Adobe dialog keeps hanging up computer

[Larry]

I have a five year old Dell laptop with Windows XP that someone gave me
recently. Whenever you click or right-click on anything, or try to open
something, say Word, a dialog appears saying, "configuring [or installing]
Adobe 8.1." This dialog box just hangs, and you have to click it several
times to get rid of it. Then it comes back again.

I went to Add/Remove programs dialog box, and guess what? It's empty, none
of the programs on the computer are showing at all.

I went to the Adobe folder in the Program Files folder, thinking of simply
deleting all the Adobe fiiles. There are two folders in it, one for version
7, and one for version 8, but when I try to delete, I get message saying I
can't do this with certain files which are being used or something. (Sorry
I'm not quoting it exactly.)

So: this dialog box keeps hanging up the computer, and there seems no way
to get rid of Adobe on the computer.

And in addition to that, the Add-Remove box is not populated, which may be a
related problem, or part of the same problem. If wonder if this means
Windows must be re-installed.

Any suggestions?

 

[GrtArtiste]

So:  this dialog box keeps hanging up the computer,  and there seems no way
to get rid of Adobe on the computer.

And in addition to that, the Add-Remove box is not populated, which may be a
related problem, or part of the same problem.  If wonder if this means
Windows must be re-installed.

Any suggestions?

Run msconfig and check for any Adobe process that may be loading at
startup such as apdproxy or reader_sl. If found, disable them
and reboot. Alternatively, it may be necessary to reinstall Adobe (or
Adobe Reader, as the case may be) in order to get a clean uninstall.
HTH

GrtArtiste

 

[JS]

See: Windows Installer clean up
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/

JS

 

[Larry]

I went to that KB page. I don't mean to be difficult, but the
incomprehensibility of it is staggering:

"With the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, you can remove a program's
Windows Installer configuration information. You may want to remove the
Windows Installer configuration information for your program if you
experience installation (Setup) problems."

So there are _two_ things to deal with here, there's the Installer itself,
with its configuration information, AND there's the Installer Cleanup, which
_cleans up_ this configuration information? I can't get my head around
this. Instead of just fixing the Installer, Microsoft is telling us to
install ANOTHER program to fix the FIRST program?

And that's the easiest part of the page to read.

For example, the page tells us that the cleanup utility does not "remove
files of any programs that are installed by Windows Installer, such as
Microsoft Office 2003"

Does this mean that if every time I try to start an Office 2003 program, I
get the Windows Installer Adobe 8.1 dialog box hanging (as happens with my
laptop), the Cleanup cannot help me on that? And if that's the case, what
do I use in place of the Cleanup Utility? Or does it mean something
completely different?

Again, sorry to be difficult, but that KB page really jumped the shark.

See: Windows Installer clean up
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/

JS

I have a five year old Dell laptop with Windows XP that someone gave me
recently. Whenever you click or right-click on anything, or try to open
something, say Word, a dialog appears saying, "configuring [or installing]
Adobe 8.1." This dialog box just hangs, and you have to click it several
times to get rid of it. Then it comes back again.

I went to Add/Remove programs dialog box, and guess what? It's empty, none
of the programs on the computer are showing at all.

I went to the Adobe folder in the Program Files folder, thinking of simply
deleting all the Adobe fiiles. There are two folders in it, one for
version
7, and one for version 8, but when I try to delete, I get message saying I
can't do this with certain files which are being used or something.
(Sorry
I'm not quoting it exactly.)

So: this dialog box keeps hanging up the computer, and there seems no
way
to get rid of Adobe on the computer.

And in addition to that, the Add-Remove box is not populated, which may be
a
related problem, or part of the same problem. If wonder if this means
Windows must be re-installed.

Any suggestions?

 

[Ms. L MVP]

Download and install it. Go to start>programs>windows installer and select
Adobe.

--
Stalking is a Crime
Stalking charges are serious and
almost every state now has a strict stalking law.

I went to that KB page. I don't mean to be difficult, but the
incomprehensibility of it is staggering:

"With the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, you can remove a program's
Windows Installer configuration information. You may want to remove the
Windows Installer configuration information for your program if you
experience installation (Setup) problems."

So there are _two_ things to deal with here, there's the Installer itself,
with its configuration information, AND there's the Installer Cleanup,
which
_cleans up_ this configuration information? I can't get my head around
this. Instead of just fixing the Installer, Microsoft is telling us to
install ANOTHER program to fix the FIRST program?

And that's the easiest part of the page to read.

For example, the page tells us that the cleanup utility does not "remove
files of any programs that are installed by Windows Installer, such as
Microsoft Office 2003"

Does this mean that if every time I try to start an Office 2003 program, I
get the Windows Installer Adobe 8.1 dialog box hanging (as happens with my
laptop), the Cleanup cannot help me on that? And if that's the case, what
do I use in place of the Cleanup Utility? Or does it mean something
completely different?

Again, sorry to be difficult, but that KB page really jumped the shark.

See: Windows Installer clean up
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/

JS

I have a five year old Dell laptop with Windows XP that someone gave me
recently. Whenever you click or right-click on anything, or try to
open
something, say Word, a dialog appears saying, "configuring [or installing]
Adobe 8.1." This dialog box just hangs, and you have to click it several
times to get rid of it. Then it comes back again.

I went to Add/Remove programs dialog box, and guess what? It's empty, none
of the programs on the computer are showing at all.

I went to the Adobe folder in the Program Files folder, thinking of simply
deleting all the Adobe fiiles. There are two folders in it, one for
version
7, and one for version 8, but when I try to delete, I get message
saying I
can't do this with certain files which are being used or something.
(Sorry
I'm not quoting it exactly.)

So: this dialog box keeps hanging up the computer, and there seems no
way
to get rid of Adobe on the computer.

And in addition to that, the Add-Remove box is not populated, which may be
a
related problem, or part of the same problem. If wonder if this means
Windows must be re-installed.

Any suggestions?

 

[JS]

Windows Installer Cleanup Utility's purpose is to stop an application (that
is giving you problems - in your case Adobe) that is trying to finish what
I'll a botched or incomplete install. In other words you want to kill
Adobe's repeated install process.

The Cleanup Utility will cure the problem by removing the file the Adobe
uses to install itself. You do this by running the Windows Installer Cleanup
Utility and from the list of displayed applications select the offending
application, in your case "Adobe 8.x". Cleaner will then remove the
components required to install Adobe.

Note: Cleaner will not remove any other files that are part of Adobe Reader
8.x from your hard drive.

After you have finished running the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility try
starting an application and verify the problem has been fixed.

Now the final step is that Adobe is still on your hard drive and has entries
in the registry. The proper way to totally remove Adobe is to install Adobe
Reader for a second time. Download Adobe Reader 8.x from their web site to a
folder on your hard drive and then start the install. Once the install has
completed successfully, you can either go to the Control Panel and select
Add/Remove to uninstall Adobe or if Adobe Reader now functions properly you
can simply elect to keep it.

JS

I went to that KB page. I don't mean to be difficult, but the
incomprehensibility of it is staggering:

"With the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, you can remove a program's
Windows Installer configuration information. You may want to remove the
Windows Installer configuration information for your program if you
experience installation (Setup) problems."

So there are _two_ things to deal with here, there's the Installer itself,
with its configuration information, AND there's the Installer Cleanup,
which
_cleans up_ this configuration information? I can't get my head around
this. Instead of just fixing the Installer, Microsoft is telling us to
install ANOTHER program to fix the FIRST program?

And that's the easiest part of the page to read.

For example, the page tells us that the cleanup utility does not "remove
files of any programs that are installed by Windows Installer, such as
Microsoft Office 2003"

Does this mean that if every time I try to start an Office 2003 program, I
get the Windows Installer Adobe 8.1 dialog box hanging (as happens with my
laptop), the Cleanup cannot help me on that? And if that's the case, what
do I use in place of the Cleanup Utility? Or does it mean something
completely different?

Again, sorry to be difficult, but that KB page really jumped the shark.

See: Windows Installer clean up
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/

JS

I have a five year old Dell laptop with Windows XP that someone gave me
recently. Whenever you click or right-click on anything, or try to
open
something, say Word, a dialog appears saying, "configuring [or installing]
Adobe 8.1." This dialog box just hangs, and you have to click it several
times to get rid of it. Then it comes back again.

I went to Add/Remove programs dialog box, and guess what? It's empty, none
of the programs on the computer are showing at all.

I went to the Adobe folder in the Program Files folder, thinking of simply
deleting all the Adobe fiiles. There are two folders in it, one for
version
7, and one for version 8, but when I try to delete, I get message
saying I
can't do this with certain files which are being used or something.
(Sorry
I'm not quoting it exactly.)

So: this dialog box keeps hanging up the computer, and there seems no
way
to get rid of Adobe on the computer.

And in addition to that, the Add-Remove box is not populated, which may be
a
related problem, or part of the same problem. If wonder if this means
Windows must be re-installed.

Any suggestions?