I have the newest version of Adobe Reader installed. However there is an older version that is still here somehow. It does not show up in the install/uninstall window of MS Windows XP/Home. I have uninstalled Adobe and reinstalled (several times) but cannot get rid of the older version. I ran something called VeroUninstaller and it found a bunch of old Adobe "stuff" and deleted it but the old version persists.

Anyone have an idea of how to get rid of older versions of Adobe?

This can be a problem with the Acrobat reader. If you can find a copy of the older version, try installing it then uninstalling. Another thing you can try is to make sure the association with PDF files is with the newer version.