Adobe Reader pdf icon issue

Obviously you will need to select the pdf file format ( all file types will be there in a scrollable list view ) and in alphabetical order.

If not then right click on the pdf file and go to properties and see if there are any options in there for changing the icon

ok do you know where i can make that change in the registry.  I need to do this for an installation package and I can make registry changes with the Adobe customization tool

It looks to me as though the 16x16 pixel icon is being loaded from the icon index number zero within the file "SC_Reader.ico" in one of the sub-folders under C:\WINDOWS\Installer OR from one of the icons inside "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader x.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe".

I suspect the latter, but read on anyway.

That folder contains sub-folders with GUID names, for example the following one for the Adobe Acrobat Reader version 9 installed on my XP system:
C:\WINDOWS\Installer\{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001}

Because you are viewing the files as thumbnails, the 16x16 wouldn't be large enough to fill the standard "frame" in that view.

You tend to find that the "DefaultIcon" Key like this:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document.7\DefaultIcon
has its [Default] Value set to a path like this:
C:\WINDOWS\Installer\{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001}\PDFFile_8.ico,n

(where ,n is the index number of the icon resource inside the icon file "PDFFile_8.ico").

As you may be aware, an Icon file (*.ico) or "Icon Groups" within EXE or DLL files contain several different sizes and colour depths of icons to suit your View settings in Explorer and screen settings, and the correct icon is loaded and displayed as required.  Occasionally these internal icons (indexed from zero upwards) can look fairly different.

Opening the file "SC_Reader.ico" in an Icon Editing program, I see that it has the exact same icon shape and colouring in sizes from 16x16 pixels up to 256x256 pixels, and in several different colour depths.

Your PDF documents should really be displaying the icons from within "PDFFile_8.ico" from what I can see.

Locate the relevant folder with the Acrobat Reader files in C:\Windows\Installer and copy the folder name, eg:
C:\WINDOWS\Installer\{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001}

Open Regedit and do a search for that.
I believe you will be looking for the one that relates to Keys named "AcroExch.Document", and in there you should open the "DefaultIcon" Key.  Double-Click on the value named [Default] and see what icon path it is set to.

Going back to what I mentioned earlier, I suspect that PDF documents are just loading the main icon from the associated executable in the absence of a "DefaultIcon" being specified in the registry.

Registering the resource DLL "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader x.0\Reader\AcroRd32.dll" using the command:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader x.0\Reader\AcroRd32.dll"

may solve the issue if done as part of your custom installation.  It contains the settings required to write the correct registry values.

As with anything that involves the registry.  Look in the registry after a setup that works as intended, then compare the results with the one that doesn't.

I have no idea how the Adobe Customize Tool works, ie. whether it runs *.reg scripts, *.ini or *.inf files, or whether it uses its own internal programs to write custom registry values, so unfortunately I can't make any specific suggestions about how to implement the change.

I can't register that dll.  I checked everything you said earlier and everything matches.  this is the path for the defaught icon   C:\WINDOWS\Installer\{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001}\PDFFile_8.ico,0

Hi m1721c

2 things of importance with the results.  One is my fault, and the other is (possibly) yours ;-)

1. Never run a regsvr32 command, or in fact do much else, when you already have Regedit open.  I see it on your taskbar, but of course you may have opened it after the command failed.

2. I gave you the command:
    regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader x.0\Reader\AcroRd32.dll"
I'm sorry about this, but the x.0 part was meant to be a replacement for whatever version of Actobat Reader you currently have installed, eg. replace x.0 with version 9.0 if that is what you have installed and run the command:
    regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe"
I see that you did so, and Regsvr32 still failed.   The file should be self-registerable.  

The return code (error code) 0x80004005 means "Access Denied".  You can find this out by typing the command:
CMD /K NET HELPMSG 0005

I have a feeling it may have been because Regedit was open.

i opened it afterwards, it doesn't work.  Not sure what the issue is.  I ran the install again (uncustomized) and i have this showing up, so not sure what adobe broke

nevermind a regular install works ok, my customized one using adobes customization tool is still the issue

It certainly seems to be a bug with the Adobe Customization Tool.  I'm not sure how it works, but if it allows any post-setup tweaks by way of custom *.reg files or RunOnce commands at reboot, then you might be able to use that method to "fix" the problem it caused.

I agree i'm going to try to use regmon to see what the differences are in the install hopefully I can find the issue