just installed 9.0 on Vista Ultimate 64 Bit SP1 and have a similar symptom. In my case, I understand a small piece of the problem, to wit:

    My users homed on C: can run the Reader with no issues.
    My users homed on D: cannot run the Reader (Stopped Working).

    Does this sound familiar to anyone? If so, is there a known fix other than moving the users to C:?
    _
    _zipitup_
    Participant
    November 10, 2008
    Same here, Working fine one day, then not the next. Tried as admin, compatabilty options etc - stil will not get passed Acrobat 8.1 Has Stopped Working Message.....Any idears anyone??? (seemed to remember that this may have had a recent update - or not? )

    (Vista 64 Bit)

    cheers

    Mark
    _
    _ALVARO_RIOS_
    Participant
    October 8, 2008
    Dear Nathan
    I have the same problem.
    OS Vista 32 bits
    Adobe acrobat 8.1

    When I started the application appear a windows screen with this message:
    "ADOBE ACROBAT HAS STOPPED WORKING.
    Aproblem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available"
    I already did your suggestion:
    "Running Vista - find the Acrobat.exe file and open up "Properties". Select the "Compatability" tab. Check the box in the Privilages area to "Run as Administrator".
    With this you should be good to go.

    -Nathan D. "
    But doesn't work.
    Please help me to solve this situation.
    Thanks. Alvaro
    A
    adfadfadfaafaf
    Participant
    November 6, 2009

    Hopefully, the following solution works for you guys.

    1. Go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat8.0\Acrobat\, repeat the procedure suggested by Nathan_Daniel.

    Outcome: the problem is still there.

    2. In the folder, move subfolders "plug_ins3d" and "plug_ins" somewhere. In my case, I moved them to Desktop. (I didn't delete them, in case they will be needed in the future).

    Outcome: the problem's gone. You can run Acrobat without any problem.

    3. Disable the option that is done in step 1.

    Outcome: no problem. You can still run Acrobat without any problem.

    Conclusions:

    1. reinstallation might not be necessary, nor is enabling the option in step 1.

    2. This problem should be caused by some misfunctioning plug-ins, as suggested in the past posts.

    3. Make sure you have Admin rights to manipulate the folders "plug_ins3d" and "plug_ins". If they are not allowed to move, restart your computer and run Vista in safe mode (I never tried this, but it should work).

    _
    _Mycah_Mason_
    Participating Frequently
    July 16, 2008
    Nathan,

    After trying this solution, it seems that it is not without one problem: You can't open files on a network share. You have to copy the file locally before opening it.

    Have you run into this problem? I hope you have a solution for this too:)

    Thanks,
    Mycah
    _
    _Nathan_Daniel_
    Participant
    June 9, 2008
    No problem - since upgrading to Vista that's ALWAYS been the problem with EVERYTHING! (:D - or so it seems).
    _
    _Mycah_Mason_
    Participating Frequently
    June 9, 2008
    Nathan,

    THANK YOU! That fixed it!

    Such a simple fix ...I figured it would end up being something like that:) I don't know why I didn't of that myself, I did figure out that you had to install it using "Run as administrator", but this never crossed my mind. Anyway, thanks again for the simple fix.

    -Mycah
    _
    _Nathan_Daniel_
    Participant
    June 7, 2008
    Running Vista - find the Acrobat.exe file and open up "Properties". Select the "Compatability" tab. Check the box in the Privilages area to "Run as Administrator".
    With this you should be good to go.

    -Nathan D.
    _
    _Mycah_Mason_
    Participating Frequently
    May 9, 2008
    Thanks for the reply Aandi.

    I've tried this method to uninstall the plug-ins, but whenever I have any of those files removed from the "plug_ins" folder Reader complains that there is an invalid plug-in and it shuts down.

    Also, I've tried LNail's recommendation of uninstalling and reinstalling under a brand new user account with admin rights and still no luck.

    Oh well, thanks for all the help though.

    -Mycah
    _
    _Mycah_Mason_
    Participating Frequently
    May 8, 2008
    Sorry, maybe I haven't been clear.

    I haven't installed any 3rd party plug-ins, the only ones that are there are the ones that come with Acrobat/Reader. Is there a way to uninstall these?

    I will try your steps to uninstall and reinstall with a different account. Hopefully that will work.

    UPDATE: I had someone else try the opening the file with Reader 8.1.2 and it worked fine. Maybe it's a video card driver problem, I'm looking into that as well.

    Thanks again,
    Mycah
    _
    _Aandi_Inston_
    Participating Frequently
    May 9, 2008
    >r. Is there a way to uninstall these?

    Move them out of the Plug_ins folder. Don't rename them in there,
    don't put them in a subfolder of Plug_ins.

    You may want them again, so maybe make a folder called "Disabled
    Plug_ins" and put them there.

    Aandi Inston
    _
    _LNail_Author
    Participating Frequently
    May 8, 2008
    uninstall Acrobat from Add/Remove Programs. Whatever is left in the C:/Program Files/Adobe/ folder is third party. Move that Adobe folder over to the desktop. Make sure it MOVES as opposed to being copied.

    Create a new user w/ admin rights. Log out of current account into NEW account. Reinstall Acrobat. Try starting and using. Let me know how that goes.

    L Nail
    Show more replies
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices