I downloaded an imp ACA insurance PDF file on Friday, but

[truedelphi]

I cannot open it.

The download history shows that it was downloaded and it shows the title, the time and date and also the amount of megs it took up. (It is listed as being 1.2 megs big.)

But I cannot for the life of me get it to open.

Sometimes when a file is stubborn about opening, right clicking gets me a menu that says things like "Open in a new tab" or "open in a new window" but this time around, all I get after right clicking is "Delete file from history" and one or two things that don't make sense.

I operate a Windows XP file computer.

[SwankyXomb]

1. Right-clicking should get you an "Open With" as one of the options

What program are you currently using to open PDF files?

[truedelphi]

2. I doknow that. That is why I detailed how I tried to do that.

But the typical menu that should come up when I right click a file will not come up. But an ersatz menu does!

And I have to have this done soon - as dealing with the ACA is time sensitive and I am in California.

The ability to deal with the other 1.2 million people trying to get on the ACA today - before midnight - is overwhelming as it is, without having this additional problem!

On edit: I had no trouble whatsoever opening this same file back on Friday!

[SwankyXomb]

3. I'm using Sumatra myself these days

http://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html since it's lightweight and open source. Your file associations may have been changed as well, which case check out http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/change-file-association-in-windows-xp/

[truedelphi]

4. THAnk you for all your help. However, the file I am looking for

Does not appear to exist any more.

I went in and utilized the shortcut to Adobe Reader, and entered the exact name of the file, and then was told it doesn't exist. (I did a cut and paste operation, using the name as it appeared in the Download history and library section of my computer. I re-did it several times to make sure the file name was accurate.)

And the email that got sent to me on Friday from Anthem Insurance - that email doesn't exist either!

I have no idea what is happening? Could someone be targeting my computer and they figure a file about insurance would give them special and significant details about me? Like my social security and birthdate, etc?

Of course, since these were disappeared before I could work on them, no one got my personal data, just 1.2 Megs of the Anthem provisions and their by laws and various deductibles and deductible exclusions etc.

[Denzil_DC]

5. Sounds like you have no option but to download the file again

I'd pay special attention to the process when you do so. What browser are you using? With the usual run of add-ons, Firefox will usually let you view a PDF onscreen, with the option to download it if you didn't have access to a direct download link. It might be worth trying all those options if they're available and see whether one of the versions will open OK.

Then there's the question of what PDF file viewer you're using, and what version. And the not-intended-to-be-insultingly-obvious one of checking that the file suffix was retained as PDF after downloading it ... If it was, then as long as it's not an unsupported version, it should open unless your file associations have been messed up somehow since last Friday. An update/reinstall of Adobe Reader might not be a bad idea: https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/otherversions/

No idea why that email might disappear. What were you using to access email?

It sounds like you have doubts about your system integrity anyway. I'd download Malwarebytes if you don't already have it on your system, and do a full scan: https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-intercept/