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jacour
Premium Member
join:2001-12-11
Matthews, NC

jacour

Premium Member

Changing IE11 behavior

I remember on some previous version of Windows (XP???) you could set file associations to open a particular program and you could also specify the default action (open, edit, etc.). My problem is that after a clean install the Acrobat PDF plugin for IE11 is misbehaving itself. The add-on is there when I look through the list of all add-on, but it does not show up in the list of currently loaded add-ons. When I click on a PDF link, IE automatically downloads the file and opens it in Acrobat Pro where before it would open the PDF in a tab.

I can fix this for one session by opening the "all add-ons" view, disabling the PDF reader, and then re-enabling it. However, when I close IE and restart I am back to square one. Is there a registry entry that controls this and, if so, does anybody know which one?

quaker
Premium Member
join:2001-12-27
Rocky River, OH

quaker

Premium Member

I've had something similar happen to me like this. I fixed it by reinstalling the plugin for the browser. In reader/acrobat go to EDIT > preferences > general > Select default pdf handler.
jacour
Premium Member
join:2001-12-11
Matthews, NC

1 edit

jacour

Premium Member

I managed to get this working by reading an on-line blog and some guess work. I reproduce it here for anybody that might have the same issue. This involves a minor registry edit so if you are not comfortable tweaking the registry, don't try this at home. The blog where I found this procedure suggested that it works on all misbehaving add-ons, but I only tried it for Acrobat. Your mileage may vary.

My problem was that IE11 was not automatically loading the PDF Reader module even though I had it enabled so I had to start by finding the Class ID of the add-on. You can find that by going to Tools, Manage Add-Ons, selecting the offending add-on (you might have to use the "Show All Add-ons" to see it), right click it, then choose More Information. That pulls up a window where you can see the Class ID. For my add-on the value was:

{CA8A9780-280D-11CF-A24D-44553540000}

You cannot copy and paste from that screen to the clipboard so you will need to carefully write down the Class ID. You will need an old-school analog input device like a pencil for that step (I know, so 20th century ).

Next, go to the registry and find this entry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Settings\

and see if there is an add-on listed under Settings with a matching Class ID. I did not have a matching key so I needed to create one.

I added the missing key under Settings and then created a new DWORD value under that key. The DWORD is named "Flags" and needs a numeric value of 1 to enable the add-on or 0 to disable it. I wanted to use the add-on so I put in a value of 1.

Also check this registry entry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\TabProcGrowth

and see if it exits. If the value is set to 0 or is missing it will cause a problem. Unlike the other key described above, which needs a DWORD value, if this entry is missing create a new String value of 1.