Best Version of Reader and Flash Player for XP

Report · Sep 24, 2011

My computer currently has Adobe Reader 8.3.0 and Adobe Flash Player 10 Active X loaded. Recently I upgraded to version 10 Adobe Reader and Adobe Flash Player. Adobe AIR also installed. I seemed to be having some graphics issues so I did a system restore to go back to what I was previously using. Somehow I managed to end up with the version 8 reader and version 10 flash player. Adobe AIR disappeared. Seems I should synchronize the reader and flash player versions on my computer. So, how to do this and what version is appropriate for my computer configuration?

I have a computer with a Pentium 4, 3.20 GHz processor, Windows XP, service pack 3, and 512 MB RAM. My browser is Internet Explorer version 8. I only have 64 MB of graphics RAM and I believe this may be a problem with the version 10 Flash Player.

Report · Sep 24, 2011

System Restore may do strange things to your system, as some things are restored (system files, registry), and some other things are not (Program Files).

My suggestions: reinstall Flash Player 10.3.183.10 and Adobe Reader 8.3.1 or 9.4.6.

If you again encounter graphics issues, try to disable Hardware Acceleration (Flash Player Settings), or post here what symptoms you experience.

Report · Sep 25, 2011

Before trying the reinstall of Flash Player and Adobe Reader I decided to first disable Hardware Acceleration. I did this and then restarted my computer. I got the message "ATI Control Panel failed to intialize because no ATI driver is installed or is not working properly. The ATI Control Panel will now quit." I continued on with the start-up and went on the internet. Things seemed to be working much faster and wasn't having any problems.

Decided to shut the computer down and reboot. Got the same ATI driver message again. Not sure what the ATI driver is supposed to do but I didn't think I should be getting this message and so I re-enabled the Hardware Acceleration and rebooted. The ATI message is now gone. Went back on the internet and things are slower again.

Seems that disabling the Hardware Acceleration is a good idea, but what's going on with the ATI driver?

Maybe I should just reinstall Flash Player and Adobe Reader. Shouldn't the Adobe Reader and Flash Player be the same version? Either both version 10 or 9?

When I do a reinstall will the old installation be authomatically uninstalled so that? Should I do some kind of uninstall of the Flash Player and Adobe Reader first?

Sorry for so many questions but I'm sure you can tell I'm not a sophisticated computer user. Only use the computer for e-mail and google searches.

Report · Sep 25, 2011

First: Flash Player and Adobe Reader are completely unrelated products. You should concentrate on Flash Player only, and ignore Adobe Reader.

Second: how did you disable Hardware Acceleration? See http://forums.adobe.com/thread/891337

Yes, if you reinstall Flash Player, previously installed versions should automatically be uninstalled.

Report · Sep 25, 2011

I disabled Hardware Acceleration through my control panel, display, settings (moving the slider from Full to None) - obviously the wrong place to go (and the source of the ATI message). I followed the thread you provided to get to my Adobe Flash Player settings and unchecked "Enable Hardware Acceleration" and things seem to be working.

Earlier today I went to system restore and did "Undo last restoration". This brought back Adobe Reader 10.1.1 and Adobe AIR. Still had the Adobe Flash Player 10.3.183.10. Everything seems ok at the moment so I am waiting awhile before I do a reinstall (may not need to).

Thanks for the information that Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Reader are totally unrelated products. I note your suggestion that I use Adobe Reader 8.3.1 or 9.4.6 and after I'm sure the Flash Player is working properly, I will back up from Adobe 10.1.1 to an earlier version (although I'm not sure why I will need to).

I guess I should also disable automatic Flash Player updates so that I can check to see if my rather antiquated computer has the necessary system requirements before installing.

Thank you so much for your patient assistance.

Report · Oct 13, 2011

I disabled Hardware Acceleration and Flash Player 10.3.183.10 is now working very well. I am using Adobe Reader 10.1.1 also with no problems.

Appreciate the help.