Issue with Windows 11 PC lock up due to Adobe Pro

Subject: SOLVED – Adobe Acrobat causing Windows 11 to completely freeze and CPU fan to run at high speed

I've been experiencing ongoing problems with Adobe Acrobat on my Lenovo ThinkCentre running Windows 11.

The symptoms included:

Opening PDF documents would sometimes cause the PC to slow down significantly.

The CPU cooling fan would suddenly run at high speed.

Adobe Acrobat would appear multiple times in Windows Task Manager.

Attempting to end Adobe Acrobat through Task Manager would cause Windows 11 to completely freeze.

The mouse and keyboard became completely unresponsive.

The only way to recover was to hold the power button for approximately 10 seconds to force a shutdown.

Troubleshooting performed:

Updated Lenovo BIOS to the latest available version.

Ran Windows Memory Diagnostic — passed.

Performed Adobe Acrobat Repair — no improvement.

Checked Windows Reliability Monitor — multiple application failures and unexpected shutdowns recorded.

THE SOLUTION:

I disabled New Acrobat from within Adobe Acrobat and reverted to the classic Acrobat interface.

Since making this change:

Adobe Acrobat opens PDF documents normally.

CPU usage remains low.

Memory consumption has reduced significantly.

The cooling fan operates normally.

Adobe Acrobat closes completely when exiting the application.

No further Windows lock-ups have occurred so far.

Conclusion:

Switching from New Acrobat to the classic Acrobat interface appears to have resolved the problem.

I can't confirm the underlying technical cause, but hopefully this helps anyone experiencing similar issues before they start replacing hardware or reinstalling Windows.