Can't make pdf

Question

First of all, is there a way to actually talk to a tech?  While I appreciate forums, this is a definite technical issue and it probably can't be solved on a forum.  This is a crummy way of doing customer service...throwing us in the forum and not having any actual Adobe experts from the company and if there are some, then I apologize, but I wish I could have picked up the phone and called someone or spoken to someone via a chat window.
I cannot make pdfs.  I used to be able to make them easily.  It seems to me having observed what happens with the computer that Adobe must have told Microsoft it couldn't use the pdf function any more, because it doesn't work.  It seems more and more invasive on trying to figure out how to not let any kind of pdf file be made, even though I have the File...Save As...pdf.  I used to make them easily, many of them.  Then when Microsoft went to a higher level (ugh) of Windows, it didn't work any more.  These are problems that I am experiencing.  1.  When I try to make a .pdf it turns into a Firefox icon, not a .pdf icon.  I have to have Firefox, it is the only internet browser that works for me.  Chrome, IE, Safari, and Opera won't, so telling me to uninstall Firefox won't work for me.  I did last night, and it got so bad I had to reinstall it.  2.  So I tried using a zip file creator with the Firefox icon since that was all I had to work with, I couldn't get a .pdf icon, and when I zipped the file, which it did do, and then tried to unzip it, it asked for a password.
This Firefox deal is a big deal and it does not just affect me.  I got on the internet and tried for about 2 hours last night to solve this, and I see other people having this problem.  When attachments are sent to me any more, they come with a Firefox icon and I can't view them.  It's useless.  pdf used to be so good, and now it is trash.
I cannot do anything technical, so don't give me an answer about getting into files and doing this or that, because it won't happen.          
What I need is a tech who can work on my computer remotely, and solve the problem, but I won' t find that in a forum.

Answer 1

I am not a tech.  I do not do technical things.  If the answer is for me to
mess with files on my computer, I cannot, nor will I, and potentially break
my computer.  Companies who have techs should make software that works and
does not break down for customers.  As to whose software it is, at high
levels these corporations are connected anyway.  The only solution will be
a new computer.  I have tried every suggestion.  The problem with
suggestions is that when the suggestion says go to options...and then the
next step, if the next step does not view the same way on my computer as
someone else's computer, which it does not, I cannot follow the
1...2...3...steps because the views are different.   I don't know why...out
of my technical realm.  Screenshots would be better. I appreciate your
attempt, but a geek cannot understand the difficulty a mere mortal non-geek
has with this stuff.  I've done the Microsoft...hit this button to fix
solution.  I've tried to follow suggestions, but, as I said, they are over
my head and $20 compared to buying a new computer would be worth it,
however, I do believe that companies create problems to sell services, and
others have told me that scenario exists as well.  This computer only works
with Firefox.  I will have to find a computer that does not require
Firefox.  I've uninstalled Firefox and had to reinstall it because Chrome,
IE, Safari, and Opera are so bad.  I don't care about bells and whistles on
computers.  I would just like something simple, the simple stuff I need, to
work.  I can save a .pdf from Word, but it turns into a Firefox icon which
when I zip that (since I have no choice, no other option of what I can
zip), and then later unzip it, it asks for a password to unzip and I have
no clue what that is since I didn't create a password.  It is not solely a
problem with my computer.  Lately, when people send me .pdf documents, I
cannot open them.  The only way I can open them is save them to Google
Drive and view them there,  This is tedious and time consuming.  I used to
be able to do all this easily, and I was the same non tech person back then
that I am today.  I'm still programmed as a non-tech person.The thing that
changed is "someone's" programming, whether it is Microsoft, Adobe, or
Firefox, I do not know.  Of course, trying to solve this I read many things
and I believe I remember a lawsuit so I think they (Microsoft/Adobe) make
it more difficult in order to try to get all the goodies (we alone have
sovereign rights to the software) for themselves and not the competition.
What that does is open the door to customers to leave and find another
solution.  As for Word 97, it worked far better than Word 2010.  I get
error messages often when I try to save.  How many times I have I sent
error messages to Microsoft?...too many to count.  New and shinier is not
necessarily better and I really question whether they check things out
thoroughly before publishing new things and pushing them out to the public,
or whether they deliberately leave doorways that can create potential
problems in order to make it easier for the NSA.  I need a "hit the button
to fix this solution".  I cannot do the tech stuff and what I've tried, has
not worked.
On Sat, Sep 13, 2014 at 6:49 PM, Test Screen Name <[email protected]>