Not Opening PDF Files

Question

I am having a problem openining PDF files. When I click on the link for PDF files on Safari, I get a screen that asks which program I want to open up the PDF with. Preview is disabled since I can't click on it.
I then click on Adobe (I have 7.07 loaded), and when I do, the web browser tries to open the file, but all that comes up is a blank screen.
This is becoming a pain since I can't view PDFs.
Any thoughts would be appreciaeted.
Thanks
Russell

Answer 1

Symptom:
PDF files can no longer be viewed in a Safari window as well as embeded QuickTime movie files can no longer be viewed in a Safari window after running the following updates:
- Acrobat Reader 7.0.5 Language Support
- Acrobat Reader 7.0.7 Update
Prior to these updates, both PDF files and QuickTime movie files loaded as expected.
- To view PDF files they must be downloaded to the hard drive and then opened in Adobe Reader.
-To view QuickTime movies, they must be downloaded to the hard drive and then opened in QuickTime Player.
Miscellaneous troubleshooting:
- Internet Explorer 5.2.3 used to visit handful of sites visited in Safari prior to this symptom. Both PDF files and QuickTime movies load in Internet Explorer 5.2.3 as expected.
- Disabling the Internet preference in Adobe Reader had no effect.
- Resetting Safari had no effect.
Software:
- Mac OS 10.3.9
- Safari 1.3.2
- Acrobat Reader 7.0.7
- QuickTime Version 7.0.4, Player Version 7.0.4
I was able to resolve the issue by troubleshooting my home directory by following the general troubleshooting steps presented in Apple Tech doc 107657 "Safari quits unexpectedly".
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107657
Here's the solution that worked for me:
1. I quit Safari and all other running applications.
2. I dragged the following Preferences folder to the desktop:
~/Library/Preferences
3. To locate this folder quickly, I copied and pasted "~/Library/Preferences" into the window that opens if you choose Go > Go to Folder... from the Go pull-down menu while in the Finder.
4. I reopened Safari to see if PDF files and QuickTime movies would load as expected (they did).
5. Reopening Safari created a new Preferences folder in the Library folder containing the following:
com.apple.HIToolbox.000d936bdfd8.plist in a folder named "ByHost"
com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
com.apple.Safari.plist
DivX Decoder 5.2 Preferences
QuickTime Preferences
6. I carefully copied these files into the Preferences folder on the desktop, allowing each file to overwrite (or replace) the existing item. Note: I did not replace the entire "ByHost" folder contained in the Preferences folder on the desktop, but rather I replaced the one file inside of the "ByHost" folder.
7. I moved the Preferences folder that was on the desktop back into the Library folder, replacing the newly created Preferences folder.
To avoid deleting preference files for other applications that use the Preferences folder, it is very important to keep track of which Preferences folder is on the desktop and which one is newly created by reopening Safari.
This process did not seem to affect Acrobat Reader 7.0.5. After opening Acrobat Reader 7.0.5 and checking for updates (Help > Check for Updates Now...) Acrobat Reader 7.0.5 Language Support and Acrobat Reader 7.0.7 Update are both still "installed" with the option to "Reinstall" if desired (I decided not to do this as installing these items seem to be what caused this symptom to begin with).
  Mac OS X (10.3.9)