Adobe Issues With Album Download

I am trying to access album page files from a CD I have had since 2001. I recently updated my Adobe to #11- now I cannot access those files- they are not supported.

I know I will need to install an older version. Is there any safe place to do that from? Most of what I can find look to be sites I would not trust. Will I need to remove y current version? Sure never saw this coming when I updated!

Update- the Adobe update may not be the problem, I located and installed an Adobe 9 version and the same thing happens. I have been able to view and print other files from my Steiner CD and others so I think it is something else causing the problem. Could the CD files have somehow become corrupted over the years?

First try disabling 'Enhanced Security' (not only does this prevent some file from downloading and opening but makes the Reader very slow).

1. Go to Preferences
2. Go to Security
3. Uncheck 'Enable Enhanced Security

If this doesn't work and you want to go back to a previous version, you will HAVE to uninstall version 11 completely. Frankly, the uninstall may or may not remove all registry entries and file associations. But trying to run two version is ugly.
Don

It's also possible that the media has started to degrade - unfortunately CD's don't last forever and will start to degrade. The CD you have is approximately 15 years old and starting to get to the point where the physical media may be decaying. Here are a few things you can also try:

1) Copy the files to a local hard drive. If the files cannot be copied or end up with a size of 0, they are definitely corrupt.
2) Try another CD reader if you have one available
3) Clean the CD with a felt glass cloth. If that doesn't work, then try Windex

Finally, there are 15 years of updates on the site, so it's definitely worth another year's subscription or CD purchase at this time!

What error message are you getting when you try to open them?

Yes, CDs can go bad over time, and not just from scratches. It doesn't happen very often. If only some of the files from the CD are being affected, try properly cleaning your CD first.

It says the 'file is not supported' . I tried to copy to a drive but couldn't- said there was not enough room left. The CD is clean, very few scratches. I was able to access the files earlier this year so I have utterly no idea. I also did the 'Disable Enhanced Security' and that didn't work.

I also did a system restore and that didn't help, except I then couldn't access my Chrome browser, so I went back to the original setting.

This is a CD I got from an ebay seller back in 2001 - he is no longer in business, it's one of the best sets of album pages for early great Britain I have ever seen. About my last hope is possibly to ask my teenage son if he would try this on his computer. Who knows it might work. He'll be thrilled, I'm sure.

UPDATE- The files on this CD are showing as 'ALB' and my son says these are not Adobe. My recollection is that I just would pop the CD into the drive and access the files, maybe it was not through Adobe but I thought was.

I am just about at the end of what I can do here. Sort of breaks my heart- I think these files have simply degraded over the years. Thanks to all who tried to help.

did you have a program on your PC to open those files that might have been uninstalled?

Maybe there's a setup file to reinstall it right on the disc.

Sounds like a proprietary software program - what is it?

If you want to email me one of those files, I'll see if I can find something to open it with for you. I'm pretty computer savy...

Mike33 has a very good point.

ALB is a Cubase-related file type. Somebody must have installed a music recording/editing program/demo since you last accessed those files.

The error message, is it coming from Adobe or is it a generic error message.

If the latter, you can force Adobe Reader to open those files by right-clicking as choose "open with" option.

You can uninstall the Cubase-type program, but that will still leave you with some orphaned files.

Usually, right-clicking the orphaned files and using the "open with" option will change the file type to Adobe and solve the problem. If not, a less desirable option is to append .pdf to those files and force a file type in the name.

I would avoid a global/batch change in the file types. That's probably what caused the problem in the first place during some install.

A lot of us run into these types of problems every time we install any sort of editing/viewing software. The programs often want to take over everything. That's why I usually disable that option in the install, so that the program will only affect the files created by that program.

A Google search yields:

http://whatis.techtarget.com/filefo...mander-album


...and http://extension.nirsoft.net/alb


I didn't take it any further to see if any of the programs are still available. I'll leave that for you. You may even find that the program is installed on your PC but Windows (gag) has lost the file association.

Terry

If you are getting a "not enough room" error when copying, your hard drive may be getting quite full. After you solve this pdf problem, you may want to address that problem. Annoying things start to happen when your hard drive gets close to capacity.

Terry is correct, there are other software possibilities for that file-type. I only mentioned one.

Mike just sent you an email message with the file, not sure if you will be able to access it. I couldn't attach it to a message sent through this board. Once you get it if you could send me a regular email and I can then reply with the file attachment, many thanks.

email sent

Thanks all- I did manage to get the files to open!

There was some intermediate file called a 'Page Generator' that the guy who set this up had included, the idea is that you are supposed to open that first and then use the links you get to the files. This wasn't some page CD I got from a seller- it was from a guy in the UK who was selling pages on there. So, this whole thing was set up for a geek to use, not the average Joe. I just went out for a walk and was thinking then remembered...

My profuse thanks to all of you and my apologies for my forgetfulness in not knowing how to navigate this thing.

Glad to hear you got it working

I'm lucky if I remember what I had for breakfast.

Terry