[Framers] Windows 10 woes affecting Adobe installs

[Ken Poshedly]

Folks,

Due to a corrupted file (or files) somewhere in my Windows 10 
installation, I may be faced with having to do a "custom 
reinstallation" of that operating system.

I learned of this problem (the corrupted files) only after trying to 
run two different supposedly "built-in" Windows 10 apps ("Moviemaker" 
and "Photos"), but neither show up in my system and I got an error 
pop-up box when I tried to download them from the online Microsoft 
Store (they're both free).

Telephone support and remote access by Microsoft technicians 
confirmed this problem and various attempts have been made over the 
past three weeks to reinstall Windows 10 on top of the current 
installation without messing with my current apps and files, but to 
no avail; the attempted reinstallations all took almost all night in 
every case and resulted in a black desktop screen with no window like 
we're used to seeing, no folder/file icons and an empty, 
nonfunctional task bar at the bottom of the screen. More details can 
be provided, but it's just too much to go into here.)

ANYWAY, I did locate my FrameMaker 10 installation file (yep, that's 
what I have and can't afford to bump it up and do NOT want to pay a 
perpetual monthly subscription fee), my Adobe Acrobat Version 9 
Professional installation CD (another oldie-but-goodie) and their 
product keys (serial numbers).

I know that a Windows 10 "custom reinstallation" will wipe out all my 
stuff, but I have my data backed up on an external hard drive.

I know that before doing the Windows 10 custom reinstallation, I must 
first deactivate FrameMaker, then reinstall it after the Windows 10 
custom reinstallation is successful and use the FrameMaker product 
key to once more activate it. I did this once before when moving FM10 
from one computer to another and was much relieved when it worked.

But my Acrobat installation has all of a sudden been acting up since 
last Friday. (Perhaps a Microsoft technician inadvertently deleted 
something? I don't know because it was all done very quickly.)

Now, after a few seconds of Acrobat being open, a pop-up in the 
middle of the screen appears. The pop-up title is "Licensing for this 
product has stopped working". The body text in the pop-up states the following:

"You cannot use this product at this time. You must repair the 
problem by  uninstalling and reinstalling this product or contacting 
your IT administrator or Adobe customer support for help." The number 
"148:3" in parentheses appears below the body text.  Clicking on the 
OK button at the bottom right or the "X" at the top right of the 
pop-up closes the program.

I _can_, however, open the program and QUICKLY get it to print before 
the pop-up appears, but that's it.

Also, the nonfunctionality of Acrobat prevents FrameMaker from 
distilling generated postscript files into pdf files. When I click on 
a "ps" file, Distiller opens but a pop-up immediately appears on top 
of it with a red ball and white "X" and body text stating:

********************************
Unable to find "Adobe PDF" resource files.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe9.0\Acrobat\AMT"

You must have Administrator priveleges to install these files. Please 
contact your local system administrator.
********************************

(The asterisks here are mine. The quote marks are part of the actual 
body text.)

Clicking on the OK button at the bottom right or the "X" at the top 
right of the pop-up closes Distiller.

I have checked my C-drive and the complete path DOES exist as stated 
and has what I believe are the necessary folders and other cryptic 
files needed to do the job.

I have absolutely NO friggin' idea what's going on here.

So:

1. Is any of this in any way familiar to any of you? And if so, what 
was your situation?

2. Adobe Acrobat does NOT have a "Deactivate" option under the "Help" 
drop-down, thus I nervously assume that it is not required before 
uninstalling it and reinstalling the program (whether it's on the 
same or a different computer), correct? Otherwise, what do I do?

Sorry to be so long-winded and detailed but I assume we're technical 
writers and that's what we do.

I can be reached off-list at poshedly at bellsouth.net

-- Ken in Atlanta