Some users have contacted us with questions about the RdrCEF.exe process. From what we have collected, the executable is usually associated with pop-ups “stopped working and” application error “. Most of the time, errors caused by the RdrCEF.exe process will appear when the user opens Acrobat Reader.
Other users report abnormal CPU usage by RdrCEF.exe. Although the RdrCEF.exe process is probably genuine, could help you investigate a malware infection if you find that the process is constantly consuming a large chunk of system resources.
What is RdrCEF.exe?
The legitimate RdrCEF.exe is a standard component of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Basically, the RdrCEF.exe process handles most of the cloud connectivity functions. But for most users, the process is primarily responsible for maintaining an open channel with the AWS servers.
Please note that the process is not essential for the proper functioning of Windows and that its removal will have no consequences for the user's operating system..
Potential security risk?
Some security suites are known, incluido Malwarebytes, RdrCEF.exe executable is sometimes quarantined under suspicion of being a Trojan agent. Although most of those cases turned out to be false positives, it is important to make sure it is a genuine executable.
The quickest way to ensure this is to view the location of RdrCEF.exe. To do this, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and locate the RdrCEF.exe process. Once i do, right click on it and choose Open file location. If the revealed location is different from C: N- Program files (x86) N- Adobe N- Acrobat Reader DC N- AcroCEF N- RdrCEF.exe, there is a high probability that it is a malware infection.
If you suspect a virus infection, We recommend that you scan your system with a powerful malware remover. If you don't have a security scanner installed, you can follow our detailed article (here) on using Malwarebytes to remove viruses from your system.
Fix Errors Associated with RdrCEF.exe
Once you have determined that RdrCEF.exe is genuine, you can safely fix the problem to remove the error caused by the Adobe Reader executable.
In the event that you receive the application error “RdrCEF.exe has stopped working or” Adobe Reader application error (RdrCEF.exe) “, you can solve the problem using the following two methods. The following fixes may also be effective if you see abnormal CPU and RAM usage of RdrCEF.exe if the problem originates from a failed process.
Method 1: rename RdrCEF.exe and RdlServicesUpdater.exe
Some users have been able to eliminate any pop-up or error messages associated with RdrCEF.exe by renaming two executables located on the Acrobat Reader installation site.
It turns out that renaming RdrCEF.exe and RdlServicesUpdater.exe will force the client to create new healthy executables that will not produce the same error. Here is a quick guide on how to do this:
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Make sure Acrobat Reader is completely closed. What's more, check the taskbar tray for open processes.
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Navigate to the location of Acrobat Reader. By default, the folder is in C: Program files (x86) N- Adobe N- Acrobat Reader DC N-Leader N- AcroCEF.
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There, should be able to detect two executables: RdrCEF.exe y RdlServicesUpdater.exe. Right click on each of them and select Rename. Rename both executables so that they end with »_old» and press Enter to save changes.
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Restart Adobe Reader to force it to recreate the two files. If everything goes fine, You should no longer worry about errors associated with RdrCEF.exe.
Method 2: update to the latest version of Acrobat Reader
The problem that caused Acrobat Reader to crash with the »RdrCEF.exe stopped working error» has been addressed by Adobe in later versions as of the update released on 12 July 2016.
If you can open Acrobat Reader, go to Help and click Check for Updates to ask the customer to update to the latest version.
In case the error is triggered before the client is opened (that prevents you from accessing the help menu), will have to take a different route. Start by uninstalling the current version of Adobe Reader from your computer. To do this, open a run window (tecla de Windows + R), type »appwiz.cpl» and press Enter to open Programs and Features.
In Programs and Features, scroll through the list of applications and uninstall your current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader by right-clicking and selecting Uninstall.
Once the suite has been uninstalled, visit the official download center for Acrobat Reader (here) and download the latest version. If you want to avoid security bloatware, be sure to uncheck both boxes for Optional Offers before hitting the Install Now button.
Once the download is complete, open the bundled installer and follow the onscreen instructions to install Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system.
