# pdf documents keep crashing my computer--help **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247 "2003-01-13T04:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/1 "2003-01-13T04:50:28Z")
I have a problem with pdf documents. I can open one, sometimes two or three, and then no more. The web page with the document (that’s the only place where I view them) will load the frame of the document, i.e. the IE navigation bars come up and stuff, but no document. Then I’m stuck, I can’t back out and I can’t close the window. I have to cntrl+alt+del to get the task mgr. to close the application and then I can’t open any pdf documents until I restart the computer. It can be very frusterating. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/2 "2003-01-13T05:00:03Z")
Try saving the files and opening them from within Acrobat. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/3 "2003-01-13T06:07:46Z")
Are you using Acrobat 4 or 5? If you are using 5, try downgrading to 4. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/4 "2003-01-13T08:27:03Z")
I used to have the same problem, and now I always use hawthorne’s solution. Acrobat does not seem to be very reliable within a browser, but it seems to work fine stand-alone. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/5 "2003-01-13T08:35:43Z")
I had this very problem. And I’ve still not fixed it! When the crash occurs, I found that often using ctrl-alt-del and closing ‘acrord32’ or whatever it’s called and then going back, then forwards, in my browser solved it. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/6 "2003-01-13T15:33:04Z")
And BTW, to stop Acrobat from displaying documents in the browser window, launch Acrobat Reader, then choose Edit, Preferences, Options, and unclick the “Display PDF in browser” box. When I wanted to change the behavior of my copy, I spent way too much time hunting around the IE options before I realized that it’s and _Acrobat_ option! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/7 "2003-01-14T01:15:23Z")
I had a similar problem, and I found out what was causing it. I had some corrupted Windows fonts. Here’s a link to a PDF on how to fix it. … Well I think it’s funny. Ok, ok. I had to use fontview (which is usually the program that shows you the font when you double-click it in its folder, in Control Panel…Fonts) and remove any font which wouldn’t display. I had 920 fonts to go through. -AmbushBug ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/8 "2003-01-14T03:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AmbushBug \* > **I had a similar problem, and I found out what was causing it. I had some corrupted Windows fonts. Here’s a link to a PDF on how to fix it.** That’s funny. It took me a minute. Thanks for the help, everybody. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pdf-documents-keep-crashing-my-computer-help/148247/9 "2003-01-14T13:30:32Z")
I always save the document to the desktop and then open it with the Acrobat Reader. This works better overall. I see no reason to have Acrobat within a browser window.