SERIOUS ADOBE ACROBAT PROFESSIONAL 8 ERROR

Report · Jun 10, 2007

Hi

I am using (or TRYING to use!) Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.
But every time it loads up I receive the following pop-up message:

"A serious error has been detected and Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional cannot continue. Please re-install the application and try again."

I click OK, and then another message appears:
"Acrobat.exe - Application Error
The instruction at "0x05bf1243" referenced memory at "0x12284e88". The memory could not be "written".
Click on OK to terminate the program"

I have tried uninstalling and re-installing but the error comes back!
What can I do?? Can ANYONE help?!!

Report · Jun 25, 2007

>As I recall, Jeff is Adobe...

Isn't this exagerating a little?

Report · Jun 25, 2007

bottomline, we still haven't got the fix.. 8.1 update is technically not safe to apply.. i hope adobe will find a way, soon..

Report · Jun 26, 2007

Claudio..
Quite so: but the other 3499 haven't gotten around to adding to this thread yet :-)

Report · Jun 27, 2007

I have exactly the same problem !

I'm astonished Adobe makes such an awful mistake in an update... Do they want to loose their users ?

The worst part is that it seems to have last almost 20 days (since 10th of June at least). How is it possible ?

Report · Jun 27, 2007

I have this same problem after upgrading to 8.1.

I am running Vista Ultimate and have tried everything mentioned in this thread with no success.

Report · Jun 27, 2007

I've been watching this thread hoping to find an answer to nearly the same issue... "Acrobat Cannot Continue At This Time Until You Open Photoshop" (?)

It doesn't matter which application I open... Acrobat is worhtless and closes in roughly 5 seconds. Hard to believe Adobe's been unable to duplicate this in-house? Now I'm afraid to uninstall it and reinstall ver. 7. I already had to FORMAT my Vista install and deal with Microsoft requiring personal information before allowing me to authorize my copy of Vista Ultimate a second time, just to get Photoshop CS3 installed on my PC following the beta fiasco.

And to think I installed Vista in the first place because I wanted to be able to use Bridge 2.0....

Jeff, why couldn't there have been a list of files and registry entries to be removed posted? Some sort of procedure to help out those of us that didn't install the Photoshop beta to the default drive or directory? The WinClean tool did NOT work for me, (or several others I'm aware of).

As it looks, the same thing is happening now with Acrobat 8. Those of us with problems are out of luck after spending a lot of money on a productivity suite of tools. After all the problems I had with getting Photoshop CS3 on my computer from Creative Suite, I installed it from a stand-alone version before installing the rest of the suite to gain use of Dreamweaver, etc., (which ALSO crashes my entire system every 2nd or 3rd time I use it!).

I don't mean to be ragging on it, but I am a bit confused after using Adobe products for as long as they've been around...

Thanks.

Report · Jun 27, 2007

after uninstalling 8.1 update, i reinstalled acrobat 8.0.. i think its screwed up.. it closes by itself when opening a .pdf file or by just opening the program.. im pissed off!!!!!

Report · Jun 27, 2007

I just got hit with this today -- accepted the upgrade and now Acrobat won't work at all ... and I NEED to create PDFs!!

Adobe, we need an answer!

Report · Jun 28, 2007

I have 2 machines with exactly the same issue. One machine is a brand new Gateway Tablet PC. The other is a brand NEW Sony Vaio. I am having the same issues on both machines. The only way I could get it fixed on my Sony was to completely wipe the hard drive and begin again. ( I tried removing, reinstalling; restore to a previous date; reformat - none of which worked!) I finally had to resort to using the Sony application to completely overwrite the hard drive with zeros. Then I reinstalled all of my programs and had almost a week of good luck till this morning. Now I have the same issue again.....Adobe has had a serious issue and needs to be reinstalled. This certainly isnt any fun! Adobe PLEASE help! I just want to get my work done!

Report · Jun 28, 2007

I started getting the following error a couple of days back every time I opened any PDF file:

A serious error has been detected and adobe acrobat 8 professional cannot continue. please reinstall the application and try again.

So I googled it and the first hit was the following:

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=327986

When I got to the end of the document (Background information) I remembered disabling the FLEXnet Licensing Service service because I didnt know why would Adobe Acrobat would want to use it, it was installed when I installed Adobe Acrobat. So I enabled it again and restarted my computer and the error stopped.

Report · Jun 28, 2007

i got the same thing...here is the thread i started.
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc44f18

Report · Jun 28, 2007

:: I remembered disabling the FLEXnet Licensing Service service -- So I enabled it again and restarted my computer and the error stopped.

How did you do this??

Report · Jun 29, 2007

maybe this will help..
=================
Where does FNPLicensingService.exe come from?

http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t510433.html

Report · Jun 29, 2007

v_safal, you're lucky !

I've tried the solution you gave, but the problem is still present on my computer... :(

I'm more and more thinking about removing this crap and using a freeware to create PDF's !

Like this one: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

Did someone already try it ?

Report · Jun 29, 2007

I am new to the conversation. I just upgraded from Acrobat 8 to 8.1, and now I have the same problem. Five seconds into Acrobat Professional a message comes up: "A serious error has been detected and Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional cannot continue. Please reinstall the application and try again." After I click OK a second message comes up: "The instruction "0x050b1243" referenced memory at "0x12284e88". The memory could not be written. Click OK to terminate the program."

Note - my instruction "0x050b1243" is different to some of the others in the thread.

I uninstalled Acrobat Professional. I had problems during the install ... due to my frustration I did not record the error message.

So I thought I'd use Windows XP's restore feature to get to a point before the upgrade. That was the start of a bigger nightmare. I eventually manually removed Acrobat Professional files (see kb400658)... although there are some 8.1 files that I cannot remove (as access is denied).

I removed Reader.

I reinstalled Acrobat Professional 8.0 from my CD. The problem is still there. I reinstalled Reader and then upgraded to 8.1. As expected the problem is there.

I can't clear my hard disk of all the Professional files and I can't use Acrobat Professional. I'm reluctant to touch my Photoshop CS!!

Sorry for the long winded email. I just hoped that the Adobe engineers are reading this and fix the problem. Maybe it's time for a mass exodus from Adobe products and then they may pay some attention.

Report · Jun 29, 2007

It's me again. I've just installed Acrobat Professional. I thought the error message maybe of value for our friends at Adobe in their attempts to reproduce the bug.

I uninstalled Acrobat Professional via Add/Remove Programs. About 1/3 of the way through the Validating Install process, I got the following message. "The instruction "0x01121243" referenced memory at "0x12284e88". The memory could not be written. Click OK to terminate the program."

After clicking OK, the removal process continues. Then at the end, I get the following message "The instruction "0x01ac1243" referenced memory at "0x12284e88". The memory could not be written. Click OK to terminate the program."

After clicking OK, I select finish to exit the removal process.

I rebooted twice and the following files still remain on my computer. I cannot delete them as "access is denied" (despite following the instructions in kb400658.

* c:\program files\common files\adobe\acrobat\activex\acroiehelper.dll
* c:\program files\common files\adobe\acrobat\activex\acropdf.dll
* c:\program files\common files\adobe\acrobat\activex\pdfshell.dll

* c:\program files\common files\adobe\acrobat\activex\pdfshell(3).dll ... this was there prior to the install (ie I think it came about from my system restore attempt described above).

* c:\program files\internet explorer\PLUGINS\nppdf32.dll

* c:\documents and settings\[user name]\application data\adobe\acrobat (and various files/folders within the folder)
* c:\documents and settings\[user name]\application data\adobe\adobe pdf(and various files/folders within the folder)

* c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\adobe\acrobat (and various files/folders within the folder)
* c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\adobe\adobe pdf(and various files/folders within the folder) .. some of the folders are remenants from before the reinstall (ie the system restore problem from above)
* c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\adobe\alm]alm.log

* c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\FLEXnet\adobe_00080000_tsf.data

I'll stop here. I have not executed on kb400658 in case the Adobe engineers need more data off me!! ;)

By the way, Adobe Reader is performing as expected. Prior to the removed of Professional, I was getting erratic behaviour and that's why I removed Professional.

Report · Jun 29, 2007

Hi Everyone,

Indeed I do work at Adobe. I'm in Acrobat Quality Engineer Manager. I've been monitoring this issue and trying to reproduce it in house. I know many of your are frustrated by this and we are trying to find out what is wrong. Those of you who have posted good data on the issue thank you.

What I've really need is a way to reproduce this. I do see that some individuals blocked the flexnet file, which is our activation service. If you block that file (FNPLicensingService.exe) Acrobat will crash. Ive confirmed this. Im sure other Adobe apps will do the same, but have not investigated. I think some have this issue, but others on the thread do not. I did some more investigation and found a way to reproduce the error with Acrobat Pro Retail (not volume).

1. Rename file FNPLicensingService.exe to .old
a. C:\Program Files\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher
b. You may have to shut it down in task manager to rename it.

2. delete the files in
a. C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\FLEXnet
3. Launch Acrobat. Within 10-30 seconds the error comes up.

Now when I uninstall and reinstall this is all cleaned up and I can start working again, no error is seen. So Im not sure I have a solution for anyone yet. However, please try the following and report back to me.

Possible solution
1. Close Acrobat and make sure no Acrobat process are running. (I know not a problem if you are crash, trust me I get the irony)
2. Delete all files from the following folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\FLEXnet
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher
Note: these are XP paths, Vista will differ.
3. Uninstall Acrobat 8/8.1
4. Reboot the machine after the uninstall.
5. Upon reboot install Acrobat 8 again.
6. When installation completes itself Activate Acrobat 8 (report if you have issues activating please). This is an important step.
7. Close Acrobat after accepting EULA, activation and dealing with teh registration prompt.
8. Relaunch Acrobat and see if the error comes back.
9. report back please and be very clear the results. I need the data.

If the error comes back do not upgrade to 8.1. There is no solution to this issue there and it will not help. It will only add variables to the issue. If you want to dialog with me please post your email address on the thread or in your user name set up.

Thanks
Jeff

p.s. "Jeff is Adobe" cracked me up. Thanks. (grin)
p.p.s. Nick, good information. A quick answer that our uninstaller will not remove items from the User folder, Common Files folder or other application folders (like mozilla). So what you are seeing here is fairly expected and I don't believe it is contributing. I'm happy to be wrong though, so thanks for posting that.

Report · Jun 29, 2007

I've just installed CS3 Suite and I'm getting the same problem. Disaster! USing setup repair takes forever because even if I select Acrobat only, setup seems to want to repair the whole lot. I'm about to deinstall the whole lot just so I can read pdf files again. With Acrobat 8 installed, the fault appears when I double click a pdf to read it.

Help, Jeff!

Report · Jun 29, 2007

Jeff,

I followed your instructions to a "T". Deleted the files you said to delete, etc. I have done everything. And I went from getting the error that started off this thread to opening adobe pro and within 15 seconds its closing automatically. I had no issues with the error messages but this "new" problem for me is just as much of a nuisance.

Report · Jun 29, 2007

Does Adobe agree to release a fix for this problem??

Report · Jun 30, 2007

>Does Adobe agree to release a fix for this problem??

Did you read Jeff Moran's post? Adobe can't agree to release a fix
until they are able to reproduce the problem.

Aandi Inston

Report · Jul 01, 2007

Hi Jeff,

I uninstalled Acrobat Pro 8.1 and Reader 8.1 ... both via Windows Add/Remove Programs. Then I followed Adobe TechNote kb400658 to manually remove Acrobat Pro. I can send you a Word doc with my findings ... but I don't know if the forum tool allows attachments.

One interesting observation (given you posting #41 above). Before I reinstalled anything I checked to see whether I had anything in the following folders:

- C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\FLEXnet ... folder exists but is empty.

- C:\Program Files\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher ... I do not have a Macrovision Shared folder in my Common Files folder.

Now while I was following the instructions of the TechNote, I can across the following registry entries:

- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE|Macrovision\FLEXnet Publisher\FNPLicensing Service
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE|Macrovision\FLEXnet Publisher\Trusted Storage Repository

I don't know if it is helpful or not, but thought it maybe worth something. (Note that I did not touch the registry.)

I have now installed Reader 8.1.

I will install Acrobat Pro 8.0 but I'm not sure it'll be a clean 8.0 as Reader may have 8.1 files that cause the problem. (PS Before the upgrade to 8.1, my app was working ... so I'm suspicious that something in 8.1 has caused the problem). Is there a way to go back to Reader 8.0? If not I will load up Acrobat Pro 8.0 and report back.

Nick

Report · Jul 01, 2007

I have a problem with acrobat professional 8.1 update, too, but not quite as the same error as everyone else.

I am not able to use acrobat or view PDF on a web browser at all.

This update messed up with the plug-in .api files.
I found out when I uninstalled/reinstalled the program several times, therefore, i completely remove all acrobat files, and reinstall the 8.0 version, which works out just fine, but I use Office 2007, therefore I want to apply the 8.1 update, but I know the errors will occur again, so I copied the original plug_ins folder from the 8.0 version, and after I installed the update again, the error reoccur, so I used the original backup plug-ins to replace the one the error report said to have problem with, and it works out just fine.

The list of .api files (all from C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\plug_ins)
1) checkers.api
2) editor.api
3) ewh32.api
4) makeaccessible.api
5) multimedia.api
6) saveasrtf.api
7) touchup.api
8) weblink.api

I hope Adobe will release another patch soon to addressed all of these issues.

I did have a problem with activation, I launched the program and select activate from the menu, it would not show up the activation windown, and after I applied 8.1 update, the activation command is faded, so am I activated already?

Report · Jul 01, 2007

Hi

I assume you are using XP.

Well... 2 possible options. I had that error in other machine and could be happening this...

Or your Windows is very corrupted and you need to reinstall again your operating system (old spyware, etc.) sometimes even cleaning windows continue damaged...

Or you have a very bad quality RAM.

Memory cannot be written is that windows cannot access your RAM.

I recommend you strongly to buy new RAM and of course, just one brand: KINGSTON.

I dont work for them, of course, but is the best RAM in the world. Guaranteed forever. Forever. That is the RAM you buy will work today and in the following 90 years ahead...

That guarantee is impossible to find in cheap RAM from China and stuff. Buy just Kingston, and your problems will be solved.

Report · Jul 01, 2007

Thanks for the cheap plug Mr Mister - I'll now avoid K**gston RAM.
This thread is getting awfully like the Acrobat 8 closes automatically one which has now been ongoing for 8 months without adequate resolution. It seems clear that the "problem" relates to the activation system which Adobe has changed but which clearly has bugs in it which catch innocent victims as examples of this certain models of certain makes of computer seem more vulnerable.Previous software installed may affect the behaviour etc.
The large and growing number of users with problems is evidence that something is badly wrong with the system and needs to be changed before users move to other software.
Having a few people say how wonderful it is or that the problems are due to cracked software does not help those of us who need the problem to be resolved!