PDF Password Protected? Really?

Hi MacRumors!

So, I'm trying to make a Power Point. I have Office 2008, and my goal is to place PDFs onto slides. However, every time I chose the pdfs I would like, it says they are password protected by the owner. The issue here is that:
1.) I am the owner.
2.) I am the creator.
3.) I did not ever set a password.
The same thing happens in Illustrator CS3. Except this time, Illustrator asks for the password to the documents. I've tried everything. It doesn't exist.
On the other hand, Preview can open these documents up in a second, and doesn't mention anything about them being protected.

I called Apple Care and they just told me it had something to do with "Excel". Sigh. And Microsoft told me to call Adobe. I have no idea why, the PDFs weren't made using any Adobe products. Anyways. I'm kind of under a time constraint here, so any help you have would be fantastic.

Thank you.