TeXnicCenter error: [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")]

The problem: Recently I installed TeXnicCenter, which, by the way, is my favorite LaTeX editor. As soon as I compiled a document and tried to open the PDF, I saw the following message:

error: [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")]

See the update from May, 2017 below. 


The cause of this problem is that Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe Reader) is assumed by TeXnicCenter to be the default PDF viewer (perhaps because it was installed before?). As a result of this, the DDE command and the location of the PDF viewer is wrong in the TeXnicCenter configuration right after installation.

During the installation process, TeXnicCenter should read the registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\acrobat\shell\open\command
to determine the location of the Adobe PDF Reader (in my case, C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 10.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe). Additionally, TeXnicCenter should read the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\acrobat\shell\open\command
to determine the "Server" field.


The solution: There are two steps:

Step 1: In TeXnicCenter Go to Build->Define Output Profiles-> choose "Latex to PDF" -> Viewer tab. Make sure the "Executable path" points to the right file; to know the right file, open the Registry Editor (run regedit). Use the location reported at:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\acrobat\shell\open\command  
(in my case, C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 10.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe). Now, use the registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\acrobat\shell\open\ddeexec\application
to determine the word you have to use in the "Server" field (in my case, AcroViewR10).


Step 2: In Adobe Reader X, go to Edit>Preferences>General and uncheck "Enable Protected Mode at startup".

UPDATE August 2015: I got a similar problem using Acrobat Reader DC, TeXnicCenter 2.02, and Windows 10.

The solution in this case was to change the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\acrobat\shell\open\ddeexec\application in STEP 1 to AcroViewR15.

The Server field in the Viewer section of the Profiles window (ALT+F7) has to be changed to AcroViewR15. It has to be done for all profiles in TeXnicCenter that use PDF, e.g. LaTeX->DVI->PDF, etc.

I had to reinstall TeXnicCenter for the solution to work.

UPDATE May 2017: On April 2017, Acrobat Reader DC changed again. The DDE parameter has to be AcroViewR17