"Internal Error Occurred" on Windows 7 & Outlook Previewing

[PRD_IT]

I am having an issue with Acrobat XI that I have also seen with Acrobat X and Reader XI and Reader X.  I have also found another discussion that I believe is related.  I believe this is a bug in Acrobat, but I don't know how to go about getting it fixed.

In my case, the "Internal Error Occurred" error pops up (usually behind the other windows, making the system seem hung) when users click on a PDF in Windows Explorer (especially if the preview pane is enabled).  The same error pops up if a user clicks on a PDF attachment in Outlook and enables preview.

I have used procmon to see what is happening when the error is triggered, and it appears that Adobe software tries to access the user profile incorrectly.

The discussion I refer to where another user gets the same error more often / in a worse way (but I believe for the same reason) can be seen here:

http://forums.adobe.com/message/4344860

I believe it is the same issue because the user (LaneCx) says "The only thing that could be considered out of the ordinary is that the C:\users folder is a separate mounted drive."  This is in the post dated Apr 18, 2012 6:01 AM.

In our case, C:\users isn't a separate mounted drive, so C:\Users\Public is accessible by the Adobe products.  However, the other user profiles are separately mounted (for instance C:\Users\John.Doe is a separate mounted drive).  As such, I believe Adobe fails to access some piece of individual user profile data (when John Doe is logged in and the preview extensions are called).  Again, I believe this because of what I saw in procmon (but that was some time ago and I don't remember what all I saw).

Can anyone who has C:\Users (or C:\Users\LoggedInUser) mounted as a separate profile tell me that this works for them?  If so, was any special configuration or repair performed in order to make it work?

Alternatively, can anyone tell me how I can get Adobe to fix this if I can't work around it?

[Guest]

I have had the same problem since the moment I installed Adobe Reader XI :"An internal error occured"

People of Adobe, any help ?

[scott_resnik]

Same problem here.  Been going on since Adobe Reader X.

It seems adobe has never thought about having folders mounted on different drives.

I have the Users folder, and the ProgramData folder all mounted to a different drive.  This is on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate.  I too also have the "An internal error occured." on startup.

It'd be nice if adobe would at least acknowledge their software is broken, but they don't seem to care.

[Bill12]

Did you apply the updates in case that resolves your issues?

[PRD_IT]

We are running 11.0.3, the problem is the same as it was on 11.0.2, 11.0.1, and 11.0.0.  This is true in Acrobat and Reader.  Based on other posts in this thread, it apparently existed on 10.x as well, but we have never run that with this contingency.

[scott_resnik]

I'm not sure the updates referenced in the other thread that this thread references have any bearing on the issue described.  This issue is directly related to having the "Users" folder mounted / redirected somewhwere other than what Reader expects. 

I can install the product fine on machines where the Users directory is in a standard location.

[akraa1]

I have the very same issue on Windows Server 2012 RDS (Remote Desktop Session Host) with the "user disk" feature activated! The user profiles are redirected from C:\Users\<username> to a VHDX disk file on another drive (or even another server). Acrobat somehow fails to resolve these paths correctly.

I've added the bProtectedMode=0 registry key from the beginning per this Citrix document: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX133435

But even then the PDF preview feature (for example when adding a PDF to an e-mail in Outlook) causes Acrobat Reader XI to crash (Internal error occurred). I've set the Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode flag on AcroRd32.exe for all users, this seems to eliminate this for now. I don't know though if there's a downside of this workaround.

Hello Adobe, when do you finally fix this ridiculous bug??

[Bill12]

I believe this is an issue of the preview aspect of windows. There is an issue that has been reported in other discussions about the problem I believe, but unfortunately I do not remember the issue precisely.

[saltman101]

I have the same issue with Adobe Reader 11.0.03.  Just updated and on opening I get: "An internal error occurred".

My C:\Users folder is mounted on a different drive.  (C:\Users on a HDD, everything else on an SSD.)

I have tried uninstalling, rebooting and clean removals etc.  Assuming it's an Adobe issue, I'll revert to an older version.

EDIT: Version 10.1.4 had the same problem.  I just installed version 9.5 and it worked fine.  You can find the download here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/

[Vishal@PDF]

We tried Acrobat installation on a system where Users folder was mounted on a separate partition (D: drive). I wasn't able to reproduce any of the issue mentioned so far (Win7 -32bit + Acrobat 11.0.3) .

I will try more cases as well when it is mounted on separate hard disk/network drive and get back.

In the meanwhile can someone please update how they have mounted their Users folder to separate drive so as to ensure that there is no difference in our method and theirs.

Thanks,

Vishal

[PRD_IT]

The "An internal error occured" is still present for us on 11.0.4 in Reader and Acrobat.  We are using Win7 64bit, though.  The error pops up whenever an attempt is made to preview a PDF file.  This could be an attachment in Outlook (2010, 32bit) that is single-clicked, or a file that has been browsed to and clicked on in Windows Explorer when the preview pane is enabled.  This may only affect non-administrative users.  We have now set AcroRd32.exe to XP SP3 compatibility mode and used the Citrix workaround registry key someone else linked to get rid of the error, but previews still don't work when that is done.  Moreover, when one is in Explorer with the preview pane open and clicks from one PDF to another, there is a noticable delay while it silently fails.  In our case, the Users folder is C:\Users on Disk0 and the Username folder is Disk1, mounted to C:\Users\Username via MS RDP VDI.  In other cases, it appear people are using other virtual solutions.  I assume that simply relocating the Users folder is unlikely to cause the same problem, as the issue is most likely directly related to a folder being a mountpoint instead of a real folder.  That having been said, mounting a second disk/partition to C:\Users might provide the same effect.  But the key is that you moved the users folder to another drive letter, and in all reports above, it appears on the same drive letter, but there is actually an NTFS folder mountpoint to a separate drive.

[Trust_Networks]

Same problem with Server 2012 used for RDP, with User Profile Disks in use, i.e. C:\Users\foo is mapped to \Device\HarddiskVolumeX where Volume X is a User Profile Disk located on another server.

For some reason this affects the Outlook PDF Preview Handler, but does not affect viewing files directly in Adobe Reader by double-clicking the attachment.

There is a suggestion that creating the temp folder is involved; possibly relevant lines from Process Monitor (abridged):

AcroRd32.exe, CreateFile, C:\Users\FOO~1\AppData\Local\Temp\4\Adobe, REPARSE

AcroRd32.exe, QueryOpen, \Device\HarddiskVolume5\AppData\Local\Temp\4\Adobe, ACCESS DENIED

I can create this folder just fine -- the result above is what happens afte I have already created the folder it wanted, since it wasn't able to create it. I cannot determine from Process Explorer what exactly it's trying to do, and why it is not allowed to do this. It seems to be very specific to Reader.

This is with Reader 11.0.5 and Office 2013 32-bit, in Server 2012 64-bit.

I had a similar problem on a Windows 7 PC (32-bit, I think) and Reader 10, where Reader would randomly pop up "An internal error occurred." by itself when you were not even running it. The program did not run very well. The problem was user account–specific, but I gave up, removed Adobe Reader, and installed Foxit Reader as that just worked.

I now realise that the cause was having C:\Users\Bar set up as an NTFS mount point to a second hard drive, but with an error as vague as "An internal error occurred" and no awareness of this bug at the time, it was not possible to guess what the problem was and therefore impossible to ever use Reader.

I would concentrate your efforts on cases where the user folder itself (not C:\Users) is located on another volume. For example, try this:

1. install a new hard drive (say, F:) and format it
2. move the contents of C:\Users\Foo to F:
3. open Computer Management and go to Disk Management
4. right-click F: and select Change Drive Letter and Paths
5. select Mount in the following empty NTFS folder, and select C:\Users\Foo

The user's entire profile is now located on another physical volume, but appears to Windows as though it's located on the boot volume.

Log in as Foo and test Reader and PDF previewing in Outlook.

[Trust_Networks]

FWIW, it affects the Explorer preview pane equally — attempts to preview a PDF in Explorer give exactly the same error (a hang followed by the extraordinarily helpful "An internal error occurred."). It's nothing to do with Outlook, it's the fact that the Adobe PDF Preview Handler for Vista simply doesn't function under certain circumstances, in this case when the user's profile is inside of a mounted volume.

To remove the whole feature from the computer, you can delete the relevant Registry value from this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PreviewHandlers (mind the space that Adobe's forum software incorrectly inserts into the key path)

Remove value "{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}" from this key, or do something like place a hyphen in front of the key name so that the computer can't resolve the GUID reference.

This takes effect with the next Explorer window you open. Outlook may need to be restarted.

Doesn't solve the problem but it gets rid of a nuisance feature that doesn't work.

Edited with warning that forum software screws up the Registry path. Adob, eh?

[Guest]

This pdf preview handler error happening on all computers with Win 7, Office 2007 / 2010 upgraded to Acrobat Pro 11.0.04 or later.

I've already tried all the suggestions online to no avail. So far, the only workaround is to install Acrobat 9.5 as saltaman0-101 mentioned earlier.

This is obviously an adobe bug that needs to be addressed.

I've updated to the latest 11.0.06 both acrobat and reader and this didn't help till I put back reader 9.5!

[comc-comc]

HI all,

I was having the same issue with Reader XI and Acrobat 9.5.5, i.e. a recurring error message of ""An internal error occurred"

I was able to fix the issue immediately by uninstalling Reader XI, so I am inclined to believe this bug is related to Reader XI, not Acrobat at all.

Anyway, I hope this helps some others out there?

[PRD_IT]

Well, the problem may not affect Acrobat 9.5.5, but the problem does affect all version of Acrobat (and Reader) X and XI, it is not related to Reader specifically.  It may exist in Acrobat 9 as well, but not be visible to you because you haven't reinstalled it after removing Reader XI, and this may mean there are no preview handlers or other back-end functions running to trigger the error.  Regardless, the problem is that Adobe's programmers are traversing the file system wrong in that the method they are using cannot traverse an NTFS mount point represented as a folder.

ETA: As can be seen in older discussion that was presumably from Adobe techs, the problem appears to relate to user profiles mounted as such, and may not apply to all folder mount-point traversals.  For instance, one person said they Mounted C:\Users to another partition and could not reproduce the issue.  The steps to reproduce would therefore appear to be something like this:

Disk0Partition1 = C:

C:\Users\Public is on Disk0Partition1

C:\Users\Administrator is on Disk0Partition1

Administrator installs the software

Disk0Partition2 = C:\Users\Usertoreproduceissue

*The above mountpoint would have to be created after Usertoreproduceissue logged in, and the contents of C:\Users\Usertoreproduceissue would have to be moved to the root of Disk0Partition2 prior to mounting it in that location.

Usertoreproduceissue logs into the computer and this problem presents itself (especially quickly if previewing is turned on and PDFs are browsed)

That having been said, this is all assumption since I have not seen anyone claim to be an Adobe tech and I have not seen their exact reproduction trial steps.

[jordant66312552]

Has there been a resolution for this issue.

My site is Running VDI 2012 r2 (Pooled Collections) we have the UPD set up. Some of our users report this error others do not. We do not have Adobe Reader installed, Simply Adobe Acrobat X, v.10.13.

As mentioned a few users are getting the pop up Adobe Acrobat - An internal error occurred. No additional details.

[Guest]

I'm starting to get very frustrated, come on Adobe sort this problem out PLEASE

[stevej32675781]

We are also having this issue when using Adobe Reader on RDS2012r2 with User Profile Disks. Sounds like no fix yet? Maybe it would be possible to exclude the temp folders from profile redirection? Which temp folders are in play here?

[chriss42520505]

I am having this problem with everything I try to install, even a brand new version of Acrobat Reader DC.  It started with a pre-installed version of Acrobat X Standard.  I've uninstalled, cleaned, reinstalled etc, no avail.  I do have two drives but have just done the standard installs.

[nrothwell34]

An internal error occurred

Step 1

Right click the Acrobat icon.  Properties.  Compatibility tab.  Run the compatibility troubleshooter.  See if you can open Adobe

Step 2

Added key

KLM\software\policies\adobe\acrobat reader\(Version)\featurelockdown\

New Dword

bProtectedMode=0

Sorted it for me

[unico-dan]

We see this problem for several years now. We hoped an upgrade to Adobe Acrobat Reader 2017 would solve the issue. But unfortunately it didn't.

In our Eventlog we can see following error:

Error 0x80070005 occurred while creating known folder {3eb685db-65f9-4cf6-a03a-e3ef65729f3d} with path 'H:\Windows\AppData\Roaming'.

This event fits to the error captured with procmon:

AcroRd32.exe > \\DfsClient\;H:00000000c59831b6\contoso.local\dfs\parentfolder\homes\username\Windows\AppData\Roaming > ACCESS DENIED

Our userprofiles are saved on an filer and are accessed via DFS names. We use folder redirection so a lot of data is stored in the homefolder of the user.

The issue can disappear after a few minutes, Or not. Either the preview window (Windows Explorer) shows the error, blank or the preview. In Outlook the preview mostly works after a minute.

The following registry entry is already set. So no effect here.

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\2017\FeatureLockDown\

bProtectedMode=0

[unico-dan · Accepted solution]

We seem to have solved the problem. Or at least we have found a definitive workaround that works on 2 test users.

The registry settings iProtectedView, bProtectedMode or bEnableProtectedModeAppContainer are of no use. If AcroRd32.exe is launched via shell extension, protected mode is mandatory. Even the registry entry bUseWhitelistConfigFile is of no use, as via shell extension this as well is ignored.

So AcroRd32.exe runs in strict protected mode. In this mode Acrobat Reader restricts itself from writing in serveral folders even if the ACLs are ok. It is only allowed to write in C:\Users\(user)\AppData\LocalLow\

While trying to show the preview, AcroRd32.exe writes its stuff to the LocalLow folder but then tries as well to write to C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\ which results in ACCESS DENIED (showed by procmon) and the famous INTERNAL ERROR (user-message).

With a lot of trial & error we've found out, that AcroRd32.exe doesn't necessarily has to write to C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\. It just checks, if the following folder is present:

C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat\2017

(probably replace 2017 by any other version or replace path with roaming path.)

Can anyone confirm?

Further reading: Sandbox Protections — Acrobat Application Security Guide

[christof_hoste_BE]

i confirm the answer

I changed the permissions of the AppData folder and subfolder

i created in the Adobe folder

C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat

and whitin the 2018 & 2019 folder

C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat\2018

C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat\2019

Acrobat DC starts up now 🙂

I needed to change the permissions of the AppData folder in order to be able to create the 2 subfolders manually.

Thx unico-dan !

Extra info: i did not changed anyting in register, i have put the permissions of the AppData folder back to its original state after i created the 3 subfolders and Acrobat DC still works fine.

[RTEB]

Thanks for the info.  This worked like a champ.

To fix, I just created 2018 and 2019 folders under the ...appdata\local\adobe\acrobat folder then the preview function started working.

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat