Expert: Ken Black - 10/9/2009

Question
QUESTION: Sir:
I have Windows 2000 on my laptop.  The other day I upgraded my Acrobat Reader from 5.5 to 7.1.0.  I immediately noticed that my pdf files now have the generic windows icon, rather than the icon which indicates they can be opened with Acrobat reader.  I reinstalled, but same issue.  I also installed an update to 7.1.3, and still the same problem.

How do I fix this?  I prefer not to upgrade to the 9.0 reader.  The newer versions of the program are bloated, and my hard drive is pretty full.  I don't want to upgrade the drive, because it is set up for a triple boot (DOS, Linux and W2K), and doing the transfer and reinstalls is very time consuming.



ANSWER: Hi Jim,

You should be able to re-associate the file-type with Acrobat.

1. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, right-click a file with the extension whose association   that you want to change, and then click Open With.

2. In the Open With dialog box, click the program that you want to use to open the file type. Or, click Choose Program to choose the program that you want. If the program is not listed, click Other to locate your program.

3. Click the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file option.

Thanks,

Ken Black

www.bestprintingonline.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ken,

The program is already associated with the file, and the file opens properly. The issue is that there is no Acrobat icon associated with the file, just the generic Microsoft icon.  When presented with a desktop full of icons, it's hard to find the acrobat files.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled, but the files still don't have an icon.

ANSWER: Try restarting your machine in "Safe Mode". This will rebuild the iconcache.db file and your icons should appear correctly.

Restarting in Safe Mode for Windows 2000:

   * If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power
   * Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.
   * When you see the black-and-white Starting Windows bar at the bottom of the screen, start tapping the F8 key. The Windows 2000 Advanced Options Menu appears.
   * Ensure that the Safe mode option is selected. In most cases, it is the first item in the list and is selected by default.
   * Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode.
   * When you are finished with all troubleshooting, close all programs and restart the computer as you normally would.


Thanks,

Ken Black

www.bestprintingonline.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sir:
Going into safemode didn't solve the problem.  I still have no icons for *.pdf files.  The files are associated with Acrobat Reader, and still open correctly, it is just that they all have the generic icon for files when no known application exists.  Right clicking on the file and selecting properties does not give me the option to select an icon.

If you have no more ideas what to do for this, then I thank you for your time.  I think it is great that people such as yourselves offer their time freely to others struggling with computer problems.

Answer
Hi Jim,

Unfortunately, I don't have anymore information on this. It seems to be an issue with Windows and its registry, for which there are many different possibilities that I am not fully skilled in conveying, as registry editing can be a bit on the dangerous side, if you don't know what you are doing.

I wish I could help more, but, being more of a Mac person I am at a loss here.

Sorry,

Thanks,

Ken Black