Acrobat X Pro won't start

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

My old PC died and I installed all my old software on the replacement. Adobe CS6 Web Premium has all worked for a month but now (only) Acrobat X Pro will not run. It is associated with PDF extensions but I can neither open it from the link in the Start menu nor when I try to open a PDF file. I haven't installed Acrobat Reader so there cannot be conflict with that. I ran the Adobe updater app but Acrobat wasn't showing so I don't know how to force an update of just Acrobat. The only other thing I can think of trying is to re-install the whole CS6 suite again.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks

Steve

[kglad]

reset your preferences -  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1595848?start=0&tstart=0

if that fails and you decide to reinstall, you don't need to reinstall everything cs6.  opt for the custom install after entering your serial number and you can select only acrobat for reinstall.

in addition, if you do reinstall and have windows, clean after uninstalling per Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Intriguing suggestion. Thanks.

The "Reset preferences" option ran into problems. The link suggested moving the "Preferences" folder and re-starting Acrobat. In that location I don't have a "Preferences" folder under the "10.0" folder but only:

Collab

Forms

JSCache

Security

Before I try a custom re-install, is there another folder that I could move that might cause Acrobat to flush the preferences?

Thanks for the suggestion.

Steve

[kglad]

what's your os?

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Oops! Windows 10 Home vn. 1709 build 16299.248

[kglad]

C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\10\

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Yup. That's where I'm looking:

C:\Users\steve\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0

The only sub-folders are:

\Collab

\Forms

\JSCache

\Security\CRLCache

The oddity is that in the same "C:\Users\steve\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\" folder there are also "\DC" and "\Distiller10" sub-folders.

"\DC" has the same sub-folders as "\10.0" and "\Distiller10" only has a "\Cache" subfolder. I can't see a "Preferences" folder anywhere in the \Acrobat folder structure.

Curious!

[kglad]

whoa, you didn't mention that you have or had acrobat dc installed.

is it currently installed?

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Interesting point. When I couldn't get Acrobat X Pro working for several weeks I needed open a document so I installed Acrobat Reader DC. That folder is dated two days ago when I installed Reader DC. Neither Acrobat DC Pro nor DC Standard are installed.

[kglad]

you need to uninstall reader before proceeding.  then if you still have a problem and there are no preference folders for acrobat x:

after securing your x serial number, use your control panel to uninstall x,

clean per Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs for all versions of acrobat/reader,

then reinstall acrobat x.

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Hmmm.

I uninstalled Reader DC, rebooted and checked the filing structure. There still was no "Preferences" folder and the "\DC" folder was still there. I shift-deleted the DC folder. I checked if Acrobat worked and it didn't. Then I went to Control Panel and uninstalled Acrobat X Pro.

I was about to use the Acrobat cleaner tool when I read the IMPORTANT warning saying it is not for Acrobat X that comes with Creative Suite.

So I have the Creative Suite authorisation code and could do a custom re-install of just Acrobat but I haven't run the cleaner tool. Should I just go straight to re-installing?

Thanks

Steve

[kglad · Accepted solution]

for acrobat part of a suite, use:

Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems

restart your computer after cleaning and then reinstall acrobat using the suite installation files.

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Stroke of genius! Thanks.

Cleared out the Creative Cloud stuff and re-installed CS6 and it seems to be all present and correct.

Have ticked yours as the correct answer.

Many thanks!

Steve

[kglad]

you're welcome.

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Staggering! A month later and Adobe Acrobat X Pro has again stopped working. Having looked around the Start menu I can't see that any unrequired "updates" have happened without my knowledge. Bizarrely, I can go into File Explorer and navigate to a PDF file and then see the contents in the preview window. I cannot, however, open the file. Nor can I go to the program's icon in the Start menu nor on the desktop and run the program on its own.

Can anyone suggest what may have gone on?

Yours angrily

Steve

[kglad]

there won't be any more updates from adobe to acrobat x, ever.

is there any error message or indication of an problem when you right click a pdf and click open with > acrobat x?

if not:

if a program that once worked no longer works, it usually means something has been removed (via user error or another program, eg, av, error) or corrupted.

the most common adobe file to be corrupted is the programs preferences (discussed above).  were you able to reset your preferences this time?

[cassiej0m]

I just had this very issue happen to me as well. About a month ago I transferred my CS6 Web Premium to a new laptop. All of the programs were working fine. Now all of a sudden, Acrobat X won't open. I'm having trouble following the various instructions to fix it, but thought I'd let you know you're not alone!

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Hmmm. As mentioned before, my installation doesn't have a Preferences folder under C:\Users\steve\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0 or any of the subfolders below \Acrobat. I found a file with no extension called "GlobSettings" in the \JSCache subfolder dated 12 days ago.

I haven't actively made any changes to the system since Acrobat was re-installed. My suspicion is that some pesky software manufacturers have set automated updates that I have been unaware of. I accept that Adobe won't update nor support Acrobat 10 but last time this happened I believe Adobe Updater installed Acrobat DC (while trying to be helpful).

Very confusing.

[kglad]

did you set your system to reveal hidden files?

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

Yes, I always set "show file extensions" and "show hidden files/folders".

When I looked at the other \AppData subfolders (other than \Roaming) I found \Local and \LocalLow, both of which had \Adobe\Acrobat folders but neither had \Preferences either. I'm wondering if there is anywhere else I should be looking for Acrobat's preferences.

Thanks for persevering.

Steve

[kglad]

right click the acrobat exe > click 'run as administrator'. 

what do you see?

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

A dialogue box comes up asking "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?"

This is followed by three statement:

"Verified publisher: Adobe Systems, Incorporated"

"File origin: Hard drive on this computer"

and the program location on the C: drive.

I clicked yes to allow it to make changes. No difference.

Acrobat.exe won't run when double-clicked either.

What should I try next?

Steve

[kglad]

suspend your av and any other program that could prevent acrobat from opening and run as admin, again.

if that fails, restart your computer in safe mode and, before doing anything else, run as admin, again.

[SteveMurray_NearLondon]

I disabled Kaspersky and tried to run the Acrobat.exe executable in it's location as admin but nothing happened. I went through the process of rebooting into safe mode and went straight back to the executable and tried again but again nothing. Out of interest, I tried to run the AcroRd32 executable and it showed the red splash banner and then disappeared. Task Manager didn't show any Acrobat programs but AcroTray is showing as active.

Have now rebooted and re-enabled the Kaspersky.

I have to call it a night but I'd be grateful for another suggestion which I'll try tomorrow.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

[kglad]

assuming you have your data on another drive, you could restore your os drive to when your computer was new and install acrobat x.