Anyone using IE11 & Acrobat with access to FindMyPast?

[Jomot]

I'm having problems opening PDF documents on FindMyPast, and as usual their support team are not a great deal of help so I'm not sure if it's them or me, although I can open PDF's on all other websites with no problems. 

If anyone is using IE11 & Acrobat Reader DC it would be really helpful if you could go to Yorkshire Registers & Records, type in Smith and then try & open the first record.

Not sure if it makes any difference but I'm also on Win7.

For info I've uninstalled & reinstalled the Acrobat Reader DC & checked that I have the latest version of IE.  My Temp Internet files are also set to automatically clear on exit.

[miw]

Hi
Not sure how much help this is but the file opens Ok in Google Chrome with Acrobat Reader DC

[Jomot]

I appreciate you checking miw, but I really need someone with IE11 to try it so I can find out if it's just me or a wider problem. 

FindMyPast say they cant replicate the issue (Acrobat stops working, leaving a blank page where the record should be) but they've only tried Firefox, which is a bit pointless when the problem I've reported is with IE.

 

[smudwhisk]

I'm using IE11 and Adobe Reader XI and just get a blank page trying what you asked.  Tried another data collection which has PDFs and which has worked previously and getting same problem.  However, I also use the IE inbuilt Tracking Protection add-on and if I turn that off, then the pages load.  FindMyPast appear to have changed something that is affected by the IE Tracking Protection as not had a problem previously.  I have the same problem accessing Messages on Ancestry's website and have done for some time since they changed the Messages feature, but Ancestry won't deal with the problem in spite of having it reported.

[Jomot]

Thank you!!!   

FindMyPast refuse to entertain the notion that it could be a problem at their end, so having confirmation that it isn't just me is a huge help.

I've just checked my add-ons & I don't seem to have IE Tracking Protection as far as I can see, but I will pass this information onto them also.

Thank you again.

[middlesbrough]

I am having the same problem too. I contacted them twice about the school admission registers, still can't view them! They're not very helpful at all.

[familydar]

My browser of choice is IE11.  I have a Win7 desktop and FindMyPast subscription and it seems I have acrobat reader version 9.  It probably came pre-installed when my computer was new and shiny.  Like a good little end user I install updates as and when I'm notified of them, and there's never been anything contained in those updates to suggest I should upgrade, although I'm aware that there have been periodic scares about the security of various versions of acrobat and complaints about its sheer size (bloatware).  I'm a bit surprised that Wikipedia says support for this version ceased in 2013 as I've definitely had updates/patches since then.

I googled acrobat reader DC and it seems I could download it if I wanted - I don't think so!  If it ain't broke.....

It makes no difference with the setup I have, and it's not what it was designed to do, but it might be worth experimenting with IE11 compatibility view (tools, compatibility view settings).  If it doesn't resolve things just remove it again.  No reboot required.

To get back to your original post Jomot, on my computer version 9 has no problem opening the PDFs you cite as examples.  As a workaround for you, perhaps the answer would be to use Chrome as your browser (see post from miw) or firefox (which FindMyPast say works for them) when you need to open PDFs on FindMyPast.  Adobe and Chrome seem to be closely linked (I always have to uncheck the "install chrome" boxes on adobe updates) so whatever else falls apart when patches are released, I suspect their compatibility will have been exhaustively tested.

Possibly in time FindMyPast will get their act together but I wouldn't hold your breath.  FindMyPast's datasets are sourced from all sorts of different places and adhere to a variety of formats laid down by the data suppliers rather than FindMyPast.  There's very little standardisation.  FindMyPast shoehorn the data as best they can into their own database fields.  The issue with these particular PDFs is likely to do with with the format of the specific dataset - it's probably very old and the images will have been created using an early version of adobe, which the latest version can't handle (it having been written no doubt by a team of nine-year-olds who have no knowledge of a world before smartphones).  It's years since I reported issues with sorting on date and I don't think that'll ever be fixed although it would be such a simple bit of data-cleansing.

Jane :-)

[Jomot]

Thanks for the reply Jane

This is a fairly recent problem & there was an update to the Acrobat Reader in April so the two may be connected.  I'm a stubborn old goat though so I'm not changing my browser just to suit them, but I'll certainly take a look at the compatibility settings. 

Alternatively I was considering replacing Acrobat with Foxit or PDF-XChange, but for now I'll just await their latest 'helpful' reply. 

[familydar]

I'm a stubborn old goat

me too but my blood pressure's not what it used to be