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Adobe Acrobat Elements & Dell (Dell's losing my faith FAST!!!!)

Discussion in 'Computers & Technology Forum' started by rbell, Jul 6, 2006.

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  1. rbell

    rbell Active Member

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    the short version:

    I purchased a Dell Inspiron Laptop 28 days ago. Bundled in with that software is Adobe Acrobat Elements 6.0--this allows me to publish any Office document (word, publisher, excel, and the like) to PDF files.

    It doesn't work! Any time I try it, I get an error and Adobe shuts down. I tried re-installing Adobe--no luck. (In fact, that took the better part of a day, because Dell had mis-named the Installation file!) I've updated the software--that hasn't helped either.

    I called my good friends in Pakistan (Dell support) and they told me (I think, my Pakistani is a bit rough) that I had to purchase a $200 SERVICE CONTRACT TO GET HELP. This is "outside the scope of my warranty" (the twist ties that held my cables together are the only thing covered.

    Has anyone ever fixed this problem? Any ideas? Please help--I'm in desperate need of getting these PDF files done!

    Thanks,

    RBell
     
    #1 rbell, Jul 6, 2006
  2. exscentric

    exscentric Well-Known Member
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    I think there is a later version, did you download it from Adobe? If not you might try that or an older version you might have laying around.

    Be sure you uninstall before you install.
     
    #2 exscentric, Jul 6, 2006
  3. rbell

    rbell Active Member

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    I don't need a new or earlier version, because it's not a reader problem...it's an acrobat elements issue (converting to pdf files, not reading them).

    I'm running into the classic "it's not my problem" game. Adobe says, "Elements 6.0 is something we do for Dell folks...we don't support it. Not our problem." Dell, in a heavily accented voice, tells me, "Adobe manufactured the program. We don't support it. Talk to them. But, if you REALLY want our help, then pay $80 (for one time) or $260 (for one year) and we'll see what we can do." No thanks!

    The elements CD came with the system I bought a few days ago...but it's as if no one wants to claim it's theirs. I've learned...
    -fixing this is going to be up to me (and any helpful BB folks I can find!);
    -Dell is doing a great job of losing my confidence and respect;
    -Adobe elements and MS office in a dell system don't like each other! I've found scores of folks that can't make theirs work. Hope I'm the exception...I really, really need this to work this weekend!

    Thanks,

    RBell

    BTW, ya'll don't forget to save your messages as you type them...the server on the BB must be manufactured by Dell or Adobe...'cause it sure don't work!
     
    #3 rbell, Jul 6, 2006
  4. Dale-c

    Dale-c Active Member

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    There are other programs that can do this...PM me if you need help.

    Long term though...Macs have PDF printing built in! :)
    ANd tech support is all under one roof and they speak english. :)
     
    #4 Dale-c, Jul 6, 2006
  5. rbell

    rbell Active Member

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    Dale, good point, but sometimes we're kind of locked into a purchase. We have 13 staff and 16 computers...I was GOING to get a PC. You probably know how that goes...

    This may sound trite (I promise I don't mean for it to)...but unless your solution is cheap or free (shareware, free trial, etc.,) I probably can't go that route. We've spent over $6K this year on computer stuff, and our budget needs to rest. We are in a horrific facilities crunch, and our $$ needs to go there when possible...so I gotta be cheap. Anyway, it irks me that less than a month ago I buy software with a computer that was supposed to take care of it...it doesn't work from the get-go, and NO ONE supports it.

    I think Osama Bin Laden works for Dell Support, overseeing the Adobe Software division. Oh well.

    and on a related computer note...I JUST LOST MY THIRD MESSAGE TYPED TODAY...can we PLEASE fix this busy server????? I keep forgetting that I must save every message before I send it...'cause I got about a 90% chance it won't go through.
     
    #5 rbell, Jul 6, 2006
  6. exscentric

    exscentric Well-Known Member
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    #6 exscentric, Jul 7, 2006
  7. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    #7 preacher, Jul 7, 2006
  8. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Rbell,

    What's the error you're getting right before Elements shuts down? Have you checked the AppLog for error messages?
     
    #8 ccrobinson, Jul 7, 2006
  9. NateT

    NateT Member

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    one possibility is to download openoffice.org's latest version. It is a replacement for MS Office which means it can read and write office documents (I've had it for 4+ years and nobody has ever complained about my "Word" documents I send to them.)

    The benefit of this is 1) It's free 2) It comes with a built in PDF creation capability. You open your document/spreadsheet what have you, and push a button and it asks you what name to save the PDF as. 3) You could still use MS Office for everything you need, or switch to open office.
     
    #9 NateT, Jul 7, 2006
  10. Dale-c

    Dale-c Active Member

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    OpenOffice is a good alternative.
    Also, PrimoPDF is a good program...I think it is free....maybe $10
     
    #10 Dale-c, Jul 7, 2006
  11. kubel

    kubel New Member

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    Uninstall Elements. Uninstall Office

    Restart.

    Reinstall Office. Reinstall Elements.

    The most drastic measure you can take is to format and reinstall everything. Your laptops only a month old, so it probably wouldn't be that big of a loss to just format and pop in a few restore CDs to get it back to 'stock' condition.

    Adobe has released PDF in order to make it more of a standard on the web, so any application can freely create PDF apps without paying Adobe anything. So there are plenty of free alternatives out there.

    I also recommend OOo. Probably the best open office package there is. The download is 93MB.

    http://www.openoffice.org/
     
    #11 kubel, Jul 7, 2006
  12. moeowo2

    moeowo2 New Member

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    http://pdffactory.com/ is a great program. They have a free program that adds their website info to the bottom of the document or you can buy it for 49.95 and removes the link. I use the free one all the time and it works great.

    As for Dell I can't stand them. I had a desktop and it was slow and basically useless. Now I have a Toshiba Laptop and love it. No problems so far. :thumbs:
     
    #12 moeowo2, Jul 7, 2006
  13. Magnetic Poles

    Magnetic Poles New Member

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    Also try CutePDF Writer. Works great and free.
     
    #13 Magnetic Poles, Jul 7, 2006
  14. Dale-c

    Dale-c Active Member

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    THat is the other one I couln't think of.


    Toshibas are way better than Dells IMO.
    Apples are way better than anything but not everyone can just go out and buy a new computer.
     
    #14 Dale-c, Jul 7, 2006
  15. Jarthur001

    Jarthur001 Active Member

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    For whatever its worth.

    I make and send out.. and take in PDFs from all over the nation. They are made every type of software out there. Both Mac and PC files. The best PDF maker I have found is pstill.

    http://www.pstill.com/

    Its free for like 30 or 60 days. If you like it..its like $60-70. If you use graphics this program is a MUST. It has saved me $100,000 or more over the last year. Time saved?...i don't know hours a week...maybe a full day is saved each week. My files are 100mg -- 5 gig at for one file. I know it sounds like I'm making money off of this...but really I'm not. :)

    It works on both mac and pc as well as unix

    It is worth a try..if you do not like it...trash it.

    BTW..I also have Adobe Acrobat 7 Pro. I think that cost me over 300...maybe 400 bucks. psill is BETTER. Acrobat 7 Pro is faster..but does not always work. The best thing that psill does is that it will turn all fonts to drawings, and make all PDFs PS level 2. PS level 2 is used more by older machines. I can not praise this software to much. I love it.
     
    #15 Jarthur001, Jul 7, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 7, 2006
  16. Dale-c

    Dale-c Active Member

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    James, does it have any PDF editing tools?
    Since I am the Mac guy at work and the one that does anything multimedia related I get asked to manipulate PDFs a lot. One thing that I do from time to time is combine PDFs. I found a free program for this that I really like. But I still can't do all that ACrobat does.
     
    #16 Dale-c, Jul 7, 2006
  17. Jarthur001

    Jarthur001 Active Member

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    Psill does not edit. The makers of psill have another program that works with psill that does edit. Create 12. I have not used Create, but they have "Download for Free - Try Full Strength for 30 Days - Free Upgrades For Life" program. I use PitStop Pro to edit. But I hardly ever use it....2-3 times a year.

    http://www.stone.com/Create/Create.html

    If your budget will let you..it maybe the best to buy the StoneStudio. It has Create and psill and many others for 299.

    http://www.stone.com/StoneStudio/explained/index.html

    Again..all that I have used is psill. But..if you have the time...its a free try.

    If you try it out...let me know what you think.
     
    #17 Jarthur001, Jul 7, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 7, 2006
  18. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

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    are there any other publisher type programs that are fairly inexpensive?

    Wayne
     
    #18 El_Guero, Jul 7, 2006
  19. Magnetic Poles

    Magnetic Poles New Member

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    Wayne, take a look at Scribus. Powerful, Open Source and Free!

    http://www.scribus.net/


     
    #19 Magnetic Poles, Jul 8, 2006
  20. rbell

    rbell Active Member

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    OK...after much work, wrangling, and losing my religion at Dell of Pakistan, Dell of India, AND Dell of Bangladesh...

    We've punted elements completely and have gone to CutePDF. It creates PDF from office docs...which is all I needed anyway. And it's free.

    Dell's online forums listed about thirty pages of folks who can't get elements to work either. Strangely, what works for some folks (reinstall office and elements) doesn't work for others.

    All I have to say is...

    "Dude! You're getting bad software!"

    Thanks for the responses.
     
    #20 rbell, Jul 11, 2006
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