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J
jerryis
Participating Frequently
October 4, 2011
Question

How to add acrobat to windows 7 home pro default programs list

  • October 4, 2011
  • 3 replies
  • 26241 views

I have lost the ability to set Acrobat as the default program for opening pdf files.  I can do it with manual "open with", however I cannot set it as the default to do it automatically through any of the windows options.  I found that Acrobat is not listed as one of the windows default rpgrams and would like to be able to add to that list.  Does anyone know how to do that?  I assume it requires a registry change but I don't know where.

Thanks for your help

Jerry

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

J
jerryisAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 6, 2011

OK, I uninstalled reader 10, repaired Acrobat 9 then tried to set the defaults  through an individual file and using the contol panel defaults. Neither worked.  I took snapshots of both screens, hope you can see them now.  In both cases the option to make a program the default is grayed out and not functional.

Thanks

jerry

B
Bill12
Inspiring
October 6, 2011

Looks like you installed another program that is taking over. I don't necessarily see it grayed out. It appears to me that Adobe Acrobat 9.4 is selected. However you also need to check to always use the program to open the PDF file or it will only do it for this round. It seems strange that Outlook is the default for the file. My screen shows the following:

I have AA9 set by default. So have you tried to select AA9 and check the box at the bottom?

rchaney1
rchaney1
Participating Frequently
October 6, 2011

I think that Office 2010 come with a PDFdistiller in addition to XPS, perhaps it has been set as the default.

rchaney1
rchaney1
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2011

The default is set on the General Tab under Preferences.

J
jerryisAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2011

Unfortunately I don't have that option, see attached snips from windows

default open with and Acrobat's open with

rchaney1
rchaney1
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2011

If you are using an older version of Acrobat, try this:

Depending on what OS you're using this may change slightly;

Right click any PDF document > select 'Open with' and click 'Choose Program'

Select Acrobat from the resulting list and tick the 'Always use this program to open this file'

Click OK!

You may also want to review this post:

http://forums.adobe.com/message/3005157#3005157

G
GrahamHe
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2011

Have you tried "Browse", select Acrobat in C\Program Files etc and then click "Always use the selected etc ..."?

J
jerryisAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2011

Unfortunately, that is not an available option on the drop down list

when I right or left click on the file (acroRd32) or if I select Acrobat

9 pro

Thanks

Jerry

B
Bill12
Inspiring
October 5, 2011

Why not try a repair of Acrobat? Your problem is that you apparently have reader also installed (AcroRd32) and it has probably stolen the link.

Typically you would select open with and then select the browse and go from there. The other way is to open Explorer (Opps, doesn't work in Win 7, forgot). In Win7 they moved everything and you go to the Control Panel>Default Programs>Set Associations. Select the ".pdf" files and select change program. You should see Acrobat listed and select it (do not select Reader if that is not what you want). If Acrobat is not listed, then select browse and go to the Acrobat folder and select the Acrobat.exe. That should do it. You should be able to do the same selection from the Open With menu, but you say you can not and so i have given this alternative. The repair may do the job for you and you then would not have to do this process. Apparently you selected something that overwrote the association for PDF files.

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