Participant

Answered

Constant Acrobat MSinstaller errors in Windows event log

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
February 26, 2026
15 replies
3232 views

Wondering if anyone else has run into this issue and found a fix, since Adobe support (as usual) has been absolutely worthless in helping me with this issue. We have 12 new computers that had Acrobat installed (fresh OS and fresh Adobe installation) and ALL of the computers have entries in the Windows Event Viewer throughout the day with the following message:

Product: Adobe Acrobat (64-bit) -- Error 1730.You must be an Administrator to remove this application. To remove this application, you can log on as an administrator, or contact your technical support group for assistance.

There is no update available and I went as far as completely uninstalling the software on one of the computers and reinstalling it, per supports suggestion. I even used their cleaner program to uninstall and manually removed all associated folders and registry entries. Still happens throughout the day when the user is logged in and I’m suspecting this is causing some other issues.

Also, after this the following event appears in Event Viewer:

Windows Installer reconfigured the product. Product Name: Adobe Acrobat (64-bit). Product Version: 25.001.21223. Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: Adobe. Reconfiguration success or error status: 1603.

Correct answer curious_fan653f

Figured out the root cause:

Confirmed via Microsoft's own advisory: CVE-2025-50173 is a real, published Microsoft CVE — a weak authentication issue in Windows Installer that let a low-privileged local user elevate to SYSTEM by abusing the repair operation, released August 12, 2025. Microsoft's patch changed the behavior of Windows Installer such that it requires elevation (admin credentials) when a repair operation is initiated, closing that gap.

Timeline, confirmed from multiple independent sources (Microsoft's advisory, a well-known Windows micropatching vendor, and IT trade coverage):

August 12, 2025 — Patched in the cumulative update (KB5063878 for Win11 24H2 builds). This is where MSI repair operations started silently requiring admin credentials for standard users, breaking previously-silent self-repair/advertised-shortcut flows.
The regression was widespread enough that IT admins began noticing MSI repair failures and unexpected UAC prompts, especially for applications that performed silent or background repair tasks — Autodesk apps and ConfigMgr/Intune per-user deployments were specifically called out as affected.
September 2025 (KB5067315) — Microsoft partially walked it back: the update reduces the scope of UAC prompts and introduces a new allowlist option letting administrators enable the repair function for trusted MSI packages.
Follow-up refinements continued as late as October 28, 2025.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
Value: SecureRepairPolicy
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\SecureRepairWhitelist
Value: {AC76BA86-1033-FFFF-7760-BC15014EA700}
Type: REG_SZ
Data: (empty string)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding those reg keys resolved the issue for me

C

curious_fan653f

Participant

I was able to use Process Monitor to discover the reason this event is generated is due to Adobe calling on this command:

"C:\Windows\System32\msiexec.exe" /i {AC76BA86-1033-FFFF-7760-BC15014EA700} REINSTALLMODE=omus DISABLE_FIU_CHECK=1 IGNOREAAM=1 REPAIRFROMAPP=1 INSTALLUWPAPP=1 /qn

I’m still investigating but running that command via CMD reproduces the exact error described here

C

curious_fan653fCorrect answer

Participant

Figured out the root cause:

Confirmed via Microsoft's own advisory: CVE-2025-50173 is a real, published Microsoft CVE — a weak authentication issue in Windows Installer that let a low-privileged local user elevate to SYSTEM by abusing the repair operation, released August 12, 2025. Microsoft's patch changed the behavior of Windows Installer such that it requires elevation (admin credentials) when a repair operation is initiated, closing that gap.

Timeline, confirmed from multiple independent sources (Microsoft's advisory, a well-known Windows micropatching vendor, and IT trade coverage):

August 12, 2025 — Patched in the cumulative update (KB5063878 for Win11 24H2 builds). This is where MSI repair operations started silently requiring admin credentials for standard users, breaking previously-silent self-repair/advertised-shortcut flows.
The regression was widespread enough that IT admins began noticing MSI repair failures and unexpected UAC prompts, especially for applications that performed silent or background repair tasks — Autodesk apps and ConfigMgr/Intune per-user deployments were specifically called out as affected.
September 2025 (KB5067315) — Microsoft partially walked it back: the update reduces the scope of UAC prompts and introduces a new allowlist option letting administrators enable the repair function for trusted MSI packages.
Follow-up refinements continued as late as October 28, 2025.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
Value: SecureRepairPolicy
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\SecureRepairWhitelist
Value: {AC76BA86-1033-FFFF-7760-BC15014EA700}
Type: REG_SZ
Data: (empty string)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding those reg keys resolved the issue for me

博

博34371078u31o

Participant

【Title】
[SOLVED] Acrobat MSI Self-Repair Loop Error 1730 / 1603 (Notification Manager for Acrobat)

【Body】
Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a successful solution for a persistent Windows Installer issue that many of us have faced.

Every time I opened a PDF, the Windows Reliability Monitor (and Event Viewer) logged MsiInstaller Error 1730 ("You must be an administrator to remove this application") followed by Error 1603 ("Fatal error during installation").

Standard uninstallation, reinstallation, and running command-line repair tools (msiexec) did not fix the loop. However, I found a very simple way to stop this error loop completely. This method worked perfectly on both my personal PC and a corporate-managed PC with standard user privileges.

【How to Fix It】

Right-click the Adobe Acrobat shortcut or icon on your desktop/start menu and select "Run as administrator".
Keep Acrobat open and simply wait for a few minutes without doing anything.

【What Happened】
After leaving it open for a few minutes, Windows automatically triggered and successfully finished the background installation (configuration change) of "Notification Manager for Acrobat."
Once this was completed, the repeating 1603 and 1730 errors completely vanished from my Reliability Monitor when opening PDFs.

【The Root Cause】
Every time a PDF was opened, Windows was trying to auto-repair/install the missing component (Notification Manager for Acrobat). However, because it ran under standard user privileges in the background, the installation was repeatedly blocked (Error 1730) and failed (Error 1603).
By explicitly running Acrobat as an administrator and leaving it idle, the installer was granted the necessary elevated privileges to finish the installation once and for all, resolving the conflict.

If you are stuck in this infinite error loop, please give this a try! I hope this helps.

jdg-

Participant

I’ve been getting the same error on my machine and don’t even have Acrobat installed.

No Adobe products show in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features to uninstall.

The Cleaner above doesn’t find anything.

In the end I found this file myself:

C:\ProgramData\Adobe\ARM\S\18149\AdobeARM.msi

Right clicked and selected Uninstall.

The Event log now says:

Beginning a Windows Installer transaction: C:\ProgramData\Adobe\ARM\S\18149\AdobeARM.msi. Client Process Id: 5640.

Product: Adobe Refresh Manager -- Removal completed successfully.

Windows Installer removed the product. Product Name: Adobe Refresh Manager. Product Version: 1.8.0. Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: Adobe Systems Incorporated. Removal success or error status: 0.

Ending a Windows Installer transaction: C:\ProgramData\Adobe\ARM\S\18149\AdobeARM.msi. Client Process Id: 5640.

Hope this helps.

william954

Participating Frequently

This is not a normal user issue. It is Windows Installer trying to repair Acrobat in the background but failing because users are not admin.

Quick fix that usually works:

Open Services
Find Windows Installer
Stop it

Then open Command Prompt as admin and run a repair reinstall of Acrobat. This resets the installer state.

If it still happens:

Disable automatic repair triggers
Go to Task Scheduler and look for Adobe or MSI repair tasks and disable them

Also make sure:
Users are not triggering self repair by opening protected locations or missing components

Main point
This is a broken install state loop. You need to stop Windows Installer repair cycle and reinstall clean with admin rights once so it does not trigger again.

laughey-hba

Participant

EDIT: In response to your first line, every user I’ve worked with to “figure this out” is an admin on the local system. UAC is not enabled. I even tried installing/repairing as the local Administrator account itself, with the same result.

I appreciate you taking the time to post this. I’ll try this and report any findings.

Also, not sure what is meant by this:

Users are not triggering self repair by opening protected locations or missing components.

If it were up to me, I’d protect all locations and disable/prohibit all this cloud and AI nonsense, but haven’t discovered a way to do so (not just speaking about Adobe subscription products either).

Many thanks for the ideas/suggestions.

laughey-hba

Participant

Subscribed cuz I’m looking for an answer to why this is happening to all of our deployed systems -- been chasing this and other anomalies and oddities with Acrobat since the day we installed this version (coming from 2020 perpetual).

Clean install, Repair, Re-install, Cleaner Tool, Create and Recreate a new package, install as the local Administrator account -- nothing has made this go away.

We use Group Policy, but for system configuration and consistency, not application deployment, configuration, etc.

All end users are “local” admins on their computers -- which makes this error message even more bizarre.

Another bizarre issue is we have “auto update” enabled, yet NONE of our systems have successfully updated automagically (this deployment began OCT 2025).

Note: I am the Domain/Enterprise Admin and I get the same error/entry in my Event Log.

AnandSri

Legend

Hello @rsimons

I hope you are doing well, and thank you for reaching out. We’re sorry for the trouble you had.

Error 1730 and the follow‑up 1603 events are coming from Windows Installer (MSI), not Acrobat itself. What’s happening is that Windows is periodically triggering an MSI self‑repair / reconfiguration for Acrobat while a standard user is logged in. Because that repair requires admin rights, it fails and logs:

Error 1730: repair/reconfiguration attempted without admin rights
Error 1603: generic MSI failure after the repair attempt

That’s why:

It happens on fresh OS + fresh Acrobat installs
It appears throughout the day
Uninstall/reinstall (even with the Adobe Cleaner) doesn’t stop it
All machines show the same behavior

Suggestions:

Perform a Clean Reinstall as Administrator:

Uninstall Acrobat from Control Panel > Programs and Features.
Run the Acrobat Cleaner Tool as Administrator: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/cleaner.html
Restart the computer.
Reinstall Acrobat:
- Right-click installer > Run as Administrator
- Or deploy via Admin Console package: https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/admin-guide.html

For complete Enterprise deployment and configuration, please check this article: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/AdminGuide/index.html

Please note that Error 1730 + 1603 together almost always indicates:

Windows Installer is attempting a repair action that requires elevation.
This is typically environmental, not a product defect, mainly when occurring across multiple fresh machines.

Summary:

Build a new Acrobat package from Admin Console.
Completely remove the existing installation using the Cleaner Tool (run as admin).
Reboot.
Deploy fresh package as admin (or via endpoint management system).
Confirm users are not triggering repair due to restricted permissions.

If the issue persists after a clean enterprise deployment, it may indicate:

A permissions policy applied via GPO.
Windows Installer attempting advertised shortcut repair.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

rsimonsAuthor

Participant

Hello Adand. I have tried most of the steps you listed already as I mentioned in my original post. I also installed the program without first installing Creative Cloud using a direct link to install Acrobat that was supplied by Adobe support. I could create a deployment package for this, but how is this different from downloading the product using the direct link from support?

You state this is coming from Windows and not Adobe, but why is Adobe attempting a repair, as you indicated by the error code? I have checked for updates, even ran the repair task a few times, so what about the software is forcing it to check for a repair? It seems the software thinks it needs to have maintenance done, but whenever I log in with an admin account and check for issues or update, Adobe states the software is up to date and functioning correctly. I’m not sure what GPO would be causing this error because there are none of these in the environment related to Adobe products.

Thanks.

T

Tariq Dar

Legend

Hi @rsimons,

About these new 12 machines:

Is there any script or policy on the user log-in event that checks the Acrobat installation? Also, I want to verify based on your original post,

“I even used their cleaner program to uninstall and manually removed all associated folders and registry entries. Still happens throughout the day when the user is logged in, and I’m suspecting this is causing some other issues.” Does this mean you reinstalled, and the issue appeared again?

Let's try this out, try installing Acrobat using the MSI command line to collect installation logs, check the instructions about command line to collect “verbose logs”, here: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/DesktopDeployment/cmdline.html

Also, is there any script in the deployment package?

~Tariq

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