Info on what I'm using:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium, SP1, 64-bit
Using Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, version 8.1.0, up to date on updates
In this example, Microsoft Office 2007, no add-ons besides the Adobe Acrobat add-in that allows the creation of a PDF (but happens in all programs)
Problem:
I have always created a PDF from a Word/Excel document by printing to PDF (File --> Print --> Select Adobe PDF as printer --> Hit OK). Generally, the next step that occurs is a dialog box appearing that prompts me to select the location where I want to save the PDF and to specify a file name. Several weeks ago, this process stopped working. Now when I hit "Ok" to print to PDF, no dialog box appears and whatever program I'm in freezes/stops responding. Aside: I have tried printing to PDF from several other programs to see if the problem occurs in those as well, and it does -- printing to PDF freezes whatever program I am attempting to print from. (For example, MS Paint, Internet Explorer, Firefox, even Notepad)
Bullet point summary of what I have tried:
- Canceling the print jobs in the Adobe PDF printer under "Devices and Printers" (jobs say they are canceling but never clear from the print queue unless I go into Services and restart my print spooler) and reprinting (freezes again)
- Restarting computer (had no effect)
- Setting Adobe PDF as my default printer (had no effect)
- Setting TrueType font as "Native TrueType" under the Adobe PDF printer properties (Layout --> Advanced --> PostScript Options) (suggested in another thread I read about this problem; had no effect)
- Checking to make sure that Word had not "adjusted" the security settings for the Adobe add-in (disabling it) under the Trust Center (Adobe add-in was still enabled, so nothing to change there)
- Changing the printer properties to print directly to the printer rather than spooling first (had no effect)
- Saving as PDF using File --> Save As --> Selecting PDF as file type (does work and is an acceptable substitute except when I need to convert multiple files to PDF at once and don't have time to go in to each individual file and convert it separately)
- Repairing the Acrobat installation from within Adobe or from the Programs and Features menu under the Control Panel (does work, did fix the problem; but see followup below).
Repairing the Acrobat installation worked when I did it a few weeks ago. Once I went through the process, I attempted to print a document to PDF and it worked. But this morning when I attempted to print another document to PDF, it froze Word again and has been doing that ever since, so it does not seem to be a permanent fix. I had succesfully printed several documents to PDF this morning before it stopped working; the document I printed to PDF immediately before the document that froze was the exact same as the document froze in every way except the actual text (formatting, document objects, etc.). So I don't think it was something in the content of the document that "broke" the Adobe PDF printer.
I am sure I can try repairing the Adobe installation again, but I really do not want to have to do that all of the time. Does anyone know what the problem is? I haven't found anything that explains what's going on.