ERROR: DW071: ERROR: DW003: Third party payload installer Adobe Acrobat\Setup.exe failed with exit code: 1603 when trying to instal Acrobat Reader DC..... what does this mean?

[belindaa11962653]

I'm trying to reinstall all my Creative Cloud apps after my computer crashed and had to restore it from factory settings.  I installed Illustrator successfully but get this error every time I try to install Acrobat Reader.

Does anyone know what causes it and how to fix it?

Thanks!

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi belindaa11962653,

Sign out of CC via Preferences>Account. Then quit the CC installer app.

Go here Adobe - Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Distribution to manually install Acrobat Reader DC.

Let me know if this resolves your issue.

Regards,

Meenakshi

[Kempison]

This worked for me but CC installer app doesn't show it as installed.

[Federico Cacciani]

Same problem but with Acrobat DC Pro as a program of the overall Suite.

Win 7 Pro 64 bit OS

CCT 2015 bundle

[CalebMil]

Same issue here.  I am running Windows 10 and cannot get Acrobat DC Pro to install to save my life.  Photoshop and Illustrator both installed just fine.  Hey Adobe folks, how about a little help here?  This has been an open, unresolved issue for more than two months.

[Claudio_González1]

If you are both having problems with Acrobat, then obviously you are not experiencing the same problem than the original poster, who couldn't instal the free Reader. Could you explain your respective problems in full detail?

And it's mostly fellow users around here; these forums are not a channel for contacting Adobe.

[vladthegreen]

What would be the right way to contact adobe regarding this kind of issues?

[Claudio_González1]

Adobe does not seem to think that it is worth keeping an efficient Customer Support service. Problems with specific applications problems are best presented in these forums. Although most participants are just fellow users, many are very knowledgeable and experienced, and can give you faster and better answers than Customer Support.

[vladthegreen]

Same issue here.

1) MS Surface, Win 8.1, 64 bits

2) Restarted system and tried to install Acrobat CC, for a second time:

3) Install fails. Install error log:

##############################################

<PRE>Exit Code: 7

Please see specific errors below for troubleshooting. For example,  ERROR: DW003, DW071 ...

-------------------------------------- Summary --------------------------------------

- 0 fatal error(s), 2 error(s)

----------- Payload: Adobe Acrobat DC 15.16.20039.0 Adobe Acrobat\Setup.exe_15.016.20039 -----------

ERROR: DW071:

ERROR: DW003: Third party payload installer Adobe Acrobat\Setup.exe failed with exit code: 1603

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

</PRE>

################################################

[Claudio_González1]

Belinda's problem was with the free Reader, this is the Reader forum, and your problem is with Acrobat. I suggest that you post your question the Acrobat forum, Installing, Updating, & Subscribing to Acrobat .

[karlespy23 · Accepted solution]

I ran into this frustrating problem and had equal luck Googling for a solution.  When I tried the possible solution to sign out of CC and install DC Pro independent of CC I ran into an installation issue which complained more specifically about being unable to install/start the print spooler, which I had disabled since I do not have a home printer and was at one time grasping at straws to increase my boot speed.  This made me think that the same problem was causing the CC install to fail, though its complaint was less specific.  So... I logged back on to CC after first setting the print spooler service to Manual and... success!!!  DC installed without issue.  One would think that the CC developers could at least be a little more precise when their install fails.  The standard installer certainly had the brains to figure it out, though why something as simple as a disabled print spooler should cause a fatal install error is a mystery to me.

I really hope this solves the problem for some others out there.  This was frustrating me for some time and believe me when I say "I feel your pain".  Good luck.

[yycnick]

I got this same error and it was because of 2 problems:

1. I still had Adobe CS6 installed

2. It didn't have permission to write to the folder "C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Distiller\Startup"

To find out problem #2, I had to download the installer from https://cloud.acrobat.com/acrobat . I don't understand why the Adobe CC desktop app doesn't give specific errors instead of just error codes that can mean 100 different problems.