Can't open adobe acrobat reader DC

[jbisson1010]

Seems like I tried many things (including uninstalling and re-installing) but something doesn't seem right.... When I double click on the adobe icon, nothing happens,

Looking in the process explorer, I can see 2 AcroRd32.exe process but can't see anything.

I'm running in a windows 10 virtual machine so I'm suspecting maybe a gpu issue or something? Is there any logs somewhere I could see what's wrong?

thanks

[Adorobat]

Hi Jbisson,

As per the description mentioned above, Adobe Reader doesn't launch when you double-click on Reader's icon, is that correct?

Try troubleshooting steps mentioned below:

1- Right-click on taskbar>select Task Manager>under Processes>select AcroRd32.exe processes and click End task, close Task Manager and try launching Reader again.

2- If that doesn't work, launch Reader as an administrator: Run an Adobe program as administrator | Windows 7, Vista

3- If Reader still doesn't work, refer to the steps given in this link: Adobe will not open

Let us know how it goes.

Shivam

[jbisson1010]

Yeah, I pretty much tried everything listed there, still have the same issue though.

One thing I noticed is there seems to have two instances of the AcroRD32.exe opened up as well as two instances of RdrCEF.exe? Killing them and re-opening them always shows up, without any UI.

not sure what to do now...

[Adorobat]

Hi Jbisson,

Try running Cleaner tool which you can download from this link: Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs

Reboot the machine.

Install Reader DC from here: Adobe - Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Distribution

Keep us posted with the results.

Shivam

[jbisson1010]

Did that, re-install it and same problem....

[Adorobat]

Try changing compatibility settings for Reader and see if that helps:

1- Close Reader, locate Reader's shortcut on the desktop>right-click>Properties

2- Compatibility tab>check the box which says Run this program in compatibility mode for and select Windows 7 from the drop-down list.

3- Click Apply>OK, and relaunch Reader.

-Shivam

[jbisson1010]

I've already tried that but I re-retry it and same issue....

I took a video FYI: 2017-07-28_8-47-07.mp4 - Google Drive 

Any chance to have log output of what could go wrong instead of trial and error type of approach....?

[jbisson1010]

Any other suggestion?....

thanks,

[Adorobat]

Hi Jbisson,

Sorry for the delay in response.

Could you please share dot version of Reader installed on the machine?

To do that, go to Control Panel>Programs & Features, look for version field for Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

-Shivam

[jbisson1010]

Took the latest version on your website but here it is:

17.009.20058

[jbisson1010 · Accepted solution]

After several hours of search and try-error, finally found the solution.

Turning off protectedMode did the trick for me:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\10.0\Privileged]

"bProtectedMode"=(0 = off; 1 = on)

Protected Mode — Acrobat Application Security Guide

[jaxx1rr]

omfg ty! what useless human being developed this software and made this a thing I wonder .. and the support staff is clueless and useless as always

[jaxx1rr]

btw this is the fix I used

using regedit go to
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\Privileged]

and set bProtectedMode to 0

[alphanine]

Hi, I have the same problem mentioned above, however, there is no Privileged in DC or 11.0 folder? what is the solution for that?

[João Paulo21938830ry3o]

Thank you so much! I had this problem for years. Now it is solved!

[alphanine]

Ok, a solution for Acrobat DC 2019 I found and may help:

Right Click Acrobat.exe

Select properties

Select Compatibility Tap

Check the box under Compatibility mode

Choose Windows 8

Also, You can click the "Run compatibility troubleshooter" and let windows decide which version is best to run the app.

[Shafira0o0]

This works well! Thanks!