Where to get a full fresh download of Reader?

Question

I had Adobe Reader 8.1 (or similar) and decided to upgrade to 9.3.4.  I downloaded it and ran the .exe file.   It seemed to run fine, but there was no effect.  Acrobat 8.1 was still loaded and used every time I opened a .pdf file. I tried several times, no evidence of 9.3.4 being installed. I could not find it in the addremove programs utility from the control panel.
I notided that it was not a usual install from scratch, but instead some kind of upgrade. To force it to install from scratch, I
uninstalled Reader 8.1 and tried to install reader 9.3.4.   Did not work. I tried 9.3.3, still no luck.
I then found a web page that seemed to distinguish between a full install  and an upgrade.  See:  http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?platform=windows&product=10
But when I tried some links under the full download area, I just was taken to the same 9.3.4 link that I already tried several times.
NOW I CANNOT READ ANY PDF FILES! And I have no idea how to get a fresh install.
Most peculiar.
This is quite surprising behavior. I must be missing something simple here.
Thanks for any ideas!
Michael

Answer 1

Michael--what you describe here seems like what mine was doing.  The install would never completely finish and it's a bit misleading because of the way the download process works on Adobe's site.  The .exe file along with the accompanying set up files was sitting in a folder in my C: drive in the local folder.  I have found it before in the "temp" or "download" folder too.
I'm sorry, but what system are you running again?  If PC and you are on Vista, or Windows 7 you must check through the layers of folders that fall under your C: drive as a result of your UAC. Forgive me if this elementry to you, but I'm unaware of your skill level so I thought I would pass it along if useful.
Start: computer
C: open folder and look under the subfolders--it should look something like the snip below.
From here there are a couple of places the downloaded files could be.  Look in your user folder and find YOUR NAME folder first.  Then try the appdata/local or locallow or roaming data folder.  Adobe may be right there.  If it is, open it and double-click on the executable file in one of the folders.  From there your system should kick in and finish the install and then the upgrade.  That is what mine did.
If your system was doing the same thing as mine, you will have multiple folders that weren't executing and will need to be removed.  It won't matter which one as they will all be duplicates depending on how many times you tried to download and install.
Hope this is helpful.
K