Associated File Types Changing Automatically

Mejj80

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2010
2
0
18,510
Good morning,

We have 9 computers in our Engineering Department. I have Adobe Reader DC installed on them all for viewing pdf's. I also have Adobe Acrobat installed on each machine for editing. We have 2 seats of Acrobat, so we can use it when needed.

I went in Default Programs>Associate File Type> PDF and set each machine to default to the Reader DC when opening PDF's.

For some reason, most of the computers defaults keep changing to the Acrobat over the Reader I had set.

What can I do to fix this issue so they are not always opening Acrobat.

Thanks,

Jess
 
Solution
If those are shared computers, make sure people are not changing the options themselves.

Having both Reader and the full Adobe PDF package can cause issues like this, especially with web sites that try to open PDF files. Is that were the issue is or is the issue with locally saved PDF files as well? You can't just set the defaults in Windows, you also need to set the defaults in the Web browser, which can be tricky at times as the helper applications can be tricky to work with when they break.

Mejj80

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2010
2
0
18,510
We were doing that, but it became time consuming to run to a different computer just to edit a pdf. We have the capabilities to do it via our own computers. There has to be a way.
 
If those are shared computers, make sure people are not changing the options themselves.

Having both Reader and the full Adobe PDF package can cause issues like this, especially with web sites that try to open PDF files. Is that were the issue is or is the issue with locally saved PDF files as well? You can't just set the defaults in Windows, you also need to set the defaults in the Web browser, which can be tricky at times as the helper applications can be tricky to work with when they break.
 
Solution

JasmineJasmine

Estimable
Jan 21, 2016
4
0
4,510
We were doing that, but it became time consuming to run to a different computer just to edit a pdf. We have the capabilities to do it via our own computers. There has to be a way.
 
It could be that Acrobat Pro is set to auto-update, and during this process to change associations.
There is no one else (apart from Acrobat apps, and users) to change the default applications - in the same way as noone changes default apps for opening .JPGs, .MP3s etc but newly installed programs.

On each of these machines - right-click on a PDF file, "Open With...", and make sure Reader is select as default.