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KimmyZ
Participating Frequently
August 20, 2012
Answered

Huge Problem with Adobe Software and PDF files

  • August 20, 2012
  • 2 replies
  • 39468 views

My computer operating system is Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 3 installed.  Everything was running perfectly until about 2 weeks ago. I have Windows and Adobe set up to run automatic updates whenever they're available.  I'm not sure what Adobe update was installed, but immediately after it installed, I could not open any PDF file without my computer crashing.  Also, whenever I try to start Adobe Acrobat Pro or Photoshop, my computer suddenly also crashes.  I tried uninstalling Acrobat Pro, but when I tried that it also caused my computer to crash!  So now I can't even uninstall any of my Adobe software!

All my Microsoft software is running perfectly (Word, Excel, Outlook).  My Internet browser (IE) is working just fine.  Why are my Adobe software packages and PDF files the only things not working?  And why can't I even uninstall any of it?  I looked to see if I had any Acrobat Reader installed (free one), but Windows doesn't list anything like that under the list of installed programs.  It just shows that Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, Flash and a few other Adobe programs are installed.

I've always used McAfee anti-virus software, and have never had any virus problems.  I don't think this is a virus, because I can open my PDF files on other computers without any problems.  So the files themselves aren't affected.

How can I solve this terrible problem, and how can I prevent it from happening again?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer DRS_2

I also was getting BSOD (& hard crash) after the 9.5.2 update. It would crash every time I tried to print to PDF and when I tried to repair Acrobat. It also crashed a few times randomly. After two long days, I found the problem. I somehow got rootkit virus. After running Kapersky's Anti-rootkit Utility TDSSKiller, removing the infected files and rebooting, I no longer have any BSOds. Try this first, it's free, and may save you many hours of troubleshooting.

2 replies

D
DRS_2Correct answer
New Participant
August 28, 2012

I also was getting BSOD (& hard crash) after the 9.5.2 update. It would crash every time I tried to print to PDF and when I tried to repair Acrobat. It also crashed a few times randomly. After two long days, I found the problem. I somehow got rootkit virus. After running Kapersky's Anti-rootkit Utility TDSSKiller, removing the infected files and rebooting, I no longer have any BSOds. Try this first, it's free, and may save you many hours of troubleshooting.

K
KimmyZAuthor
Participating Frequently
September 15, 2012

DRS_2, you have SAVED MY LIFE!!!!  I certainly do appreciate all the help and suggestions from Bill, etc., but DRS_2 has hit the nail on the head!

I’ve never been too worried about viruses, because I’ve always used McAfee Anti-Virus software.  Well, it turns out that my home computer DID have the “Rootkit.Boot.Pihar.C” trojan virus!  I had done several scans with the McAfee which said everything was A-Okay.  NOT!  I downloaded the free fix here:

http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208283363

The file is called “TDSSKILLER.exe”.  I downloaded this file to my C: drive and ran it.  Once I did the scan with this fantastic free utility, it immediately found the Rootkit virus on my C: drive that had been preventing any of my (non-Microsoft) software from running!  It did a “cure”, at which time my McAfee FINALLY popped up with this message (trying to take credit, ha, ha!):

"McAfee automatically detected and removed a trojan from your P.C.  No further action is required."

McAfee had little to do with it!!!!   And further action WAS required (reboot).  After I rebooted my computer, everything was working just fine once again!  Whew!!!  What a relief.  I have no money for a new computer, but I assure you, I won’t be renewing my subscription to McAfee at the end of the year when it expires.  They are obviously not up to speed on the latest virus protection.  If not for the Kaspersky utility (and DRS_2!!!), my computer would still be pretty much useless.  It's sort of odd that this trojan virus does not affect Microsoft software - just everything else.  Anyway, it's SO nice to have my major software packages all running!  Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to reply.  Perhaps someone else will read this and it will solve their problem too.

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Bill12
Inspiring
August 20, 2012

Not sure what version of Acrobat you are running. However, if you can not get into Acrobat at all then you might try the repair. Go to the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel and select Acrobat. When it comes up, ask to repair. You might also download the latest update from http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Windows and reinstall it. When you can open Acrobat, you can check the version number under Help>About ....

I suspect that you can also do repairs and updates on PhotoShop.

K
KimmyZAuthor
Participating Frequently
August 24, 2012

I have Acrobat 9 Pro. This update installed automatically not long ago: 9.5.1 – CPSID_83708.

I tried uninstalling Acrobat 9 Pro twice, but it wouldn’t let me. When I attempt to uninstall it, my computer crashes. When I click on the update, I get this error message: “This update cannot be removed.” (See screen shot below.)

I’ve never seen anything like this before in all my years of computer use! I was able to do a “repair” of Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro. However, after rebooting (as I was instructed to do), my computer still crashes a few seconds after I open the program. None of my other Adobe software works either. If I try to open ANYTHING that has anything to do with Adobe software, my computer crashes immediately. When I try to uninstall it, it also crashes my computer.

Acrobat cannot be removed.jpg

As I mentioned in my post, there’s nothing wrong with any of my PDF files, though trying to view them with the Acrobat Pro or Adobe Reader also caused my computer to crash. In a desperate attempt to at LEAST get to view and print my PDFs, this morning a downloaded a free PDF reader called FoxIt Reader. This reader will allow me to open, view and print my PDF files without crashing my computer. However, since Acrobat no longer works, I can’t CREATE any PDFs. So it appears that I wasted all my money on the very expensive Adobe software. Not only will it not run, but I can’t even uninstall it!

All of my non-Adobe software is working just fine, as is my email and Internet browser (IE8). I tried uninstalling the Flash Player, but that didn’t help. My computer still crashes every time I try to open the Acrobat Pro or Photoshop. I originally purchased Adobe Creative Suite 2. Then I upgraded JUST the Photoshop and Illustrator to CS4. Until a few weeks ago, everything was working fine. I didn’t change anything on my computer, so I can only guess that it was some automatic update that caused this huge problem.

Karin Zalec

650-862-6134

kz_computerarts@att.net

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wgrayson
Participating Frequently
September 14, 2012

There are often memory check programs that come with PC distributions. One of my machines has diagnostic routines that include a memory check (not part of the OS, but part of the machine software).


Hello, I am a new follower to this thread. I seem to be having the same problem with Acrobat 9.5.1 with a BSOD.  Bill@VT suggested hardware or memory problems --- that was my first thought 2 weeks ago, but MS's memory diagnostic tool said the memory sticks were fine.  I get a BSOD only when I open any PDF related program.  However, it appears that all of my other Adobe products are behaving normally.

What folders do I manually delete to rid myself of Acrobat?  There are a few folders in "Shared" files, as well as registry  files I need to remove, but I can't remember where they are.  I had the same issue(!) with Acrobat 8 on WinXP Pro 2 years ago.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you.

P.S.  I am running Win 7 pro 64 bit.

W!

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