adobe acrobat DC will not open. A message comes up that said Woindows cannot find it

Amal,

I tried your recommended fix through regedit and got all the way to CurrentVersion but there was no Image File Execution Options where I could delete Acrobat.exe.  Please advise.

Alex

++Adding to the current solution,

This doesn't look at all like a problem related to  Adobe Acrobat.

Unless, there is something that Acrobat does during an initial install or during updates that we are not aware of, anything that you do to a Microsoft Windows registry is basically too advanced for the average computer user, specially if you don't even have a clue of what is the root of an error message, and where to start looking for clues in your own computer.

Before self-proclaiming yourself as a victorious registry "hacker", always consult with additional official Microsoft guidance.

I suspect this issue is not exactly an error, but a security layer that was added with newer versions of Windows 10, in which the operating system will only allow to install or find programs to handle specific files and documents, but ONLY if such programs are trusted and  offered through the Microsoft Store.

If this would be the case, and before you decide to fool around  with registry hives, also check if your version of Windows 10 has S mode enabled.

To disable S mode, refer to the steps described in the following link:

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/switching-out-of-s-mode-in-windows-10-4f56d9be-99ec-6983...

Dear Amal,

Your fix worked perfectly - THANKS

I had the same problem, this seems to be working so far

I am having the same problems 

Thank you for your answer, Amal.
solved.
"Avast Cleanup Premium" was the cause in my case.
It seems that the data remains in the registry you pointed out because the software was deleted (updated?) in the "Sleep" state in "Speed Up" of "Avast Cleanup Premium".
It was a sleep state forever.

"Windows10 62bit ver1903" from Japan
-------Message-----
"Windows cannot find 'C:\Program Files(x86)\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again."
-------------------
I have exactly the same symptoms.
Even if I delete it with "Acrobat Cleaner Tool" and reinstall it, it doesn't recover.
"Acrobat Reader" can be used.
To my surprise, it starts up from "acrobat.exe" in another drive of 32bit version that I used.
I'm suspicious of administrator privileges or "Creative Cloud Desktop tool".

I'm worried that it went wrong after I tried to install the "zoom" app. Is there anything to do with it?

frypanman

Interesting, I am having the exact same issue and same message.

I did do updates and then uninstalled and reestalled Acrobat DC Pro, and it still exists.  Do I have to run the cleaner first?  

Hi there,

We are sorry to hear about the issue you are experiencing. Please try to reboot the computer once and check for any missing/pending updates for the computer OS.

If it still doesn't work, please try to create a new test user profile on Windows with full admin rights and try using the application there and check.

If it still doesn't work, please try the following steps
1. Remove the application using the Acrobat Cleaner Tool https://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html
2. Reboot the computer
3. Reinstall the application using the link https://helpx.adobe.com/in/download-install/kb/acrobat-downloads.html

Keep us posted with the results.

Regards

Amal