A reader wrote to tell us she was having trouble viewing PDFs from web pages. Our Helproom Expert explained how to solve this issue that affects Windows 7 64bit.
QUESTION Whenever I click a link on a web page to view a PDF, I get a message reporting that my version of Adobe Reader is unable to do so. The browser then crashes. I've tried using Apple Safari 5, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. I've also installed the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Reader X. I'm also unable to read or preview PDFs in Outlook, but the error message mentions an issue with the Vista Preview Handler instead. I have a powerful PC running Windows 7 SP1 and an AMD Phenom CPU. Melanie Jones
HELPROOM ANSWER This is a long-standing issue with Windows 7 64bit. Acrobat and Adobe Reader work fine as standalone applications, but often refuse to work when called upon by other applications – such as your web browser.
The problem is sometimes accompanied by an error message regarding the PDF Preview Handler, as you've seen.
This error is said to have been fixed in the latest version of Reader. You say you have the latest version installed, but you may need to download the software from Adobe's site and then search for upgrades within the program to download the latest bug fixes. The same may be true of Acrobat, but we haven't been able to test this.
If this solution doesn't work for you, a third-party fix has been developed specifically to address this issue that has been reported as successful by other users. Download fixes for 64-bit Adobe Reader handler and thumbnails here. More information can be found on the Adobe forums. Also here are details of how to fix the problem manually using the Windows Registry Editor.
However, because this problem should now be fixed in the latest version of Adobe Reader, we recommend uninstalling the software and replacing it with a new version. As we mentioned above, be sure to check for updates from within the program.
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Comments
Susan Sims said: An alternative is to buy PDF Studio and set it as the default PDF reader Then youll be able to open PDF files mark on them and save the annotated PDF to view later on any other system and with any PDF reader For free youll be able to read PDFs with a watermark
Matt Egan said: Not at all You made a great point
Maccyroo said: Sorry Matt wasnt paying attention
Clive said: Agree with Maccyroo Every time I have a problem with Adobe reader I dont waste time trying to resolve it just install Foxit
David said: Rather than using Acrobat Reader why not use Nuances free Zeon Reader Its a lot less bloated and loads amp works faster Ive now converted all my PCs to Zeon which can be downloaded in the same way as Adobe Reader from Nuances website Nuancecouk - they are the people who do Dragon Naturally Speaking and the Paperport OCR among other professional programs
Matt Egan said: You can download FoxIt PDF Reader from PCA too httpwwwpcadvisorcoukrev
Maccyroo said: Adobes Reader is unecessarily complex and plagued with problems when it comes to interacting with most browsers do yourself a favour and switch to the free and less complex but fully featured Foxit PDF Reader available here httpwwwfoxitsoftwarecomS It is fully featured has no problems displaying PDFs in most popular browsers I use it daily with IE8 Chrome and FireFox its much lighter on system resources and loads in milliseconds I too persevered with the ubiquitous but temprementalAdobe Reader for years After moving to Foxit some three years ago I have never looked back It supports advanced features and even offers a free desktop i Filter addonwhich allows you to search within PDF documents from the standard search tool in Windows 7