Adobe Reader XI Freezes

Yesterday out of the blue 2 users call me complaining that when they open Adobe Reader 11.0.7 it freezes after 5 seconds and then goes to "not responding". 




Looking in eventvwr you see:
Log Name:      Application
Event ID:      1002
Level:         Error
Description:
The program AcroRd32.exe version 11.0.7.79 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Action Center control panel.
 Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe


This would occur regardless of if I just opened Reader without a document, or with a document.  I quickly found that if I unplugged the network cord and then opened it then it wouldn't crash.  So clearly it was attempting to find something on the network, likely a recent item.


I tried a number of fixes, but in the end blasting the users Adobe settings is what fixed it for me

1. open regedit
2. Navigate to HKCU/Software/Adobe  (ensure you are under Current User key!!)
3. Delete the whole blasted Adobe key and subkeys.

Of course the best fix is to give Adobe the boot and use an alternative, but as many of us know that isn't always a valid option.