Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

pdf and jpg errors

May 16, 2017 5:12AM PDT

Hi everyone,

I am attempting to help my Grandma with a computer problem she is having. Normally I can just google a problem and resolve it without any issue. This one is proving to be...well...weird.

My Grandma is having problems opening pdf and jpg files. I'll break these down for you.

PDF

She will receive a few e-mails containing pdf documents, lets say....5 documents in an e-mail. There will ALWAYS be one pdf that wont open. Always. And it seems to always be the same document that does it (which contains a chart. Although I am currently trying to confirm with the sender exactly what was in these latest files). What happens is she gets an error that states "There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired."

To resolve this....

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling adobe.

I tried phoning adobe, but they wont help as it isn't a paid program.

I did a full system scan for viruses and malware. Found nothing.

I tried saving the file to the desktop and opening it there (it wont).

I had the file sent to my own computer. Once I couldn't open it and got the same error. A second time I could open it just fine.

I asked the Sender to recreate the document and resend. The problem reoccurred.

I took some pdf's from my own computer (Similar types of files. We receive the same stuff) by thumb drive and was able to open them on her computer.

JPG

The jpg problem is similar. Yesterday she received a series of e-mails each containing one or two photos. Only one of them could be opened. The rest appeared as an attachment listing thumbnails of grey blocks with thin slivers of visible photo at the top. When opened, they looked the same (a grey block covering the photo). I received the same photos and was able to open them without any trouble. Although I am using yesterday as an example, this problem has been ongoing for awhile (same with pdf problem).

I was able to open other photos on her computer. And I also confirmed that the computer knows which programs to use for what file names (for both pdf and jpg)

She uses Windows Live Mail. The problems occur with multiple senders (not just one person).

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Clarification Request
Did you try other PDF readers?
May 16, 2017 7:34AM PDT
- Collapse -
pdf and jpg
May 16, 2017 10:12AM PDT

My Grandma also has Windows 10.

Could you recommend some good pdf readers that are simple, and my Grandmother can easily use?

On a side note, I have a feeling that the pdf and jpg problem are related. They both started at the same time.

- Collapse -
Try the ones at Ninite.com
May 16, 2017 10:14AM PDT

I see I wrote why. Once you set them up, should be fine.

- Collapse -
Ninite
May 16, 2017 10:17AM PDT

Right. I will look into it. In the mean time, are you aware of anything that could cause problems with both pdf and jpg.

- Collapse -
Yes and no.
May 16, 2017 10:28AM PDT

Windows updates all the time and the email choice isn't helping either. I'd like to see you try a better PDF viewer since Adobe and Microsoft didn't see fit to help.

-> I don't want to upset you but I shared what I would do twice and can't see where you tried it. I worry that I'm not answering your questions here but it's a common problem I solve weekly by picking another app.

That said, I no longer do deep forensics as there's another problem waiting to be solved.

- Collapse -
Thanks
May 16, 2017 10:48AM PDT

I apologize if it seemed like I was not listening, but I was hoping for more things to try. Hopefully things that will potentially resolve both the pdf and jpg problem.

I do not live with my Grandmother, nor do I have her computer with me, so I cannot try your idea just now. Every time I go to visit it takes a full day of my time. It is not practical for me to drive there, try one thing, then wait for my next visit to try the next 1 thing. Ideally I would like to have multiple things that I can try, should the first not work.

I will be reading up on the new pdf viewer tonight when I have the time to do so.

Could you clarify what you are referring to when you said that 'windows updates all the time?' I don't understand the relevance.

- Collapse -
Relevance.
May 16, 2017 10:59AM PDT

Because updates can break things as well as fix folk that are unaware will write they didn't change a thing. Microsoft's been working hard to patch their OSes.

So the OS sits underneath it all plus Adobe updates too. Just today I got another update from Adobe. If I have it set to automatically update I would not notice this.

- Collapse -
Tried & tested
May 17, 2017 10:37AM PDT

Regardless of the browser Grandma uses, you could tell her to go to pdfescape.com, upload (drop) the document there, and see what she gets. PDFescape even advertises itself "as seen on CNET" (check if you will), and your personal presence should not be necessary.

With the pictures, there might be an issue with security scanning on her system (possibly overzealous email scan?). Just a guess.

- Collapse -
PDFescape is an advertising and fee supported,
May 17, 2017 11:04AM PDT

I see no reason to pay when I don't have to.

- Collapse -
Facts:
May 17, 2017 11:43AM PDT

And you do not have to, as shown at http://www.pdfescape.com/signup/ . You do not even have to sign up at all.

As for advertising, would CNET be the pot to PDFescape´s kettle? I should not harp on that too much, frankly.

- Collapse -
Harp away.
May 17, 2017 11:56AM PDT

I have a free no ad solution that works for me. Once you are free then it's hard to put the chains back on.

- Collapse -
Firefox browser reads PDF files.
May 16, 2017 11:00AM PDT

NT

- Collapse -
Answer
Further information
May 16, 2017 10:17AM PDT

I was able to confirm what was in the pdf files that did not open, vs the ones that did.

They are effectively identical. Same type of charts, tables and what not as all the others. The only difference was the numbers.

- Collapse -
pdf
May 18, 2017 3:41PM PDT

1. try to install a better and more useful pdf reader, like Foxit Reader. it's free
2. see if another mail provider, like Gmail with its own preview of attachments, will open your files correctly
3. is your internet connection good enough? if you open 'corrupted' jpg in other viewer, like IrfanView, do you see blocks or what?
4. did you save files in another folder, not in /user/Downloads or where Windows says them to store?

anyway, Win10 is not designed for humans

- Collapse -
Work-around found
May 18, 2017 3:50PM PDT

The problem has been resolved as per today.

The problem had nothing to do with a pdf viewer. The e-mail provider was the problem and as Windows Live is no longer supported by Microsoft it could not be fixed.

I directed my Grandma to use the online access for her e-mail provider, which seems to work well enough, although ideally I would like to find another copy of Windows Live and try a reinstall. Unfortunately Microsoft no longer offers the link.

Thanks for everyone's help.