After upgrading 7.15 LTSR CU1 to 1906 opening Adobe Reader DC produces a pop-up error "Werfault.exe" (0x0000142)

[Andy Vanderbeken]

I am able to reproduce this consistently by upgrading the VDA in my master image. Before no problem, after the upgrade you get the following error (attached image) whenever you launch the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" process.

 

 

[Per Lorentzen]

Please find the below steps followed during call to resolve the issue:

 

Note:

a) Always be cautious, when changing the registry! Please.

b) The problem has been seen after upgrades to 1811, 1903, 1906. 

c) The workaround has been implemented with success in those releases.

 

Steps:

1) Open RegEdit on the VDA

2) Browse to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi

3) Find UviProcessExcludes on the right panel

4) Edit Settings for UviProcessExcludes

5) Add AcroCEF.exe; RdrCEF.exe at the end of the Value Data String.

6)Reboot the VDA (Please note, reboot is required)

7) Test opening a PDF.

Greetings
Pertsa

[Ahmed Abdel-Kerim1709152452]

I have done additional testing and found the above registry key works if you make the value as follows: AcroRd32.exe;AcroCEF.exe;RdrCEF.exe. Order does not matter.

 

From Perl's post:

Steps:

1) Open RegEdit on the VDA

2) Browse to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi

3) Find UviProcessExcludes on the right panel

4) Edit Settings for UviProcessExcludes

5) Add AcroCEF.exe; RdrCEF.exe;AcroRd32.exe at the end of the Value Data String.

6)Reboot the VDA (Please note, reboot is required)

7) Test opening a PDF.

 

I do have 1912 CU1 on Windows 2012 R2.

[Bogdan Shandurkov1709161004]

The mentioned solution worked for us (problem occurred after upgrading from XA7.15.5 to 1912.1)

Maybe it's not important but the solution only worked after placing the settings in question AT THE END of the string, before that these were in the middle and didn't worked:

So 

1) add these at the end : AcroCEF.exe;RdrCEF.exe

2) make sure there are NO spaces between both entries, only semicolon - ;

 

 

[Shalini Pradhan]

Do you have any anti-virus on the VDA? Please check if you have Citrix recommended anti-virus exclusions for VDA in place. See below doc for reference

https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/tech-zone/build/tech-papers/antivirus-best-practices.html

 

[Andy Vanderbeken]

46 minutes ago, Shalini Pradhan said:

Do you have any anti-virus on the VDA? Please check if you have Citrix recommended anti-virus exclusions for VDA in place. See below doc for reference

https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/tech-zone/build/tech-papers/antivirus-best-practices.html

 

 

hey Shalinipr,

 

Thx for helping. I have just tested again after disabling the antivirus agent completely and the behaviour stays.

 

I have also tested again by starting acroRd32.exe by using "run as administrator" and the error stays as well.

Finally I have also tested again from the console of the server using an account with local administrator privileges and the error does NOT occur.

 

So it looks like it's not related to antivirus, nor to privileges but purely to the VDA component itself. Console is fine, Citrix session not.

 

This makes sense I guess since the VDA agent upgrade is the only change that happened to break this functionality.

[Kasper Johansen1709159522]

Hi,

 

I have just tested Adobe Reader DC v18.011.20055 on a Windows Server 2016 with VDA v1906 no problem launching. I have tested with an admin user and a non-admin user.

 

Which OS are you running? And which version of Adobe Reader?

[Andy Vanderbeken]

1 minute ago, Kasper Johansen1709159522 said:

Hi,

 

I have just tested Adobe Reader DC v18.011.20055 on a Windows Server 2016 with VDA v1906 no problem launching. I have tested with an admin user and a non-admin user.

 

Which OS are you running? And which version of Adobe Reader?

 

Windows Server 2012 R2 (version 6.3 build 9600)

 

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 19.012.20035

 

[Martin Nygaard Jensen1709157097]

We have the same issue on several images after upgrading from VDA 1802.2 to VDA 1903 - I haven't tested with VDA 1906.

I have only seen it on Windows Server 2012 R2 and with newer versions of Adobe Reader DC. If I roll back adobe to older versions, the error disappears.

The error seems to revolve around this executable "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroCEF\RdrCEF.exe". I can fix it by setting compatibility mode for it, but this seems like a bad solution

[Andy Vanderbeken]

3 hours ago, Martin Nygaard Jensen1709157097 said:

We have the same issue on several images after upgrading from VDA 1802.2 to VDA 1903 - I haven't tested with VDA 1906.

I have only seen it on Windows Server 2012 R2 and with newer versions of Adobe Reader DC. If I roll back adobe to older versions, the error disappears.

The error seems to revolve around this executable "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroCEF\RdrCEF.exe". I can fix it by setting compatibility mode for it, but this seems like a bad solution

 

that's actually a nice find @mnygaar714. Thx for sharing that. I can confirm it works here as well after setting "compatibility mode for Windows 8" under "change settings for all users"

 

 

I can use this as a quick and dirty workaround but still it needs a more permanent fix.

[Sebastien Heins]

Hello, I have the exact same problem here with the version 1906 :-/ Does anyone have a solution yet or we have to wait the next VDA Update?

[Krsh K.]

Hi.  I have resolved this issue by stopping and then disabling the "Windows error reporting Service" under windows service manager console.

 

Thanks

[Bob Wightman]

This is a permission issue.   I set the app to run as administrator for all users and no error.

 

I spoke too soon, this does not work for all users when using XenApp.  It only works when opening Adobe on the server.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Bob Wightman
correction

[Krsh K.]

Hi

 

Thank you.

 

With that said; it shouldn't take months for Citrix support to come up with a "workaround".

 

Thanks again

[Andy Vanderbeken]

On 9/11/2019 at 8:23 AM, Per Lorentzen said:

Please find the below steps followed during call to resolve the issue:

 

Note:

a) Always be cautious, when changing the registry! Please.

b) The problem has been seen after upgrades to 1811, 1903, 1906. 

c) The workaround has been implemented with success in those releases.

 

Steps:

1) Open RegEdit on the VDA

2) Browse to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi

3) Find UviProcessExcludes on the right panel

4) Edit Settings for UviProcessExcludes

5) Add AcroCEF.exe; RdrCEF.exe at the end of the Value Data String.

6)Reboot the VDA (Please note, reboot is required)

7) Test opening a PDF.

Greetings
Pertsa

 

thanks for sharing this solution back into this thread since it notifies me. I appreciate it. After implementing this into my golden image I can confirm it fixes the problem for me and supersedes the other workaround  I had been using successfully until now (setting compatibility mode for Windows 7 for all users on the RdrCEF.exe)

 

ps: I agree with that this took Citrix too long to handle in general but that's not your fault in particular ;)

[Mike Pagan]

On 9/11/2019 at 1:23 AM, Per Lorentzen said:

Please find the below steps followed during call to resolve the issue:

 

Note:

a) Always be cautious, when changing the registry! Please.

b) The problem has been seen after upgrades to 1811, 1903, 1906. 

c) The workaround has been implemented with success in those releases.

 

Steps:

1) Open RegEdit on the VDA

2) Browse to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi

3) Find UviProcessExcludes on the right panel

4) Edit Settings for UviProcessExcludes

5) Add AcroCEF.exe; RdrCEF.exe at the end of the Value Data String.

6)Reboot the VDA (Please note, reboot is required)

7) Test opening a PDF.

Greetings
Pertsa

 

I just tried your fix in my environment and it is working great. Thanks for sharing.

 

How did you come to this answer? I am unfamiliar with that registry key and what it does. I'm curious when I might use this registry setting in the future.

[Per Lorentzen]

Hi Mike
Good that you could use it
I found the solution in a support case. I would not play with the registry settings.
BR
Per

[Shahin Dohan]

On 9/11/2019 at 9:23 AM, Per Lorentzen said:

Please find the below steps followed during call to resolve the issue:

 

Note:

a) Always be cautious, when changing the registry! Please.

b) The problem has been seen after upgrades to 1811, 1903, 1906. 

c) The workaround has been implemented with success in those releases.

 

Steps:

1) Open RegEdit on the VDA

2) Browse to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi

3) Find UviProcessExcludes on the right panel

4) Edit Settings for UviProcessExcludes

5) Add AcroCEF.exe; RdrCEF.exe at the end of the Value Data String.

6)Reboot the VDA (Please note, reboot is required)

7) Test opening a PDF.

Greetings
Pertsa

 

In addition to this, I had to update the Microsoft Visual C++ library to the latest version:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

 

Until I was able to do this, setting compatibility mode to Windows 7 on RdrCEF.exe worked as a temporary workaround.

 

Thank you!

[Mischa De Pol]

Same here after upgrading from 7.15 CU5 to 1912 CU1. Any permanent fix available yet?

[Ahmed Abdel-Kerim1709152452]

I have tried the above fix but, still have the issue. We are running 1912 CU1. Any feedback is appreciated. 

[Larry Schroeder1709162076]

2 hours ago, Ahmed Abdel-Kerim1709152452 said:

I have tried the above fix but, still have the issue. We are running 1912 CU1. Any feedback is appreciated. 

 

Same here, but we only see the issue with Server 2012. The issue does not appear on Server 2019.

 

I hope there is a fix soon.

[Ahmed Abdel-Kerim1709152452]

Does this have anything to do with Microsoft's May roll-up? Does anyone have the issue running 1912 but, have not applied Microsoft May updates?

[Baumgartner AG]

Does this also work for Acrobat Pro DC? 

 

The problem occured here after upgrading from 1903 to 1912.1 LTSR.

 

 

[Matthias Ohlemuumlller]

Same Problem after upgrading from 7.15 to 1912 - will this be addressed, or has this been adressed by Citrix?

[mike hahn]

I have the same problem after upgrading from 7.15 to 1912.

I have applied the registry fix mentioned in this thread but after I reboot the server it then removes the 2 entries that I just added (AcroCEF.exe; RdrCEF.exe)  for UviProcessExcludes. What is overriding this entry? I don't think there is any gpo settings. I also tried creating a gpo to set this registry value but it is not adding AcroCEF.exe; RdrCEF.exe to the registry.

---------------------

I just noticed my co-worker had recently created a new gpo for MSEdge that sets UviProcessExcludes registry value. This gpo was overriding my changes. I've corrected that issue and now the registry is updating correctly after a reboot but I am still getting the original error, Werfault.exe. I am running Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version 2020.012.20042 on a MS Windows 2012 R2 server.

---------------------

My fix was to add ArcoRD32.exe. Issue resolved.

Edited September 2, 2020 by m7hahn
I've added my fix

[Phil Groenenberg1709161069]

This fixed it for us going from 1912 CU3 to CU5 on Server 2012R2.