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iFilter PDF search stops working on Windows 8 x64

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iFilter PDF search doesn't work on Windows 8 x64

Windows 8 64 bit provides native support for the PDF iFilter, which enables indexing PDFs so you can search for specific text. Installing Acrobat or Reader 11.0 breaks this feature. It overwrites the Windows 8 native iFilter registry entry with the product registry entry.

Solution

Do one of the following:

  • Update to Acrobat/Reader 11.0.4 or higher. The issue is fixed in version 11.0.4.
  • PDF iFilter 9 is not supported on Windows 8, update to PDF iFilter 11 from here.

If you cannot update your Acrobat/Reader or PDF iFilter, here is the workaround.

Workaround: Restore the registry entry to the Windows 8 native entry as follows:

  1. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pdf\PersistentHandler. Create the key if it does not exist.

  2. Verify that the value is 1AA9BF05-9A97-48c1-BA28-D9DCE795E93C. If the Acrobat or Reader install overwrote the entry with F6594A6D-D57F-4EFD-B2C3-DCD9779E382E, return it to its original value.

  3. If you have any third-party PDF iFilters installed, reinstall them.

  4. Restart the Windows Search service:

    1. Go to Task Manager > Services.
    2. Select WSearch.
    3. Right-click, and then choose Restart.

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