There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired.

[_Tess_Beaumont_]

Hi I constantly get the following message when trying to read files:
There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired. I am using Windows XP.

I tried uninstalling the program and reinstalling but this didn't work. I also tried repairing the installation - still no joy.

I would be grateful for any help.
Tess

[Pasiputes1]

have you tried cleaning your App Data? go start - run - %appdata% - delete reader folder and install it again.

[terjemi]

I have the same problem on one my desktop computer. My laptop is able to read the same pdf that gives the error message on the desktop.

I tried to upgrade from Acrobat9.4 to Acrobat 10, but it did not help.....

tm

[Guest]

My "damaged file" opens in reader 9 fine, but not in Adobde 5.0. Adobe by now you can

see this problem. Please add some REAL help for us.

[MichaelKazlow]

Early versions of Acrobat do not properly report that pdf files created with later versions that are created to be compatible with more recent file format cannot be read with this old version. They report the file is damaged. The upshot is you still need to have a more modern version of Reader to use the file.

[Guest]

Again - the file opens great in Reader 9 but not in the full Adobe 5.0 progam and I spent how much on?? Yes years back but

Adobe is not cheap software and should adjust the current formats to work with the older programs.

[terjemi]

So version 10 is to old?????????

I think that this problem is something else!

terjem

[Guest]

I have the most current version of Adobe Reader on my Mac and on my PC.  The file will not ope

n on my Mac but does on my PC.  I use Outlook 10 on my PC and I use webmail on my Mac.  I've tried using S

afari and Firefox with the Mac webmail program, but neither will allow me to view the pdf.  When I use webmail on my

PC I can't the file to open either.  So it seems to work with Outlook but not with webmail applications?  This issue has been going on way to long for Adobe to not have addressed it yet.

[signe4719]

How do I get the new reader?

[signe4719]

"No" answer is not helpful.

[Guest]

I just started having this problem this weekend while trying to open PDF files (tax forms/instructions) from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.  I was using Adobe Acrobat 5.0 on our Mac OS X 10.4.11. Downloaded Acrobat Reader 9.0 and replaced 5.0 as the default application. (Not sure that's a correct use of "application".)  Doing so solved my problem immediately.

[L84Dinner]

Hooray hooray for Foxit and for the person who posted that solution. It worked, it worked! Like a charm. Egg on Adobe's face, for sure.

[rajendra_kalal]

i am facing this error....so plz help me ...

[Saradhy_Roy]

Hi,

Some times this error pops up when you are using old version of iexplorer.6 / older, Just connect to internet and update your system with latest updates from Microsoft windows update wizard this will take care of those kind of errors, I have faced this at my work today and uninstall / reinstall run the cleaner but nothing has resolved my problem, only when I have updated windows then I could be able to overcome my issue.

Regards,

Saradhy

[docudawg]

I have the same error ONLY after the Adobe Updater made a change to my Captivate installation; CS5 had dbeen working fine for months about two months.

[JImo711]

I'am seing the same problem at my church. The secretarty prepares the church bulletin in PDF format and sends it to the pastor for his reveiw. If she sends it by his normal email address at AOL and he tries to open it it fails. If she sends it using the ISP and he uses OUTLOOK to open it it works fine. I upgraded his ADOBE RDR from 9.x to 10.1 and it still fails. If I copy the attachment to his hard disk and then try to open it it still fails indicating the damage has already been done. This leaves Microsofts IE browser or AOL as the culprit.

My next plan of attack is to try opening the file using FIREFOX browser. I saw on another post some suggestions for the IE concerning the cache and emptying t files I may try. Will have to wait until the offic eis open next Tues.  

[cleverrabbit]

You would think that an adobe forums topic like this would get more attention from the developers in Fremont. From Jan 2008 when this complaint was posted to Feb 2011 when MichaelKazlow provided the correct analysis, 3 years had elapsed. However, this problem goes back much further and deeper than we can possibly imagine.

The failure of Adobe Systems to honor predecessor products with a graceful compatibility fallback is certainly a tradition that goes back at least to the Acrobat product of the mid-late 20th century (ca 1995). Then it was easy to excuse a promising new company of a careless oversight. Now, the ire runs deeper, and we should probably question this management culture.

As noted by Mr Kazlow, newer versions of adobe pdf creation products may deliberately (or inadvertently) create pdfs that cannot be read by earlier versions. While it is often true that upgrading a product version can overcome such 'file is damaged' error conditions, isn't that really the job of the software engineer? After all, it is an engineering choice, to honor or to dishonor one's predecessors and one's customers. Or rather, it is an engineering decision unless that decision is compromised by the micromanaging beancounter elite (MBE).

In a possibly related issue, some PDF Reader customers who upgraded have found their "file associations" altered during installation. This creates a similar 'file has been damaged' error, even on a new reader because, for example, Adobe Reader does not actually read jpg's unless they have been converted to pdf's. Of course, there are many free pdf converters available nowadays if you want to do that sort of thing. Despite the potential cross-platform utility of a universal document encoder and a companion reader that can provide some encryption security to control modification, copying, or even printing a document, the price of this can be a lot like Microsoft Office products that lock up your data in someone else's "software vault" and require that you use their "software keys" to gain access.

Trouble accessing pdf's as attachments from various webmail services has been reported on this forum also. While it is possible that a file is corrupted in transit, it is highly unlikely. Many webmail providers are scanning attachments for spyware and viruses, and pdf's can now execute javascript, thereby making them vulnerable to infection. If you are having trouble with a pdf that you originate, just zip-it and send a compressed zip file instead of the raw pdf file.

• Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

• Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

• Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.

[dkmashino]

I was told once by a tech. who prepared a PDF that I couldn't read (and got this error) that it was because my encryption level was not the same as his and that on his end, he had to lower the encryption level.  Honestly, I'm thinking it just means he saved it to a version of Adobe that just doesn't play nice with Adobe Pro 8.3.1 that I use.  But can anyone corroborate what this tech told me?

Thanks!

[Guest]

I started receiving this error on new PDF's I received over email a few weeks ago.  I think it has something to do with how the latest Acrobat Reader 10.1.2 handles files downloaded via email clients.  Basically I can get this error when opening pretty much any PDF I receive via MS Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird.  If I however save it to my disk, after scanning it via the Yahoo Mail web interface, then it opens up fine.

My money is, this is something Adobe did recently.

[David_Logan]

This is the exact problem we are having.  When a PDF file is received as an attachment in Outlook 2010, it can not be opened.  Every time you receive the error - "There was an error opening this document.  This file cannot be found."  We are running version 9.5.2 of Acrobat.  After the attachment is saved to the desktop it opens in Acrobat with no problem. 

Please let me know if anyone has discovered a possible fix for this situation.

[Guest]

Same error for me but I can't find any way to open those file here a resume...

those file can not be open in acrobat reader 8.3.0, 9.0.0, 10.1.2, all in windows xp, Google document can not too.

sou 10484469.pdf

sou 10485633.pdf

zip of both file

but the sou 10484469.pdf I'm able to open it on my Adndroid phone whit Quickoffice

I really don't not what to do?

I try this too but it's still dosent work... I see a preview but when I download it the file and it work only in 10.1.2 version

https://www.pdf-tools.com/osa/repair.aspx

What the difference in both file and what the problem?

So now I really can think "what wrong with Adobe, did someone sleep at work"

Best regards,

J-Marc Ayotte

[Guest]

Over the past year, I've been receiving this same error message every time my computer attempts to open a pdf file with Acrobat 5.0  I'm running Window XP and have been using Acrobat 5.0 since I got the computer in 2006 with no previous problems.  If I "open with" Acrobat Reader, the files will often open.  Those that don't I can open with the firefox add-in.  Unfortunately, for me to be able to edit a pdf file, I must then print it as a pdf using the "Acrobat Distiller" or another software component like "Cute PDF writer."  Then I am able to open it as a pdf in Adobe Acrobat 5.0, but unfortunately, the text is no longer editable after this process since the  pdf printers treat the Reader-opened pdf as non-editable text.  This causes major issues when as a graduate student, I am attempting to take notes on a pdf of my instructor's lectures--this is why I bought a full version in the first place.  I have often resorted to opening MS Word and simply typing notes instead.  As you can guess my professors speak faster than I can complete the above gymnastics to open the next lecture.  Very frustrating.

Just recently, the "acrobat distiller" (part of the Acrobat 5.0 software that prints to pdf files) locks up whatever program I attempt to print from whether it be MS Word, Firefox, or anything else.  I end up having to do a ctrl-alt-del & close the program manually in order to regain access to my computer.  Sometimes, the "distiller" does successfully print the pdf, but the files no longer open automatically with Adobe Acrobat (or Reader for that matter.)  I believe that may be where the snag lies that locks up the computer. 

Any help on either of these fronts would be greatly appreciated.

[eyefarer]

I am running Adobe Acrobat 5.0 under Window XP SP3, and very often I get the fatal error message "There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and cannot be repaired." when trying to open a PDF. Usually this happens with newer files, and using "Open With" does not help. The files are not damaged and may be opened with, for example, Adobe Reader (10.1.2 is what I have). But, like Mindinao, I frequently need to add text to the PDF and so must use Acrobat rather than Reader.

I do not know the cause of this issue, but I have found a workaround that works for me. I copy the PDF from my PC to my iMac, open it there, and then save it under a different name. When I copy the new file back to my PC, I can open (and edit) it with Acrobat. The iMac is running OS 10.6.6 and the application which opens/saves PDFs is Preview 5.0.3.

[signe4719]

Do I have to buy Adobe Flash Player? How do I excess Adobe Reader?

[eyefarer]

You can download Adobe Reader for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/

As far as my post is concerned, Flash Player doesn't enter into it I don't think.

[mmv06111]

I had this problem today with my new Mac and I realized it occured when I clicked File-->Save As to save instead of clicking on the save icon within the Pdf document. I re-downloaded the Pdf from the web by clicking on the save icon (the image of a floppy disk) and was able to open it from my desktop. The problem did not occur when I downloaded from emails, just from the web. I have Adobe Acrobat Reader.