Problems with Adobe Reader X?

frau kaleun · 02-22-11, 08:13 PM

Ever since I switched over to Win7 64-bit, which included a reinstall of Adobe Reader, which meant an "upgrade" to the latest version (if that makes any difference), I cannot open my bank statements at my bank's web site. Since I do all of my banking online, this looked like a big problem, meaning I'd either have to switch back to paper statements via snail mail (ugh) for which there might be a fee, or order a copy of each month's statement until the problem's resolved (for which there would be a fee), or call them three times a month until the problem's resolved and reiterate the details of the situation in order to get paper copies on three different accounts without paying whatever fee they would normally charge. Not gonna happen.

Anyway, since I have no problem opening PDF files from any other internet source by simply clicking the appropriate link on whatever web site I'm at (and this includes similar statements from several other financial institutions plus several monthly billing statements for utilities, cable, etc.), I'm of the opinion that the problem is with this bank's setup and not mine. I've emailed them twice and all I get back is "sorry for the inconvenience, make sure you are using compatible versions of the required software, call us for a free copy of your statement," blah blah blah.

I'm already using IE8, which they say is compatible. I'm already using the most recent version of Adobe Reader, which they say is compatible. But they also mentioned opening Reader, going into Edit\Preferences\Internet, and deselecting "Display PDF in Browswer." The thing is, when I try to do that, the option is preselected and greyed out so there is no way I can deselect, reselect it, or do anything.

So I go to Adobe Help to see what I can find, their suggestions for resolving the issue also include doing the same thing. Found one reference where someone mentioned not being able to deselect the option, but the "fix" suggested by other users had to do with Safari and not IE and the Adobe employee's response was just as useless for different reasons. The only thing I came away with was that I might need to use the "repair" option built into Reader (tried it, didn't resolve anything) or uninstall Reader and reinstall but choose a Custom install and maybe there would be something there that controlled this particular function. But again, that suggestion only had to do with Safari issues, not IE, which was never specifically mentioned.

I've already uninstalled Reader and will try to reinstall and see what happenes, but what's weird is - something else I find when looking for a way to fix this issue (if there is one on my end) was a notice stating that Adobe Reader will not open PDF files on the internet if you are using the 64-bit version of IE. Well, I checked, and the 32-bit version is what opens by default and it WILL NOT open the PDF files from this particular website.

However, when I go into Program Files and run the .exe for the 64-bit version of IE, and go to the same website and click on the "view/print" link for one of my statements, the same popup browser window opens, stays blank... but then an Adobe Reader window opens and displays the PDF. So now I'm really confused.

What I'm wondering now is, why are there two different versions of IE to begin with, and is there a reason why the 64-bit IE is not the default version on a 64-bit installation of Windows, and if there's no reason I can't just use it all the time, how can I make it the default version that opens whenever I click a URL? I don't open IE by clicking an "IE shortcut," I open it by clicking a URL or something in my Favorites list, so just changing the file that any shortcuts point to won't work.

And also if there's some info or solution to the whole business about advising people to deselect an option in Reader that Reader has made impossible to deselect, or otherwise finding a way to make it work better with IE overall, that would be great too.

Altho I still think that this is an issue with my bank's web site, the links provided there do not point directly to a PDF file, it's some kind of long string of something that I guess is supposed to pull that file up in the popup window, only it doesn't. But it does pull up the file and open it in an Adobe Reader window, but only in IE 64-bit, which Adobe says it shouldn't? Or will it just not display it in a browser window then? And that's why I need to deselect that stupid option, which I can't do anyway?

P.S. I already hate Adobe Reader with the white hot fury of a billion suns, and this ain't helping.

Feuer Frei! · 02-22-11, 08:47 PM

frau kaleun:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2734419

not sure if that is relevant

Edit:
Is it coming up blank on your web browser, or in your PDF reader?
If it’s the browser, there may be a problem with the PDF plugin on your browser.
Best thing to do is right-click on the link and save the PDF file to you computer first, and then open it directly in your PDF reader.

Steps to take:
Ensure IE is upgraded/updated to latest version
Ensure Adobe is upgraded to latest version
Change security levels in IE
Disable ratings in IE

frau kaleun · 02-22-11, 08:57 PM

Thanks, that certainly seems to be the same problem I'm having. I may try going to the bank's site and clicking on whatever link they have to install Adobe Reader to view their online statements, and see what version it points to.

nikimcbee · 02-22-11, 08:59 PM

Do you know any 13 year olds you could ask?

Feuer Frei! · 02-22-11, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Thanks, that certainly seems to be the same problem I'm having. I may try going to the bank's site and clicking on whatever link they have to install Adobe Reader to view their online statements, and see what version it points to.

Can you ring the bank? Do they have a support help line?
Is it a local branch where you live?
I'm sure that you would be able to talk to support, i know my bank has a number i can call to get assistance with online banking issues.

frau kaleun · 02-22-11, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

Can you ring the bank? Do they have a support help line?
Is it a local branch where you live?
I'm sure that you would be able to talk to support, i know my bank has a number i can call to get assistance with online banking issues.

I'm sure they do, but I doubt I would get any further with that than by emailing the technical support for the web site directly. Besides which, the whole point of online banking is to avoid having to ring the bank. Having to sit on the phone for who knows how long is a option of absolute last resort. I'd rather just fire up IE 64-bit every time I go to their website than deal with that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frau Kaleun

I may try going to the bank's site and clicking on whatever link they have to install Adobe Reader to view their online statements, and see what version it points to.

Aaaand it just points to Adobe.com, so that's no help.

Edit: what's interesting is that now that there is no PDF reader installed on my PC, when I click the link to view/print a statement, I get a popup asking if I want to save the file (which is blahblahblah.pdf) or find a program online to open it. So obviously their linky calls up a pdf file in some fashion and the issue seems to be with Reader's inability to handle it properly. It won't open it in the browser window, and it won't fall back on opening a Reader window for it either. And I don't get an option to open or save, just a blank popup browser window and no access to the file.

@ Feuer Frei: as noted in my original post, I've already made sure of most of the things you mentioned. And there is no issue with IE handling PDF files or using Adobe as a plugin, as I do not have this problem anywhere but the one web site. Also I cannot save the PDF file to my hard drive from the site's link, as the link does not point to the file directly as a target. I do not get an option to save any file whatsoever, it just tries to open the file in another browser window which results in a blank window. Right clicking and trying to "save target as... " or whatever doesn't work. Believe me, I've tried every way I can find to access the file in some way that would make it possible for me to open it. So far the only way I've found is to run IE 64-bit.

Tessa · 02-22-11, 11:05 PM

I've had a similar problem as you're experiencing in the past and found a workaround for sites that have "issue" with opening the pdf in the browser. Open up Acrobat first (don't need to open any files, just have it open and running) and it will usually display it correctly in the browser; sometimes it will display it inside Acrobat (as if you had the file saved locally and opened it), and to make it even more confusing it can give you the popup with the error, but then after you click OK the pdf displays correctly in the browser.

Sailor Steve · 02-23-11, 12:46 AM

I knows - just gives me all your account informationses and I'll takes care of it for you.

frau kaleun · 02-23-11, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tessa

I've had a similar problem as you're experiencing in the past and found a workaround for sites that have "issue" with opening the pdf in the browser. Open up Acrobat first (don't need to open any files, just have it open and running) and it will usually display it correctly in the browser; sometimes it will display it inside Acrobat (as if you had the file saved locally and opened it), and to make it even more confusing it can give you the popup with the error, but then after you click OK the pdf displays correctly in the browser.

Already tried that, doesn't work.

The only workaround I've found so far when the PDF doesn't display properly in a browser window, is to hit Refresh... when it reloads that seems to trigger something and it opens/displays the PDF fine. I've had to do that at a couple sites but it's no biggie, and that was one workaround suggested by a couple of the people complaining about the issue in Adobe's forums.

Unfortunately this does NOT seem to work for the popup window that's supposed to display the PDF from my bank's site.

I also installed a different PDF reader, and the same problem occurs even though the supposedly magical option "Display in browser window" is available and deselected per the bank's (and Adobe's) recommendation.

Not that it will do any good, but I've already emailed the bank's tech support back and reiterated that according to the available information this issue is not an end-user problem. It's the result of the failure of the bank's site to deliver PDF files online in a way that is compatible with the most recent versions of Adobe Reader, as well as the failure of Adobe to address the incompatibility from their end (most notably, they continually advise users to deselect an option that is impossible to deselect) despite getting numerous complaints about it.

kiwi_2005 · 02-25-11, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

What I'm wondering now is, why are there two different versions of IE to begin with, and is there a reason why the 64-bit IE is not the default version on a 64-bit installation of Windows, and if there's no reason I can't just use it all the time, how can I make it the default version that opens whenever I click a URL? I don't open IE by clicking an "IE shortcut," I open it by clicking a URL or something in my Favorites list, so just changing the file that any shortcuts point to won't work.

Google is your buddy. Ive wondered why as well (running 64bit win7 & have IE32/64) your question got me to Google.

It seems the problem is with MS ActiveX controls.

Quote:

This could be happening if the programs that you are installing are supported by 32 bit only and so it gets integrated with the 32 bit Internet Explorer.
The differences between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer can affect toolbar add-ins and Microsoft ActiveX controls. For example, 32-bit toolbar add-ins do not work in the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer. These add-ins include the MSN toolbar, the AOL toolbar, the eBay toolbar, and the Google toolbar. You can install 32-bit toolbars in the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer. However, the 32-bit toolbars will not appear in the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer.

For example, when you start the Setup program for the 32-bit Google toolbar in the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer, the Google Setup program closes the 64-bit Internet Explorer window. The Google Setup program opens a new 32-bit Internet Explorer window when setup is completed. The Google toolbar appears in the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer, and the toolbar works correctly. The 32-bit Google toolbar is not installed in the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer.

By design, the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer cannot host 32-bit ActiveX controls. Additionally, the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer cannot host 64-bit ActiveX controls.

Hope this information is helpful.

Amrita M
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

frau kaleun · 02-25-11, 02:33 PM

Yeah, I haven't had a chance yet to look into the two different versions of IE, but that makes sense.

Most likely the Reader plug-in will only work with 32-bit IE and it's a failure of compatibility between the plug-in and the bank's way of delivering PDF files that causes the problem. Coupled with Adobe's completely removing the end-user option to turn the plug-in off, despite continually advising people that doing so will resolve the issue. Not only does the plug-in not work with my bank's web site, it also makes it impossible to access the PDF files in any way other than via the plug-in. OTOH I installed a different PDF reader entirely where that option was available to deselect and even with the plug-in turned off it still didn't work. So I'm still gonna go with a bank IT fail on this one.

In 64-bit IE the plug-in probably just doesn't work at all so it's not a factor. The PDFs don't open in a browser window but there's nothing preventing them from opening in a Reader window instead.

02-22-11, 08:13 PM	#1
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	Problems with Adobe Reader X? Ever since I switched over to Win7 64-bit, which included a reinstall of Adobe Reader, which meant an "upgrade" to the latest version (if that makes any difference), I cannot open my bank statements at my bank's web site. Since I do all of my banking online, this looked like a big problem, meaning I'd either have to switch back to paper statements via snail mail (ugh) for which there might be a fee, or order a copy of each month's statement until the problem's resolved (for which there would be a fee), or call them three times a month until the problem's resolved and reiterate the details of the situation in order to get paper copies on three different accounts without paying whatever fee they would normally charge. Not gonna happen. Anyway, since I have no problem opening PDF files from any other internet source by simply clicking the appropriate link on whatever web site I'm at (and this includes similar statements from several other financial institutions plus several monthly billing statements for utilities, cable, etc.), I'm of the opinion that the problem is with this bank's setup and not mine. I've emailed them twice and all I get back is "sorry for the inconvenience, make sure you are using compatible versions of the required software, call us for a free copy of your statement," blah blah blah. I'm already using IE8, which they say is compatible. I'm already using the most recent version of Adobe Reader, which they say is compatible. But they also mentioned opening Reader, going into Edit\Preferences\Internet, and deselecting "Display PDF in Browswer." The thing is, when I try to do that, the option is preselected and greyed out so there is no way I can deselect, reselect it, or do anything. So I go to Adobe Help to see what I can find, their suggestions for resolving the issue also include doing the same thing. Found one reference where someone mentioned not being able to deselect the option, but the "fix" suggested by other users had to do with Safari and not IE and the Adobe employee's response was just as useless for different reasons. The only thing I came away with was that I might need to use the "repair" option built into Reader (tried it, didn't resolve anything) or uninstall Reader and reinstall but choose a Custom install and maybe there would be something there that controlled this particular function. But again, that suggestion only had to do with Safari issues, not IE, which was never specifically mentioned. I've already uninstalled Reader and will try to reinstall and see what happenes, but what's weird is - something else I find when looking for a way to fix this issue (if there is one on my end) was a notice stating that Adobe Reader will not open PDF files on the internet if you are using the 64-bit version of IE. Well, I checked, and the 32-bit version is what opens by default and it WILL NOT open the PDF files from this particular website. However, when I go into Program Files and run the .exe for the 64-bit version of IE, and go to the same website and click on the "view/print" link for one of my statements, the same popup browser window opens, stays blank... but then an Adobe Reader window opens and displays the PDF. So now I'm really confused. What I'm wondering now is, why are there two different versions of IE to begin with, and is there a reason why the 64-bit IE is not the default version on a 64-bit installation of Windows, and if there's no reason I can't just use it all the time, how can I make it the default version that opens whenever I click a URL? I don't open IE by clicking an "IE shortcut," I open it by clicking a URL or something in my Favorites list, so just changing the file that any shortcuts point to won't work. And also if there's some info or solution to the whole business about advising people to deselect an option in Reader that Reader has made impossible to deselect, or otherwise finding a way to make it work better with IE overall, that would be great too. Altho I still think that this is an issue with my bank's web site, the links provided there do not point directly to a PDF file, it's some kind of long string of something that I guess is supposed to pull that file up in the popup window, only it doesn't. But it does pull up the file and open it in an Adobe Reader window, but only in IE 64-bit, which Adobe says it shouldn't? Or will it just not display it in a browser window then? And that's why I need to deselect that stupid option, which I can't do anyway? P.S. I already hate Adobe Reader with the white hot fury of a billion suns, and this ain't helping.

02-22-11, 08:47 PM	#2
Feuer Frei! Navy Seal Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Valhalla Posts: 5,295 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 17	frau kaleun: http://forums.adobe.com/message/2734419 not sure if that is relevant Edit: Is it coming up blank on your web browser, or in your PDF reader? If it’s the browser, there may be a problem with the PDF plugin on your browser. Best thing to do is right-click on the link and save the PDF file to you computer first, and then open it directly in your PDF reader. Steps to take: Ensure IE is upgraded/updated to latest version Ensure Adobe is upgraded to latest version Change security levels in IE Disable ratings in IE __________________ "History is the lies that the victors agree on"- Napoleon LINK TO MY SH 3 MODS

02-22-11, 08:59 PM	#4
nikimcbee Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Patroling the Slot. Posts: 17,925 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	Do you know any 13 year olds you could ask? __________________

02-23-11, 12:46 AM	#8
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	I knows - just gives me all your account informationses and I'll takes care of it for you. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

02-22-11, 08:57 PM	#3
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	Thanks, that certainly seems to be the same problem I'm having. I may try going to the bank's site and clicking on whatever link they have to install Adobe Reader to view their online statements, and see what version it points to.

02-22-11, 11:05 PM	#7
Tessa Grey Wolf Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: CG 96 Posts: 861 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	I've had a similar problem as you're experiencing in the past and found a workaround for sites that have "issue" with opening the pdf in the browser. Open up Acrobat first (don't need to open any files, just have it open and running) and it will usually display it correctly in the browser; sometimes it will display it inside Acrobat (as if you had the file saved locally and opened it), and to make it even more confusing it can give you the popup with the error, but then after you click OK the pdf displays correctly in the browser.

02-25-11, 02:33 PM	#11
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	Yeah, I haven't had a chance yet to look into the two different versions of IE, but that makes sense. Most likely the Reader plug-in will only work with 32-bit IE and it's a failure of compatibility between the plug-in and the bank's way of delivering PDF files that causes the problem. Coupled with Adobe's completely removing the end-user option to turn the plug-in off, despite continually advising people that doing so will resolve the issue. Not only does the plug-in not work with my bank's web site, it also makes it impossible to access the PDF files in any way other than via the plug-in. OTOH I installed a different PDF reader entirely where that option was available to deselect and even with the plug-in turned off it still didn't work. So I'm still gonna go with a bank IT fail on this one. In 64-bit IE the plug-in probably just doesn't work at all so it's not a factor. The PDFs don't open in a browser window but there's nothing preventing them from opening in a Reader window instead.