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.

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.