This happens only when you have Adobe Acrobat Professional (any version) installed on your PC, which adds a toolbar to the Lotus Notes client to convert e-mail messages and folders into PDF files. This latest update from Adobe causes Lotus Notes 8.5.1 to crash before you are prompted for your password.
To resolve this issue, you must remove the reference for the toolbar in the notes.ini file (a configuration file Lotus Notes uses). The line to remove is:
EXTMGR_ADDINS=
To remove this line, do the following:
1. Open your notes.ini file. Open My Computer, go to your C drive, and find the file in one of the following locations:
-C:\Lotus\Notes
-C:\Program Files\Lotus\Notes
-C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Notes
If you are using Windows 7, you will find it in
-C:\Users\<your uwinid>\AppData\Local\Lotus\Notes\Data
If you do not see file extensions (.ini, .nsf, etc. after the file name, you do not have filename extensions turned on. In Windows XP, while in My Computer, click on Tools > Folder Options and then click the view tab. In Windows Vista or Windows 7, while in My Computer hold down the ALT key and the T key simultaneously to bring up the Tools menu, then navigate to Folder Options. Then uncheck "hide file extensions for known file types."
Once you locate the notes.ini file, double click on it, and it should open in the Notepad application.
2. Click on Edit, then Find, and search for EXTMGR_ADDINS. You should find a line that says EXTMGR_ADDINS= and one of the references after the equal sign will be Adobe PDF. Go to the beginning of the line and type a semi-colon (;) so the line will read ;EXT_MGR_ADDINS= This semi-colon will treat the line as a comment, and the Lotus Notes client will skip over this line.
3. Click on File, then Save. Then close Notepad.
4. Lotus Notes should now start normally. You will not have the Adobe Acrobat icons in your toolbar, however you can still use the Adobe Acrobat integration features by clicking on the Actions menu.