Updating to Acrobat Pro 7.1.0 Solution to error 1304 in Vista

Question

I have spent considerable time finding a solution to this problem and thought I'd post a new message with the solution.
Sometimes it is very difficult to find real solutions on this site, and "you must fork out megabucks for a new CSx version because we won't make this one compatible in the update.." is not fair nor acceptable. This is a permissions issue and Acrobat does not have the credentials to access the folder it wants to write to. I have had this same issue and have the solution as follows.
Vista protects you by not letting just any program or installer package do whatever it wants. That's why the user 'SYSTEM' does not have the privilege to change what the install wants to do and therefore you get the error and it kicks you to the curb. What you need to do is activate the ADMINISTRATOR account (which is disabled by default) and assign it a password, change ownership of the Adobe Acrobat 7.0 folder to administrator (it's SYSTEM by default), log on as administrator, let the install complete, then log back on as your normal user and undo the account and ownership manipulations. Note that the ownership ONLY needs to be changed on the Acrobat folder.. I have seen other posts that tell you to change the whole Adobe folder, and an article from the Adobe KB telling you to change it on both the Program Files and ProgramData folders, and neither are necessary, nor do they tell you to undo what you did, leaving your system open and vulnerable to other threats.
Solution Steps:
1. Right click Computer on your desktop or in the start menu, choose Manage, and ok the user account control (UAC) prompt. Computer management opens.
2. Expand Local Users and Groups and click Users. Users are shown on the right. Right click Administrator and choose properties. Uncheck the box "Account is disabled" and click OK. Right click administrator and choose "set password", click proceed. Enter any password (this will be undone when finished) and click OK. A password must be set else you cannot log on. Close computer mgt.
3. Open Computer and browse to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat 7.0. Right click the Acrobat folder and choose properties. Click the security tab, then the advanced button at bottom, in the adv security settings, click the owner tab. You will see the current owner is SYSTEM. Click edit at the bottom and ok the UAC prompt. Click 'other users or groups', then advanced in the next box. Click 'find now', highlight administrator user (not administratorS group) and OK, then OK again. Now the user administrator is listed in the 'change owner to' list. Highlight administrator and click OK, a message about changing ownership will pop up, just ok it. Ok all the property boxes and close Computer browser.
4. Go to the start menu and log off. You will now see your normal users listed with the administrator user also. Click the administrator user and log in with the password. Acrobat will try to finish it's install.. the error 1304 will not occur because you now have access to the location it wants.. the install completes. Log off and log back on as your normal user.
5. To undo your changes, just reverse the steps, changing ownership of the Adobe Acrobat folder back to SYSTEM. The administrator account has no password by default.. to remove the password, just leave the password fields blank and click ok and it will be 'no password'. Then disable the administrator account and everything is back to the way you started, with Acrobat updated and no more error.
Seems long, but not really that bad, I just put in every little step for the tech-unsavvy.

Answer 1

I have spent considerable time finding a solution to this problem and thought I'd post a new message with the solution.
Sometimes it is very difficult to find real solutions on this site, and "you must fork out megabucks for a new CSx version because we won't make this one compatible in the update.." is not fair nor acceptable. This is a permissions issue and Acrobat does not have the credentials to access the folder it wants to write to. I have had this same issue and have the solution as follows.
Vista protects you by not letting just any program or installer package do whatever it wants. That's why the user 'SYSTEM' does not have the privilege to change what the install wants to do and therefore you get the error and it kicks you to the curb. What you need to do is activate the ADMINISTRATOR account (which is disabled by default) and assign it a password, change ownership of the Adobe Acrobat 7.0 folder to administrator (it's SYSTEM by default), log on as administrator, let the install complete, then log back on as your normal user and undo the account and ownership manipulations. Note that the ownership ONLY needs to be changed on the Acrobat folder.. I have seen other posts that tell you to change the whole Adobe folder, and an article from the Adobe KB telling you to change it on both the Program Files and ProgramData folders, and neither are necessary, nor do they tell you to undo what you did, leaving your system open and vulnerable to other threats.
Solution Steps:
1. Right click Computer on your desktop or in the start menu, choose Manage, and ok the user account control (UAC) prompt. Computer management opens.
2. Expand Local Users and Groups and click Users. Users are shown on the right. Right click Administrator and choose properties. Uncheck the box "Account is disabled" and click OK. Right click administrator and choose "set password", click proceed. Enter any password (this will be undone when finished) and click OK. A password must be set else you cannot log on. Close computer mgt.
3. Open Computer and browse to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat 7.0. Right click the Acrobat folder and choose properties. Click the security tab, then the advanced button at bottom, in the adv security settings, click the owner tab. You will see the current owner is SYSTEM. Click edit at the bottom and ok the UAC prompt. Click 'other users or groups', then advanced in the next box. Click 'find now', highlight administrator user (not administratorS group) and OK, then OK again. Now the user administrator is listed in the 'change owner to' list. Highlight administrator and click OK, a message about changing ownership will pop up, just ok it. Ok all the property boxes and close Computer browser.
4. Go to the start menu and log off. You will now see your normal users listed with the administrator user also. Click the administrator user and log in with the password. Acrobat will try to finish it's install.. the error 1304 will not occur because you now have access to the location it wants.. the install completes. Log off and log back on as your normal user.
5. To undo your changes, just reverse the steps, changing ownership of the Adobe Acrobat folder back to SYSTEM. The administrator account has no password by default.. to remove the password, just leave the password fields blank and click ok and it will be 'no password'. Then disable the administrator account and everything is back to the way you started, with Acrobat updated and no more error.
Seems long, but not really that bad, I just put in every little step for the tech-unsavvy.