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Menubar blackened out

Forum Index > Deployment & Installation > Menubar blackened out
2007-09-18 15:26:34
khillebrand
Registered: Apr 24 2006
Posts: 26

I recently upgraded to Acrobat 8, which I love by the way. But every so often, my menubar becomes totally blackened out -- not from one edge of the screen to the other, but only over the words... from File to Help... and one of the words (usually File) is visible. If I mouse over the menubar, it will appear one word at a time (the word I'm currently hovering over) and it will work. But then when I take my mouse away, it's totally black again. If I close Acrobat and then reopen, it goes away. But it eventually comes back.
 
In the installation I did elect to uninstall Acrobat 7. All updates are installed. I repaired the installation as well and that didn't help. One of the forums suggested changing color depths (32 bit, 24 bit), and changing to traditional desktop theme. Nothing has helped. I have the most current graphic drivers.
 
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 8.0999999999999996447286321199499070644378662109375, Windows
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2007-09-24 16:56:21
#1
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
I have not heard of this or seen it before. I think you have found a bug in Acrobat.

The items are blacked out because they are not being redrawn. All applications recieve messages from the operating system that prompt them to do things like redraw a portion of the window. You can see this in action when you move windows over top of one another. It's especially obvious when an application is very busy or locked up. There is probably an error somewhere in this sequence. Call customer support.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

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2008-02-19 03:54:37
#2
Alistair
Registered: Feb 19 2008
Posts: 6
Hi

I just installed Acrobat 8 and am having exactly the same problems. I've logged an issue with the support people so I will let you know what I find out.

Very annoying!!
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2008-02-27 05:25:32
#3
Alistair
Registered: Feb 19 2008
Posts: 6
This appears to be a problem with Windows Themes. I think I've fixed it by going into the display properties and under the "themes" tab re-applying the Windows XP theme so it is "fresh" so to speak. You will have to re-select wallpapers and screensavers, but since re-applying the XP theme I haven't had the menu blackening problem.
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2008-04-24 09:23:37
#4
max3517
Registered: Apr 24 2008
Posts: 5
You are a genius, Alistair! Thanks for the info.
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2008-04-25 01:15:07
#5
Alistair
Registered: Feb 19 2008
Posts: 6
Oh not really, but it definitely works. It doesn't mean you have to get rid of your favourite Windows theme for good (I still use the Zune "black" theme) but, since setting XP back to default and then setting my theme up again I've had no problems...!!
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2008-04-25 10:36:43
#6
max3517
Registered: Apr 24 2008
Posts: 5
I'm glad your fixed worked...for you!

Unfortunately, after a very short time, it has come back for me. And I haven't changed the theme or changed it in any way. Still have the XP default theme. Any other suggestions?
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2008-04-28 01:48:32
#7
Alistair
Registered: Feb 19 2008
Posts: 6
Can you confirm you:

1) Went into the display properties tab, then on the "themes" tab selected "Windows XP"

2) Clicked the "Appearance" tab and under "windows and buttons" selected "Windows XP style"?

This will reset everything from sounds to wallpaper to cursors. This is what I did and it definitely fixed mine.

My graphics processor is an Intel 82915G on board, what's yours?

Good luck.
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2008-05-06 07:58:04
#8
max3517
Registered: Apr 24 2008
Posts: 5
No idea. But yes, I confirm I did what you suggested. Works for awhile. I suspect it might have something to do with dual monitor software (dualmon) and/or a non-certified plug-in. I have removed non-certified plug-in first to see if this solves the problem.
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2008-05-06 08:14:46
#9
Alistair
Registered: Feb 19 2008
Posts: 6
OK, this just got more bizarre. I chose a basic Windows theme, applied it and within 2 minutes I had the black menu bar problem again. I reset the theme completely and it was still there. I changed to another theme, then to the Zune theme and the black menus prevailed. I changed another couple of times and suddenly it has gone. I can't predict when it's going to work though or how I "fixed" it!!!!! Very frustrating :-(

All I can suggest is keep changing your themes and playing about for a few minutes, minimizing Acrobat and swapping between programs. You will soon know if it is cured!!

A
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