Problems installing Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.8

I worked on a client's computer today where Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.8 wouldn't install - it kept getting to a point where it reported that Data1.cab was corrupt. My customer also reported various errors from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird.

A search of Adobe's support section came up with this page but unfortunately nothing there resolved the problem.

I then tried installing in safe mode but it reported that the Windows Installer Service was not running - as it won't in safe mode - I knew that :)

A light came on - maybe the Windows Installer Service itself was corrupt. I uninstalled it (version 3.1), it then warned me a whole host of programs wouldn't work correctly if I continued. Well, this was already happening so I threw caution to the wind and continued with the uninstallation. I then restarted Windows in normal mode and downloaded a fresh copy of the Windows 3.1 Installer installer via Microsoft's knowledge base article KB893803, and reinstalled the Windows Installer installer with the installer I'd downloaded!

After another re-start of Windows, I ran the Adobe installer and it completed correctly. Firefox, Thunderbird and Internet Explorer are all running without error now as well.

I hope this helps somebody, sometime ;)