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Adobe reader quit working and won't open

Jun 12, 2012 1:38 PM

Hi... I have been running Adobe Reader 8 on an XP machine for quite a while with no problem. Suddenly Adobe Reader quit opening. When I double click on the icon, nothing happens. When I open a PDF file nothing happens. It just won't do anything. This is my bosses computer, so I am not sure what he may have accidentally done to create the problem. I can usually fix whatever mistakes he makes, but I am at a loss on this one.

I have tried uninstalling adobe reader and reinstalling several times. I have tried versions 9 and 10 as well, but I have the same result. The uninstall and reinstall process seems to run fine and I get a message at the end that adobe reader x.x was installed successfully. Then the program fails to open. I have also tried running the program through another admin user account, but this does not help either.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

2072 Views 4 Replies Latest reply: 2survey, Jun 13, 2012 8:04 AM

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1. MichaelKazlow,

Jun 12, 2012 4:02 PM in reply to 2survey

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Run the Acrobat and Reader Cleanup Tool then re-install.

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html

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2. 2survey,

Jun 13, 2012 5:51 AM in reply to MichaelKazlow

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Thanks for the suggestion... I ran the acrobat cleaner and it seemed to work fine. I then reinstalled adobe reader. The installation went fine with no error messages and it looked normal. However, the program will still not run. Any other thoughts?

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3. Claudio González,

Jun 13, 2012 6:37 AM in reply to 2survey

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Well, you can always try running this fix from Microsoft and uninstall all traces of any versions of Reader:

http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Program_Install_and_Uninstall

Then, if you want to reinstall Reader, download its full installer from

http://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/

After downloading, restart your computer and run the installer before doing anything else.

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4. 2survey,

Jun 13, 2012 8:04 AM in reply to Claudio González

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Thanks Claudio... I tried your suggestion. I ran the fixit program from microsoft. This ran fine, of course it is focusing on problems with installation and uninstallation. I tried both ways. I found a dictionary pack for adobe reader 8 that was still installed. I removed it and let the fixit program fix any problems. It did it's thing, so I downloaded the full installer for adobe reader 10 from the link. I restarted the computer and installed adobe reader from the download after rebotting. Again, the installation seemed to work fine. No problems were indicated. Then when I double click the icon to open the program, I get an hourglass for about 2 seconds then nothing. It just does not open. I have tried opening it several ways to no success.

I really need this to work, but short of wiping the hard drive and reloading everything I am at a loss. Are there any alternatives out there to adobe reader? We routinely use several websites that require adobe reader to function properly.

Thanks again...

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