Acrobat Reader DC has stopped working

[richardr99]

Windows 10. Reader XI worked fine. Installed Reader DC and it gives "Adobe Acrobat Reader DC has stopped working" with "A problem caused the program to stop working correctly." Uninstalled and reinstalled. Same problem. Ran the Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool. Reinstalled. Same problem. Ran as administrator. Same problem.

Event log shows:

Faulting application name: AcroRd32.exe, version: 15.17.20050.61080, time stamp: 0x5774facd

Faulting module name: AcroRd32.exe, version: 15.17.20050.61080, time stamp: 0x5774facd

Exception code: 0xc0000409

Fault offset: 0x000eaa9d

Faulting process id: 0x233c

Faulting application start time: 0x01d205455d6e9f6d

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe

Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe

Report Id: 82f1a57d-5832-479a-8763-c0b11390677e

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

and

Faulting application name: AcroRd32.exe, version: 15.17.20050.61080, time stamp: 0x5774facd

Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000

Exception code: 0xc0000008

Fault offset: 0x89f48c7a

Faulting process id: 0x233c

Faulting application start time: 0x01d205455d6e9f6d

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe

Faulting module path: unknown

Report Id: 6d7affda-58a6-4b97-a19d-a6dc269b32e6

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

[Adorobat]

Hi richardr99

Please visit the following links which discusses the same issue:

Windows 10 - cannot open pdf files in Reader DC

adobe reader has stopped working

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC has stopped working.

Let us know if it worked.

Thank You,

Shivam

[richardr99]

Hi Shivam,

      Since Acrobat Reader crashes as soon as it is started, I could not see if Protected Mode is enabled, nor disable it. I tried all of the other suggestions in all of those posts. None of these fixed the problem. I can go through the steps to generate a .dmp file using procdump if someone will be able to review it.

Thank you,

Richard

[richardr99]

So it seems that the problem is "protected mode". Since adobe acrobat reader crashes as soon as it is started, it is not possible to turn of protected mode from within the edit->preferences->security(enhanced) setting. I had to use regedit. Go to "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\Privileged" and modify the "bProtectedMode" DWORD value from "1" to "0". Now the reader will start and can be used.

So the question is, why is protected mode crashing? Can Adobe fix this?

Thank you,

Richard

[Adorobat]

Hi richardr99 ,

The reason why Protected Mode causing Reader to crash could be Unsupported configurations, Antivirus software conflicts, etc.

Please visit this link for more information: Protected Mode troubleshooting | Adobe Reader

Thank You,

Shivam

[richardr99]

Hi Shivam,

       Went through all of the items in Protected Mode troubleshooting | Adobe Reader​ and was not able to correct the problem of Reader crashing. Turning off Norton Antivirus did not help, no P11 smart card, local drive, not running in compatibility mode, etc.

Thank you,

Richard

[Adorobat]

Hi richardr99 ,

Do you see any error message when you launch Reader as an Administrator?

Also, check Data Execution Prevention settings:

Hold down the Windows key and press R on your keyboard>this will launch run dialogue box >type control and press enter. Under Control Panel>click System>Advanced system settings>Advanced tab>under Performance, click Settings>select Data Execution Prevention tab>click Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only>Apply>OK

Let us know if it worked.

Thank You,

Shivam

[richardr99]

Hi Shivam,

      If I try running Reader as administrator, it just crashes the same way."DEP for essential Windows programs and services only" was already set on, so it didn't fix the problem. Crash when running as administrator has the following in the event log:

Faulting application name: AcroRd32.exe, version: 15.17.20050.61080, time stamp: 0x5774facd

Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.14393.103, time stamp: 0x57b7e09e

Exception code: 0xc000000d

Fault offset: 0x000ec2c8

Faulting process id: 0xd18

Faulting application start time: 0x01d209f3e84f45bb

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe

Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll

Report Id: 6d3ccf52-291a-4017-9d99-458a2727766f

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

[Adorobat]

Hi richardr99  ,

Try creating new user account and see if Reader still crashes. Visit this link on how to create a new user account in Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/13951/windows-create-user-account .

I have also sent you a private message, please respond to that message.

Thank You,

Shivam

[richardr99]

Hi Shivam,

      I've replied to the private message.

     I created a new account on Windows. Reader crashes on that new account as well. Just so you know, this machine was upgraded from Windows 7. After the upgrade, a number of programs did not work. I contacted Microsoft and they had me create a new account and then delete my old account. So, then I had to reinstall pretty much every program from scratch. All of them worked, except Adobe Reader DC. I then uninstalled Reader DC and installed Reader XI, which worked correctly. However, Reader forced an update to DC and here I am with a crashing Reader unless I disable protected mode.

    I've even gone through the process of uninstalling Reader DC, then ensuring that no directories for "Adobe" exist under \Users and that the registry is clean (cclean). Then reinstalling Reader DC, which fails the same way.

Thanks,

Richard

[richardr99]

For those who are following this thread because they have the same problem, I have not heard from Adobe for some time now so I have no update on whether a fix is even being developed.

[Sunil_Soni]

hey Richard,

Please let me know if you are still facing the issue.

[richardr99]

Yes, still occurring

[richardr99]

The problem was traced to a program called Portrait Displays/ Pivot Software (at this location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Portrait Displays\Pivot Software). I have an Acer Display and this program was included in the Acer Display Management. Removing the Pivot Software (or the Acer Display Manager) resolved the problem.

[bruceh16149490]

richardr99: I have an Acer display and tried to remove Pivot Software, but the system won't let me - says it's in use. Any tips on how you made it work?

[richardr99]

Hi bruceh16149490.  I had to uninstall the Acer Display Management software. It uninstalled the Pivot Software. If that still does not allow you to uninstall, you may have to go into C:\Program Files (x86)\Portrait Displays\Pivot Software and rename winphook.dll so that the Pivot software can't run, then do the uninstall.