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Participating Frequently
July 25, 2007
Question

Adobe PDF Printer Missing Fix - Adobe Acrobat 8.1 - Vista

  • July 25, 2007
  • 65 replies
  • 142564 views
Adobe PDF Printer Missing Fix - Adobe Acrobat 8.1 - Vista

1. Type "C:\Windows\inf" into the search box on the start menu.
2. Locate the INFCACHE.1 file and right-click it and select Properties.
3. On the INFCACHE.1 Properties window tab to the "Security" tab and click the "Edit" button to change permissions on this file.
4. On the Permissions for INFCACHE.1 window click the "Add" button.
5. On the Select Users or Groups window click the "Advanced" button.
6. A new Select Users or Groups window will open and then click the "Find Now" button.
7. The search results are sorted alphabetically; locate the username you logon to Windows with and then double-click.
8. Under the "Enter the objects names to select..." you should see something like this YOURCOMPUTERNAME\Yourusername
9. Now click the OK button.
10. You will now return to the Permissions for INFCACHE.1 window.
11. Under the Permissions for Yourusername you need to tick "Full Control" under the Allow column. Click the "Apply" button and then the "OK" button.
12. You will be prompted with a "Windows Security" window, just click the "Yes" button and continue.
13. Delete the INFCACHE.1 file.
14. Restart your computer.
15. Open Adobe Acrobat 8.1
16. Locate the Help menu item and click Repair Acrobat Installation
17. Restart if requested to do so.

This fix worked on Windows Vista Business Edition (32-Bit).
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    65 replies

    Participant
    March 29, 2009
    Briefly
    Acrobat Professional 8.4.1 on Vista Home Premium
    Used original Gnavicks 06:29 pm Jul 24, 2007 procedure
    followed by wchao 08:11 pm May 27, 08 procedure.

    Worked fine. Thanks to both.
    Participant
    March 28, 2009
    I had the same problem as DSherry with Acrobat Pro 8.1.4 on Vista Business - I fixed with the following (similar to ConnollA) :

    Find the Acrobat printer in Printers.
    Right click on it and select Properties then the Advanced Tab
    For me, "Spool print documents..." was selected.

    Deselect "Enable advanced printing features"
    Participant
    July 10, 2009

    Tim_Goodman  .... thanks for the fix!  I had the same problem/error DSherry had after doing a reset to a previous restore point to turn unwanted Vista Sync off:

    Invalid "Adobe PDF" printer properties

    Do not change spooler settings.

    Please select "print directly to the printer" option (from Adobe PDF printer properties "advanced" tab)

    And your fix worked like a charm without having to do all the work of other sugested fixes.  It was the simplest and easiest so I tried it first and now I'm back up.  Your fix should be the first post on a Sticky.  It could save a lot of people a lot of time and heart ache:

    Find the Acrobat printer in Printers.
    Right click on it and select Properties then the Advanced Tab.
    For me, "Spool print documents..." was selected.

    The Fix:  Deselect "Enable advanced printing features".

    Click OK.

    The only question I have:  Am I losing any features by deselecting "Enable advanced printing features" since it was a default setting?

    Participating Frequently
    March 10, 2010

    Horrors! It's back!! The 8.2.1 update just messed up my  Acrobat Pro 8 settings completely. The Acrobat Distiller started showing this same-as-before error when I tried to print something to PDF, asking me to print  directly to the printer instead. And when I did that and the resulting  PDF opened in Acrobat, all my previous files in the file menu list  opened up together!

    Participating Frequently
    March 27, 2009
    DSherry,

    I have the same configuration and my Acrobat is working fine.
    Try repairing your Acrobat installation (Help -> Repair) and then reboot your machine. By the way do you have any other Adobe software on your machine which might have caused problems while Acrobat's update.
    What about your UAC settings, are they ON or OFF?
    Participating Frequently
    March 25, 2009
    I'm not sure how to fix DSherry's problem, but Gary, you need to have the full version of Adobe Acrobat in order to convert documents to PDF. The free Reader version doesn't have that option.
    Participant
    March 24, 2009
    Hi all,

    I am running a Sony with vista business 64 bit and am unable to find the pdf printer when wanting to print to the pdf printer. I have recently updated my Adobe to Adobe Reader 9. Any user frienldy step by step fixes to recover the pdf printer ? When trying to find printers I also get the following message "The Active Directory Domain Services is Currently Inavailable"

    Why is it always a long drawn out process for fixes, that doesnt seem to work anyway - does anyone have a solution fix for dummies !!

    Gary
    Participant
    March 23, 2009
    Hi. I'm running Vista Home 32bit. I just updated to Adobe 8.1.4 and get the following error message when I try to print a word document to make it into a pdf: "Invalid "Adobe PDF" printer properties: Do not change spooler settings. Please select "print directly to the printer" option (from Adobe PDF printer properties "advanced" tab)".

    I have found the advanced tab but there is no option to "print directly to the printer". Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
    Participating Frequently
    March 16, 2009
    I found the Teed Up's email of 2/18/09 did work for me, although I'm running Vista 64bit. The instructions were as follows:

    Find the Acrobat Distiller printer in Printers.
    Right click on it and select Properties then the Advanced Tab
    For me, "Print directly to the printer" was selected.
    I changed it to "Spool print documents..." and clicked OK

    If this doesn't work, there is also the option of downloading the Bullzip PDF printer (it's free). I used that as a work around until I was able to fix the regular PDF printer.
    Good luck!
    Inspiring
    March 10, 2010

    With VISTA 64, you might want to be sure you have updated to the latest version of AA8. Otherwise, it might be an OS compatibility problem.

    Participant
    March 14, 2009
    HELP!
    I have the same problem that David seems to have with my Adobe Professional 8, I get the error of "Distiller has stopped working", it happens when I restart my computer and when trying to convert a document. I just upgraded my Office from 2000 to 2003 thinking it would solve the problem however it hasn't. I also have Vista Home 32bit.
    Does anyone know how to fix this or have any suggestions on how to fix this?
    Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
    Participant
    March 3, 2009
    Had missing Adobe PDF printer driver. Using version 6.0. Was logged in as administrator. Logged out and logged in as a regular user and the PDF printer was available. Shared the PDF printer, logged out, logged back in as administrator and the printer was now available.
    Participant
    March 1, 2009
    Had "missing Adobe PDF printer driver" message after installing Acrobat 8 Pro on Win XP Pro SP3. Looked in Control Panel and there was no Adobe PDF printer. Followed Steve Lionel's method above and it worked perfectly. Thank you!