Cannot associate PDF files with Acrobat Reader

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I have a user who all of a sudden cannot open PDF files. I looked on her
computer and any PDF file just shows up as a Windows defualt file icon and
there was no file association set up for the PDF extension. I verified that
Acrobat Reader 7.0 was installed.

I right-clicked on the file and chose "Open With", but Acrobat Reader was
not listed. I clicked on Browse and browsed out to the Acrobat Reader
executable, but after I selected it, Acrobat Reader never showed up in the
list of programs to use in opening the files.

I opened up Windows Explorer and went to Tools->Folder Options and then
clicked on File Types. I scrolled down to the PDF extension and it showed no
program assigned to it. When I clicked on the Change button, it took me to
the same "Open With" window and I still had the same issue of not being able
to get Acrobat Reader to show up. Back on the File Types window I clicked on
the Reset button, but it just associated PDF with Notepad.

I uninstalled Acrobat Reader and then reinstalled it, but I still had the
same issue. I noticed that if I logged in as myself, then the association
was correct, but not while logged in as her. Does her profile just need to
be created? Also, if I opened Acrobat Reader and then went to File->Open and
selected a PDF file, then it opened fine, but still did not allow me to
associate the PDF extension with Acrobat Reader. As far as I know, nothing
was changed on this computer. It was working just the other day and now it's
not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason
 
Great that you verified acrobat 7 is working on the PC,

can you check what is her effective access to the acrobat and the exe?
should read, exec, list.

Sounds like your were doing all one should do.


Try this:
how about in your account, regedit, export
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\7.
then logout, login the user's account and try to improt the exported reg
file

What happens? If you are not allow to import, then you need to give the
user change permission on the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat
Reader\7.
 
Jason,

Login as Administrator, and then use the OpenWithAdd utility below to
register the "AcroRd32.exe" with the open-with dialog once.

Registering a program with the "Open With" dialog:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/openwithadd.htm


--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I have a user who all of a sudden cannot open PDF files. I looked on her
computer and any PDF file just shows up as a Windows defualt file icon and
there was no file association set up for the PDF extension. I verified that
Acrobat Reader 7.0 was installed.

I right-clicked on the file and chose "Open With", but Acrobat Reader was
not listed. I clicked on Browse and browsed out to the Acrobat Reader
executable, but after I selected it, Acrobat Reader never showed up in the
list of programs to use in opening the files.

I opened up Windows Explorer and went to Tools->Folder Options and then
clicked on File Types. I scrolled down to the PDF extension and it showed
no
program assigned to it. When I clicked on the Change button, it took me to
the same "Open With" window and I still had the same issue of not being able
to get Acrobat Reader to show up. Back on the File Types window I clicked
on
the Reset button, but it just associated PDF with Notepad.

I uninstalled Acrobat Reader and then reinstalled it, but I still had the
same issue. I noticed that if I logged in as myself, then the association
was correct, but not while logged in as her. Does her profile just need to
be created? Also, if I opened Acrobat Reader and then went to File->Open
and
selected a PDF file, then it opened fine, but still did not allow me to
associate the PDF extension with Acrobat Reader. As far as I know, nothing
was changed on this computer. It was working just the other day and now
it's
not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason
 
It did appear to have to do with the registry. I tried replacing the
registry key you mentioned, but I still had the same problem afterwards. I
ended up renaming her user profile folder (C:\Documents and
Settings\%username%) and allowing Windows to create a new one when I logged
back in as that user. I then copied everything from the old profile folder
into the new profile folder, except for the "NTUSER.DAT" file, which I
understand to be the user registry hive. I ended up having to reset some of
the settings for the user, such as the background, where programs open up to,
and little things like that, but the PDF to Acrobat Reader connection was
working again. Thank you very much for your help.

-Jason
 
Our problem is a bit different but releated. Since installing SP2 on one of
our computers, a pdf file attached to an email will not open although Adobe
Reader is installed. The error says the file type is not linked to a
program. However, if we save the attached pdf file to the desktop, it opens
properly. The starnge things is a different computer that had SP2 previously
does not have that problem. Very strange. Any assistance will be greatly
appreciated.
 
This is a different problem, Howard. Can you post the file association info
for .PDF ?

See: FileExtInfo - View the association settings for a file type easily:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/fileextinfo.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


"Howard - JC Publishing" <[email protected]>
wrote in message Our problem is a bit different but releated. Since installing SP2 on one of
our computers, a pdf file attached to an email will not open although Adobe
Reader is installed. The error says the file type is not linked to a
program. However, if we save the attached pdf file to the desktop, it opens
properly. The starnge things is a different computer that had SP2
previously
does not have that problem. Very strange. Any assistance will be greatly
appreciated.



Ramesh said:
Jason,

Login as Administrator, and then use the OpenWithAdd utility below to
register the "AcroRd32.exe" with the open-with dialog once.

Registering a program with the "Open With" dialog:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/openwithadd.htm


--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I have a user who all of a sudden cannot open PDF files. I looked on her
computer and any PDF file just shows up as a Windows defualt file icon and
there was no file association set up for the PDF extension. I verified
that
Acrobat Reader 7.0 was installed.

I right-clicked on the file and chose "Open With", but Acrobat Reader was
not listed. I clicked on Browse and browsed out to the Acrobat Reader
executable, but after I selected it, Acrobat Reader never showed up in the
list of programs to use in opening the files.

I opened up Windows Explorer and went to Tools->Folder Options and then
clicked on File Types. I scrolled down to the PDF extension and it showed
no
program assigned to it. When I clicked on the Change button, it took me
to
the same "Open With" window and I still had the same issue of not being
able
to get Acrobat Reader to show up. Back on the File Types window I clicked
on
the Reset button, but it just associated PDF with Notepad.

I uninstalled Acrobat Reader and then reinstalled it, but I still had the
same issue. I noticed that if I logged in as myself, then the association
was correct, but not while logged in as her. Does her profile just need
to
be created? Also, if I opened Acrobat Reader and then went to File->Open
and
selected a PDF file, then it opened fine, but still did not allow me to
associate the PDF extension with Acrobat Reader. As far as I know,
nothing
was changed on this computer. It was working just the other day and now
it's
not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason
Click to expand...
 
Can I email the .txt file directly to you or should I paste it to the
newsgroup?

Howard


Ramesh said:
This is a different problem, Howard. Can you post the file association info
for .PDF ?

See: FileExtInfo - View the association settings for a file type easily:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/fileextinfo.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


"Howard - JC Publishing" <[email protected]>
wrote in message Our problem is a bit different but releated. Since installing SP2 on one of
our computers, a pdf file attached to an email will not open although Adobe
Reader is installed. The error says the file type is not linked to a
program. However, if we save the attached pdf file to the desktop, it opens
properly. The starnge things is a different computer that had SP2
previously
does not have that problem. Very strange. Any assistance will be greatly
appreciated.



Ramesh said:
Jason,

Login as Administrator, and then use the OpenWithAdd utility below to
register the "AcroRd32.exe" with the open-with dialog once.

Registering a program with the "Open With" dialog:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/openwithadd.htm


--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I have a user who all of a sudden cannot open PDF files. I looked on her
computer and any PDF file just shows up as a Windows defualt file icon and
there was no file association set up for the PDF extension. I verified
that
Acrobat Reader 7.0 was installed.

I right-clicked on the file and chose "Open With", but Acrobat Reader was
not listed. I clicked on Browse and browsed out to the Acrobat Reader
executable, but after I selected it, Acrobat Reader never showed up in the
list of programs to use in opening the files.

I opened up Windows Explorer and went to Tools->Folder Options and then
clicked on File Types. I scrolled down to the PDF extension and it showed
no
program assigned to it. When I clicked on the Change button, it took me
to
the same "Open With" window and I still had the same issue of not being
able
to get Acrobat Reader to show up. Back on the File Types window I clicked
on
the Reset button, but it just associated PDF with Notepad.

I uninstalled Acrobat Reader and then reinstalled it, but I still had the
same issue. I noticed that if I logged in as myself, then the association
was correct, but not while logged in as her. Does her profile just need
to
be created? Also, if I opened Acrobat Reader and then went to File->Open
and
selected a PDF file, then it opened fine, but still did not allow me to
associate the PDF extension with Acrobat Reader. As far as I know,
nothing
was changed on this computer. It was working just the other day and now
it's
not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I am sending two reports. This is the one from the computer having the
problem:

FileExtInfo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FileExtInfo v1.0 - Log file
6/13/2006 7:48:59 AM


Complete File association information for ---> .PDF
Useful for troubleshooting File association and other problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF]
@="pdf_auto_file"
"Content Type"="application/pdf"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF\OpenWithList]
@=""


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF\OpenWithList\AcroRd32.exe]
@=""


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF\PersistentHandler]
@="{B7509D6F-85EE-11d0-AF7D-00C04FD8DC02}"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\pdf_auto_file]
@=""


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\pdf_auto_file\shell]


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\pdf_auto_file\shell\Read]


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\pdf_auto_file\shell\Read\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat 7.0\\Reader\\AcroRd32.exe\" \"%1\""


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.PDF]
"Progid"="pdf_auto_file"


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.PDF\
OpenWithList]
"a"="primopdf.exe"
"MRUList"="bac"
"b"="AcroRd32.exe"
"c"="iexplore.exe"


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.PDF\
OpenWithProgids]
"pdf_auto_file"=hex(0):


Page 1

and here is the report from an identical computer where the attached pdf
documents can be opened within Outlook Express:

FileExtInfo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FileExtInfo v1.0 - Log file
6/12/2006 4:23:01 PM


Complete File association information for ---> .PDF
Useful for troubleshooting File association and other problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF]
"Content Type"="application/pdf"
@="AcroExch.Document"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF\OpenWithList]
@=""


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF\OpenWithList\AcroRd32.exe]
@=""


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PDF\PersistentHandler]
@="{B7509D6F-85EE-11d0-AF7D-00C04FD8DC02}"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document]
"BrowseInPlace"="1"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
@="Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Document"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document\CLSID]
@="{B801CA65-A1FC-11D0-85AD-444553540000}"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document\CurVer]
@="AcroExch.Document.7"


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.PDF]
"Application"="AcroRd32.exe"


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.PDF\
OpenWithList]
"a"="primopdf.exe"
"MRUList"="beadhgfc"
"b"="AcroRd32.exe"
"c"="IEXPLORE.EXE"
"d"="SPOOLER.EXE"
"e"="crw32.exe"
"f"="SPMaint.EXE"
"g"="XJOBATCH.exe"
"h"="SchedBrd.exe"


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.PDF\
OpenWithProgids]
"ft000001"=hex(0):
"AcroExch.Document"=hex(0):


Page 1

Thank you for your assistance.

Howard




Ramesh said:
You can paste it here, Howard.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


"Howard - JC Publishing" <[email protected]>
wrote in message Can I email the .txt file directly to you or should I paste it to the
newsgroup?

Howard
Click to expand...
 
Howard,

Open Regedit.exe and navigate to:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\pdf_auto_file\shell\Read]

Right-click "Read" and select Rename

Type "open"

Close Regedit.exe

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


"Howard - JC Publishing" <[email protected]>
wrote in message I am sending two reports. This is the one from the computer having the
problem:

FileExtInfo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FileExtInfo v1.0 - Log file
6/13/2006 7:48:59 AM


Complete File association information for ---> .PDF
Useful for troubleshooting File association and other problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
ELVIN said:
This computer runs Vista Home Premium and has lost its ability to
associate Adobe Reader with .pdf files. The situation here is that if a
.pdf file is saved to the disk, Adobe Reader 9.0 can open it. However
.pdf files cannot be opened as (IE 7) browser attachments, (Windows
Mail) email attachments, or in web applications.

I checked IE Tools/Internet Options/Programs/Internet
Programs/Associate A File Type .... and there is no .pdf in the list of
file types. The only file type listed currently is .pdx, which says it
is associated with Adobe Reader 9.0.

Any assistance that can be provided is much appreciated.

Elvin Monteleone
Click to expand...

Maybe something here:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/ie/pdf.htm
 
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