Need help..can't open down loaded file....

[smartykat]

Well here's the scoop... I won a t-shirt!:cheer: ...good news.
Bad news:nay: Here's what it says
You're the lucky winner of a Mario's Ultimate Beach Party t-shirt.

To receive your cool new t-shirt, print out the attached prize release form, sign it and mail it back to us, Nintendo of America Inc., attn: Mario's Ultimate Beach Party, 4820 150th Ave. NE, Redmond, WA 98052.

Keep an eye out for your Mario's Ultimate Beach party t-shirt to arrive in your mail box shortly.

When I download the attachment I can't read it. It's in PDF format. I SHOULD have Acrobat reader but don't see it listed anywhere in my progams. Let me give you a quick rundown of my computer. It's a Dell I received in Jan. already loaded with all the programs. I am pretty sure Arobat Reader was included. My computer CRASHED big time in May (I think). Anyway, I tried to repair windows, with the help of the Dell ppl. I didn't work. So we had to delete EVERYTHING and reinstall everything. Now mind you I am NOT very computer savvy. The guy at dell told me not to reinstall the driver programs. After installing everything my list of programs looked to be about half of what I had before. I mentioned this to Dell and they said they would send me anything I was missing. Unfortunately I had not a clue as to what was missing, so I went merrily along, until now.
Should Acrobat reader be listed as a program? How can I tell if I have it?
I know I can download free, and tried to but it said it was corrupt, so I went back to acrobat and here's what it says.

In general, Adobe applications that haven't yet received the Designed for Windows XP Logo need to be installed and used by Administrators.

This requirement and other differences between the installation and configuration of our applications on Windows 98 and Me vs. Windows NT and 2000 means that you need to take some additional steps prior to upgrading to Windows XP.

If you are upgrading from Windows 98 or Me to Windows XP, Adobe advises that you perform a clean install of the new operating system, rather than an upgrade install. By performing a clean install, instead of an upgrade install, you will insure that various Windows version-specific printer drivers, browser plug-ins, COM modules, configuration files, and registry entries - of which the Windows XP upgrade installer has no knowledge - are appropriately modified.

To correctly perform a clean install, we advise the following steps:

Back up all data prior to migrating to Windows XP (assuming your data is stored on the same disk partition as the operating system).
Perform a clean install of Windows XP.
Perform a complete reinstallation of all Adobe drivers, fonts, and applications.
Restore data as necessary.
Note that installation of applications on a partition other than the one used by Windows 98 or Me does not remove the need to reinstall such software after installing Windows XP

UGGH! I may be all wrong about this...PLEEEESE tell me I am?
I am sooo frusrated; need help and a stiff drink or some anti depressants!!!
Sorry for the long explanation, but wanted you to have all the info so maybe you can help.
:cry: kt

[Mare]

Is there an e-mail or a phone number you can call on your affadavit OR can you e-mail the file to a friend who has Adobe Acrobat and let them download it and print it out for you? (In the interim you can solve your computer deal without the stress.)

When the Tech hubby gets home from Comp USA I will ask him what he thinks you might be able to do to resolve that.

Mare "non-technical helper" Rivera ;)

[smartykat]

Thanks Mare,
I sent an e-mail back to them explaining the problem. Maybe they will mail it to me. If not, I'll go beg at my neighbors......
Any help is appreciated!!!
kt

[Mare]

kathy,

Is Acrobat that you downloaded unzipped into it's own directory?

If the file doesn't automatically come up, then you don't have Adobe Acrobat on your computer.

Check to see the version you're downloading is XP compatable. On the download page you should see options for the different downloading operating systems.

Do you have XP Home Version or XP Professional, because that also makes a difference.

Other than that they are correct in having you do a clean re-install.

And them's the word of the Tech Hubby.

Mare "don't ask me what any of that means" Rivera :smile3:

[smartykat]

Mare,
First of all, I did send an e-mail back to them (thanks) and the response was 'not to worry you will receive your t-shirt'.

Second, UHGGGGG I did everything your wonderful Hubby said.....(give him a peck on the cheek for me) Which means I will have to do a clean install. I am not very technical..It took me a complete day to to reinstall windows XP and other programs.!!!! And then another week to tweek everything else. Norton still doesn't work properly...I have a patch which has to be activated manually
I guess I am more concerned about my computer working properly than winning a t-shirt. Would you mind asking your hubby 'how often does he think I'll need Acrobat reader?
I may just wait until the need overcomes the want...
Thanks. Thanks. Thanks, again
kt:bow:

[dj]

Kathy,
If you want the form, I can do a print screen of it, and turn it into a jpg or gif which you can open in your browser window. My husband won a $10 best buy gc and my son won a t-shirt so we have the form. The form is generic, you have to fill in all the blanks, what sweep it was, what you won, etc. They say to sign it, yet they haven't provided a place to do so.

I have the full Adobe Acrobat program but they have the form locked so I can't select the text and turn it into a text doc but I can do the above if you want it. Just let me know.

[dj]

Oh, and for how badly you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, it depends on what you're into. Pdf's are used for job applications, instructions, booklets, specifications and forms in general. If you don't need or want any of those then you probably won't need it right away. All those things can be created in Word (and usually are to begin with) but not everybody has Word where the Reader is free. Plus pdf's are smaller in file size.

Ok, I'm through! Hope this helped.