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6

Adobe Reader freezes after opening a document

Community Beginner ,
Feb 19, 2012 Feb 19, 2012

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It's a recurrent problem with Adobe Reader.

Shortly after opening a document, Reader freezes for several seconds. Who knows why, it probably accesses the network, or tries to do something smart, which results in the user being unable to read the document for a while.

I have tried to disable as many "smart" options as I could, but without success. Could anyone work around this endless Adobe Reader bug?

I must admit I'm tired of this monster of a program, why can't Adobe keep the Reader a light application, instead of throwing all those unnecessary functions, ads and other uglinesses ... ?

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Crash or freeze , General troubleshooting

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Beginner , Jun 13, 2016 Jun 13, 2016

Good day folks,

Here is how I solved the issue for myself.

Background:

I have Adobe Acrobat Pro DC running on Windows 10 Pro (Enterprise) and I am connected to a corporate Network.  After starting Acrobat (whether with or without opening a Document) it would run for around 15 seconds apparently normally.  It would then hang / freeze / crash.  If I tried to click on anything more than a few times then Windows would report that Acrobat is "Not Responding".  It would recover on its own within ar

...

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Adobe Employee ,
Feb 20, 2012 Feb 20, 2012

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Adobe Reader does not display any AD of any sort. Are you sure that you are using Adobe Reader and not any other program?

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 17, 2012 Apr 17, 2012

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I have the same problem!

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 18, 2012 Apr 18, 2012

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Hi Kefayati,

What version of Reader are you using?

Also does the issue exist with some specific PDF's or all PDF's?

Does the problem occur while opening the PDF in browser or Reader itself?

Please try opening the following PDF:

http://helpx.adobe.com/content/dam/help/attachments/Acrobat_Reader_ReleaseNote_10.1.3.pdf

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New Here ,
Apr 21, 2012 Apr 21, 2012

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I have the same problem.  The document if opened locally (i.e. through the adobe application or direct from a pdf file saved on the computer) opens but after a few seconds the screen freezes the stops responding.  I can close adobe down but cannot do anything else.  When opening through the brower (I tried with the file in your message above) the file does not open, also a tab appears in the applications taskbar at the bottom of the screen which has a windows icon but no description.

Any help in resolving this issue appreciated.

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 23, 2012 Apr 23, 2012

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Hi MB_UK,

Please update your Reader to latest version, i.e.10.1.3

Also does the problem exist with a specific PDF's or with each PDF. Please try to open the following PDF:

http://helpx.adobe.com/content/dam/help/attachments/Acrobat_Reader_ReleaseNote_10.1.3.pdf

What browser and version are you using?

If the problem still exists please uninstall Adobe Reader and install it again from:

http://get.adobe.com/reader/

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 26, 2012 Apr 26, 2012

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It happens for the file you provided too...

Nikhil.Gupta wrote:

Hi Kefayati,

What version of Reader are you using?

Also does the issue exist with some specific PDF's or all PDF's?

Does the problem occur while opening the PDF in browser or Reader itself?

Please try opening the following PDF:

http://helpx.adobe.com/content/dam/help/attachments/Acrobat_Reader_Rel easeNote_10.1.3.pdf

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New Here ,
Jul 25, 2012 Jul 25, 2012

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I have the same program with the latest version of Adobe Acrobat X Pro.  I am guessing Adobe is forcing itself to connect online, meanwhile happily has you wait 5-10 seconds or so, then decides all is well (or not... who knows what it is really doing) only then you can use the document as you intended.  I wish there was a solution to this. 

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Guest
Nov 19, 2012 Nov 19, 2012

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Guest
Apr 23, 2012 Apr 23, 2012

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I am having the same problem as other have experienced in this forum.  I've uninstalled/reinstalled the latest version - Reader 10.1.3 - several times without the problem getting resolved.  I'm using Windows 7 home on a new desktop computer with McAfee protection.  Every time I attempt to open a .pdf it opens for a few seconds, freezes, and windows closes the program.  I'm getting frustrated because I don't want to pay $39 for personalized support, and so much these days requires use of Adobe Reader.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 23, 2012 Apr 23, 2012

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The best solution really was to discard Adobe Acrobat Reader and install Foxit Reader instead. Thanks anyway.

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New Here ,
Jun 21, 2013 Jun 21, 2013

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I only experienced this *very frustrating* issue with Adobe Reader XI on Windows 7 (64-bit).

The solution for me was to disable Protected mode at startup:

  Edit -> Preferences -> Security (Enhanced)

then remove the tick from "Enable Protected Mode at startup"

I don't know what this feature does, so you had better check with Adobe before disabling it yourselves.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 13, 2016 Jun 13, 2016

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Good day folks,

Here is how I solved the issue for myself.

Background:

I have Adobe Acrobat Pro DC running on Windows 10 Pro (Enterprise) and I am connected to a corporate Network.  After starting Acrobat (whether with or without opening a Document) it would run for around 15 seconds apparently normally.  It would then hang / freeze / crash.  If I tried to click on anything more than a few times then Windows would report that Acrobat is "Not Responding".  It would recover on its own within around another 15 seconds.  This is a common complaint from what I can see.  I tried the following things without any success:

Things that didn't work:

Setting Recently Used Documents to only 1

Toggling Enhanced Security, Protected Views settings, etc.

Plug-Ins attempts:  Holding Shift when Acrobat starts keeps the problems from happening (but I need many of the Plug-Ins).

Graphics (Multimedia) Settings changes:  No effect for me.

Trying all kinds of permutations of settings in the Preferences settings had no effect for me.

My solution (works for me):

1)     Close down Acrobat. 

2)     Fire up regedit (follow the usually cautions for dealing with the Registry)

3)     Navigate to:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\2015\FeatureLockDown

4)     You should see Key folders with names like cDefaultExecMenuItemscDefaultFindAttachmentPerms, cDefaultLaunchAttachmentPerms, cDefaultLaunchURLPerms 

5)     If a key name named cServices does not yet exist, then create it (right click on FeatureLockDown and select New -> Key and name it cServices).

6) Left Click to Select the cServices Key you just created. 

7)     Right click in the white space in the right side pane and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value and name this new Value bToggleAdobeDocumentServices

8)     Double Click on the newly created bToggleAdobeDocumentServices and enter 1 (Hexadecimal) for the Value data.  Click OK. 

9)     Continue creating new Key names within the cServices Key folder until you have the following: 

               Name Type                                                                           Data

               bToggleAdobeDocumentServices      REG_DWORD       0x00000001 (1)

               bToggleAdobeSign                              REG_DWORD       0x00000001 (1)

               bTogglePrefSync                                  REG_DWORD       0x00000001 (1)

               bUpdater                                               REG_DWORD        0x00000000 (0)

          Note: The value of bUpdater is 0 while the values of the first three are 1). 

          Note: When you create the cServices Key folder a Key named (Default) may be automatically create, this is OK.  Just ignore it (don't try to delete it). 

10. Close the regedit, and restart Acrobat.  You may need to restart your PC. 

 

More Info:

 

An explanation of these Registry fields can be found here: 

Services integration

I looked for this when I discovered that the problem had to do with one the Plug-Ins (as I mention above).  I traced it to IA32.api.  But, removing this Plug-In file crippled Acrobat in addition to keeping it from crashing.  Adobe Support tried to help me but they couldn't figure it out and I couldn't spend any more time with them.  These registry changes will stop Acrobat from going out to "the Cloud".  This keeps it from hanging while it tries to get through the corporate firewall.  My opinion is that it it very poor design and maybe insufficient testing that would cause this unresponsiveness to happen and go undetected.  I have been unable to find a non-registry way to get this result. 

Good luck! 🙂

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 29, 2018 Mar 29, 2018

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Knote, Thank you!  This seems to have fixed it for me.  I noticed that when it froze the lsass.exe Windows process was using 100% of one processor.  It now intermittently uses just a few percent.  Thanks again!

UPDATE!  It did work fine until I did a search and then lsass.exe went to 100% again.  Oh well.

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New Here ,
Oct 24, 2018 Oct 24, 2018

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Thanks Man, It solved my proble. You are genius.

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New Here ,
Nov 11, 2021 Nov 11, 2021

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Thank you! Old post but still works. 
This was driving me crazy for months.

Running Adobe Pro DC, same environment and this worked perfectly after restarting my PC. 
Thanks again!

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New Here ,
Feb 08, 2022 Feb 08, 2022

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This solution still works in 2022. Because also the problem still appears...

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New Here ,
Feb 18, 2022 Feb 18, 2022

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Right now you're my favorite human on earth

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New Here ,
Aug 02, 2022 Aug 02, 2022

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Dude, you are a superstar!!!!!!!!  Worked like a charm!!!!! Thanks man!

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New Here ,
Dec 24, 2022 Dec 24, 2022

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This fix works also under Windows 11 with Adobe Acrobat Pro (64-bit) 2022.003.20282

 

It was so annoying. Each time acrobat.exe was launched, it hang itself after a second or two. You could not move it anywhere but only kill the process.

 

Thanks!

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New Here ,
Jan 16, 2023 Jan 16, 2023

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It did not work for me. Did you use qword (64-bit) value instead?

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New Here ,
Jan 16, 2023 Jan 16, 2023

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No, I used REG_DWORD exactly as specified.

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New Here ,
Jan 16, 2023 Jan 16, 2023

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Tried both ways, and still not working for me. I am on windows 11.

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New Here ,
Nov 03, 2023 Nov 03, 2023

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I am wary of anything that involves messing with the registry, but this solution was directly on target. 

 

The issue has been a source of endless frustration, and for the life of me I do not understand why the vendor has not addressed / resolved it.

 

I am grateful that you did. 

 

Much thanks.

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New Here ,
Dec 24, 2023 Dec 24, 2023

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Full of gratitude--this worked after I tried many other approaches I found online after upgrading to the latest CC apps from CS6. Thank you!

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