Reader hangs when opening PDF file

[alanp18561880]

I have Adobe reader on Windows 7 laptop.  Has worked perfectly for several years.  About a month ago it started to hang when opening a file from the local disc.  It displays the first page then freezes.  Message at top says "program not responding" & screen fades out.  A PDF file coming from a web site is handled properly.  I downloaded acrobat reader DC which seemed to install with no errors.  However, it still has the same problem. 

Is there any fix for this?  Reader is pretty much useless for me now.

[Adorobat]

Hi alanp18561880,

Could you please try the below mention steps and see if Reader works without any issue:

1- Download and run Cleaner tool from here: Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs

2- Restart the computer.

3- Download and install Reader DC from here: Adobe - Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Distribution  (choose operating system, language, and version accordingly)

Does Reader hangs when you open a specific pdf file or with all the pdf files?

What is the version of Reader DC installed on your machine?

To check that, launch Reader>Help menu>About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.

Let me know the results.

Thank You,

Shivam

[alanp18561880]

Shivarn,

Thank you for your suggestions, but Reader is still not working.  I have tried several times to follow the procedures.  The cleanup and install seem to work correctly.  However when I try to run Reader DC it always hangs.  I tried to install Reader 11, and Reader DC, each time with the same results.

It hangs when I start Reader DC, even when there is no PDF file.

I am using Reader DC 2015.020.20039, which I just downloaded.. 

[Adorobat]

Hi alanp18561880,

Try to disable protected mode and see if that resolves the issue.

1- Close Reader.

2- Press and hold Windows key and then press R on your keyboard.

3- Type regedit and hit enter.

4-  Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\Privileged

5-  In the right pane, double click bProtectedMode and change the value to 0 in Value data, click OK

6-  Close Registry Editor and launch Reader.

I would like to mention that disabling Protected Mode is for troubleshooting purpose only, and not recommended, Please turn the feature back on after finishing the troubleshooting.

[alanp18561880]

Shivam,I looked in the registry for the following

entry:HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAdobeAcrobat ReaderDCPrivileged

The path is complete down to DC. However there is no entry for

"Privileged" under "DC".

The system on this laptop is Windows 7 Pro.Is there anything else I

can try?

Thank you,Alan

[alanp18561880]

Shivam,Since the Privileged entry is not present under the DC entry,

should I try creating it, with a value of 0? i believe that regedit

will do this.

thanks,Alan

[Adorobat · Accepted solution]

Hi Alan,

Could you please try navigating to the following location in the registry:

1- Close Reader DC, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockDown

2- Right click FeatureLockDown and choose New>DWORD value

3- Create bProtectedMode

4- Right click on the key and choose Modify

5- Set 0 as the value>OK , exit Registry Editor

6- Restart Reader

[alanp18561880]

I tried the latest suggestion, but Reader DC still hangs.  However, I have discovered that if I right-click on the reader DC icon and pick "Run as Administrator" it will run fairly well.  So I suppose this is the answer.  Thanks for all your effort & suggestions.  I will mark this one as Answered.

[Adorobat]

Glad to know that Reader is working fine. Try to enable protected mode by changing the value to 1 under bProtectedMode and relaunch Reader as Administrator.

[Tomk9]

I added several steps to the above suggestion and it fixed Reader for me.  Note: I only only had Reader installed.  Also, I definitely do not recommend turning off Protected Mode.

1- Download and run Cleaner tool from here: Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs

2- Restart the computer

2- Delete directory:    %USERPROFILE%\Appdata\Local\Adobe,

3- Delete directory:    %USERPROFILE%\Appdata\LocalLow\Adobe

4- Delete directory:    %USERPROFILE%\Appdata\Roaming\Adobe

5- Run regedit.exe from Windows start (type regedit.exe)

6- Delete registry key:    Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe

7- Restart the computer.

8- Download and install Reader DC from here: Adobe - Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Distribution  (choose operating system, language, and version accordingly)