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December 11, 2019
Answered

Acrobat crashing on launch - Invalid plugin detected

  • December 11, 2019
  • 12 replies
  • 284977 views

In our enterprise, few users (60+) are facing an issue while launching  the shortcut Adobe acrobat reader DC, "Invalid Plugin detected. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC will quit".

 

As mentioned in the Adobe technical forum, downloaded the latest patches from vendor site and installed the same. issue was still persist.

 

later we had used the Adobe utility removal to cleanup the corrupted installation files. Rebooted. Installed the latest version. issue was still persist.

 

Finally just renamed the plugin folder from this location, C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins and launched the shortcut. it is working as expected.

 

After successfull launch, changed the folder from plug_ins_rename to plug_ins. launched agian, no issue persist.

 

Could you please help me to understand why the exisitng plugin files (before deletion) were not working. how do we fix this for large number of users. is there any automated fix for wider deployment?

 

Correct answer Tracey34071612mqxs

it only partially worked for me:

  • delete/rename folder "plug_ins"
  • Error Message is gone, but after 11 seconds, Acrobat Reader closes, no matter what i'm doing

 

The final Solution which worked for me:

  • delete/rename folder "plug_ins"
  • Start Acrobat Reader
  • Help -> Repair Installation (be quick, only 11 seconds)
  • Acrobat Reader will close though, but the repair process continues
  • after the dialog is closed and start again -> no error message, no self-closing app

 

I guess its the first time in computer science, a software repair assistant actually fixed something by itself...

Good Job Adobe


Thank you so much for your guidance. It works for me after much time searching for a solution for "Invalid plugin detected. Adobe Acrobat Reader will quit" 

  • delete/rename folder "plug_ins"
  • Start Acrobat Reader (right click on desktop screen, choose Properties/ Compatibility)
  • Help -> Repair Installation (be quick, only 11 seconds)
  • Acrobat Reader will close though, but the repair process continues
  • after the dialog is closed and start again -> no error message, no self-closing app

12 replies

Participant
December 18, 2019

Hi All, when opening a PDF doc in IE from the browser itself, the PDF will open however in 3 seconds or so, an error appears stating 'Invalid Plugin detected. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC will quit.' This error will appear even when Acrobat isnt open in the background. The same PDF works fine in Chrome, so thinking it may be an IE issue? Any tips?  Thanks

Dave Creamer of IDEAS
Community Expert
Community Expert
December 18, 2019

I the the problem is that Internet Explorer is OLD and probably has problems with newer plugins. Also, Acrobat no longer includes Flash, so IE could be looking for it. 

I would move to Microsoft Edge if using Windows 10 or just stick with Chrome. Only use IE for ancient websites that might still require it--otherwise avoid using it. It barely supports newer HTML5/CSS3 websites.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
Participant
December 11, 2019

We have recently deployed Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 19 out to much of our staff.  We have upgraded from Adobe 2015 to Adobe Pro DC 19.  The problem we are encountering is when users click a PDF within Internet Explorer as that is still our main browser.  With previous versions of Acrobat Pro DC 19 we encountered no issues at all with viewing PDFs within Internet Explorer.  We have just patched from 2019.021.20056 and earlier versions to the latest 2019.021.20058 and are now receiving the "Invalid Plugin Detected.  Adobe Acrobat Reader DC will quit." within Internet Explorer.  Other browsers like Firefox and Chrome work fine.  What has changed in this new revision to cause this issue with Internet Explorer?  The issue is duplicated anytime we patch a user to the latest version.  We have been disabling the Adobe PDF Reader add-on as a workaround in order for the file to open in Acrobat DC Pro 19.  Anyone have any thoughts on this issue?  I assume others would be able to duplicate this problem but assume no one has said anything since no one really uses Internet Explorer anymore.  FWIW, we are using Windows 10 64-bit and running Internet Explorer 11 (11.805.17763.0).

 

Thank you in advance for your insight.

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
December 12, 2019

Hi there 

 

We are sorry for the trouble. As described, you are experiencing an issue while opening PDF on the Internet Explorer and getting the error ' Invalid Plugin Detected.  Adobe Acrobat Reader DC will quit'

 

Please try to remove the old plugins present on your computer and remove the application using the Acrobat Cleaner Tool here (https://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html), reboot the computer and reinstall the application using the link here (https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html)

 

You may also, refer to a similar discussion here (https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/the-error-quot-invalid-plugin-detected-adobe-reader-will-quit-quot/m-p/1081283#M182) and see if that works.

Note: Steps provided are similar for Adobe Acrobat DC.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

Regards

Amal

Participant
December 12, 2019

Amal,

 

Thank you for the reply.  Just to cover all of my tracks, I have done what you have suggested and have used the uninstall tool to remove Acrobat.  I also ran the Reader option as well even though Reader was not installed.  I reinstalled by downloading the software from the link you provided.  The same issue is occurring because the version is 2019.021.20058, which is the version causing the problem.

 

We have about 300 installations of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 19.  Again, anyone who is running DC Pro 19 before the 20058 patch is working.  Our environment currently has the following:

19.021.20058 - Not Working
19.021.20056 - Working
19.021.20049 - Working
19.021.20048 - Working

 

If we patch any of these versions to the 20058 revision, it will give the error.

 

Thank you.