Acrobat 4.05a Install Hell

[Dan Emory <danemory -at- primenet -dot- com>]

BACKGROUND
WIN982E, FM+SGML 5.5.6 + Acrobat 3.01 (the version that came with FM). 
Acrobat 4.0 Reader was already on my system when I purchased it. 
Subsequently, I had downloaded the Distiller 3.02 upgrade from Adobe's website.

In November 1999, I purchased, direct from Adobe, the Acrobat 4.0 upgrade, 
and mailed in the registration card. However, I never installed 4.0 because 
of many reports of bug problems. According to Adobe, I should have been 
automatically sent the 4.05a bug fix CD, but when it had not arrived by 
late January 2000, I called Adobe and requested it. Again, however, Adobe 
failed to send the 4.05a CD. After several more calls at 4-week intervals, 
I finally received the CD (actually, three CD's arrived within a period of 
2 or 3 days, one of which was for the Mac) sometime in April. But I decided 
to keep Acrobat 3 on my system until I felt sure that 4.05a was bug-free

FIRST ATTEMPT TO INSTALL 4.05a
After seeing no postings about Acrobat 4.05a bugs, I followed the 4.05a 
installation instructions to first uninstall 3.0. During the uninstall, a 
message box appeared declaring that some files had not been deleted because 
they might be shared with other applications. I was given the option to 
retain or delete them. To be on the safe side, I opted not to delete them.

I then attempted to install 4.05a, filling in the registration number 
provided for Acrobat 3.0 (no new registration number was provided with the 
4.0 upgrade).
A message appeared stating that the registration number was not a valid 
Acrobat 4 registration number. I made three attempts to re-enter the old 
registration number, checking each time to verify that it was entered 
correctly. The same message appeared each time.

SECOND ATTEMPT TO INSTALL 4.05A
I first reinstalled Acrobat 3.1, using the same registration number. 
Installation was successful. Then, I attempted to install 4.05a again, and 
this time the registration number (same as that for Acrobat 3.1) was 
accepted, and the install was completed. However, problems were evident as 
a result of 3.1 still being on the system (e.g., when I tried to use the 
Distiller 4.05a Help, the Distiller 3.01 help file opened)

NEXT, I CALLED ADOBE TECH SUPPORT FOR ASSISTANCE
After describing the problem, the tech support person insisted that I would 
have to uninstall both Acrobat 3 and Acrobat 4.05a, and then reinstall 
Acrobat 4.05a. I him that, as I had described to him, I had uninstalled 
Acrobat 3 the first time, and the result was that, when I installed 4.05a, 
the old registration number was not accepted. He then stated that I needed 
a new registration number for 4.05a. When I stated that the 4.05a 
installation instructions explicitly stated that the old Acrobat 3 
registration number should be used, he insisted that those instructions 
must be wrong, that a new registration number should have been issued for 
the 4.0 upgrade, and I needed to get a new one. He gave me an 800 number to 
call and get it. I called that number, and was referred to another number. 
When I called that number, described the situation, and asked for a new 
registration number for the Acrobat 4 upgrade, I was told, as I had 
expected, that no such new number could be issued. I was told to call Adobe 
Technical Support to get a solution. When I reminded her that tech support 
had told me to call her for a solution, and I wanted to talk to someone 
else, she stated that there was no one else to call. I would have to call 
technical support.

THIRD (AND SUCCESSFUL) ATTEMPT TO INSTALL 4.05a
Knowing that calling Adobe tech support was waste of time, I again 
uninstalled both Acrobat 3.0 and 4.05a. The only difference was that, at 
the point in the uninstall where the message appears identifying files that 
might be shared with other applications, I responded that they should be 
deleted rather than kept. This time, when I re-installed 4.05a, the old 
registration number was accepted, and the installation completed 
successfully. However, the Acrobat 4.0 Reader, which had been on my system 
when I bought it, had disappeared. After the installation of 4.05a, I 
downloaded the 4.05a Upgrade 1 from the Adobe website, and successfully 
installed it.

CONCLUSIONS
1. The instructions for installing Acrobat 4.05a should state that when, 
during the uninstall of Acrobat 3, a list of shared files appears, the 
option to delete them all must be chosen. I conclude that this is required 
because it was the only difference between the two uninstalls of Acrobat 3, 
and somehow the deletion of these files is required before the old 
registration number can be accepted by the 4.05a install process.

2. Somewhere between the second and third attempts at installing 4.05a, 
Acrobat 4 Reader got deleted. The only plausible reason I can think of is 
that opting to delete the files (as described in the third attempt to 
install 4.05a during the Acrobat 3 uninstall) also deleted Acrobat 4 
Reader. For some reason it was not reinstalled during the third (and 
otherwise successful) attempt to reinstall 4.05a.

3. Adobe Technical Support has become a basket case.

4. The suspicion that the basket case label applies to more than just tech 
support is confirmed by Adobe's apparent lack of competence in delivering 
installation software that works under all circumstances, and its failure 
to properly and completely document the installation process (no printed 
instructions of any kind come with the 4.05a CD).


====================
| Nullius in Verba |
====================
Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory -at- primenet -dot- com
10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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