Hello,
When our campus users launch Adobe Reader 10.1.4 after logging on to a campus machine via a network account (with a re-directed app data folder) and launch a PDF from a network location by double-clicking it from Windows Explorer, Adobe Reader will launch, but then lock up and enter a "Not Responding" state after a few seconds of working with the PDF. I can only reproduce this issue with both the Enable Protected Mode at startup and the Show me messages when I launch Reader boxes checked (if either box is unchecked, the lock-up does not occur). If I wait long enough, sometimes, the "Not Responding" state will end and I will be able to view the PDF without issues. However, after a single reboot, the problem re-occurs. Our campus machines are on the 32-bit Windows 7 OS.
I have been able to reproduce this issue in Adobe Reader 10.1.2, 10.1.3, and 10.1.4, but not in Adobe Reader 10.1.1. I am not able to reproduce this issue using a local account opening a local PDF, a local account opening a network PDF, or using a network account to open a local PDF. The issue also does not occur if the user first launches Adobe Reader, and then opens the network PDF using File->Open. In other words, the issue only occurs when a network account opens a network PDF by double-clicking on it from Windows Explorer.
I did some research in the Adobe Reader forums, and here are the workarounds that I found and my success with them:
1) Uncheck Enable Protected Mode at startup
As I stated before, this does work around the problem, but also decreases security. As a troubleshooting step, I tried using the Adobe Reader documentation to white-list everything that Protected Mode was 'blocking'. The lock-ups still occurred even though the Protected Mode log was empty (after whitelisting) and did not indicate that anything was being blocked.
2) Disable Enable Hardware rendering for legacy video cards
This workaround did not work for me, even after disabling the legacy video cards and switching the preferred renderer to software.
3) Uninstall and reinstall Adobe Reader
This workaround was also ineffective.
4) Uncheck Show me messages when I launch Reader
As I stated before, this does work around the problem.
But these are not fixes - just workarounds. Does anyone know what the root problem is and whether or not Adobe will be addressing this issue?
Thank you in advance.