|
Answer» QUESTION: I have a bad Registry key in Windows XP that prevents associating the PDF extension with an application. Regedit cannot display the key: "HKEYLocalMachine/Software/Classes/PDF". It cannot be overwritten with a registry merge. How can I fix this error so I can view PDF files again?
PC INFO:
Home built PC (2 years old) ASUS P5GDC motherboard
Windows XP Pro, with SP-2 and all MICROSOFT patches (OEM version)
Pentium 4, 3 GHz
1024 MB memory
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT video card
Firewall: free Zone Alarm
Antivirus: free AVG 7.5
Antispyware: CounterSpy 2.5
DSL Internet connection via hardware router
DETAILED INFORMATION: My regular (administrative level) User account started having a problem starting the user interface for CounterSpy 2.5 recently. Counterspy.exe would not launch, so there is no access to the User interface. After many unsuccesful attempts to diagnose the problem, I found that it WOULD launch in any NEW admininistrative level User account. In order to duplicate all my existing settings, I then used a third User account to copy the settings from my regular account to the new account as follows:
Right-click MyComputer, Properties, Advanced tab, User Profiles Settings. I selected the regular User account, clicked CopyTo, and selected the new User account.
After the copying was finished, I logged into my new User account, which now looked identical to the regular User account. At this point, Counterspy.exe WILL launch and the problem was solved. However, another problem appeared! PDF files will no longer launch the Adobe application. I tried all the usual techniques to associate PDF files with the application, but that process looks unusual, compared with associating any other file type. METHOD 1: Shift-Right clicking a PDF file, selecting Open With, Choose Program does not open the regular "Open With" window where the "Always use selected program to open this type of file" appears. Instead, a window opens that says "Windows cannot open this file, and the only options are (1) Use the Web to find a suitable program, and (2) Select the program from a list. I select option (2) and an Open With window opens that looks similar to the normal one, but with more options. However, this does not work; PDF files still have no association. METHOD 2: I have also tried using Windows Explorer, Tools, Folder Options, selecting the File Types tab, and scrolling to PDF, and creating the association that way. No dice!
Finally, I spent time in the Windows Registry searching for all entries with PDF, and found that there is a problem with the following key:
HKEYLocalMachine/Software/Classes/PDF
Regedit cannot display this entry. Regedit says "Error Opening Key" "Cannot open PDF: Error while opening key". Several other nearby entries are also bad (PDD, PEF, PLS, etc).
At this point, I went back to my old regular User account (nominally identical to the new one), and checked the same Registry entries. They are OK. So, I then exported the HKEYLocalMachine/Software/Classes part of the registry to a file. Going back into the new User account, I tried to import this REG file (merge) so it would overwrite the bad area. That also doesn't work and gives the error message: "Cannot import FILE.REG: Error accessing the registry".
So here is my question: How can I fix this Registry problem so I can associate PDF files? Is there a registry repair program that could fix this?
Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling Adobe?
Alan <>< Well here is my suggestion:
Uninstall adobe.
Dload, instal and run Ccleaner(Without yahoo toolbar) in the issue part.(That would clean ever regestry key of adobe.)
Reboot.
Reinstall adobe.
Reboot
Run Ccleaner isue part.
Hopes this work.
Jonas
BTW: Ccleaner is free.
Quote from: Jonas Wauters on AUGUST 08, 2007, 10:24:09 AM Well here is my suggestion:
Uninstall adobe.
Dload, instal and run Ccleaner(Without yahoo toolbar) in the issue part.(That would clean ever regestry key of adobe.)
Reboot.
Reinstall adobe.
Reboot
Run Ccleaner isue part.
Hopes this work.
Jonas
BTW: Ccleaner is free.
Your suggestions sounded great. However, it doesn't help.
Apparently, CCleaner did not get rid of the bad registry keys, as Regedit still can't display the bad entries.
Also, reinstalling Adobe reader did not help either. The first time I ran it, I can't even get to the "I Agree" part of the license agreement due to massive amounts (100's??) of small windows titled "Internet Explorer Script Error". MANY mouse clicks on the X to close these windows, then try to click on I Agree, produces another bout of Script Error windows.
Running an alternate PDF reader program, FoxItReader, I can drag and drop PDF files onto that application to display their contents, but double clicking on a PDF file still won't work, since I still have the same lack of file association problem, which I assume is because of the registry problem.
I have thought seriously about trying to reinstall Windows itself and all my applications from scratch, but the magnitude of that task is horrible. My PC is used for so many tasks, there are over 100 programs listed in Add/Remove Programs, and over 100 Windows XP security updates/patches! However, I'm finding other strange things, such as "Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore" just shows a blank window. Also, "Start/Help&Support" doesn't even start at all. So, it appears there are some major flaws in Windows XP itself, at least in this new User account.
I guess I could just abandon my new User Account and go back to the old one. Then, my only problem is not being able to run the user interface of CounterSpy. However, I would have to log into different User Account, just to run the daily Spyware scans. That is not ideal, though.
If anyone has any other ideas, I'd be more than happy to try something else.
Thanks for your advice!
Adobe is having some stubborn un-install issues in it's product line...visit their site for the fixes.
Personally i'd stick with Foxit.
Quote from: patio on August 09, 2007, 09:58:10 AMAdobe is having some stubborn un-install issues in it's product line...visit their site for the fixes.
Personally i'd stick with Foxit.
I use FoxIt exclusively. I did not even have Adobe reader installed when all this started. The only reason I did install it now was to see if it would clean up the file association problem with PDF files. It didn't. So it is now history again.
I believe the new User account is too hosed to fix. I'm deleting it, and going back to my original account. Everything WORKS there, except for no ability to launch Counterspy.exe. I guess I'll have to log on as Admininstrator each day and let CounterSpy do its daily scan.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!
|
