Grey Screen in IE 11 after newest DC update

Report · Oct 13, 2016

After the newest Adobe Reader DC update Version 2015.020.20039, my users keep getting a grey screen when opening a PDF in the browser. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the product and it still happens. The only way around is to uninstall and download an older version of Reader. Is anyone else getting this issue? I keep getting calls from more and more users and when I check, sure enough Adobe Reader was just updated. I need this resolved as soon as possible. It worked just find before the update. Thanks!

Report · Nov 01, 2016

I have found that after opening 2 or 3 PDF via IE I get the Grey Screen. When I check Task Manager there are multiple occurrences of reader running even though they have all been closed. A quick fix I used was to cut and paste URL for the PDF you are trying to view and open in Chrome. No problems there.

Report · Nov 01, 2016

No problems in Chrome because it uses Chrome PDF Viewer rather than Adobe Reader, perhaps?

Report · Nov 01, 2016

My company has been experiencing this issue as well. I can't reproduce it with Adobe Reader XI, but we can with Adobe Reader DC. Essentially pdfs open fine in IE11 for the first couple of documents, but every document thereafter only shows the grey screen. Clients trying to view documents on our website are calling in with complaints.

Report · Nov 01, 2016

Hi all,

As mentioned by Ajay, we are actively working on an official patch that fixes this issue. We'll update this thread as soon as it is available.

Thanks,

-ashu

Report · Nov 03, 2016

Hi,

I appreciate the feedback on a possible fix, I've got over a thousand angry customers demanding a fix. Before I have to start the process of removing reader DC and installing reader 11 across our desktop estate can you advise if you have any update or an indication of possible timescales on a patch?

Report · Nov 03, 2016

Hi All,

We now have the official fix rolled out this morning with latest update. Please refer to the release notes

Release notes | Adobe Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC | Update, November 03, 2016

I know this was a painful bug, thanks a lot for the patience showed.

Any question/query: please do not hesitate asking.

Regards

Aj

Report · Nov 03, 2016

Thanks for this.

Report · Nov 03, 2016

Will each user have to manually install this update or will they get updated automatically?

Thanks

Report · Nov 03, 2016

Hi Bill and all,

This update will be automatically applied to all existing installations of Acrobat and Reader DC. You can also open Acrobat or Reader DC and visit Help > Check for updates to make sure you are on the latest patch.

If you encounter any issue with the update process, do let us know.

Regards

Aj

Report · Nov 03, 2016

Thanks to anyone who worked on this. I am going to test for the day but so far so good. Tasks in task manager disappear after closing the IE window with the report.

just a side note to anyone who reverted back from DC to an old version. if you redownload the dc version make sure to check for updates after you install. I didnt realize that the version I downloaded did not have the most recent patch maybe it was just the download page I used.

Report · Nov 28, 2016

Hello, I've checked for updates and didn't find any new updates. So I manually installed the patch and I am still getting the same issue. What I have noticed is that when I run into this problem, whether I'm opening a local document or a document from a website, is that after I get the gray screen if I click in the URL bar and press enter the pdf will load. IE 11 can open a pdf if it "searches" for it but you cannot "open with IE." I'm not sure if my wording is the most clear but that is the best way I can explain my experience with this issue.

Report · Nov 28, 2016

Hmm.. the new update seemed to fix the issue my company had. I have been using it since my last message with no problems. Given your comment im not sure if you uninstalled reinstalled the DC version of the program but that may be worth a shot if you hadnt. Just remember to check for the update after you install not sure if it is not included in the install package or not.

Report · Nov 30, 2016

The patch is a hit or miss for me. After uninstalling and reinstalling I was finally able to update it. Right after the update it didn't work but about 40 minutes ago it worked. Then 15 minutes later it didn't work anymore.

Report · Dec 01, 2016

The patch only works temporarily in our environment. We need a fix as it is causing productivity issues.

Report · Dec 02, 2016

Hi all,

If you are still encountering the grey screen issue, we'd like to invite you to try out our prerelease build containing a separate fix.

Could you please send an email to asmittal@adobe.com if you'd be willing to try this patch out before its official release?

Thanks,

-ashu

Report · Jan 11, 2017

Hello all. My users have been experiencing a similar issue in IE 11/Reader DC since Tuesday 1/10/17. This occurs when trying to open documents within a web based application that is required for work. The document will open but the background (windows desktop or any explorer window that may be open) turns black and any attempt to close the document causes IE 11 to crash. If they attempt to print the document (which is usually their intention when they open one) they get a windows error regarding "adobe reader has stopped responding". Downgrading to Reader XI alleviates the issue but is obviously not the ideal solution. Everything has been working fine with Reader DC up until Tuesday morning so I'm wondering if there is an issue with a recent update?

Report · Jan 11, 2017

Hi,

Our team will contact you for debugging this case. Please drop me an email (ajjain@adobe.com) with your contact details.

regards

Aj

Report · Feb 07, 2017

Hi

Today I discovered we also had this problem. When opening a .pdf file from the internet the Reader DC plugin within IE11 shows the document but after a while or when opening another .pdf IE stops working and I got the famous grey screen.

I installed the last version of Adobe Reader DC 1502320053. I also installed the dutch version 1502020039 but they all have the same problem.

Within Adobe Reader DC I also did a "check for update" but after this update 1500920069 the problem still existst.

So besides downgrading to version XI, or disable the webplugin is there another solution or patch for this problem.

Regards,

Ron.

Report · Feb 07, 2017

Good morning Ron. We found that disabling "enable protected mode at startup" option from Edit/Preferences/Security (Enhanced) alleviated the issue.

Report · Feb 07, 2017

Good evening.

I already checked this setting and on the workstation I'm testing the checkbox is not enabled.

This sollution was already written by someone else in this thread in october 2016.

Regards,

Ron.

Report · Feb 08, 2017

Hi Ron,

Thanks for reaching us out.

Can you please tell us the windows version which you are using ?. Also if possible can you elaborate more on the steps which you are trying that results to Grey Screen.

You can reach me at nitiskum@adobe.com .

Thanks

Nitish

Report · Feb 08, 2017

Hi Nitish

In our production environment we use Adobe Reader DC 2015.020.20039

On a test machine I installed:

- AcroRdrDC1502320053_en_US.exe

- AcroRdrDCUpd1502320056.msp

Both have the same issue.

I open IE11, go to google and search for a pdf test file.

The first I find, or the second, or the third, or the ..... opens and I can scroll.

Sometime IE11 hangs itself immediately. But mostly it happens when I open a second tab in IE11. When I click on the tab
with the pdf test file IE11 hangs. Sometimes the screen changes grey, sometimes it does nothing anymore.

Regards,

Ron.

Report · Feb 08, 2017

Hi Ron,

We tried the scenario in house but we are not able to reproduce this at our end. Can you please message me your email id ?

So that we can have a short debug session.

Also Can you please tell me the Window OS version (Win 7 / Win8 /etc) ?

Thanks,

Nitish

Report · Feb 08, 2017

Hi Nitish

thanks for the effort.

I did send you a personal message inclusing my e-mail address.

Regards,

Ron.

Report · Feb 08, 2017

Hello

After the reply from Nitish and the message he couldn't reproduce it I went on to do more testing.

I also tested with other testusers and not all users had the issue.

We use AppSense in our company for user profile management and after I stopped this service on several test machines the issue was gone.

So at the moment the issue is not Adobe Reader related but a configuration issue within AppSense.

Sorry for the time everybody spend on my question.

Regards,

Ron.