Adobe AIR is a computer program known as a runtime. It is necessary to have Adobe AIR on your computer to run certain applications. Applications that require Adobe AIR are called Adobe AIR applications.
Most Adobe AIR problems are related to having the correct version of Adobe AIR. Before you begin troubleshooting your problem, get the latest version of Adobe AIR for your operating system. Adobe AIR is available for free.
For troubleshooting AIR on other platforms, see:
| Important: Microsoft has released a new utility called Fix it that can help resolve many AIR installation problems. When running the Fix it tool, go through the uninstall process and remove Adobe AIR from your system. Once finished, download and install the latest version of Adobe AIR. If you still encounter problems, you can try the AIR zapper tool for uninstalling Adobe AIR. |
An Adobe AIR application requires a minimum version of Adobe AIR. Typically, the Adobe AIR application's installation program makes sure that your computer has the correct version of Adobe AIR. If necessary, the Adobe AIR application downloads and installs the latest version of Adobe AIR.
You can check which version of Adobe AIR is installed on your computer. To do so, follow the steps provided here.
Typically, you want to have the latest version of Adobe AIR. To get it, follow the instructions at Download and install Adobe AIR.
However, you can get an older version of Adobe AIR here.
The installation program installs Adobe AIR at the following locations:
| Platform | Installation location |
| Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 [32 bit] | C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe AIR\ |
Windows Vista and Windows 7 [64 bit] |
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe AIR\ |
The Adobe AIR installation log file can help you troubleshoot your installation problem. You can also use the log's contents if you post a question to the Adobe AIR installation issues forum.
For Adobe AIR 2.0 and later on Windows operating systems, an Install.log file is automatically created during installation.
For Adobe AIR 1.0 to 1.5.3, see this document for more information.
You can find the install log at the following locations:
| Windows XP/ Windows Vista / Windows 7 |
|
Administrative access is always required for installation of Adobe AIR. However, you can install an Adobe AIR application without administrative access in a location that is writeable by the current user account. If you do not have write permissions, contact your systems administrator.
After you have successfully run the Adobe AIR installer file, try again to install and run the Adobe AIR application that you want to use. You can also try Adobe AIR applications that are available at the Adobe AIR Marketplace.
When you install the first Adobe AIR application on your computer, the Adobe AIR installation is initiated. Then Adobe AIR is installed along with the Adobe AIR application. If you can get Adobe AIR installed, but still encounter issues installing a specific Adobe AIR application, try the following:
Administrative access is required when installing Adobe AIR. Administrative access is also required when installing an Adobe AIR application to a location that is not writeable by the current user account. If you do not have write permissions, contact your systems administrator.
When installing an Adobe AIR application, the application's installer sometimes attempts to connect to an Internet service to authenticate the identity of the application. Antivirus or security software can report this attempt to connect to an Internet service; allow this connection to install the Adobe AIR application. For example, you could see an alert that says "Adobe AIR application installer.exe is attempting to connect to a DNS server."
If you encounter issues when you attempt to install Adobe AIR applications on your system, remove and reinstall Adobe AIR. For example, if the installation stalls at the "Application Install" dialog box, or if you see an "Installation Error" message, remove and reinstall Adobe AIR.
Note: Also remove any prerelease or beta version of Adobe AIR before installing its latest version.
To remove Adobe AIR, do the following:
Important: Do not use any other external tool like Microsoft's Installer Cleanup Utility to remove Adobe AIR. This utility can damage other installations on the computer.
Each Adobe AIR application appears as a separate entry on your system and is listed separately in the Add/Remove programs list on Windows.
To remove (uninstall) an Adobe AIR application:
Your Administrator doesn't allow installation or uninstallation. Contact your administrator.
To troubleshoot these issues, try performing the following steps in this order:
Installing an Adobe AIR application with the Folder Lock application previously installed results in a "blue screen" crash. (Folder Lock is a third-party application).
To resolve the issue, install Folder Lock 6.2.4 or later. Another option is to uninstall Folder Lock completely and proceed with the installation of the Adobe AIR application.
Installing an Adobe AIR application displays the error message: "Sorry an error has occurred. The application could not be installed. Try installing it again. If the problem persists, contact the application author." (Windows Vista / Windows 7)
This error can occur during installation if a standard or restricted user has turned off User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7 or Window Vista. From Control Panel, Open UAC and enable it. A restart could be required. Once complete, retry the installation.
The .air installer filename extension is not registered on Windows Vista
The installer file for an Adobe AIR application has a filename that ends with .air. Double-clicking an .air installer file after a successful installation of Adobe AIR on Windows Vista can display an "unknown type" error. When this issue occurs, the .air installer file doesn't appear to have an Adobe AIR icon associated with it when viewed within the Windows file explorer.
For additional information on this issue, see this document.
Windows Vista: 2032 stream error - Trying to install from network. For application installation, "damaged file" can be reported.
You could be launching the installer from a restricted file system. Try downloading the installer to your desktop and install from there.
"Another installation is in progress... Cannot install until other has completed."
A previous installation process could still be active on the system.
Use the Windows Task Manager to check for other active installation processes and terminate those processes. If this solution does not address the issue, restart the system and then install.
My Adobe AIR application freezes and becomes unresponsive in an NVidia Optimus-based system.
If your system uses the NVidia Optimus technology to automatically switch between the integrated and discreet graphic card, your Adobe AIR application can become unresponsive.
In this case, try starting the Adobe AIR application with a preferred video adaptor to prevent auto switching. Right-click the Adobe AIR application and select Run with graphics processor > High-performance NVIDIA processor.
Do you still have problem with the Adobe AIR installation? Post your question in the Adobe AIR Installation Issues forum.
| Get the latest version of Adobe AIR | Get a different version of Adobe AIR |
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