Background: I freshly installed 64bit Windows 10 Pro almost two years ago. One of the first software I installed is Adobe Reader. I kept updating Adobe Reader whenever there's a new build available. I also always keep Windows and other software up-to-date.
Issues: Even I had a freshly installed Windows, often the system got stuck. I couldn't switch windows; the mouse cursor does not move; the keyboard is not responding; even the time in the taskbar doesn't change for minutes. I know the OS is not dead as the cursor might make a movement after minutes. The system might come back to normal operation after some time period from minutes to hours. It mostly happens right after I, login to a locked Windows session; go into a folder with images in Explorer in thumbnail view; plug-in a USB drive; etc.
Actions: Since after the system comes back to operation normally, most likely Edge application is closed, even it doesn't always happen with Edge open; I suspected Edge is poorly implemented. I also suspect Outlook 365 uses up too much resources. It might be outdated driver component; I scanned and updated any outdated drivers but the problem still occur. Since when it happens, there is no way to start any diagnostic software since the OS does not respond to HID input, I've always been struggling how to fix this issue. Finally I had Process Explorer open and stay in the foreground, with higher CPU processes shown on the top. After I login to a previously locked Windows session, this problem happened again. The CPU usage wasn't high, but Acrord32.exe was one of the processes close to the top. (I didn't have any PDF file open.) I waited until the OS operation came back to normal. About the same time I observed in Process Explorer, the Acrord32.exe process terminated. That led my suspicion to Acrord32.exe. After further investigation, I found Acrord32.exe is in Task Manager. One of the triggers is login event. I also found there are a lot of places in the OS Adobe software could get started. I tried AdobeAcroCleaner_DC2015 tool, which uninstalled Acrobat Reader. The OS Got Stuck issue never happened again.
Questions: How can I get Acrobat Reader software to open PDF files for viewing/filling/signing only when I explicitly open the PDF files, without having any Adobe software component running in the background when no PDF file is open? Is there a "portable" version of Acrobat Reader, meaning no installation is required and no alternation to the OS? If not, and if for some documents I have to use Acrobat Reader, I'll just have to install it within a Sandbox.
AdChoices