Error message when you try to start or to exit Visio: "Visual C++ Runtime Library - Runtime Error! Abnormal program termination"

When you try to start Microsoft Office Visio 2003 or Microsoft Visio 2002, or when you try to exit Visio 2003 or Visio 2002, you receive an error message that resembles the following error message:This message may also appear:

This issue occurs when the following conditions are true:

• The Adobe PDFMaker add-in (Pdfmvisio.vsl) is installed on the computer. This add-in is included in Adobe Acrobat 6.x and Adobe Acrobat 7.x.
• An incompatibility exists with the Adobe PDFMaker add-in.

To work around this issue, temporarily disable the Adobe PDFMaker add-in. Then, start or exit Visio. After you finish working in Visio, re-enable the Adobe PDFMaker add-in.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

How to disable the Adobe PDFMaker add-in

To disable the Adobe PDFMaker add-in, rename the Pdfmvisio.vsl file. For example, rename the Pdfmvisio.vsl file to Pdfmvisio.vsl_old. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Exit Visio, if it is running.
2. Click Start, and then click Search.
3. Click All files and folders. In the All or part of the file name box, type pdfmvisio.vsl, and then click Search.
4. In Search Results, right-click Pdfmvisio.vsl, and then click Rename.
5. Type Pdfmvisio.vsl_old, and then press ENTER.

How to enable the Adobe PDFMaker add-in

To enable the Adobe PDFMaker add-in, rename the Pdfmvisio.vsl_old file to Pdfmvisio.vsl. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Exit Visio, if it is running.
2. Click Start, and then click Search.
3. Click All files and folders. In the All or part of the file name box, type pdfmvisio.vsl_old, and then click Search.
4. In Search Results, right-click Pdfmvisio.vsl_old, and then click Rename.
5. Type Pdfmvisio.vsl, and then press ENTER

The Adobe PDFMaker add-in is installed when you install Adobe Acrobat on the computer. For more information, visit the following Adobe Systems Incorporated Web site: For more information about an error message that occurs when you start a Microsoft Office program on a computer on which the Adobe PDFMaker add-in is installed, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
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