How to fix an error in the Start menu?

Like virtually every other computer user, I have Adobe Reader installed on my system. If I open a PDF, Windows runs it. But if I try to run it from the Start menu, I get "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 10.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe / The specified path does not exist." Indeed it does not; Adobe Reader is now at major release 26, and there isn't even a "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\" folder on my machine any more.

In the past I've fixed this sort of problem by locating the program's executable and creating a shortcut to it in "C:\Users\<user>\Start Menu." But with modern Windows features and security, I can't find the executable.

It should be somewhere in "C:\Program Files\Adobe." But that folder doesn't exist either. I searched "C:\Program Files\" for Adobe and found only one folder, "C:\Program Files\Adobe DC\," which I believe is a relic that should have been deleted by an uninstaller. I searched that folder for *.exe, but found nothing that looked like it might be Adobe Reader.

Where did the Adobe Reader installer stash it?

The other half of the process is to repair the folder(s) that define the Start menu. I opened a Windows Explorer window as Administrator, went to "C:\Users\All Users\," and tried to open Start Menu. I got "Access is denied." I tried the same with Default and with Default User. "Access is denied." I tried it with my own user directory. "Access is denied." Microsoft won't let me fix errors in my own Start Menu entries any more.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Reader, but it didn't help.

I looked up Microsoft's support page for "Customize the Windows Start Menu." It tells me how to do stuff like pin and unpin menu items, list menu items alphabetically, and organize them in folders, but not a whisper about how to fix an error in the menu item itself. Apparently that isn't allowed.

Now what? Is there any way to fix this?

@jhsachs


I take it that it wasn't in C:\Program Files (x86) either?

When you re-installed it, what location did it "say" it was installing it to?

Hello @jhsachs

You can try an option in the tutorial below to remove the broken app shortcut from the Start Menu All apps list, then add a correct one.

Have you done a search for the exe file .... using a more reliable option rather than the search bar and/or Explorer search
Everything from Voidtools
Ultrasearch
Agent Ransack

Make sure you've turned on show hidden files

Also, when you open a pdf, check Task Manager to see the path of the running program

I suspect the installation has gone to the individual user location c:\users\[username]\AppsData\Local or Roaming (hidden files needs to be turned on to access these folders). Make sure you search here.

EDIT
The pdf's actually are opening in Adobe, aren't they, and not opening in a web browser?? Maybe even Adobe Reader online version, which will show up as Adobe, but within a browser

EDIT 2
Alternatively, kick invasive Adobe over the sideline and install an alternative like Foxit Reader.

EDIT 3
How did you uninstall it? Best to use sumfink like RevoUninstaller (incl the Advanced option to remove all leftovers after Windows perfunctory uninstall process .. like files, folders and registry entries. If there are leftovers, a re-install can just pickup and use those, and you're no better off

@Ghot asked, "When you re-installed it, what location did it "say" it was installing it to?"

I didn't notice, because at that point it seemed unimportant. I uninstalled and reinstalled, but the installer never told me where it was stashing the thing. (It appears that Adobe now ignores all of the customs that other software publishers have developed (and the software they use), and invented its own version of an installer from scratch. The result is just as unrefined as one would expect.)

@Brink, the tutorial you refered me to appears to be out of date. It says that there are three sections (I think it means tabs) in the Start menu: Pinned, All or All Apps, and Recommended. It tells me to select All Apps by clicking that term in the upper right corner of the menu. But there are no tabs, and I don't see the "All Apps" text anywhere.

@idgat, I never heard of Voidtools before last night, when I discovered it while looking for a solution to a different problem. Will try it soon.

What does Task Manager say: It's complicated.

I opened a PDF, then opened Task Manager, and it said I am running Acrobat, and not Reader. Which poses three possibilities (that I can think of). One, Reader has been merged with Acrobat so that Task Manager can't tell the difference. Two, the association of the PDF filetypeis persistently wrong, just as the path of "Adobe Reader" is persistently wrong. Three, the installer got confused and installed the wrong program. If this makes sense to you, I'll welcome your insight; for me it just compounds the confusion.

I didn't know it was possible to get an EXE pathname from Task Manager, but I found instructions for doing so. Thank you for helping me discover that. Unfortunately Task Manager backed itself into a corner from which I cannot extract it. When I tried to display the "image pathname" column, the Task Manager window was partly off the screen, and it opened the "Select columns" popup partly off the screen, so that I can read the instructions but I can't select anything. The rest of the Task Manager window is frozen (dimmed). The popup has no close button, can't be moved with the mouse, and doesn't close when I press Escape or Enter. Do you know how to close it? If not I'll have to reboot... not a catastrophe, but not something I want to do right now.

Going back a bit, yes, the PDFs are opening in "Adobe." But given Adobe's "unique" UI, I haven't a clue whether they're opening in Acrobat or Reader.

Your suggestion to use an alternate PDF reader may be the way I have to go. I'm reluctant to do it because then I'll be using an application that probably <1% of Windows users user, in place of one that >99% of them use. I'm not concerned that Foxit or whatever will cause problems, but I am concerned that some future client or employer may cause problems if they learn that I'm doing that. I don't want my PDF reader to become a painted bird.

How did I uninstall it? With Adobe's installer, through "Add or Remove Programs." An application's developer should know how to uninstall their own application better than anyone else. (I know there are exceptions. Adobe could be one if their functional software has become as wild and wooly as their UI. I hope not.)

jhsachs said:

@Brink, the tutorial you refered me to appears to be out of date. It says that there are three sections (I think it means tabs) in the Start menu: Pinned, All or All Apps, and Recommended. It tells me to select All Apps by clicking that term in the upper right corner of the menu. But there are no tabs, and I don't see the "All Apps" text anywhere.

Click to expand...

The Pinned, Recommended, and All apps sections on the Start Menu are like below. The All apps section is outlined in red below, but the other two sections are above it.

jhsachs said:

I'll be using an application that probably <1% of Windows users user,

Click to expand...

Absolutely definitely not <1% of general users, and an even much greater percentage usage by the more discerning Windows users who prefer superior software options.

jhsachs said:

With Adobe's installer, through "Add or Remove Programs."

Click to expand...

No. Many programs have a vested interest in leaving behind traces of their software after the uninstall process.

RevoUninstaller - forum favourite - is the way to go

Install and run RevoUninstaller
Options tab (along the top) > Uninstaller (LH column)
Untick Make a Restore Point before uninstall
Tick Checkmark all leftovers by default
Uninstaller tab > Double click the desired program
Run the uninstallation process
IMPORTANT
DO NOT reboot even if prompted when completed (Cancel if prompted)
Next, select the Advanced button and then run the process to remove all leftover files/folders/registry entries left behind after a normal default uninstall process
If prompted at any stage previously, now do the reboot

An alternative to Revo is Geek Uninstaller

jhsachs said:

Where did the Adobe Reader installer stash it?

Click to expand...

1. Press the Win + R keys, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader (or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader).
3. Open the folder with the version number (for example, DC or 11.0).
4. Look inside the InstallPath subkey to find the exact location of the executable file.

jhsachs said:

Like virtually every other computer user, I have Adobe Reader installed on my system

Click to expand...

If you only use Adobe to "read" PDFs... I would switch to SumatraPDF.
It's much cleaner, uses less resources, etc.


As for the Start Menu itself...
If all else fails, do an In-Place Upgrade (repair install).
You won't lose any files, apps or tweaks...

Use Option Two (ISO method)...

Ghot said:

When you re-installed it, what location did it "say" it was installing it to?

Click to expand...

It's a Silent installer, like Chrome..., it doesn't show you sh*t!!! Doesn't give you any choices either!!!

I installed Adobe Reader outta curiosity..., it's baffling the amount of junk it loads onto your PC!!!
The UI even changes your cursor to default!!!

@Brink, my Start menu doesn't look anything like the one you posted:



(The right side scrolls, but I don't think any useful information is missing.)

There is a "Recent" heading, but no "Pinned/All/Recommended."

Maybe this is a result of corruption that would be fixed by a repair install. I may try that later today (after I've had a chance to make a full backup, just in case).

As for the three weird "+++++" lines... I think that's something one of my cats did!

@Lavik, you suggested looking in the Registry. I did, and what I found was just as shambolic as the rest of this adventure. There is no entry for "Adobe Reader." Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\ there is only an entry for "Adobe Acrobat." Under that are subenries for "10.0," "11.0," "7.0," "8.0," "9.0," and "DC." Of those, only "DC" contains anything useful--apparently it is the current version. "DC" has about a dozen subentries, one of which is "InstallPath," which points to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat. One subfolder in that folder is named "RdrApp."

Hey, I thought, now we're getting somewhere! But I was wrong. "RdrApp" contains nothing except a subfolder named "ENU," which contains a couple of dozen files with the extension ".aapp," and names that suggest they're executable images that Acrobat loads for specific tasks.

More from information I can't find than what I can, I conclude that Adobe Reader no longer exists except as a free-use subset of Adobe Acrobat's functionality. When I double click a PDF and it opens Acrobat instead of Reader, it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

So the answer to my original question "How can I make Windows associate filetype PDF with Adobe Reader?" is, "You can't any more, so deal with it." Well, it's an answer, although not one I wanted.

At least this resolves my concern about reading PDFs in an unusual way; Reader is gone, Acrobat is there if someone ever insists that I use it, and until that happens I'm free to choose some other PDF reader that has a less insane UI. (Yes, I'm quite taken by that idea now!)

@Ghot recommended SumatraPDF "If you only use Adobe to "read" PDFs." That all I used it for in the past, because that's all Reader was good for! I was using a computer provided by my former employer (I'm retired now, remember). It had Acrobat too, and I used that to fix minor errors in text, to slice and splice pages, and to scan documents to PDF. I now perform the last function with NAPS2, but I have no substitutes for the others. So, if one of the other replacements is better suited to my needs, please make a suggestion, and I'll try out that.

I haven't responded to everyone's comments, but I believe I've reached a stopping point, so I'll shut up now.

jhsachs said:

So, if one of the other replacements is better suited to my needs

Click to expand...

No, Sumatra is just a reader.

Google AI recommends the following...


I just downloaded and scanned it at Virustotal... scans clean.

jhsachs said:

@Brink, my Start menu doesn't look anything like the one you posted:

View attachment 179811

Click to expand...

Odd. Did you install any 3rd party Start Menu customization apps?

The screenshot in post #13 is from the search menu and not the Start Menu @jhsachs you should see the actual Start Menu if you press the "Windows Key"

Ghot said:

Sumatra is just a reader.

Click to expand...

I'll second that suggestion for Sumatra as a reader!

Also PDFgear as an editor!

Both fully functional and FREE!

Matter of fact, the Sumatra Dev releases are becoming quite sophisticated yet simple...

@Ghot I installed PDFgear and tried it briefly. My first impression is: If you just want to open a PDF to read it requires too many clicks, so it's not a replacement for Adobe Reader. It looks like it has everything else I'd want, though, so PDFgear+Acrobat or PDFgear+Sumatra could be a solution for me. It doesn't appear to have a menu system, but at least it has a Ribbon, so I give the UI a B- for non-insanity.

@Brink I haven't installed anything like a Start menu customizer, but the computer belonged to my late wife before it became mine, so she might have done something like that. How can I tell?

@IownAmoneyPit said, "The screenshot in post #13 is from the search menu and not the Start Menu @jhsachs you should see the actual Start Menu if you press the "Windows Key."

That explains why I didn't even rrecognize the Start Menu screen. I never press the Windows key (except by accident). I tried it, and I could the "Show All" option. I'm not going to see it again, though, because I prefer the Search menu. It seems to have less crap in it. (I wish I could get rid of the crap on the right side, though. It never quite irritates me enough to make me research whether I can.)

I installed PDFgear and tried it briefly. My first impression is: If you just want to open a PDF to read it requires too many clicks, so it's not a replacement for Adobe Reader.

Click to expand...

Whichever program you want a pdf to open in you set as default for pdf.. then just double click the pdf and it opens in the program you've chosen as default for that file type.

Comparing PDFGear and Sumatra, Sumatra is faster.

If you choose to launch PDFGear (say) and then browse to your PDF - that's going to be slower.

Then there's rt click Open With....

(I suppose you could even put a shortcut to your PDF readers in the Sendto menu- then rt click a PDF, Sendto and click the reader... but that's not really sensible!)

Oh - & I haven't had an Adobe product on a PC for many years..

@jhsachs The problem was resolved by uninstalling and then reinstalling Adobe Reader ?