AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

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gewone
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AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *gewone »

Hi, I noticed that files are being held up / locked by Acrotray.exe, which is a part of Adobe Acrobat DC, which is weird 'cuz I've explicitly disabled this from being autostarted in Windows. However, acrotray.exe is suddenly running. So, I thought to myself that somehow Adobe isn't respecting my disabling, so I simply navigated to the file (C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\acrotray.exe) and renamed it to acrotray.exe.off, which I thought should do the trick. Now, when in Total Commander I mark a file or directory and press CTRL+C, I get a dialog window "Windows cannot find ... acrotray.exe ... make sure you've typed the file correctly" and I'm like, what? Strange thing is, when doing CTRL+C in Explorer, this doesn't happen. Only inside Total Commander, the CTRL+C is somehow trying to launch stupid Adobe Acrobat helper application. So, what is happening here? I've checked checksum hashes for both totalcmd64.exe and acrotray.exe and they are fine; file's legit / official. I've searched the registry for acrotray.exe to see if something might be shortcutting to the file, but nothing. So since this annoyance seems bounded to Total Commander, I think it's fair to ask here, if anyone has a clue about what's going on, and how to disable it? Cheers!
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *nsp »

Does it is the same with CTRL + Ins ?
if yes try to find the source application of this dialog with process hacker or windows detective and give feedback.
Do you have specific clipboard monitoring app ?

if not : check if you did not defined a custom hotkey for ^C calling explicitelly acrotray ?
Got to configuration -> Misc [ go to Keyboard Mapping and click on the down arrow next to Hotkey: to see if you have something for ctrl + C. If yes, select and remove it using the red cross next to the command.
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *gewone »

@nsp :

Thanks for quick response, this is really driving me insane. Yeah, it can be reproduced using both CTRL+C and CTRL+INS, and my Misc / Hotkeys entries has noting involving CTRL+C. Also, I tried renaming the %APPDATA%\Roaming\GHISLER to a temporary foo extension just to load Total Commander without any config at all, and yeah, it then runs totally default, even unregistered, however, that darn CTRL+C issue is still there. And like I said, in a pure Windows Explorer window it does not occur, but ONLY in Total Commander. And I have no clipboard monitoring apps installed. Of course, I'm running latest Total Commander (10.00). Any other ideas? I would like to trace it somehow.
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *tuska »

2gewone
wincmd.ini -> Section [Shortcuts]
Search or filter for: C+C ... =Ctrl+C

I do not have this problem here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\Acrobat\acrotray.exe


Windows 10 Pro (x64) Version 21H2 (OS build 19044.1466) | TC 10.00 x64/x86
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *Dalai »

My guess is that there's some background application that reacts to Ctrl+C. When Explorer is active, it just sends that same hotkey to its window. Try something like NirSoft HotKeysList to find out.

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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *gewone »

@ Dalai :

Thanks for your advice! Unfortunately, HotkeysList repports nothing. Also, I tried the same (just CTRL+C any random file) in TC lookalike software Double Commander, and the opening of acrotray.exe does not occur then and there. I also tried a simple "copy <from> <to>" from a cmd window, which also does not launch acrotray.exe (and leaves it hanging in the background afterwards). The only application that causes acrotray.exe to launch seems to be Total Commander, and this is what I find particular and strange.

Any other ideas?
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *Stefan2 »

Do you maybe have AutoHotkey (or such) running?





 
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gewone
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *gewone »

@ Stefan2 :

Nope, no instance of AutoHotkey (or similar software) running. In fact, I've killed almost all non-essential processes running.
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *tuska »

Did you test with a TC_clean.ini ?

Code: Select all

Path\To\TOTALCMD64.EXE /N /I="%COMMANDER_PATH%\TC_clean.ini"
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *nsp »

After a full restart (not hibernate) !
If both ctrl + C or ctrl + ins have same effect, just check if the command cm_CopyToClipboard also have the same dialog. Just to verify that it is not a key capturing stuff.
Next try to find which application create the dialog using Windows detective 32 bit or 64 bit.
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gewone
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *gewone »

@ tuska :
Yeah, gives me a clean (even unregistered) instance of Total Commander, but the problem remains.

@nsp :
I can confirm that cm_CopyToClipboard triggers the same dialog.
How do I use Windows Detective? I have never used that software.
However, I'm a keen user of ProcessHacker, which tells me totalcmd64.exe is the "parent" of acrotray.exe.
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *gewone »

Finally nailed it, after a bit of chasing (processes, handles etc) down the line.
So, if anyone ever finds this thread thru' Google or whatnot.
Here's the culprit, and the command to permanently resolve the problem.

Code: Select all

regsvr32.exe /u c:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat Elements\ContextMenuShim64.dll
I've done plenty of trial-and-errors now, and it's really the spot.
With this .DLL loaded (regsvr32.exe), the issue is there; whilst unloaded, it vanishes.
I still wonder why it isn't triggered by Explorer or other file managers, though.
I guess it's something about the function Total Commander calls for putting files in the clipboard.
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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *Dalai »

That's some weird culprit. I didn't know that a DLL which, according to its name, has something to do with a context menu, can be triggered by something else entirely, in this case putting something into the clipboard. The thing is: For the DLL to interfere in this way, it would need to be loaded as soon as the process starts. Now sure, there are applications that do something like this, mostly anti-virus software inject their DLLs into each process to better protect the system (or so they claim). Not sure why a PDF reader application needs something like this. But now I know why Adobe Reader gets more bloated with each new version... (and why I don't use it).

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Re: AcroTray.exe being launched when punching CTRL+C inside TC

Post by *Hacker »

Dalai,
Ctrl-C invokes shell extensions just like showing the context menu does.

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