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Question

Acrobat DC 2017 'The document could not be saved. The file may be read-only, or another user may have it open.'

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
April 19, 2018
10 replies
30837 views

I've been trying to resolve an issue that two of my end users are experiencing. They cannot open a pdf file and make changes and save it without getting the error in the title. The full error message is:

'The document could not be saved. The file may be read-only, or another user may have it open. Please save the document with a different name or in a different folder.'

Here are the workstation specs:

Windows 7 32 bit

Adobe Acrobat Standard DC 2017 v2017.001.30079

The issues we are currently having are unusual. Again, the user receives the error above once they attempt to modify and then save the pdf. It will work as intended once the user reboots the computer and attempts the same process. This will work correctly but for only a certain amount of time, ranging from 15 minutes to three hours. My question is what process in Windows/Adobe could trigger this effect to lock the file after it has been opened?

Here is a little bit of information regarding the pdf file. The file is on a shared network drive. If the file is not already locked, other unaffected machines can make changes to it and save the file as intended. These machines range from Windows 7 32bit to Windows 10 64 bit and Adobe versions range from Adobe Acrobat X Standard to Adobe Acrobat DC Pro. If the pdf file is moved to the local drive, it works as intended. The affected machines can modify any other filetype (.xlsx, .docx, .txt, etc.) in the same shared network folder without any issues. The user has ‘Full Control’ permissions for the pdf file. Once the file is locked, the user must reboot their computer or a server admin must unlock the file from the server itself. I have not been authorized to replace the machine or do a reinstall.

These are the troubleshooting steps we've already attempted that have not resolved the issue:

1. Disable preview pane in Windows Explorer
2. Disable details view in Windows Explorer
3. Unselect the pdf and navigate to a different folder
4. Disable Protected Mode in Adobe Acrobat
5. Disable Javascript in Adobe Acrobat
6. Disable the AdobeGCInvokerUtility scheduled task
7. Disable the Adobe autoupdate utility scheduled task

So to finish my thought process, why would a user receive this particular error after a certain amount of time and how do I go about fixing it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

This topic has been closed for replies.

ls_rbls

Community Expert

Has anyone been able to sort this out yet?

Just checking if there's any update on this.

Thanks.

M

Michel Phillips

Participating Frequently

I have the same issue. (It's now 2021, Adobe.) Windows 10, Acrobat DC. NOT with network files. I'm having it with files I'm trying to save to my own hard drive. It's usually random, maybe 5% or 10% of the time. Today it's happening with a particular file 100% of the time. I paused both Google Backup & Sync, and Carbonite. Still happening.

As a workaround, I just add a number to the file name and save it in the same location. As in, "Jones memo" becomes "Jones memo 2," then "Jones memo 3," etc. When I'm done working on the Jones matter, I delete all but the latest and just name it "Jones memo."

Aggravating, especially since it's been happening for years.

M

Michel Phillips

Participating Frequently

Update, bad news, good news.
Bad news: the workaround I described in my previous comment stopped working, with that same document.

Good news: I tried saving the document to my desktop (Windows 10) instead of the folder where it belongs. I've now re-saved updated versions to the desktop, several times, no problems. No name change necessary.

When I finish with the document, I will try dragging it from the desktop to the appropriated folder.

atterisp23712904

Participant

We are seeing this issue too , across multiple laptops / PC's ... on the very latest build of windows, and latest build of Acrobat

I have an open support case for past week which has been largely ignored.

It occurs on ANY network drive ... whether its a DFS MS file server, an ancient 2008 R2 server, or even Samba shares on a linux box ... it has nought to do with what the back end server is. We have ruled out AV. We have gone through every type of 'security settings' within the product... and a large swathe of other fixes listed by the mighty internet, to no avail. There are no other processes locking the file open, there are no temp files being created - the only process that interacts at all is ACROBAT.exe. We get it on the 2nd or 3rd signing when using signatures.

Perhaps this is due to a recent MS patch? if so - Either way, the only product having a problem with that patch (assuming that's the case) is Acrobat - so to my mind, Adobe would be working with their partner, MS to diagnose.

The only solution / workaround we have at the moment is copying the PDF's to a local disk for signings , or using a different PDF product entirely.

Ajlan Huda

AnandSri

Community Manager

Hi All,

We're sorry for the trouble you had, would you mind collecting the process monitor for the affected machines on which you are not able to open the multiple PDF files so that we can investigate further?

Download the Process Monitor tool Process Monitor - Windows Sysinternals | Microsoft Docs

Open and run it, reproduce the issue at your end, save the log files, and share it with us in private message only.

To send a private message, please take help from the article How Do I Send Private Message | Adobe Community

Upload the log files in Document Cloud Storage and share the link Adobe Document Cloud

Download and install the latest patch available for Acrobat and Reader and see if you still experience the issue 19.012.20036 Planned update, August 13, 2019 — Release Notes for Acrobat DC Products

Thanks for your time and patience thus far.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

D

DCJ777

Participating Frequently

I have one user who is having this issue going on. I've tried all the suggestons but nothing has worked.

willd79222299

Participant

Are you including full points in the file (PDF) name your saving with? I had this problem saving files ending with dates like this:-

Example document 30.11.2018

This worked:-

Example document 30-11-2018

This happened to me saving PDFs for the first time from the web. However, once I had saved them to my computer and opened them to save again, for filing else where, I found I could use 'full points' towards the end of the document name!!

To summarise, If I saved the same document (PDF) from the web for the first time (not tried other sources) without the full points, saves fine. The issue may be due the full points at the end of files/documents being intended to tell the operating system, Windows/Mac etc, that its the end of the user document name and the file extension type follows (this tells the computer what type of file it is and what program will open it). For example:-

.pdf .jpg .tiff .eps .gif

You may not see the file extension type abbreviation, as you need to change the "document view" settings as an option to see them. Not sure I have explained myself well, but this cured my problem. Hope this helps someone!

SkinBoi

Participant

Hi, I have the exact same problem on a Win7 PC running very latest Adobe Acrobat ProDC 2019.012.20035

Where is Adobe Support on this incredibly annoying issue??

willd79222299

Participant

Do not think its an Adobe Acrobat issue, Windows is an annoying OS in the first place, I use an iMac now! (Mac OS) Will never go back to Microsoft Windows, however, I am forced to use it at work! Sorry for moaning! Back to your problem ..... I found that trying to save a PDF (Acrobat) to the same folder (even changing the document name, so not over saving), gave me a similar problem. I had to go to the destination folder, click on a blank part of the folder window, to de-select the document I opened in the first place (intending to save in different name after editing), then go back to complete the save document procedure and then it saved! All good then!! .......... More moaning now! Lol! ..... Windows is not an intelligent OS, continuous patch to patch the last patch of the patch before update patches!!! Mmmmmmm!! Come on Redmond! How long have you been developing Windows OS!!!??? (In case you don't know, Redmond in California is where Microsoft create its misery for all Windows users!). And most importantly, would you send out a sub standard meal in a posh restaurant to your customer!? Well, same principle surely, provide an operating system to the world, not tested properly or fully debugged!!! Then let you, the customer or end user, to be the testers! They only try to fix things if they get feed back to do so. Shocking attitude! Hail to the Mac!!! Hope this helps!

Maverick812

Participant

I'm also having the issue. So annoying...

GG Adobe.

C

cherihartzog

Participant

I have worked for the Federal Courts for 25 years in IT and I have had this issue since Adobe X and now we are on the DC and my users constantly complain. I'll tell them to re-save it as another name or save to their hard drive. This sooooooo needs to be fixed. I can't believe it has gone on for this long with no fix. : (

C

carriek22813412

Participant

We are having this same exact issue. It's happened twice in two days. Tried everything to get the PDF to release and it finally will, but it's random. Checked all the network permissions and group policy, nothing is affecting it. Not only that but different pdfs in the same folder can be deleted without any problem, it's only the one that was recently opened that gets stuck. Adobe, please fix it!

valmarie

Participant

same issue here, why has adobe not replied to this issue???

J

jeffreya17835959

Participant

Just wanted to speak up and add my voice to the complaints. I have this exact issue with one of our users.

M

MRKSOS4

Participant

Any news on this issue? I have several client sites with Adobe Acrobat 2017 Pro having the same exact issues.

W

will97879410Author

Known Participant

I'm sorry, but there are no new updates on this issue. My users still have this issue. I have NOT tried to replace the computer yet, so that might fix the issue. It hasn't been approved so I'm limited on my options.

M

MRKSOS4

Participant

Save your money on replacing computers. This issue is a problem that Adobe needs to address but they have failed to do anything about it. We had the problem starting with Adobe Acrobat Pro X, continued to XI, DC, and now 2017. During that time, we have replaced ALL computers at two client locations but the problems continue. This only happens when they are accessing files off the network so there has to be something related to that that Adobe Acrobat developers need to investigate. Very frustrating that Adobe is not responding to this issue.

B

Billriley

Participant

We can confirm this behavior using adobe11.

Saving to a network share then closing adobe , if you try to delete or rename it says the file is in use . Does not happen on a local drive. Only affects redirected libraries or network shares.

This seemed to start on the 16th after the latest rounds of Microsoft updates.

Associated .pdf to nuance as well as ie and this issue does not occur. Switch back to adobe and the file stays open and locked requiring it to be killed on the file server side.

jane-e

Community Expert

Billriley

Adobe is a company, not a product. The product is Acrobat.

The OP is using Acrobat DC, not Acobat XI. Acrobat XI is no longer supported.

Just curious, who is the "we" in your first paragraph?

B

Billriley

Participant

You are correct it‘s acrobat not adobe. I’ll edit it. I am well aware XI is not supported , however I was just confirming this behavior with another version as well.

As an update “acrobat dc” is giving the same issue.

The “we” that you are asking about are a few IT Techs testing different scenarios coming up with the same result. The problem seems to exist only when saving to a redirected library or share. Seems to work properly saving to a local disk. This problem seemed to start after the last round of Microsoft patches.

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