Acrobat 6.0 and Windows 7 - is there a PDF printer driver available?

[Guest]

Hi,

I have been using Acrobat 6.0 with Windows XP fine. However, I just got a new computer that has Windows 7.

I installed Acrobat 6.0 but cannot now convert any documents to PDF on this new computer. I get this error--

"The PDF maker cannot find the Adobe PDF printer driver and to reinstall Adobe Acrobat 6.0"

However, reinstalling Acrobat 6.0 does not help, nor does the repair feature.

Is There a patch for this product? Can I download a driver for the PDF printer so that it is compatible with Windows 7?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Bernd Alheit]

Acrobat 9 is compatible with Windows 7.  Upgrade your Acrobat version.

[Bill12 · Accepted solution]

The point is this, you will be lucky if AA6 will install on Win7. For VISTA, a few folks got AA7 to work, but the first certified version was AA8.1.3. The main culprit may be AcroTray with VISTA and Win7. You may be able to use AA6. If the print to the Adobe PDF printer does not work, then try the printer with the print-to-file selected. Then open the file in Distiller. That may work. I am not sure that anyone has indicated any success with AA6 on these newer systems, but with your constraints these ideas might help.

WORD 2007 requires at least AA8.1.3 to get PDF Maker. You can still print to PDF, but not use PDF Maker in AA6 with OFFICE 2007.

[JacQUES81]

I tried using the "Print to file" option, and this works. I found it to be a bit annoying to manually distill every file, so I added a "watched folder" in distiller, and also set it up to view the resulting pdf. This works great, even if the files have the standard .prn extension (so you don't have to remember to type .ps in the filename for every file you print). In effect, this is the same as printing directly to the Adobe PDF printer, except the file has to be stored in the watched folder, instead of the desired (in my case, at least) project folder. While it is still a bit annoying to have to move the file manually, I think this approach minimizes the burden to an acceptable level. Now I only need to figure out a way to hide the distiller icon in the taskbar.

In any case the method works, with or without any added degrees of automation.

[clarknight]

I cant understand this. How are you doing it?

[goldcost]

I am not sure you understand the point. Microsoft never indicated that drivers and applications that worked perfectly in XP will not work. The company can't claim one thing and deliver another. Even if I have accesses to AA9 on one computer and one licence, if I also own AA6.0, nothing should stop me from using it. Microsoft can not and should not disable nor abstract the functionality of public investment in software that operated well in XP. That is devaluation and destruction of public owned electronic media. If Adobe does not destroy the functionality of its products. Why Microsoft?

That is the question.

[Bill12]

As indicated, you can use AA6 with Win7 apparently, but you have to set up watched folders with Distiller to automate the conversion process and have the Adobe PDF printer print to file rather than a PDF port. The basic problem is the way in which AcroTray operates with the OS. The changes in the OS have set AcroTray to fail with older versions. Is this the fault of MS, not necessarily. This OS interaction has been the issue with software for years. The problem has occurred with Acrobat for almost every upgrade in OS that some of the older versions fail. AA6 and 7 PDF maker will also not work with OFFICE 2007 for similar reasons. I am not defending either Adobe or MS on this, but it is a fact of life in these times. Remember that the new BlueRay format has made your DVD viewer obsolete. In the same way VHS tapes made Beta tapes obsolete, in some cases 6 months after buying Beta. I doubt that this type of action will ever change. Bill

[goldcost]

you said ... I am not defending either Adobe or MS on this, but it is a fact of life in these times. Remember that the new BlueRay format has made your DVD viewer obsolete. In the same way VHS tapes made Beta tapes obsolete, in some cases 6 months after buying Beta. I doubt that this type of action will ever change. Bill

But Sir; Blue Ray manufacturers never advertised to the general public claiming that Blue Ray is an upgrade for a DVD player. I do not recall a claim that A DVD can be migrated to Blue Ray. You are speaking to a parson who have spent 20+ years in consumer electronics. There was never a misleading claim such that a VHS is a beta format. But clearly there was never an instant in which US consumers were told their STD format VHS will not be supported by a VHS player incorporating SUPER VHS. Yet it was always made "very" clear that SUPER VHS format is not compatible on STD VHS format. Same statement was true for BETA, and BETA-MAX, so was same for 8mm and Super 8. As a mater of fact the consumer electronic industry has made every effort to make sure that data from mini VHS camcorders were playable on table top VHS players. In that sense the customer investment in DATA (software) was preserved.

Again there is no implication of Adobe having done anything wrong. Here is why. Suppose I develop a car that required no gas no electric no solar energy, but a change in the way the highway is being built. Seeing only the energy factor the STATE governments decided to rip-out all the high way and replace it by a a road system that makes all cars obsolete overnight. The car you have financed and have not paid for yet can not be used. Yet obligated to pay your debt. Yet; you have to go out and buy the New transport system. How would you like that? Actually such technology might exist. So sir, who shall decide when an application software should be scraped. Microsoft or the customer. Again no implication to Adobe. Remember Adobe PDF files can be opened by all version of PDF reader as long as the user sets compatibility to the earliest version possible.

The trouble faced here is that, MS was suppose to be an OS, simply a highway to link the hardware and applications in such ways that they work flawlessly. It is suppose to manage the data traffic "intelligently" such ways they don't collide, close and open ports, setup installation logistics to file residency etc. In a serious American Business needs infrastructure that is stable and backward and forward compatible where the compatibility period can span over 20 years. Because the US industry automating lags as far back as 20 years for some corporation system and some are in 2010 region. It depends when you bought the machinery.

Now MS's claim is that if the upgrade was to be made from XP (which made most consumer happy including myself because XP supported laboratory application software as well) we were to reinstall all the applications and transfer all data including email. I did. But 1/3 of my applications software no longer work. That is an investment lost. That, it presented unnecessary hardship to revert back to XP from which I am writing this response. I have yet find an MS application that did not work on Win 7. I will keep checking.

In any given technology, mechanical eng., electrical eng. or software eng., one needs to consider very carefully as to the implication a change would have on users. Considering the fact that some individuals and small US businesses have a great deal of money vested in products for what ever purpose they my be using it for and introduction of new version with false claim can lead to system shut down. For an OS system to fail applications that are essential to US technology, Math, Science, and Engineering is unacceptable.

[goldcost]

I am on the same boat. Before I purchased Windows 7, I thought I made sure it supported all my software's that run perfectly on XP. After all Microsoft said, upgrade for XP is a clean install and advised customers to collect all setup disks to reinstall application from groundsup. I did. Now; Adobe Acrobat 6.0 does not work, so are many other software's such as Autocad 2006, Maple Math software version 10. I am not in to software fashion trend. I feel Microsoft did misled me to believe that its windows 7 upgrade supports all my XP applications. Either Microsoft effectively addresses compatability as was in XP or I will be headed for class action. On top of that, windows 7 just came out not more than a month ago and it is already full of patches and repairs.

This is one product that is anti-scientific equipment as well. It supports none of the drivers nor applications written for IEE488 where as XP and 2000 did not have trouble supporting. We are not all in to fun and games. Windows 7 may good for play about, but it is far from being business and science friendly.

Although I do have accsess to Adobe Acrobat 9 through educational institute, personaly I like Acrobat 6.0. It worked on XP and it better work on windows 7 or money back.

I also want to see Microsoft allow me custom install so its muble and jumble 8GB worthless game and play data is not sitting on my hard drive. That way I get to install just bare bone windows 7 that supports just what I want, not what Microsoft wants. Microsoft need to recognize many industrial hardware's and their applicatinons are complex and need window to be flexible and friendly.

[zapped67]

Your compatability argument is total BS!  If I bought a car from 1901, I could still run it on the road today and get to my destination.  In fact, the amish STILL ride their buggys to town.  Neither the Roads or the Transportation Vehicles took 1 or 2 years to become obsolete.  Additionally, isn't it convenient that my MS office suite from 2003 is STILL working with Windows 7 just fine in 2011, but my Adobe Acrobat 7.0 has become unworkable with the upgraded operating system.  I agree with the woman in the other post that we should move to a class action suit against MS as it appears to be the only thing the business world understands.

An operating system is and should be the transportation roadway, not a ROADBLOCK to digital transportation.  I can still run my vehicle on a dirt roadway TODAY, I can still read a book written on paper a thousand years ago, I can still fly an older plane in the skys today.  All satisfactory, granted all be it a little slower, but I can still get to where I want to go.  There is NO EXCUSE NOT to design a digital system that promotes compatability.  The fact that the DVD world has moved to Blue Ray as an argument for upgrading in the digital world has to do with only one thing - planned obsolesence at the expense of the public to make money.  Not to mention that we are talking about the difference between luxury and necessity.  Systems of necessity are robustly built to be used for many years with multiple types of vehicles.

[Criswell99]

Error: Your book has either degraded beyond recognition, been obscured by black mold, or you have upgraded to a different language within the past 1,000 years. For solutions please consider: Finding a digital copy of the book, hiring a translator. If these solutions fail, consider changing human nature by writing with a lot of capital letters.

[Bill12]

Maybe I should have commented on the compatibility argument a long time ago. Asking for compatibility is reasonable, but it is not the norm. The old MACs required new software with each upgrade. For MS, even MS products had problems with the Win 7 upgrade. When VISTA was introduced, even the OFFICE help did not work because MS had removed it. There are many other examples.

Your example of a 1901 car is not very good. They would likely have to be modified to run on unleaded fuel. What are you going to do as we move to CFL bulbs and your dimmers don't work? Compatibility issues have become a common problem. It would be nice for them to not be an issue, but in the practical sense you need to be careful with upgrades for compability. Some of these reasons for Acrobat is due to the way the OS works with printer drivers that has changed. For PDF Maker, this comes about as an issue of the total change in the way in which OFFICE was written. I sympathize with the issues of compatibility, but it practical to have to consider it with all upgrades.

The major problem with using AA6 with Win7 is that the AcroTray tool from AA6 does not properly work in Win 7. The workarounds have been given in this discussion, including printing to file and using watched folders. I have even used AA5 in Win 7. I have not tried AA4. AA3 would not install in Win XP at all, and I think that AA4 had issues on that one.

Bottom line on compatibility has a blame with both the OS and the applications. The bit of getting a product to market has created part of the problem. Excuses, I really don't care. It is just a fact of life. You and the rest of us can complain, but I doubt anything will change.

[Guest]

I have Acrobat 6 as well and just upgraded to windows 7. Can't afford Acrobat Version 9 either. From what I understand, only Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL, ULTIMATE or ENTERPRISE editions can you run most Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode(separate download). At least that's what I read here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-modeI wonder if that will help you. I unfortunately only have STARTER edition.

*The following text is copied and pasted from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode

Windows 7 Feature has a Windows XP Mode

It's the best of both worlds: The new Windows XP Mode lets you run older Windows XP business software right on your Windows 7 desktop.

Designed primarily with small- and medium-sized businesses in mind, Windows XP Mode comes as a separate download and works only with Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise. Windows XPMode also requires virtualization software such as WindowsVirtual PC. Both are available free on the Microsoft website.

To download Windows XP Mode or learn about its system requirements, visit the Windows Virtual PCwebsite.

Windows XP Mode, available for the Professional and Ultimate editions of Windows 7, helps prevent older business programs from becoming obsolete.

Message was edited by: Murie

[elihusmails]

I have Windows 7 Starter on an Acer netbook and all I do to get to the XP SP3 mode is right click on properties for the icon which is the software program I cannot run in W7, and then  click the tab "Compatibility" and then check the box that says "Run this program in compatibility mode for" XP SP3

[Dabalani]

My question is do you have to have a postscipt printer installed for Distiller to be able to read the files produced by the printer?

[clarknight]

I dont know.

I cannot use acrobat 6.0 with my new windows 7 computer.

I also bought low cost $49.00 acrobat 9 pro and I cant register it with the serial number. Adobe says the people that sold it to me were giving me serial numbers that were not issued by Adobe.

I don tknow what a post script printer is.

I got my money back but really wish i could go back to acrobat 6.0 but when try to install it says; cant install the pdf printer.

Clark

[Bill12]

Then install any PS printer that is available in Win7. There are likely several from HP and other printer manufacterers. Set it up to print to file. Then simply open the file in Distiller. As I mentioned earlier, you may be able to set up a watched folder with Distiller for AA6 on Win7 to automate the conversion process. If it works, I have no clue since I do not have that configuration installed. However, it is the only automatic way I can think of with AA6. The PS driver will be necessary if the Adobe PDF printer will not install. You may lose some feature, but if it works you have a method of creating PDFs.

[clarknight]

Thanks

[elihusmails]

I have Windows 7 Starter on an Acer netbook and all I do to get to the XP SP3 mode is right click on properties for the icon which is the software program I cannot run in W7, and then  click the tab "Compatibility" and then check the box that says "Run this program in compatibility mode for" XP SP3

[clarknight]

I just bought acrobat 9 standard for $115.00

[Jehater]

I have been using Acrobat 6.0 with Windows Vista Basic for quite a while now, having given up on the conversion of M.S Office files to PDF function of the program. After various attempts to solve this problem with the PDF printer installation. I finally decide to give it one more attempt by trying your suggestion and it worked. Now I can convert to PDF directly from M.S Office applications.

Thanks a lot

[Another Photographer]

Jehater, which suggestion worked for you?

[Jehater]

I downloaded and installed the free PDF printer driver available at Bullzip.com as suggested by Angelsglow. Once installed, just go to the File menu, select Print, then select Bullzip printer and hit O.K. and Save - Your file will be converted to PDF and opened in Adobe.

[agundrum]

I am working on migrating to Windows 7.  I know through experience that eventually you have to give up the ghost on some applications.

I've used Acrobat 6.0 for a long time to create PDFs and wanted to know if it would work on W7.  From what I'm reading the answer is clearly a "No."  The bandaids presented here are just that.  Distilling docs sounds like it works, but involves more work than necessary IMO.

I'd like to point out the fact that when it comes to software, many people have an idea that all versions should work on all future OSes.  I don't know why this is but it's been the case for the 25+ years I've been using software.  Consider a new OS to be like a new car.  You're not going to install the transmission from your old car to the new car just because it works in the old car.

A new OS does try to accomodate recent versions of software.  But there is a limitation.  AA6 was released in 2003.  That's 7 years ago!!!  It has reached its limitation.  I'm one to say its time to give up the ghost and get new.

First, I'll try the freebie mentioned here.  Eventually I'll upgrade to the latest version but will consider [cheaper] alternatives.

[Bill12]

With early versions of DOS and Windows, most things ported forward with no problem. Since XP, things have changed and many things in the OS have caused problems with older programs. I am still using a 3.1 graphics package that I prefer over everything else, but on occasion it crashes. It even works in Win7 and I am surprised. The early versions of the MAC OS required an almost completely new set of software with each update. I think that has changed and the MAC and Windows are similar in the update requirements. Some folks seem to want to rush to the latest, greatest (not necessarily the best) and keep getting in trouble because of incompatibilities. I assume you have read some of the issues with OFFICE 2010 and Acrobat. Of course, even VISTA and Win7 require additional drivers for the standard HELP to work within these OSs. Even OFFICE had that problem, and it is a MS product!

My comments aside, I do not think that AA6 works at all with Win7. Folks have been somewhat successful with AA8 with updates. I have not heard of anyone being successful (at least not to a useful level) with anything before AA8. For an X64 system, the requirements are even stiffer. Bottom line for AA6 -- NO.