WinXP - Recurring Error: 16

Hey All,

We've been deploying Adobe products utilizing group policy software installations; in the past, we've only had Flash and Reader deployed in this way. Recently our division got volume licensing for Acrobat, so we've been starting to roll that out. While the installation more-or-less works with Vista/7, we've hit a big snag on our XP machines.

Acorbat appears to install just fine via GPO but, on about half of the XP boxes, Acrobat closes right after you try to open a PDF and displays an error 16. It seems like Acrobat will work for a user at first but, as soon as the user logs in to the comp a second time, error 16 comes back with a vengance. There are a couple other posts on here depicting this error, but none of their solutions work in our enviroment. Some of the things we've tried:

• Verifying permissions - http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/827/cpsid_82744.html
  • Tried changing permissions on just those individual folders and their entire containers - neither worked
  • Whenever I uncheck the 'read-only' box and hit apply, it gives me an 'access denied' error on a few files. Then, if I open the properties window again, the 'read-only' box is re-checked, though it's a full box, not a checkmark.
• Reinstall
  • Tried uninstalling Acrobat completely and reinstalling via...
    • GPO
    • Un-customized .msi (we typically apply an MST to the GPO)
    • The original disc
  • Tried uninstalling ALL Adobe products, then installing JUST Acrobat in the three ways described above.
    • Sidenote - if you've never tried to completely uninstall an adobe product, you're in for a treat - there are little bits of Adobe lying ALL OVER the system drive. Does anyone know of a solid method that will actually work to remove Adobe's residuals? Even their Flash uninstaller leaves Flashy crap behind.
  • In all of these instances Acrobat will work again, but only for the first time a user logs in. After they log out of that comptuer and back in, the configuration error pops right back up.

I'm at my wit's end on this and would seriously appreciate any ideas. Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Does anybody have some more options we can try out?

Thank you all so much for reading,

Jake