9.4.5 BUG. Can't Multi-select Pages anymore!!!!

As we've said elsewhere, it's a known issue and will be resolved in a future update - but it's not so disruptive as to warrant an out-of-cycle patch (which are only triggered by security-related bugs or major instabilities).

The solution for those who absolutely can't live without the feature today is to revert to 9.4.4, or upgrade to Acrobat X. I know you'll complain about that not being "acceptable", but that's all we have right now.

I updated 2 of the computers in our office the day the patch was released (good rule of thumb - instead of all) - and both users reported the problems the following day.

I tried to find other bugs, and this is what I found:

1.  Can't select multiple pages using CTRL or SHIFT. <- this is huge for our office as well

2.  Can't move & delete (holding shift then dragging page from one PDF to another - moves it & deletes original.

I quit looking after that.

I called customer support, who sent me to tech support.  The tech guy started to run me through all the usual hoops, and he seemed to have a hard time understanding the problem.  I explained - It's like trying to select multiple files on desktop using CTRL or SHIFT.  He then understood, and started troubleshooting any other possibility other than something being wrong with the patch.  I told him all I had done already to troubleshoot, and I felt a little disbelief on the other end of the phone.  I then asked "do you have adobe 9 installed on your machine?" - he did - I then asked "have you updated to 9.4.5?" - HE HAD NOT?!?! -- I was blown away.  I gave him my direct #, and told him to install the patch, try it for himself, and call me back.  You guessed it.  He called back & said he experienced the same problems, and advised he was shooting the problem to whereverland.

The fix:  System restore to the checkpoint PREVIOUS to the day the patch was installed.  (if you have adobe auto update, then start the computer back in safe mode w/out networking, open adobe, and turn off auto updates - then reboot as usual, and don't update until the next patch.)

It is very expensive for small businesses to buy 10+ licenses for Adobe X, (which was available 6 months after I put 9 on all machines), but I feel that if this problem was happening with Adobe X, that it would have been fixed by now.

This reply from Adobe is not entirely accurate.

In the meantime if you are trying to manipulate contiguous pages you can  drag the blue box around the pages and perform any action on the pages  within the blue selection area. Of course this will not help to choose  pages that are not nearby to each other.  We apologize for the  inconvenience and hope to have this issue resolved in the future."

You CAN SELECT NON CONTIGUOUS pages simply by dragging a marquis  (the blue box) around the first page you wish to select then scroll down to the next page you wish to select and hold down the shift key while dragging a marquis around that page and continue with that action until you have selected as many pages as you like. Note the pages DO NOT have to be contiguous or near each other.

Hope this helps...........worked for me.

Same problem on my server running Windows SBS-2003 that I upgraded to Acrobat 9 & recently updated to 9.4.5.  The thumbnail feature is a keystone function in my daily use of Acrobat to manage & organize construction plans & job-related photos & documents.  Without that feature Acrobat is a waste of my time.  My other office computers are running Vista Ultimate & are still using Acrobat 8 with no problems with thumbnail selections.

I spent four hours this morning trying navigate customer support, forums, etc., only to learn that my problem is a bug caused by an automatic update?!  I understand these things happen, no different than the problems we all encounter in business.  The part that angers me is that nothing is done about it.  As a business owner, when my clients call me with a problem, I fix it.  I don't tell them "Thank you for informing me, I'll get to it sometime."

This is what happens when a company feels like they have a monopoly on a product, they don't care or don't think you'll go elsewhere.  I won't upgrade, I'll comparison shop.

- Stephen

The same problem exists on my Win 7 x64 machine. I will report the bug as suggested and fully expect Adobe to fix this. Breaking a program to 'entice' people to buy a new version is not just morally wrong, it may also be illegal...

I realize people are trying to help and that is appreciated.

However, just telling us to upgrade to version 10 is not an acceptable answer.

Along the lines of one of the first posts, does anyone know the best way to get this escalated?

Good luck trying to escalate this problem.  Seems like Adobe doesn't fix bugs reported by users any more.  Over a year I reported the thumbnail runoff problem (bottom thumbnails missing in thumbnail view), was promised a fix, then no action.  I even re-reported the bug, was promised a fix with the next release, then nothing. Other than the agent wasting my time apologizing for the inconvenience, I have seen no action on that problem. My best advice, roll back your systems to 9.4.4 and disable automatic update.

Exact same issue as OP.  Cannot select multiple pages in a PDF with CTRL or ALT.

These machines are running Vista 32-bit Enterprise with Adobe Pro 9.4.5

This is affecting over 1000+ users and needs a fix ASAP.

Any way we can make sure this is uplifted to the top?

PS - You can select multiple pages just using the mouse, but I realize that doesn't "fix" the issue.

I reported the bug yesterday and received the following response from Adobe:

"  Thank you for taking the time to notify us of this unexpected behavior after updating to Acrobat 9.4.5. This has been identified as a bug by our Engineering team.  They are hard a work adding a fix to be included in the next update.  There is no time frame for this patch to be released.

In the meantime if you are trying to manipulate contiguous pages you can drag the blue box around the pages and perform any action on the pages within the blue selection area. Of course this will not help to choose pages that are not nearby to each other.  We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have this issue resolved in the future."

If the updates aren't till September, that's going to be pretty bad as this is an important feature for our Firm.  I've already had to un-install and re-install to 9.0 for multiple users.  NOT FUN!!

Same issues at my company which is an huge deal for what we use acrobat for.  What a joke.  Who's doing the testing at Adobe?  Clearly nobody.  It looks like it's Bluebeam PDF Reviewer from now on.