After a recent installation of Adobe Reader 8, I discovered I didn't like it when I actually started to use it. So I said. "Self. just uninstall it in Add/Remove Programs and install an earlier version and get back to work".
This all sounds good except it refused to uninstall. So since sometimes you have to re-install an application to uninstall it I also tried that. It refused to uninstall and re-install! Even the earlier version refused to install .By this time I was rather ticked off.
Being the techie that I am, I set out to manually remove the program. This includes often several layers of things to do like deleting files, editing the registry etc. Basically making the computer forget the application had been installed. Since this was basically a new build of XP on my system, System Restore was not an option and of course I didn't feel like spending all the time it would take to completely rip the program out of the registry.
My next step led me to searching for an Adobe Uninstaller similar to the Flash Uninstaller they have when flash gets messed up. What I came up with is the Microsoft Installer Cleanup Utility which I had forgotten about.
It is available here http://tinyurl.com/45x45
Sure enough after Installing and running the utility, Adobe Reader 8 was listed as being installed. This was also after manually removing the most obvious registry keys. Removing the reader was as simlpe as putting in a checkmark and clicking finish.
Within minutes of this, I installed an earlier version I was used to and was back working without an issue.