A Tip From Kinetic Computer Services ...

Cannot preview or open PDF files from Outlook or a web browser

Description of the Problem

You are unable to open or preview PDF files in certain situations, such as from within Microsoft Outlook or your web browser. You can reliably open PDFs by launching your PDF viewer application first, then opening the file from the program's menu.

You have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. You may also have one or more other PDF viewers, in addition to Adobe Reader. When you attempt to launch Adobe Reader, a User Account Control (UAC) window pops up, and you must select "Yes" and/or enter a password before the program will launch.

This problem began to occur after you installed or updated Adobe Reader.

Cause

Adobe Reader has been configured on your system to require administrative privileges to run. When you launch Adobe Reader manually, you are able to grant those privileges via the UAC dialog, but when another application, such as Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer, or Google Chrome, attempts to launch Adobe Reader, it fails because the UAC prompt does not appear.

Solution

While it is possible to configure the affected applications such as Outlook, Internet Explorer, and Chrome to use a different PDF viewer besides Adobe Reader, the simplest fix is to remove the UAC prompt from Adobe Reader.

Find the Adobe Reader icon on your desktop or in your Programs menu. Right-click it and choose Properties from the context menu. Select the Compatibility tab. Uncheck the box, "Run this program as an administrator" from the Privilege Level section. Press OK to save and exit.

After making this change, you will be able to launch Adobe Reader without a UAC prompt, and your other applications, such as Outlook, Internet Explorer, and Chrome, will be able to use it to preview or open PDFs.

This tip is a free service of Kinetic Computer Services - professional network consultants serving the Houston area since 1998.

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