Cannot install Acrobat Reader with Acrobat Pro

[JR Boulay]

Hello

To remove some bugs in Acrobat Pro I followed the Adobe procedure: uninstall Acrobat and then use the AcroCleaner.
It took me several hours but it didn't fix any of the concerned bugs.

When I reinstalled Acrobat Pro (64 bits) I got a message telling me that Acrobat Reader (32 bits) would be uninstalled, which was done.

The problem is that now I can't reinstall Acrobat Reader, each time the installation ends on this truncated and incomplete message (attached) which seems to say that Acrobat Reader is already installed.

It says : "Old/new version of Acrobat already in........"

What can I do?

I'm a developer of PDF forms and I absolutely need to have Acrobat Reader to test them.

Thank you for your help.

[Amal.]

Hi JR Boulay

Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that.

The 64-bit application is a unified application for Acrobat DC and Acrobat Reader DC.  If you have installed Acrobat Reader DC 64-bit and you purchase an Acrobat DC subscription, the Acrobat Reader DC 64-bit application will upgrade to become a fully functional Acrobat DC 64-bit application.

To stop the Acrobat Reader DC 32-bit application from automatically upgrading to the 64-bit version, create the following registry key before the first launch of the application as described in the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/about-acrobat-reader-dc-migration-to-64-bit.html

Hope this information will help

Regards

Amal

[try67]

Unfortunately, Adobe made it impossible to do that any longer, by unifying the two installers.

[JR Boulay]

Amal., I absolutely need to test my forms created with Acrobat Pro in Acrobat Reader.

So I need to use the latest version of Acrobat Reader, a DIY solution to use an old version is not satisfactory or reliable.
And I guess I'm not the only one.

Until I can install Acrobat Reader I had to install Foxit Reader, so I can only sell forms that are guaranteed to work fine in Foxit Reader, not in Acrobat Reader.

This situation is absurd.

[try67]

Hear hear! This change is a real blow to developers.

[JR Boulay]

PS: I cannot install Acrobat Reader 32 bits too, it displays the same message as above.

[jueblu]

did you try the offline installer of Acrobat Reader 32 bit? in my case this did just now still allow parallel installation of Reader and older Pro

[JR Boulay]

See this related topic:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-can-i-install-acrobat-pro-and-reader-on-same-...

[try67]

Did you try it? Does it work?

[JR Boulay]

No, I cannot install Acrobat Reader 32 bits too.

[Amal.]

Hi JR Boulay

We are sorry to hear that. Please share your feedback to the engineering team using the link https://acrobat.uservoice.com/

Regards

Amal

[JR Boulay]

Amal., this absurd situation offers me only one possibility to test and guarantee the correct functioning of the PDF forms I sell with Acrobat Reader: create them with Foxit Phantom or with PDF Studio Pro...

I can't believe that this is intentional, I also find it hard to believe that developers are so ignorant of how their software is used.

[JR Boulay]

"Please share your feedback to the engineering team using the link..."

Done: https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/44794654-install...

[Sonion]

I'm a home user on Windows 11 and have Adobe Acrobat PRO. My wife and I both share the same desktop computer and use Acrobat to digitally sign documents. In order for this to work, we have our own Adobe IDs and in the past I used to sign in to my PRO and she signed in on the Reader. But now since I can't install both, I've been forced to install the older Reader 11 to use for my wife to sign documents, but the signature can only be stored locally because Reader 11 doesn't support Adobe ID sign in. She can't digitally sign documents with my PRO version because, of course, her ID doesn't have the PRO license and it forces the application to close. I'm furious about this and considering switching to an alternate PDF program

[jueblu]

what might work for parallel installation: full offline installer of Acrobat Reader 32 bit from here: https://get.adobe.com/de/reader/otherversions/ 

[Sonion]

That's what I ended up doing and it worked!

[brenXX]

For me Acrobat Pro would not instal because it said, a more capable function was already installed. I hadn't realised the free reader had become more functionally useful. However, I use Acrobat Pro to scan documents to pdf. The supposedly more capable app can't interface with my scanner. I will now uninstall reader and hope to install Acrobat Pro.

There are work rounds but nowhere as efficient.

[Richard289265151ofe]

Is Adobe serious with not fixing this issue after at least one year of people complaining?

[JR Boulay]

Please vote for this feature request: https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/44794654-install...

[dukeminster1]

I was able to get around this today by installing pro in the normal way and then using our deploy software (PDQ Deploy - there is a free version) to deploy to the machine. In our case we need both on a Remote Desktop Server, some users need to use Acrobat some just Reader.

[Brett5E39]

To those that have this same issue, if you can get your hands on the following versions:

Adobe Acrobat May 2022 with

Acro Reader 220012017_en_US 

works, and then you can upgrade to latest versions as a workaround for now.