Acrobat Reader Fails to Close and Consumes CPU

Report · Oct 29, 2019

There is an issue with the latest version of Acrobat Reader when the following registry key is missing:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVerson\Themes\Personalize

The application appears to have terminated but task manager shows that it's still running and is consuming 12% CPU (a single thread I suspect). Multiple instances are possible so it's easy to reduce any server to a crawl.

This has been seen on two completely unrelated remote desktop servers. Pushing the registry key out with group policy resolves the problem.

Here are the details shown by reader:

Account Detail:
User Rights: Admin
User Account Control: Limited
Process Integrity: Low
Profile Type: None
Acrobat Detail:
Sandboxing: OnOff
Captive Reader: No
Multi-Reader on Desktop Support: Off
Available Physical Memory: 4194303 KB
Available Virtual Memory: 3799296 KB
BIOS Version: VRTUAL - 1
Default Browser: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
Version: 11.00.14393.0 (rs1_release.160715-1616)
Creation Date: 2018/02/16
Creation Time: 12:03:13
Default Mail: Microsoft Outlook
mapi32.dll
Version: 1.0.2536.0 (rs1_release.160715-1616)
Creation Date: 2016/07/16
Creation Time: 13:19:01
Display Detail:
Screen Width: 2534
Screen Height: 1277
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Mouse Buttons: 2
Has Mouse Wheel: No
Has Pen Windows: No
Double Byte Character Set: No
Has Input Method Editor: Yes
Inside Screen Reader: No
Graphics Card:
Version: 0.0.0.0
Check: Not Supported
Installed Acrobat:
Installed Acrobat: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe
Version: 19.21.20049.355013
Creation Date: 2019/10/23
Creation Time: 14:43:08
Locale: English (United Kingdom)
Monitor:
Name: RDPUDD Chained DD
Resolution: 2534 x 1277 x 32
Bits per pixel: 32
OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
OS Name: Microsoft Windows 10
OS Version: 10.0.14393
Page File Space: 4194303 KB
Processor: Intel64 Family 6 Model 79 Stepping 1 GenuineIntel ~2197 Mhz
Session Detail:
Boot Type: Normal
Is Shutting Down: No
Network: Available
Inside Citrix: No
Inside VMWare: No
Remote Session: Yes
Remote Control: No
Using JAWS: No
Using ZoomText: No
Using Windows-Eyes: No
Using NVDA: No
System Name: <servername_omitted>
Temporary Directory: C:\Users\<username_omitted>\AppData\Local\Temp\40\acrord32_sbx\
Time Zone: GMT Standard Time
Total Physical Memory: 4194303 KB
Total Virtual Memory: 4194176 KB
User Name: DuploAdmin
Windows Detail:
Tablet PC: No
Starter Edition: No
Media Center Edition: No
Slow Machine: No
Windows Directory: C:\Windows

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins\AcroForm.api
Version: 19.21.20049.355013
Creation Date: 2019/10/23
Creation Time: 14:43:08
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins\Annots.api
Version: 19.21.20048.354512
Creation Date: 2019/10/16
Creation Time: 20:27:32
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins\EScript.api
Version: 19.21.20047.354104
Creation Date: 2019/10/11
Creation Time: 21:05:34
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins\IA32.api
Version: 19.21.20047.354104
Creation Date: 2019/10/11
Creation Time: 21:05:34
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins\Spelling.api
Version: 19.21.20047.354104
Creation Date: 2019/10/11
Creation Time: 21:05:34
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins\weblink.api
Version: 19.21.20047.354104
Creation Date: 2019/10/11
Creation Time: 21:05:34

Report · Oct 29, 2019

Hi Stevethresh,

Thank you for highlighting this. Please try the following steps and check if that helps:

Remove the application using the Adobe Acrobat Cleaner Tool https://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html
Reboot the computer
Install the application using the link https://get.adobe.com/reader/

If it still doesn't work, please collect the log files and share through private message by clicking on the icon menu on the top right corner. Please use the steps provided in the link https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/collect-logs-crash-freeze.html to collect the log files.

Regards

Amal

Regards
Amal

Report · Oct 29, 2019

The problem can be reproduced by anyone. Just rename the following key and open a PDF file.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVerson\Themes\Personalize

Watch task manager while you rename the key back to the correct name and you will see the spinning instance of AcroRd32.exe close.

How the registry gets into that state seems irrelevant, just have the software handle it by picking a sensible default when the key is missing or even display an error.

Report · Oct 30, 2019

Hi stevethresh,

Thanks for reporting the issue. We are able to reproduce the issue at our end. Issue has been forwarded to the development team for further investigations. We will keep you updated with the progress.

Regards,

Priyanka

(Adobe Acrobat Desktop Team)

Report · Nov 13, 2019

Hi stevethresh, ,

Adobe Acrobat and Reader official update containing the fix for this issue is now available. This update will be automatically pushed to all existing installations of Acrobat and Reader. If you want, you may also manually trigger the update by opening the application and going to Help > Check for Updates.

More information about this release is here: Release notes

Please try it out and let us know your feedback. Thanks for your patience and support!

Regards,

Priyanka

(Adobe Acrobat Desktop Team)

Report · Nov 13, 2019

Hi,

We are pleased to inform you that with our latest update, this issue has been addressed.

Could you please update to the latest version 2019.021.20056 and let us know if your issue is resolved.

Thanks for your patience and co-operation. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Ayush Jain

Adobe Acrobat Desktop Team.