windows xp searches for journal viewer.msi via Adobe (pdf) reader ================================================================= written Aug16,2006 by Carpediem2100 updated Sep21,2006 On Aug02/2006, I tried a registry cleaner on my windows-xp computer. The app. used is RegSeeker 1.45. I had used this app earlier on my windows-98 computer and it seemed very "slick". (As far as the registry aspect of cleaning was concerned, it "appeared" to be easier/better than EasyCleaner 2.06.380.; As I write this my windows-98 machine seems fine.) Last week, I noticed that I could not open .pdf files by clicking on them or by opening Adobe PDF Reader (v6.0). Windows-XP reported an error and asked to be directed to the folder containing Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer.msi. The message would not disappear even if you kept pressing the "cancel" button. Finally I had to kill the process by using the task manager. I started to suspect that cleaning the registry could have been the cause. I searched hi & lo, and in system & hidden files and in archives for files resembling the naming of "journal" or "viewer" and/or "msi". No such match could be located. I searched the internet for this error. In a search engine the key terms were "Adobe Reader Windows Journal.msi error", or a mixture of these. To my surprise there are several sites that mention it. - Annoyances.org http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1047874528 - experts-exhange.com http://www.experts-exchange.com/Applications/Q_21451776.html - A Wiki about it. http://wiki.lib.uconn.edu/index.php?title=ITSKB:_Acrobat_Error&oldid=13418 - Adobe site suggests uninstalling Windows Journal or Reinstalling Windows Journal http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/329118.html (I read somewhere that uninstalling was not possible if you could not locate the ~.msi file -- a catch 22 --) - Microsoft Site for downloading Windows Journal Viewer 1.5 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fad44098-8b73-4e06-96d4-d1eb70eacb44&DisplayLang=en note: the setup.exe file contains (as one of its three items within,) the .msi file! - update to Adobe Reader v7 http://www.adobe.com/go/gntray_dl_downloads I did not get a chance to uninstall or reinstall journal viewer. Now, today, I had problems opening a Microsoft Access(R) Database file. Now I am convinced that the registry had a problem. Fortunately, I had a backup of the "system state" (via Microsoft NTBackup), made prior to the registry cleansing. I restored it; it took about 15 minutes. Now Adobe Reader and Microsoft Access seems to be working properly. (I suppose I could have tried a windows-xp system restore point but it was older than my "system state" backup above.) [Off Topic Note: I don't know if it's my imagination but I may have a missing system restore point. maybe not; maybe i am crazy. Would the registry cleaners un-intentionally erase a system restore point? A while back, I used file shredders and freespace wipers, and they seem to delete, system restore points. I will write more on this if I notice a stronger correlation (with a weaker association to imagination).] I seen first hand where this error will not let you Un-install or Re-install Windows Journal Viewer 1.5, even though you have downloaded the Journal Viewer setup.exe, and you point Windows to the .msi file! I do not know how to fix this. I can only think of a fresh re-install of Windows XP, followed by un-installing Journal Viewer before this error gets a chance to occur. When you have un-installed Journal Viewer, set a System Restore point and/or backup your System State. Morals of this Story -------------------- 1) Don't clean the registry if you don't know what you are doing. (I still think EasyCleaner and RegSeeker are fine products; I only used them because I don't know how to clean the registry) 2) Make frequent backups 3) Use NTBackup or other 4) Make use of XP's System Restore feature (It certainly can't hurt) 5) Uninstall Journal Viewer before this error gets a chance to occur