6 Replies Latest reply: Jul 8, 2012 4:19 AM by Test Screen Name RSS

    Acrobat X Update "killed" Acrobat 9

    L Hickle Community Member

      Our prepress department uses Acrobat 9 Pro with the Pitstop plug-in to process files. A co-worker working in Windows noticed that he had an update available -- for Acrobat X -- so he went ahead and let it update. (I'll note here that we are in the habit of having multiple versions available, so he assumed he could still use the Acrobat 9 workhorse as needed.)

       

      He's not happy with X's user interface (and his Pitstop plug-in lives in version 9), so he tried opening files back in version 9. Now suddenly he finds that he cannot run Acrobat 9 at all. Even if he selects it directly. PDFs now open exclusively in version X.

       

      Is there an "uninstaller" for Acrobat X, and if he runs it, will it break anything else? Will he have to reinstall Acrobat 9 and Pitstop?

        • 1. Re: Acrobat X Update "killed" Acrobat 9
          Bill@VT CommunityMVP

          Are you saying he can not start AA9 or that double clicking on the file it automatically opens up in AAX? Has he tried right clicking on the PDF and selecting Open With to select AA9? Has he tried opening AA9 and opening the file from the file menu? There is a lot of information missing to be of much help, so I have offered some in terms of questions. AA9 and AAX are supposed to be compatible, allowing you to run both. However, the default application when double clicking may be an issue and is set by Windows. It might be useful to know what version of Windows and if you are talking about a 32 or 64-bit system.

          • 2. Re: Acrobat X Update "killed" Acrobat 9
            L Hickle Community Member

            I checked with him, and he has tried both double-clicking the file (opened in X) and the right-click "Open With", with the same result. He is running Windows XP on a 32-bit system.

            • 3. Re: Acrobat X Update "killed" Acrobat 9
              dave_m_k サポートアドバイザ

              Hi L Hickle,

               

              Acrobat 9 and Acrobat X cannot co-exist on the same machine.  It's not a supported configuration. 

               

              My recommendation would be to uninstall both Acrobat 9 and Acrobat X, then reinstall just Acrobat 9 if he prefers the UI and needs that version of PitStop.

               

              -David

              • 4. Re: Acrobat X Update "killed" Acrobat 9
                Bill@VT CommunityMVP

                Is this a change? In earlier posts I recall that one of the changes with AA X is that it could be installed and retain previous versions.

                • 5. Re: Acrobat X Update "killed" Acrobat 9
                  dave_m_k サポートアドバイザ

                  Hi Bill,

                   

                  I have heard of successful co-installations of Acrobat 9 and Acrobat X (haven't had this work for me), so perhaps my use of the word 'cannot' was a bit strong.  It's definitely not a supported configuration though and we recommend that only one version of Acrobat be installed on a system.

                   

                  -David

                  • 6. Re: Acrobat X Update "killed" Acrobat 9
                    Test Screen Name CommunityMVP

                    I zip back and forth between versions, so it can be done with a bit of patience and luck. What you have to give up the idea of is that double-click-to-open is any use to you any more. You need to use File > Open or similar.

                    Try

                    1. Reboot

                    2. Use task manager to make sure no Acrobat.exe is running

                    3. Try starting Acrobat 9.

                    4. Still starts X? Kill it, repeat step 2, and navigate to the acrobat.exe file for v9 and run that.

                    5. Still starts X? Right click, properties, check version. Maybe someone/something actually overwrote the app.

                    But always remember once you have it working that it is "unsupported" and what that really means. (It is NOT a statement that it never works.)