Adobe Reader 7.1 "quits unexpectedly" after launching.

Question

I've used Adobe Reader 7.0x with my OS 10.3.9 more or less happily for several years, but I recently downloaded Adobe Reader 7.1 (the download Adobe.com tells you to use for 10.3.x), mainly because I kept getting messages from Adobe telling me to. This seems to have been not a smart move.
I don't have Safari available right now, so I used Firefox (making sure that the add-on options included domains I needed, which Adobe.com tells you to do if you use Firefox for the download).
The installation seemed successful and I moved Adobe 7.1 to my Applications folder. However, if I click on a PDF file, Adobe Reader opens and opens the PDF doc, but after a few seconds Adobe closes and I get the message, "The Application Adobe Reader has unexpectedly quit. Do you want to send a report to Apple?" (No.)
I've tried downloading it again and downloading Adobe Reader 6, but nothing works. Does anyone have any suggestions? I really need Adobe Reader!

Answer 1

Another idea would be to start the computer from the OS X installer disc* and from
the Installer's menu bar, choose from a drop down menu, Disk Utility. And choose
to run the choice, "repair disk." This is not a permissions repair. This may find a
few problems in your system or on the hard disk drive itself; and try to repair them.
How full is the hard drive, in your computer? If the system is acting up, there is a cause.
A basic permissions repair is like a weekly or monthly thing; varies with use and what is
being done with the computer. If the drive is way full, the Mac will start acting up. And
system problems could result; and eventually hard disk drive failure. It needs free space
in the drive for the applications and system to function. (Activity Monitor in utility folder
could tell you several things; so can a single-click on the Mac HD icon and Get Info.)
If your computer has been running several years and never had an archive and install
or an all new system installed from scratch, maybe those steps are overdue. The
process can be approached from several different directions; to include saving your
entire computer hard disk drive's contents as a clone, (bootable volume) on an
external enclosed hard disk drive. Then use the booted Disk Utility from the system
installer disc (machine booted from installer disc, chosing DiskUtility and using the
different tools in there to zero-data or low-level reformat and then format as HFS+;
then bring back the cloned system from the external hard disk drive, to the Mac.
Not that I recommend doing this right now, since there may be an easier way to
get the computer to see and use a download of Acrobat Reader. But, if you have
not done anything in the way of maintenance and so forth, you could save all your
own files off the computer to an external drive (and not clone) or put them on CDR
or DVDR media, and just wipe the computer's internal HDD. Having to reinstall all
the bits and the software sets you had, and upgrade the system is a small hassle.
That's why it is easier to learn how to make a clone, and try it. You never erase
the computer's drive content until you have a tested-good bootable clone of it first.
If you do think about cloning a hard disk drive, you could read about some of it
here; which is also where the Carbon Copy Cloner can be downloaded from:
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html These things can save you from a
tech visit; at least until a hard disk drive goes bad (wears out) and even so, if
you make a backup of the computer's drive, you will have a bootable copy, too.
There also are some third party disk repair utilities for Mac (for an OSX version)
which could check and repair, and some will also defragment a hard disk drive;
I prefer to make a clone to my FireWire external hard disk drive, and use a free
or donationware clone software, Carbon Copy Cloner, a download and easily found;
and make a clone of my complete computer's drive contents, then do the drive
repairs with Disk Utility booting the Mac; then use CCC to move my clone back.
(*In order to start from a installer/boot disc, you have to hold C key down on start
with the disc in the optical drive tray/slot; or have the disc in place & then choose
from Startup Disk in the System Preference panel and have the machine boot from
the system install disc instead of its hard disk drive system. Click to highlight it.)
edited.