Adobe Acrobat X Pro Disappeared and Couldn't Restart

[Benny16B6]

I have bought the license of Adobe Design and Web Premium CS6 CD some years ago, and used both Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Acrobat X Pro. In April 2020 the latter software "crashed" -- the window simply disappeared when I was viewing a PDF document, and then nothing happened when I ran the software again, even after rebooting the PC. So I resorted to uninstall and then reinstall Adobe Acrobat X Pro. The software then worked for around 1 month, and then the same thing happened again. I had activated the software (I thought the activation option was at Photoshop, and I only needed to activate once there for all other Adobe software in the same suite), but the fact that Acrobat only worked for 1 month after re-install made me think that it might be working as a trial version only (however, it worked for years before April 2020).

So, is it that my Acrobat license expired, or Acrobat changed its policy so that I could not use it anymore? (I activated auto-update, the last version is 10.1.16) Or is the software considered too old so it could not be used anymore? My OS is a Windows 7, and was not updated in the last couple of years, so is the Acrobat X Pro 10.1.16 not working properly in Windows 7?

[Amal.]

Hi Benny,

We are sorry for the trouble. As described Acrobat X is not working on your system and couldn't restart.

Please try to repair the installation from the help menu and reboot the computer once and check.

If it still doesn't work, please creatre a new test user profile with full admin rights and try using te application there and check.

Adobe Acrobat X is an old and EOL application. End of Support means that Adobe no longer provides technical support or distributes runtimes. This policy affects product and security updates for all derivatives of a product or product version (localized versions, minor upgrades, operating systems, dot and double-dot releases, and connector products).

Adobe strongly recommends that customers update to the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and Adobe Acrobat DC. By updating installations to the latest versions, customers benefit from the latest functional enhancements and improved security measures.

For more information please look at the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/end-of-support-acrobat-x-reader-x.html

Regards

Amal

[Benny16B6]

Dear Amal,

Thanks for your reply. As I could not open the Adobe Acrobat X Pro at all (double clicking the icon simply caused the sandglass icon to rotate for a second and then nothing happened, the Adobe window never appeared), I could not access the Help menu. Instead I went to the Control Panel and chose Repair Installation there. No improvement after the repair though.

So I could only uninstall the Adobe Acrobat X Pro, reinstall it again using the Adobe Web Premium CS6 DVD and restarted it. It did ask me for the Registration number. Then I updated it online to the latest 10.1.16, then I could use it now (the original 10.1.1 version from the DVD would crash after I used the software for less than 1 minute). Not sure how long this installation can persist running before the same problem happened again. Maybe I shall post the update later.

Regarding the solution of "creating test user profile" and the "upgrade to Acrobat DC", I have two questions to ask: (1) Now that I reinstalled the software and can access the Help Menu, how can I create a test user profile with full admin rights? Is that I directly create a new user account without using my current Adobe user account to login, or I log in and then create a new profile under the existing user account? (2) I checked that Acrobat DC is on a monthly paid basis, but is there an upgrading option from the old version, that costs less than directly buying it (as if I did not have an existing license of an older version)? Thanks!

[Test Screen Name]

For most people 10.1.16 was a long term solution to this problem. A few have found it isn't; there may be more than one problem.

Upgrading to Acrobat DC

- subscriptions have no discount for owners of older software (they were available for a few years)

- there is a perpetual license version of Acrobat DC called Acrobat 2000. Upgrades are available from Acrobat 2015 and Acrobat 2017. It is far too late for a reduced price upgrade of Acrobat X, Adobe only discount 2 versions back.

- in any case there was NEVER a reduced price discount for an upgrade of a single product in a suite (that is, the Acrobat in CS6 never qualified for an upgrade price). [Also never an upgrade for student/teacher product].

- the rest of CS6 is replaced by Creative Cloud, a subscription-only offering including Acrobat.

[Benny16B6]

Thanks a lot for the information!

BTW, after the Acrobat X Pro 10.1.16 first crashed in April 2020, I restored a stable version of the whole Windows with the working Acrobat X Pro 10.1.16 from a backup image (the image was created about 40 days before the restoration, I did so because I worried that some other software updates in my computer crashed with the Acrobat Pro, or the Windows registry might have problems that caused Acrobat X Pro not working), however, after the restoration, I ran the Acrobat X Pro, and the application window simply disappeared after a few minutes of use, without any warning or error messages. Then Acrobat X Pro could not be started anymore. So I have a feeling that the software simply expired because of the date, and was not allow for use after 40 days, even with the license. Have you heard any such similar issue? Thanks!

[Test Screen Name]

I have seen many people claiming that Acrobat X was "time bombed" to stop on a given date, to force an upgrade. But I have seen no real evidence of this. And telling against this idea, if 10.0 was time bombed, why did Adobe release free fixes to 10.1.16 to stop them? Software is complicated, and it doesn't need a conspiracy for things to stop working. A few years ago, Microsoft changed Windows 10 and it broke the part of Photoshop which worked out how much memory there was. All versions broken. Adobe would only have fixed recent versions, but luckily there was a way to stop Photoshop from asking how much memory. The bottom line is, old, unsupported software can stop working any time, for any reason. There are perpetual licenses, but that isn't a promise software will work for ever.  

There are many other things going on, for example installing most software needs activation. By turning off the activation system, software companies can stop the software from being installed, transferred, or reinstalled. Adobe have done this for CS1, CS2 and CS3. We can only guess if they have plans to come for CS6. 

[Benny16B6]

I also don't think the Acrobat X was set to stop on a given date, since I can use it for some time after re-installation (I didn't modify the clock). But from my situation alone, I have a feeling that it is now acting like a Trial software even I have activated by entering the license no., as it stops working after slightly more than 1 month after installation.

BTW, in your first reply, do you mean Acrobat 2020 instead of 2000? I googled and found the former, but not the latter. Anyway is it now a cloud version?

[Amal.]

Hi Benny

I am sorry for the confusion. By 'New user profile' i meant of creating a New test user profile on your Windows machine as described here (https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/13951/windows-create-user-account) and then try using the application there.

Regards

Amal