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jdensley
New Participant
September 2, 2021
Answered

Adobe Pro9 won't open password protected documents

  • September 2, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 2514 views

I have Adobe CS5 on my laptop (Paid for and registered), but when I open a deceased's password protected medical doc, I get the error msg "There was an error opening this document. An updated version of Acrobat is needed in order to open this document" . I have have kept Adobe Acrobat Pro updated. When I open the doc on another computer with only Adobe reader (No Adobe Acrobat Pro), I have no issues opening the Doc with the password. Adobe reader even opens the password Doc on my phone. CS5 will not let me have Reader as and extra PDF program. This is frustrating as the online chat help takes me nowhere

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer MikelKlink

The main change in PDF encryption in the recent years was the introduction of AES256 support, first as a proprietary implementation by Adobe, later with some changes as part of the PDF standard. So I assume those medical docs are AES256 encrypted.

 

Adobe Acrobat 9 is from times before AES256 encryption was introduced in the PDF standard. Non-proprietary AES256 encryption was specified in ISO 32000-2 in 2017 while support for Acrobat 9 ended 2013. Thus, there is no reason to assume that Acrobat 9 could somehow support AES256 encryption.

3 replies

try67
try67
Braniac
September 2, 2021

Install Reader DC on your computer and you'll see that it opens just fine.

Your outdated version of Acrobat can't handle the type of encryption applied to this file.

    T
    Test Screen Name
    Braniac
    September 2, 2021

    But you haven't kept it up to date. A new version 10 was released in 2010 (and it was obsolete too, 7 years ago).

    The online chat is not available for unsupported obsolete products.

    MikelKlink
    MikelKlinkCorrect answer
    Participating Frequently
    September 2, 2021

    The main change in PDF encryption in the recent years was the introduction of AES256 support, first as a proprietary implementation by Adobe, later with some changes as part of the PDF standard. So I assume those medical docs are AES256 encrypted.

     

    Adobe Acrobat 9 is from times before AES256 encryption was introduced in the PDF standard. Non-proprietary AES256 encryption was specified in ISO 32000-2 in 2017 while support for Acrobat 9 ended 2013. Thus, there is no reason to assume that Acrobat 9 could somehow support AES256 encryption.

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