Acrobat 10 won't start anymore

[hbax450]

Love how you spend thousands to get the latest software from Adobe, and then when you simply need to open a PDF file right before a presentation, the application won't open.

Found one discussion that advises to uninstall and the reinstall.  Seriously?  And I need to download Adobe's special "the regular uninstaller process does not work so use our alternate" tool?

[Amrita_Chakrabarti]

For all the users who have faced a problem where Acrobat did not launch after 30 days of serializing with a suite serial number, please execute the following workaround:

1. Make sure you are connected to the internet.
2. Launch a regular  CS6 product other than Acrobat or Flash Builder (for example: Photoshop, After Effects, Premier Pro, InDesign, Flash Professional, Illustrator, Dreamweaver.)
3. Click on Help->Deactivate .
4. Deactivate the application. Quit application.
5. Launch a regular  CS6 product other than Acrobat or Flash Builder (for example: Photoshop, After Effects, Premier Pro, InDesign, Flash Professional, Illustrator, Dreamweaver.)
6. Accept Eula.
7. Register trial by signing in. Let the app launch.
8. Quit and relaunch the app. Wait for UI to come.
9. Click on License This Software button on the UI.
10. Click on Sign in .
11. Serial number screen will come
12. Enter the serial number in the serial number screen and click Next.
13. Quit app and relaunch the app while connected on the internet .

After this if you launch Acrobat it will launch and run forever without trouble. In case you still face a problem , try relaunching the other CS6 app once more and then launch Acrobat.

Feel free to send me a private message if you need any more help with this.

[dbeifeld]

Amrita - Thank you. Your procedure fixed my Acrobat won't start problem which was becoming very frustrating. It's nice to have a forum like this that actually helps solve problems.

[DebNM]

FYI, am running Win7 64bit and to the day, Acrobat Pro X (CS6 Suite) stopped working at 30 days. Looks like a lot of solutions in this forum... Hope you can get this fixed - sure hope I don't revisit it in 30 days!

[Bartek_Kropaczewski]

Hi Amrita

Could you tell me how to do it on approx 50 computers at the same time?

Regards

Bartek

[rsjaffee]

Thanks, Amrita, that worked (post #55). Is Adobe going to post a patch? This is a giant headache!

[d_p_middleton]

Same here.

Last month and again today, this suddenly happend to me as well; Acrobat X Pro quits and will not start up again after about 30 days. There is no warning, no indication that some "trial" period has expired.

I am a customer of Adobe Design and Web Premium CS6, so there is not supposed to be a trial period for any of the Design and Web Premium applications.

Last time, I re-installed Acrobat X. This time I found Amrita's work-around, which saved me a lot of time. Many thanks.

My question to Adobe is: is this a recognised bug? I really cannot apply this work-around every other 30 days. It only happens to me in Acrobat X Pro and no other CS6 application.

Cheers,

Dave

[Amrita_Chakrabarti]

Hi Dave and rsjaffee,

This workaround is permanent. Acrobat will launch forever. I have tested the workaround myself!

The fix is already there on the latest build posted at https://creative.adobe.com/apps but problem is for it to work for you , you will need to reinstall your current product (say Master Collection) after you download the applet from the link so that during installation, the MC build (your old one) will pick up the latest files. The workaround is much simpler ...so I thought that would be quicker!

-Amrita

[tjhb]

Amrita,

Amrita Chakrabarti wrote:

Hi Dave and rsjaffee,

This workaround is permanent. Acrobat will launch forever. I have tested the workaround myself!

The fix is already there on the latest build posted at https://creative.adobe.com/apps but problem is for it to work for you , you will need to reinstall your current product (say Master Collection) after you download the applet from the link so that during installation, the MC build (your old one) will pick up the latest files. The workaround is much simpler ...so I thought that would be quicker!

-Amrita

That seems like good news. But can you please expand on this method?

Which files/components have been updated, and how does one go about installing them, please?

I haven't noticed any documentation on how to use the Creative Cloud channel for obtaining updated installation packages.--Not any indication that packages have been updated.

Have the same files/components also been updated through the usual updates mechanism--so that desktop users on a permanent licence will be offered them by the Adobe Updater?

Best regards,

Tim Baigent

[TheBitBug]

@Amrita So Adobe was able to replicate the error in your tests, then apply the fix you mentioned?

[marktlemmon]

I have the same symptoms--CS6 was purchased & registered 30 days ago. Acrobat stopped working today (CS6 Design & Web, Win7). I stumbled on this, and made it through step 6. At this point I have deactivated CS6, accepted the EULA, and I have a window saying, "Sign In Required". When I click the sign in button, I get a spinning thing for a while. Now I have a message to "Please connect to the internet and retry". Note that I am connected (I am using the affected computer) and signed with Adobe ID within firefox.

Now, I have no Acrobat, no Photoshop, etc.

[TheBitBug]

Can you clarify if you used the method in post 66 or post 55?

I have hit the 30 day mark for the 2ND Time and was going to try the method from Amrita in post 55, but I can't be down with the rest of my MS collection if it doesn't work, so if that's the one you tried I'm putting it off for now...

Also, don't know if you want to try it or not, but somewhere back in this thread (around # 20 I think) is a post from me outlining what I did back then to get past the lock out before Amrita posted her fix.  We now know that only lasted 30 days, but maybe it will unlock your system?... try at your own risk.

Thanks!

[marktlemmon]

Sorry--yes, it was post 55. Thanks for the link--I'll try that route before a complete re-install after a brief waiting period to see if I get help from Adobe.

[TheBitBug]

Here is the thread with the solution I tried 30 days or so ago.

http://forums.adobe.com/message/4493065#4493065

[marktlemmon]

FYI, I worked with Amrita over the phone and the issue was quickly resolved (hosts file had blocked access), restoring CS6 including Acrobat without a re-install.

[AndyGalaxy]

My issues relate to Acrobat X Pro downloaded and installed through Adobe Application Manager. Anyway, I have been on the phone yesterday with a Tech guy from Adobe (nice guy he was too) and he got me to deactivate (through Photoshop) then start up Acrobat and activate again using my Adobe ID. This seemed to work UNTIL I log out and back into Windows 7 ... this morning Acrobat did the same thing (shut down after about 10 seconds) I had to repeat the deactivate/reactivate license process again. Is Adobe aware of Amrita's advice and will this apply to the type of installation/license I am using? I will keep you informed. It would be good if we the users and Adobe the providers work together to resolve this sooner rather than later...

[AndyGalaxy]

indeed, I just checked my host file and guess what? All adobe stuff is being looped back to local host. How did you solve this Mark? delete all the lines with you see below that are in my host file?

#    127.0.0.1       localhost

#    ::1             localhost

127.0.0.1                activate.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                practivate.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                ereg.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                activate.wip3.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                wip3.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                3dns-3.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                3dns-2.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                adobe-dns.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                adobe-dns-2.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                adobe-dns-3.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                ereg.wip3.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                activate-sea.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                activate-sjc0.adobe.com

127.0.0.1                adobe.activate.com

127.0.0.1                adobeereg.com                       

127.0.0.1                www.adobeereg.com

[marktlemmon]

In my case, I toggled write permission, commented (#) all lines mentioning adobe.com, and was able to pick up where I left off. I had previously deactivated the license through Photoshop; I was able to sign in after the hosts change, then activate, then license, then cycle through photoshop/illustrator a couple times and finally acrobat.

[AndyGalaxy]

I rebooted Windows and same problem. sigh. But I deleted cache.db as someone else has mentioned and it gives me temporary respite - until I restart Windows again...

[mmdbiz]

Thank you very much! Worked perfectly fine to get Acrobat X to work again.

Cheers,

Marcelllo

www.mmdesign.com

[wacom123]

Amrita, I followed your instructions in post #55 30 days ago and it worked great. Unfortunately, it just now happened again.  Not exactly the permanence I was looking for.  Off to do it again....

[Amrita_Chakrabarti]

Did you reinstall in between?

Also check your host files for entries blocking  adobe servers.

Apart from these two , no reason why you would need to reapply the fix after 30 days.

[wacom123]

No I did not.  Only thing I've had to futz with in recent memory was your fix for my Acrobat not launching.  Which I repeated yesterday to get it functioning again.  So, honestly, I have no reason to think it won't happen again in 30 days.

My hosts file:

# 127.0.0.1 localhost

# ::1 localhost

That's it.

[XianMedia]

Will this method work for Master Collection CS5.5? I made the mistake of trialing cs6 and ever since it has not recognised the fact that I have my own copy of Acrobat from CS5.5...

[teancum144]

2. Launch a regular  CS6 product other than Acrobat or Flash Builder (for example: Photoshop, After Effects, Premier Pro, InDesign, Flash Professional, Illustrator, Dreamweaver.)

I don't have any of these products. I only have Acrobat standard. I checked my hosts file and don't have any entries. Is the only option to reinstall? If so, I need to provide my IT department with my license number. How do I get that if I can't open the application?

[Toddca]

I am having the same issue on Windows 7 x64. I purchase CS6 Design and Web Prem from Adobe's website and everything has been working for a while and it seems that after the last update, or it may have been about 30 days Adobe Acrobat no longer opens. my other Adobe products such as PS and Dreamweaver work just fine. I have installed the latest updates, nothing is in my hosts file, I have repaired Acrobat, I have removed and re-installed Acrobat, and none of this has worked to resolve this issue. This needs to be addressed ASAP - I paid for this software so I should be able to use it!!!!