SERIOUS ADOBE ACROBAT PROFESSIONAL 8 ERROR

Oh and the instal is an upgrade purchased online from Adobe.com.
My previous version was 6.0 Standard
The same error occurs either if I use the serial number for my previous version or if Adobe customer service provides me with an unlock code so it is not an issue with my serial number.
Ian

Jeff, Like so many others I am struggling to bet my Adobe Acrobat 8 upgrade to work. I though only have Standard not Pro but the error is the same. I have wracked up 3days on the phone with tech support and have tried all manner of 'fixes' to resolve the situation.
I have been "elevated" up the tech support tree and still have made no progress!
I am all up for assisting you in solving this issue. Unlike many adobe clients I can at a push spre the time to work through this issue with you. For me it is more a frustration issue rather than a buisness sowntime predicament.
My "elevated tech support's" last suggestion was to reformat my hard drive and start from scratch! Now that seems extreme!
I don't know which way would work best for you but I can surey work through any research / suggestions you may have. If we can garuntee a secure link I could feasibly even enable a remote access for you.

My system runs Vista home premium, Office Pro 2003, Norton Int Security 2007, Adobe Elements 5.0, Premiere 3.0, (attempting Acrobat 8.1)amongst others.

If it helps there should be a pretty comprehensive tech supprt log file of all the steps we have tried to date to resolve this issue. My case ID# is 172740903

Hopefully we can be of help to each other !

Ian

Jeff,

Removing the FlexNet directory and files is an issue - when Acro is reinstalled, those directories and files do not repopulate.

jj

Jeff - I have a volume license (5 seats) - Can I not use the Adobe 8.01 pro CD to install this?

I have tried and my results are mixed but not successful.

jj

I am also experiencing this problem. Like Josie Kirker (8:58am Jul 5, 07 PST (#59 of 93)) I purchased my copy of CS3 through Tech Soup (a San Francisco-based administrator of software donation programs by major corps, like Adobe, to small-to-medium nonprofit organizations). What I received appears to be the retail package, BTW, not a volume-license package: it came in a box, with three CD's in a plastic CD case (including one of video demos), and a small "workflow guide" manual that fits in the box.

I'm running WinXP Pro-SP2 on a P4 Inspiron 8200 with 1 gig of RAM. Also running Webroot Spysweeper, Zone Alarm, and Norton AV 2006, and am also running into this problem.

I no longer recall the exact sequence of install/update I first used but I do recall I had to turn off Spysweeper to install at all, and Acrobat only installed successfully the second time I reinstalled it. (The other programs in CS3 didn't have this problem.) I activated CS3 from within Illustrator (the first program I opened), and everything except Acrobat works as I would expect it to.

Before opening any programs, I looked for updates. Several updates did not install the first time I downloaded them (I wasn't keeping notes on this yet so I can't say which ones, sorry), so I rebooted and ran updates again. After several iterations I got a message box saying that I needed to re-install Acrobat, Extend Script Toolkit, and Adobe Color Common STI Update. I got out the CD and re-installed Acrobat (the only one of those three on the CD), and was told that the installation was successful.

But when I tried to open Acrobat I got the "memory could not be written" error message, found this forum on Google, and realized I should have kept notes.

Currently Acrobat will run for 15-30 seconds, then gets the "serious error" message and closes; a few moments later, after the program has closed, Windows posts the "memory cannot be 'written'" error box. While Acrobat is running, both "Activate" and "Unactivate" are greyed out. Also, if I select "About Acrobat" while it's still running, the program doesn't crash until after I close the information box.

I'm no techie, but I've been using computers for over 20 years and can follow instructions, am not fazed by DOS command lines, and if necessary (and told exactly what to do) can edit a registry line if that's how to fix this thing.

Jeff-from-Adobe, how are you doing with discovering what causes this problem? Is there a specific procedure I can perform that would give you information you need to diagnose it? I'm not willing to take shots in the dark, but I'm willing to try a few directed experiments and report back, if you tell me what to do and what to look for.

I have been following this thread and have experienced the same results on two different systems - I am not getting the Activation prompt and I can't activate as the drop down is grey'd out.

Is there a solution yet?

Eric,

How do you run it as an administrator? I only have one user on my desktop so when I start my computer, I do not need to log on as a user? I am on XP. (I have not touched my laptop with Vista.)

I've had to uninstall Pro (once again) so I'll give your method a go on my next install and see if my luck improves.

Thanks.

About the "Serious Error detected" problem at Acrobat 8 startup on Windows Vista, I found out that running 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\acrobat.exe' AS ADMINISTRATOR causes Acrobat to offer the Activation window. Once validation of the licence is done I was able to start Adobe Acrobat using the shortcut in the Start Menu normally.

Then I made sure to disable the automatic update system to cancel the 8.1 update.

From now on, no more problems with Acrobat 8 even in Internet Explorer and Firefox.

I got the exact same message as all of you after updating to 8.1! But not at first... The first time I ran Acrobat after install it gave me the activation window... but after activation it just hung and I had to terminate the process. Going in to adobe after exactly 20 seconds (every single time) it gives me the serious error message, native or in Firefox. I thought, naturally, that this is one of adobe's vista unfriendly hiccups so decided to give it a try on xp. What do you know... same message. The thing is I can actually view the file normally for those 20 seconds so it can't be part of the actual viewer that is failing, instead it is part of the activation system... I'm almost positive as this is how adobe design their software. Thus, the "One-care" solution is irrelevant. As to the Flexnet method it yields no success. So far, the only way is to reinstall and boycott the update. Why are licensed customers always the ones who end up the losers with the crazy activation systems?? Next thing you know adobe will move onto hardware dongles, and then I tell you CS3 is the last I will go.

On a different note, is anyone able to distill pdf's? I have been able to from office but not from acrobat itself (whilst I still had 8.1).

Interesting problem to say the least. Sorry Darren I thought it would work as it worked for me. I am working with a basic Vista load, the only things on it are the drivers and Adobe right now and everything is working fine...

Could be a driver conflict, I am thinking it is program or resource related. Sorry I could not help..

J