"There is a problem With Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Please exit Adobe/Reader and try again"

[Bucky_...@adobeforums.com]

"There is a problem With Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Please exit Adobe/Reader and try again"

This error can occur when you use Internet Explorer to open a PDF in a browser with Adobe Acrobat 8 installed after using the Adobe Customization Wizard 8 to generate a Microsoft Transform (mst).

From my testing the setting that causes this issue is:

Default viewer for PDF files:
Make Acrobat the default viewer if both Acrobat and Reader are installed.

If only Acrobat Reader is installed you will see the described error message; the PDF will open after clicking Ok to the error.

To resolve this issue use the Adobe Customization Wizard 8 to change the setting "Make Acrobat the default viewer if both Acrobat and Reader are installed" to one of the other two options.

[Bruce...@adobeforums.com]

Good find Bucky -

I have the same exact issue. How can we go about asking Adobe to come up with a fix for this? I don't want to change the filetype associations for the hundreds of users who open PDFs with Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or 7.0. This is definitely an Adobe Reader 8.0/Custwiz.exe bug. The option to select "Open with previous version of Adobe Acrobat" is pretty much useless with the customization wizard.

I tried a batch file as a manual workaround

assoc .pdf="C:\Location of Acrobat professional\Acrobat.exe"

but it is glitchy and screws up the filetype assocation for .PDF on some PCs.

[Bucky_...@adobeforums.com]

I have a smaller user base; I used this issue as justification to have Adobe Reader be the default PDF application and thus users only open Adobe Acrobat to edit or create PDFs. I’ve not yet automated my upgrades for Acrobat 6/7 Standard/Pro thus Reader is a safer default for the web and email attachments.

If you go the batch route I’d recommend something like the following example:

if not exist "C:\Location of Acrobat professional\Acrobat.exe" goto end
ftype acroexch.document="C:\Location of Acrobat professional\Acrobat.exe" "%%1"
:end

Note: the double percent signs before the variable (%%1) are required, or the batch file would interpret %1 as the first command line argument.

There are quite a few ftype entries for Acrobat Reader:
acrobat=C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe /u "%1"
AcroExch.Document="C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
AcroExch.Document.7="AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
AcroExch.FDFDoc="C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
AcroExch.XDPDoc="C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
AcroExch.XFDFDoc="C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
EBXTransfer="C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
EDNActivation="C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"

I recommend testing to see which of the above you need to change.

[Mar...@adobeforums.com]

If only Acrobat Reader is installed...

What version of Reader? 6,7 or 8 or does it matter? I can see this being problematic if you leave Reader or Acrobat 6 on the machine. 6 and 8 use different browser plug-ins and conflicts can occur.

[Bucky_...@adobeforums.com]

Machines that don't have Adobe Acrobat installed (just Adobe Reader 8 ).

Steps to recreate:
Use the Adobe Customization Wizard 8 on Adobe Reader 8 and select "Make Acrobat the default viewer if both Acrobat and Reader are installed".

Use the generated customized MST to install just Adobe Reader 8 on a fresh XP install. Test by clicking on a PDF link in Internet Explorer and get the error "There is a problem With Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Please exit Adobe/Reader and try again".

Notes:
This thread is due to the Adobe Customization Wizard 8 failing to correctly set said setting. In my example both Acrobat and Reader are not installed, thus the logic should be to make Reader the default; instead you get a warning message before Reader launches.

[Mar...@adobeforums.com]

got it. thanks for the steps to repro. If you actually have something previously installed, you won't get the error.

[Tony_K...@adobeforums.com]

I cannot run the installer after down load. I get error msg, "no file associated go to control panel and create it.

[Mr...@adobeforums.com]

thanks

[Mr...@adobeforums.com]

Where can I find Adobe Customization Wizard 8? thanks!

[Teresa_...@adobeforums.com]

I was having the same problem, and I didn't know where to find the customization wizard 8. I was able to fix the problem by clicking Edit/Preferences in Adobe Reader 8. Then under the "Categories:" list click "Internet". On the right side of the window UNcheck the box next to "Allow fast web view." This fixed the problem for me. Good luck, all. :)

[Bucky_...@adobeforums.com]

Two things:

1. The reason I started this thread was to report an issue with Customization Wizard 8, which is used by businesses to modify the Adobe Reader 8 install for deployment. While I may be interested in other issues surrounding the wizard appending them to this thread is not the correct response.

2. If you can't find the Wizard do a search. <http://www.google.com/search?q=adobe+customization+wizard+8&spell=1>

The first hit on Google takes you to the download page <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3564>