Re: What happened. Running windows 8.1 adobe did an update to latest reader version and broke it. now cannot reinstall older version. r

If you are in Windows -which you haven't said- you can try using this tool to first remove all traces of Reader from your computer:

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html

Then, you can download the full offline Reader installer from

http://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/

After downloading, restart your computer and run the installer before doing anything else.