SERIOUS ADOBE ACROBAT PROFESSIONAL 8 ERROR

Hi Lori -

It's good to see that you and Adobe are (finally) here. Please note that, for my part, I activated my legal copy of Acrobat 8.0 immediately upon installation.

Marc McCulloch

>1. Many of the complaints occurred right after the 30 day trial expired.
2. Multiple users were trying to use the trial Serial Number to activate Acrobat beyond 30 days.
3. Multiple users were actually using a pirated Serial Number.

That would make it tough to track real issues that's for sure. Too bad we don't get that info right up front. :)

Hi This is Lori DeFurio from Adobe. Some of you may know me or have had contact with me in the past. We (Adobe) are aware of the problem, and I do apologize it seems that we went dark in this thread. Our Engineering departments (both Acrobat & Activation teams) are working closely with a few customers that responded to Jeff Morans request for information and I believe that we are finally getting to the bottom of the issue. Let me share some of the experience our teams have encountered:
1. Many of the complaints occurred right after the 30 day trial expired.
2. Multiple users were trying to use the trial Serial Number to activate Acrobat beyond 30 days.
3. Multiple users were actually using a pirated Serial Number.

However, many of you do have legitimate serial numbers, and more importantly, a legitimate problem. Jeff and I will respond here in the forum as soon as we have a complete story to share with you.

Lori DeFurio

Buy the latest version of Adobe 8 having ALm disabled.

Clearly these are the elicencing features which are buggy and have been acknowledged by Adobe themselves.

Check out this link for more info on solutions ..

http://www.adobe.com/elicensing/licensemanagement/alm/

More important section is .. "Next Step".

Hi pals

Try this .. this may help you ... I got from an Adobe link ...
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Error, "A serious error has been detected..." when you start Acrobat (8.x on Windows)

Issue

When you start Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional, it displays the error message, "A serious error has been detected and Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional cannot continue. Please reinstall the application and try again."

Solutions

Do one or more of the following solutions:

Solution 1: Verify the AdobeConfig file in the ALM folder.

1. Exit Acrobat.

2. Check Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\alm_config_files for a AdobeConfig.xml and a aul.xml file.

3. Verify the filename of AdobeConfig.xml.

Note: The AdobeConfig.xml file is not case sensitive but must be spelled correctly and not contain any extra characters. XML is a known file extension for the Windows operating system. Do not include the XML file extension in the file name if Hide Extensions For Known File Types is selected.

Solution 2: Remove and reinstall Acrobat. (Retail only)

In order to obtain a uncorrupted version of the AdobeConfig.xml file for a retail product you must uninstall and reinstall Acrobat.

1. Remove Acrobat using Add/Remove Programs.

2. Restart the computer.

3. Reinstall Acrobat.

Solution 3: Replace your AdobeConfig.xml file. (Volume only)

1. Redownload and configure the AdobeConfig.xml file.

2. Place the redownloaded AdobeConfig.xml flie in Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\alm_config_files

Background information

Acrobat verifies activation or elicense download when you start the application. If Acrobat is not able to detect that the activation or elicense download occurred, then it initiates the process. In order for the activation or elicense download to complete successfully, you must have an uncorrupted version of the AdobeConfig.xml file on the system.

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Regards
Animesh

Mitchell, that may point to the real problem. If you did a clean install, did not update Windows, installed Acrobat, and had the same problem as before, then FlexNet must put activation information in the boot sector. I bet a low-level re-write of the entire disk would fix the problem. I am talking WAY above my knowledge level here, but if the problem persists with a clean install of Windows and Acrobat, what else could it be other than a defective activation hash in the boot sector assocaited with FlexNet?

Matthew took the same steps, but in a virtual setup; maybe the activation information is saved somewhere else in a virtual setup???

The dozens of attempts to fix my setup have never yielded a successful, new activation (always hangs at that step and, later, activate and deactivate are not available from the help menu in the few seconds that I have to do anything before Acrobat hangs or closes). Does anyone know how to eliminate the existing activation information so I can start anew? Maybe that is the key!

For an update, I reformatted my computer and re-installed Vista, thinking that an update would be to blame. After vista loaded, and BEFORE any update was installed, I installed acrobat 8 pro. SAME problem. I updated acrobat to 8.1, SAME problem. The only way I can get acrobat 8 to work is via safe mode - but you can't activate it, FlexnetLicensing Service is disabled from starting (which I think is the culprit here). Even after reformatting with a very clean install of vista, with no updates, this program still will not work

Forum Members,

I think I have hit on something and wish someone would verify my results. I am using Vista Ultimate and Acrobat 8.1. Acrobat hangs a couple of seconds after I start it up. I have posted many times, so I won't repeat all of the things I have tried here.

Try this. Open task manager and, on Services tab, highlight FlexNet Licensing Service (just so you can find it easily). Put that window aside. FlexNet may already be running. Open Services (button on bottom--you cannot stop it from the task manager window). Find FlexNet and right click, stop the service. Now, start Adobe Acrobat and look at the task window. The moment FlexNet's status changes to "Running", Acrobat hangs up, right?

OK, close Acrobat. Now go back to the services window, right click on FlexNet, go to properties, and change "manual" to "disable". Now start Acrobat again. It doesn't hang up, right? Instead, it opens normally and, after several seconds, suddenly closes. Or, if you click on help or some other menu item, it seems to function normally (it will eventually close), right?

Now, change FlexNet back to manual in the services window. Start Acrobat and, as soon as FlexNet is running again (in the task window), Acrobat hangs.

If someone else tries this and has the same result, then the FlexNet Service is DEFINITELY the culprit (at least in my case, where Acrobat starts, then hangs after a few seconds).

Has anyone tried adding the Flexnet Licensing Service to the "Performance Options" Data Execution Prevention Exclusion list? I haven't tried it yet (not on that computer at the moment), but I know adobe will work fine if you start up in safe mode in Vista as Flexnet is disabled from starting up (might be something else contributing to adobe's fatal error, but my guess is Flexnet).