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Teilo
Participating Frequently
April 6, 2015
Answered

Why does the DC installer remove Acrobat Pro XI, and all of its plugins, without warning?

  • April 6, 2015
  • 53 replies
  • 94517 views

When you run the "Update" to Acrobat DC, Acrobat XI, and any plugins you are using, disappear. There is no warning. Pro XI is just simply gone.

It is not possible to install Pro XI along side of DC. If you try, the install seems to work, but the Applications folder only contains DC.

Also: Acrobat Pro XI does not appear in the Previous Versions list in the Creative Cloud app.

The only way I have found to get Pro XI back is to uninstall DC, then go to the Pro XI Download page: https://creative.adobe.com/products/acrobat

Click Download, and the CC applet will download and re-install Acrobat Pro XI. You will then need to re-install all your plugins.

Adobe: Thank you so much for creating a massive support headache for your customers! Your ability to screw us over knows no bounds.
    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer lrosenth

    Let me start by saying that we are sorry that you are experiencing the problem that you are.  However, you should understand why you have these pains and hopefully prevent them from happening in the future.

    Adobe has NEVER supported the installation of multiple versions of Acrobat on the same machine.  Not on Windows and not on Mac.

    We are aware that some of our customers choose to use this UNSUPPORTED configuration AGAINST OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, however, it is NOT supported.  As such, the act of upgrading from Acrobat XI to Acrobat DC is just that - an UPGRADE.  It's not a "install a new piece of software next to my old one".  Just as when you update/upgrade apps from the Mac App Store or with the Chrome browser - you don't get to keep old software, you simply get the shiny new thing.

    Concerning plugins - it appears that some of you have been installing your plugins inside of the application package on the Mac.  This is also an NOT RECOMMENDED configuration since Acrobat X, when we enabled support for an external plugin folder - for exactly this reason - that when we uninstall an application it also uninstalls the included plugins.  Had they been in the proper external folder, they would have been left alone.   Though, as Andrew said, none of the plugins would still work on the Mac.

    53 replies

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    nickb31508962
    Participant
    May 14, 2015

    Adobe DC is not an UPGRADE

    you call it a "shiny new thing", and sure, the icons looks nice and soft and friendly - but thats all you did. You did not achieve a great thing. Do not pat yourselves on the back. 

    You actually removed my favorite feature: "Extract All Images", or hid it somewhere I can't find, meaning that as User Experience designers and Software Engineers YOU HAVE FAILED AT YOUR JOBS AND SHOULD BE FIRED because now I'm going to find some alternate PDF processing software simply because I am so frustrated with your arrogance. Don't presume to streamline my tools; you don't even know what I do with them.

      lrosenth
      Adobe Employee
      lrosenth
      Adobe Employee
      May 14, 2015

      Extract all Images can be found as part of the Export tool, under Images.

      J
      joec88
      Participating Frequently
      May 14, 2015

      lrosenth wrote:

      Extract all Images can be found as part of the Export tool, under Images.

      Show me where in the screen shot below the word "Images" appears?

      Tigercorrectionalservices
      Tigercorrectionalservices
      Participant
      May 14, 2015

      I am getting used to DC. It still has some major flaws, like the big grey box when you look for a file to open and it crashes a lot. But, I just finished a detailed proposal, and some of the features were helpful.  Overall, I still liked the previous version better, but sometimes progress is disruptive. 

      J
      jpp1974
      Participant
      May 14, 2015

      I have been using ADOBE acrobat for almost two (2) decade and it ALWAYS ALLOWED YOU TO RUN 2 VERSIONS, Microsoft website even tells you how to choose which Acrobat version you want to use as your default.  Whether Adobe supported this or not, it ALWAYS WORKED!!!

      Furthermore there are many blogs talking about this problem AND the fact that the new PRO DC version does NOT UNINSTALL on Windows 8.1 or the newer MAC'S using their respective standard methodology.

      It took me twenty (20) minutes on a chat after already waiting for thirty (30) minutes for a rep. to get on-line, before he finally sent me a link to Adobe's Acrobat ITTOOLS_removal kit which actually worked.  It wasn't until I asked for a Supervisor, did he give me the solution... basically kept saying he could help, until I insisted!  I am going to post the CHAT it is reprehensible that ADOBE is doing this... many believe (if you read the blogs) that this is a ploy by ADOBE to force people into using PRO DC as once it removes your old version you are unable to remove the DC version and re-install your old version.  Adobe need to get their act together before they ruin their stellar reputation with problems such as this!

        W
        Whispering_master16B8
        Participant
        May 6, 2015

        I am disappointed with the Adobe staff's input on this thread. The tone is like you only want to argue with, not listen to, your customers. Adobe, you lost this argument by a landslide.

        I came to this thread, like many others, searching for a way to remove DC and reload Acrobat XI. You've got some work to do on Acrobat DC. Not only is it butt-ugly, but it doesn't work.

        You've also got some work to do moving staff that don't seem to know how to interact with customers; move them to an area where they can't interact with customers.

        To reiterate, here's the link where you can still download past versions of Acrobat that work (until they remove it):

        Download Acrobat products | Standard, Pro | DC, XI, X

          J
          joec88
          Participating Frequently
          May 6, 2015

          I'm also quite disappointed by the Adobe representatives attitude of "we know better than you know how you should work and what interface you should like" attitude. Other than the custom toolsets everything else in Acrobat DC is a complete disaster.

            bjtb101010
            bjtb101010
            Participant
            May 5, 2015

            Not only does it uninstall Adobe Acrobat, it disabled my Canon printer!! Can't uninstall this program fast enough!!

              D
              db@xhasc.com
              Participant
              April 21, 2015

              Wow.

              First, I lasted one day with DC. It is one of the most horrifying user interface experiences I have seen in my life. I am a developer. I expected something to look like this on Windows 3.1. Or, on software developed for children.

              The thing that takes the cake though is this Adobe rep's responses IN ALL CAPS YOU STUPID USERS because you OBVIOUSLY DO NOT GET IT. What in the heck?

              Users: "Wow, this software is terrible."

              Adobe: "No, it's awesome and you're a bunch of idiots if you don't think so."

              Back in the day, used to be that companies took responses from customers and made adjustments to their products so that their "genius" design that left the lab, flaws and all, could be modified (i.e. improved) based on user feedback. Nowadays when users say, "This is crap", companies just push back and say they'll get used to it, they're just stupid users, etc.

              Adobe, this is a monstrosity, a pile of garbage. It's not like you have ever been cutting edge with your UI for Acrobat, it was always klunky and poor, and you seem to have a basic refusal to use standard UI elements on the Mac to begin with, but you really upped your game with this release.

              What is not acceptable though is TAKING THIS KIND OF APPROACH with your customers writing in BOLD ALL CAPS to highlight their stupidity.

              Really wow. I have never seen anything like this anywhere.

              This is amateur hour, all the way. When you should be taking notes and getting back into the lab and making improvements, you send this drone out there to fight with the users.

              Shocked, stunned, surprised, saddened. This whole design trend of taking interfaces that are best left to touch devices and ramming them down the throats of computer users has to stop. It's a catastrophe. And when users push back, you people have got to take notes and listen, not tell them they're idiots.

                Gary__F
                Gary__F
                Inspiring
                April 21, 2015

                Well said. I'm grateful that Acrobat XI is still available but I'm sure Adobe are planning on removing XI in the future and have no intention of restoring sanity to Acrobat's GUI. It's one thing to ruin a product through an inefficient, non-standard interface (taking a step backwards) but to make it unstable as well takes some doing.

                I hope project managers from all of Adobe's products look at XII and think "We won't be making the same mistake as the Acrobat team."

                  lrosenth
                  Adobe Employee
                  lrosenth
                  Adobe Employee
                  April 21, 2015

                  Acrobat DC – like all Adobe products – undergoes testing by thousands of real world users who provide us with feedback throughout the process. Many of them are members of this forum and perhaps will weigh in here on their contributions that improved the product.

                  What they were able to do was make very specific comments/suggestions that we could act upon. Comments like “It’s horrible, I can’t use it” aren’t helpful – they just tell us that you don’t like it but not WHAT you don’t like OR how you might prefer it. Comments such as those in another thread, “I don’t like that the right hand panel always opening up by default. I wish you would give us a preference” are VERY useful and we can then address them specifically.

                  So we are VERY HAPPY to take comments - but please be clear about what EXACTLY is the problem.

                  P
                  prepsdk1
                  Participant
                  April 21, 2015

                  How do we get rid of the annoying Home/Tool window that remains in the background after closing a pdf?


                  Is there an able/enable preference for this windows?

                    lrosenth
                    Adobe Employee
                    lrosenth
                    Adobe Employee
                    April 21, 2015

                    Click the close button or File->Close or Cmd-W (assuming this is on the Mac). It will stay closed till you next open a PDF.

                    P
                    prepsdk1
                    Participant
                    April 22, 2015

                    Thanks, but why does Adobe think it's a great idea to keep adding extra mouse clicks to the every tasks that used to be so simple?

                    My job contains of checking multiple pdf's every day, which means I'm opening at least 50-100 different pdf's daily, more of them several times.

                    For that I also use the Output Preview, which you also suggest we should keep open and close - come on, it clearly shows that those "thousands" of users you have asked for feedback obviously doesn't work in the graphic industry / prepress etc.

                    Adobe! - are you interested in exposing us to a possible Repetitive Strain Injury ???

                      D
                      dbriver
                      Participant
                      April 14, 2015

                      Talked to support.  Find the DC uninstaller and then download XI or X from here: Download Acrobat products | Standard, Pro | DC, XI, X

                        AshuMittal9644438
                        Adobe Employee
                        AshuMittal9644438
                        Adobe Employee
                        April 13, 2015

                        Hello Teilo,

                        Sorry about the inconvenience caused.

                        Quick update: Now when a Creative Cloud subscriber sees the update to Acrobat DC, they will get a warning that earlier versions will be uninstalled (shown below). The 'Learn More link' takes you to a page which tells the user how to reinstall Acrobat XI if you uninstall Acrobat DC and want to change your mind: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/acrobat-dc-uninstalls-acrobat-11.html

                        Thank you,

                        Ashu Mittal

                        W
                        walterw20266593
                        Participant
                        April 10, 2015

                        I just cancelled my CC subscription because of this fiasco...  Going back to CS6.

                        -W

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