TC 8.01 64-bit and Adobe Reader PDF open-delay

[Perplexer]

I recently noticed weird open-delay problems when opening PDF documents in my Adobe Reader X (10), XI (11) and Acrobat by double-clicking on them within Total Commander 8.01 64-bit.

If I already had one PDF open (IMPORTANT: for at least 15 seconds!) and I tried opening another PDF, it would take about 4 seconds before the second PDF would open. Needless to say, this delay is unusual and very annoying. I reinstalled Adobe Reader X as well as upgraded to Adobe Reader XI (11) but the problem persisted. I also completely removed Adobe Reader and used Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 which I had on my PC for years and it had the same problem (which was not there in the past).

When I was trying out things to try and find the culprit I closed all programs and browsers and used Windows Explorer to double-click on the PDF files. In that case the problem was not there. So I figured it must be Total Commander 8.01 64-bit version which is the reason for the problems. I switched to 32-bit executable and now the PDF opening delay is gone (all PDFs open instantly).

I am not sure which program is to blame or where exactly the problem lies but as it is, TC 8.01 64-bit is unusable for me.

I only have one computer so I was not able to test this on other PCs. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

If you want to try and test this yourself then run TC 8.01 64-bit exe and double-click on a PDF document to open it (first PDF will always open instantly). Then wait at least 15 seconds before trying to open a second PDF. You will notice a 4 second delay when opening the second PDF. Note that if you don't wait 15 seconds after you open the first PDF and try to open the second PDF immediately, the delay will not be there. All subsequent PDFs after 15 seconds will experience this 4 second delay when being opened.

If anyone know what exactly the problem is or how to fix it for the 64-bit version of TC, please let me know. By the way, is there a reason why one would want to use 64-bit version over 32-bit ? Am I losing something if I use 32-bit instead of 64-bit ?

[ghisler(Author)]

When a program is already running and you try to open a second file, the file name is usually passed to the program via DDE (dynamic data exchange). DDE uses broadcast messages to all running programs. If there is just a single program not responding (or responding slowly) to these messages, the launch will be delayed.

Try closing all other running programs until the delay goes away.

[Perplexer]

Wouldn't that mean 32-bit version of TC would cause the same problem? But it doesn't. Using 32-bit TC solves the problem for me without having to close any other running applications (which would not be a good solution either way).

By the way, I don't know if this makes a difference but I am using a third-party utility called "Creativeelement Power Tools" to manage filetype associations in Windows 7 and under the properties for ".pdf" filetype the option for "send DDE message to application" is already disabled.

[ghisler(Author)]

Yes, 32-bit and 64-bit TC should behave the same way - except when you run one as Administrator and the other as a normal user. Windows blocks messages between normal users and admins, so the DDE behaviour will be affected too.

[Perplexer]

I run both TC versions as well as all other programs as an administrator all the time (I use an account with administrator privileges for my everyday work). So I guess its something else besides DDE.

[ghisler(Author)]

Do you get this problem also in the 32-bit version when TC 64-bit is running at the same time?

[Perplexer]

No, 32-bit TC always opens the second PDF without delay, even when 64-bit TC is running at the same time.

64-bit TC always produces the open-delay on the second PDF even when 32-bit TC is running at the same time.

[ghisler(Author)]

Sorry, I'm out of ideas. Please use the 32-bit TC instead of the 64-bit TC. It has only very few disadvantages, like not beging able to see 64-bit shell extensions.

[Blackbird88]

This is happening to me too and using 32bit version is not an option. I use way too many x64 programs and the x64 context menu in 32bit TC is sooo slow and unreliable(it sometimes shows error message)

Alright I found the solution. It happens when you run TC as admin, but thats not good solution either. W8 really likes the stupid run as admin dialog and I'd rather no have it just to copy something to system.

[ghisler(Author)]

I see - maybe you started TC as Admin and Adobe was already running as non-admin?