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I was having problems with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Somehow, it had become corrupted and won't uninstall to allow a new version to be installed.
From the Windows XP Control Panel I choose unistall and this error message comes up:
This package could not be opened. Verify that the patch package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch package.
The latest Reader (at this time) is 8.1.2
Going to Adobe's site to download the new package works up until the installation point when the following error opens up
Error 1714.
The older version of Adobe Reader 8.1.2 cannot be removed. Contact your technical support group.
The only option is to hit ok, then another error pops up
Adobe Reader 8.1.2 setup failed
OK is the only option.
Adobe do have a Tech Note help page on Error 1714 [kb.adobe.com]
For me, solution 4 was the answer.
Run the Microsoft Clean Up utility before you install Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
This is the program to deal with it.
msicuu2.exe
Microsoft Clean Up utility [support.microsoft.com]
Reboot and all appears well.
