In This Series: Deploying Adobe Reader 8
- Deploying Adobe Reader 8.x
- Disable Adobe Updater with Adobe Customization Wizard 8
- Uninstalling Adobe Reader
For an Adobe Reader 9 version of this post, go here.
Deployment of Adobe Reader in an enterprise environment has been much simplified since version 6, however there is still some important preparation before you think about deploying version 8. Adobe have compiled information on enterprise deployment which are available on the following pages - I prefer the developer page over the page aimed at IT professionals because it has more information and is a little easier to read:
- Adobe Developer Centre: Enterprise deployment
- Acrobat Solutions for IT professionals: Deploy Adobe Acrobat and Reader
Obtaining the Installation Files
Adobe has details of extracting the installation files for enterprise deployment on their support site. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, this is currently Adobe Reader 8.1.2. You can extract the installation files by running AdbeRdr812_en_US.EXE -nos_ne. You will find the installation files extracted to the following locations:
- On Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 Setup extracts to: \Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\Adobe Reader 8
- On Windows XP/Windows Server 2003 Setup extracts to: \Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\Adobe Reader 8
Disabling Unwanted Features
Simplifying Adobe Reader in an enterprise environment is something that we’re all looking to do, including disabling the infamous Adobe Updater 5. Disabling features is best done by creating custom transform files. I have instructions on creating your own transform files using the Adobe Customisation Wizard, or you can use the transforms files listed here:First up I have a basic transform that sets the following options:
- Supresses the EULA
- Supresses any reboots after installation (I’ve had mixed results with this)
- Stops the Adobe Reader 8 icon from being added to the Desktop
- Removes the Help/Check for updates menu item and prevents the Updater from running automatically
- Removes the Help/Purchase Adobe Acrobat menu item
- Removes the Help/Digital Editions menu item
- Disables the Start Meeting feature
- Stops Beyond Reader from displaying at startup
- Disables the Adobe Online Services
Adobe Reader 8.1.x Basic transform file
The second transform provides the same settings as above in addition to completely preventing the installation of Adobe Updater:
Adobe Reader 8.1.x Advanced transform file
Terminal Servers and Browser Integration
When installing Adobe Reader on Terminal Servers, it might be advantageous to disable browser integration, i.e. opening PDF files from within the browser window. The reason for this is that the Reader executable (ACRORD32.EXE) does not exit until the browser is closed. This will cause Reader to continue to consume memory even though it is not in use.To disable browser integration set the DISABLE_BROWSER_INTEGRATION property to YES when installing Reader on Terminal Servers. You can do this by editing the transform or using DISABLE_BROWSER_INTEGRATION=YES on the command line. If the command line is not for you, I’ve created another transform which you can get here:
Hiding Menu Items
Thanks to David for the information, you can remove a few more of the menu items in Reader that you might not want hanging around, such as the Beyond Adobe Reader link. Why Adobe has resorted to using JavaScript files to modify the interface is just beyond me. On one hand we can restrict some of the interface via the registry (which even uses the HKLM\Software\Policies key) but on the other we need to resort to a method that must be managed on each individual machine. Sometimes developers just floor me with their stupidity.The first listing here is code you can use to find the name of the menu or toolbar button. The second listing shows you the code required to hide the items. Copy the code and save them to \Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Javascripts.
//ListItems.js
//Open Javascript Console
console.show();
//List Toolbar Buttons in the Console
var toolbarItems = app.listToolbarButtons()
for( var i in toolbarItems)
console.println(toolbarItems + "\n")
//List Menu Items in the Console
var menuItems = app.listMenuItems()
for( var i in menuItems)
console.println(menuItems + "\n")
//HideMenu.js
//Hides "File" on main toolbar
//app.hideMenuItem("File");
//Hides File - Open
app.hideMenuItem("Open");
//Hides File - Attach to email
app.hideMenuItem("AcroSendMail:SendMail");
//Hides Edit - Check Spelling
app.hideMenuItem("Spelling:Spelling");
//Hides Edit - Preferences
app.hideMenuItem("GeneralPrefs");
//Hides View - Menu Bar
app.hideMenuItem("ShowHideMenuBar");
//Hides View - Toolbars
app.hideMenuItem("Toolbars");
//Hides View - Navigation Panels
app.hideMenuItem("Navigation");
//Hides View - Automatically Scroll
app.hideMenuItem("AutoScroll");
//Hides View - Read Out Loud
app.hideMenuItem("ReadAloud");
//Hides "Document" on main toolbar
app.hideMenuItem("Document");
//Hides "Tools" on main toolbar
//app.hideMenuItem("Tools");
//Hides Tools - Object Data
app.hideMenuItem("DataToolsItem");
//Hides Tools - Customize Toolbars
app.hideMenuItem("CustomizeToolbars");
//Hides Help - Beyond Adobe Reader
app.hideMenuItem("GettingStarted");
//Hides Help - How to
app.hideMenuItem("HelpHowTo");
//Help - Online Support
app.hideMenuItem("OnlineSupport");
//Hides Help - Online Support - Knowledge Base
//app.hideMenuItem("KnowledgeBase");
//Hides Help - Online Support - Adobe Support Programs
//app.hideMenuItem("AdobeExpertSupport");
//Hides Help - Online Support - Accessibility Resource Center
//app.hideMenuItem("AccessOnline");
//Hides Help - Online Support - Generate System Report
//app.hideMenuItem("SystemInformation");
//Hides Help - Repair Adobe Reader Installation
app.hideMenuItem("DetectAndRepair");
//Hides Help - Purchase Adobe Acrobat
//app.hideMenuItem("BuyAcro");
//Hides View - Read Out Loud (Great for Terminal Server)
//app.hideMenuItem("ReadLoud");Deployment Methods
Most medium to large enterprises will have some sort of application deployment tool already in place, therefore deployment for these organisations should be fairly straight-forward - extract the setup files, create a transform and deploy. Adobe has some fairly straight forward documentation on deploying Adobe Reader via different deployment tools:
- Group Policy and Active Directory; and
- Systems Management Server (now System Centre Configuration Manager).
- Apparently documentation for using IBM Tivoli Configuration Manager to deploy Reader/Acrobat is ‘coming in mid-2007′.
Any organisation utilising Group Policy for application deployment may find things a little more challenging. Check out my post on deploying applications with Group Policy for details on doing it the right way.You will also find information on deploying Reader on:
Why two documents are required for Terminal Server and Presentation Server, I don’t know - deployment is exactly the same. If you are deploying via a script, I have details on scripting the installation of Adobe Reader 8.x - Unattended Install: Adobe Reader 8.x.
107 Comments
meh. why bother.
foxit reader is faster, less bloaty and stable.
On Adobe’s Forum I have asked the question regarding disabling “Send to FedEx Kinko’s” and looks like you have answered this by adding bFedExInternetPrinting into the Transform file and manual script.
My original question was:
How to remove or hide “Send to FedEx Kinko’s” in Adobe Customization Wizard for Adobe Reader 8.1.0?
Does anyone know the entries in Adobe Customization Wizard to remove or hide “Send to FedEx Kinko’s” in Adobe Reader 8.1.0 to create custom Transform Files
This new feature in Adobe Reader 8.1 (”Send to FedEx Kinkos”) is only available in the United States.
I could hug you right now. works GREAT!
Brilliant works a treat!. cheers
Great to hear it guys.
Instead of “HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\”, shouldn’t it be “HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.1\”?
Nope, definitely HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\
I don’t suppose someone out there wants to solve a puzzle for me?? I had Adobe Reader 7.0, which was working wonderfully. Then, I get the prompt… Adobe 8.1 is here! So, I went for it. In the download process, my Adobe 7.0 was deleted. Then, 92% into the download, I get “Error 1406: Cd not write to valued key…” I did a search on Adobe.com Support Knowledgebase and found the problem, but with version 6.0. I have confirmed there’s only one user on the computer, and it is Admin. Also, I downloaded and ran the fix patch (Fix_1406ACL.zip) but nothing happens. HELP, PLEASE !? Linda C.
RudysPlumbing AT sbcglobal.net
To suppress the reboot change the REBOOT property as follows;
START /WAIT MSIEXEC /I AcroRead.msi ALLUSERS=TRUE REBOOT=ReallySuppress TRANFORMS=Reader81BaseNoOnlineNoUpdaterNoSyncroniser.MST /QB-
Thanks Aaron for all the info here!
Tom
http://WikiDesktop.org
Also, if you want to prevent the 19 components for the updater being installed, you can go to the feature table and change the Level to 101. The default install level is 100, so that will prevent those components from being installed.
Cheers!
Tom
http://WikiDesktop.org
Hummm… ignore my previous post on setting the feature level to 101. It does not work and generates an error.
Tom.
http://WikiDesktop.org
Thanks for links to direct download and location of extracted temp files, been trying to find them for a while….
My friend only has dialup. She lives in the sticks. How can I download the 8.1 reader into a file I can burn to a CD and send to her to install on her machine? The 8.1 file is just too big to download on dial up to her machine directly. All help and suggestions will be deeply appreciated.
@ Karen C
1) download the Adobe Setup exe from the link above
create a batch file containing the install instructions above
2) start the setup
3) Start > Run > %temp%
4) go to Adobe Reader 8 and grab the MSI
5) create a new folder on desktop
6) paste the MSI in there
7) download the MST to the same folder
9) burn the whole folder to a CD!
Hi Aaron,
can’t seem to get this working with either transform?
The EULA still comes up?
If I install using the “Adobe Reader 8.1 Complete Transform File” from above, then start Adobe Reader 8 and from the menu Edit->Preferences->Reviewing it Freezes
If I use the “Adobe Reader 8.1 Basic Transform File” then I have no issue. I believe it has something to do with ‘Prevents the Collaboration Syncronizer feature from installing’, however I unsure what Aaron did to remove this from the Transform file.
From the Adobe Forums I found to disable Synchronizer you can add this relevant reg key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\AVTracker]
“bNeedSynchronizer”=dword:00000000
I’m trying to use the AcroRead.msi file pointing to that transform file above having used the Adobe Customization Wizard, can you think of any reason why when I use the .msi It will try to install normally, but when I use setup.exe it performs as intended? That being silently, without EULA, etc.
I’m trying to deploy this on a enterprise-scale, and I can’t believe the amount of problem this has caused me.
Hopefully it’s just some tiny typo somewhere. The MST files Aaron created for 8.0 worked a treat for the Reader 8.0 MSI I rolled out across our network, I’m hoping to do the same with 8.1
Hi Aaron, thanks again for the transforms - they’re very helpful! I’m running into the same issues as David (Comment #19) with the complete transform. Could you let us know what you did to remove the synchronizer, so I could possibly fix that UI issue?
Hi guys, thanks for the comments. I will look into this as soon as I can and give you an update ASAP.
Hi guys, I’ve updated the Complete Transform to fix the Syncroniser issue that David found. If you download again and test it out, I’m keen to get some feedback.
Thanks, Aaron
Hi Aaron,
I tried running msiexec with the new complete transform and it’s giving me an error off the bat:
“Error applying transforms. Verify that the specified transform paths are valid.”
I also noticed that its file size is now only 2KB as opposed to 20KB+ - perhaps you mistakenly uploaded the wrong file?
Try again now, something must have gone wrong with my last upload. The size should be right now.
Thanks Aaron, looks like it’s all fixed! I’ll let you know if we run into any problems. Cheers!
Has anyone worked out how to disable “Repair Adobe Reader Installation” from the Help menu option.
On the Adobe Forums they mention you require the application level javascript to hide the menu item using the app.hideMenuItem object
I have disabled Beyond Adobe Reader from the startup and prevented the source from being copied but…Users can still attempt to launch Beyond Adobe Reader from the Help menu. All that is displayed is a blank pop-up when it’s clicked. Can Beyond Adobe Reader be removed from the Help menu?
Thx
Steve
Steve in Chicago, you require the application level javascript to hide the menu item using the app.hideMenuItem object.
If someone can give Steve and I some help to create the javascript, then maybe we could add this to ‘Files and Folders’ in Adobe Customization Wizard 8 and add this script to ‘Launch other Applications’. Maybe it could work??
I was having a problem with it not applying the transform properly. I had copy and pasted the command line from the posting so I was wondering why it wasn’t working. After closer inspection, I noticed that part of it read “TRANFORMS=Adobe…” (notice the missing “S” in the middle of TRANSFORMS). I changed “TRANFORMS” to “TRANSFORMS” and everything has been sweet ever since. Hope this helps everyone else out.
Thanks Chris, I’ve updated the script to fix that.
How to Hide Toolbar Buttons and Menu Items in Adobe Reader 8:
Step 1: In Notepad copy the ListItems.js script to list all of the cNames for the Menu Items and Toolbar Items and save as \Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Javascripts\ListItems.js
Step 2: Start Adobe Reader 8 and the JavaScript Debugger Console will start. Find the correct cNames for your HideMenu.js syntax. Close Adobe Reader.
Step 3: In Notepad copy the HideMenu.js script and make your own updates and save as \Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Javascripts\HideMenu.js
Step 4: Delete \Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Javascripts\ListItems.js
Step 5: Start Adobe Reader 8. You will not see the Menu Items you have disabled (You may still see them for upto 2 seconds after starting)
Script 1: ListItems.js
//Thanks to hpizzel on AppDeploy
//Open Javascript Console
console.show();
//List Toolbar Buttons in the Console
var toolbarItems = app.listToolbarButtons()
for( var i in toolbarItems)
console.println(toolbarItems + “\n”)
//List Menu Items in the Console
var menuItems = app.listMenuItems()
for( var i in menuItems)
console.println(menuItems + “\n”)
Script 2) HideMenu.js
// How to get a list of Toolbar Buttons and Menu Items in Adobe Reader - use ListItems.js
//Hides Help > Beyond Adobe Reader
app.hideMenuItem(”GettingStarted”);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Adobe Support Programs
app.hideMenuItem(”AdobeExpertSupport”);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Accessibility Resource Center
app.hideMenuItem(”AccessOnline”);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Generate System Report
app.hideMenuItem(”SystemInformation”);
//Hides Help > Repair Adobe Reader Installation
app.hideMenuItem(”DetectAndRepair”);
//Hides Help > Purchase Adobe Acrobat
app.hideMenuItem(”BuyAcro”);
//Others you could add, however remove // before app.hideMenuItem
//Help > Online Support (No requirement to add the Sub Menu Items for Online Support now)
//app.hideMenuItem(”OnlineSupport”);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Knowledge Base
//app.hideMenuItem(”KnowledgeBase”);
//Hides View > Read Out Loud (Great for Citrix)
//app.hideMenuItem(”ReadLoud”);
Now in Adobe Customization Wizard 8 under ‘Files and Folders’ you can add \Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Javascripts\HideMenu.js to Destination Computer - ProgramFilesFolder - Adobe - Reader 8.0 - Reader - Javascripts
Hi,
I have packaged Adobe Reader 8.1.0 and it works great. However, its not uninstalling version 7.09 that is installed on some of the PC’s that I am testing.
Any thoughts, ideas?
I should also mention that Adobe Reader 8.1.0 is being pushed out via GPO.
So the problem appears to be that if I manually installed Adobe Reader 7x on a PC. Then I tried to push out the 8.1.0 GPO, 8.1.0 would NOT be applied and 7x would still be used.
However, when I test it out on a machine that has Adobe Reader 7x installed via GPO, the 8.1.0 GPO uninstalls the 7x version and installs the 8x version.
Hi Paul, I don’t have access to an AD instance to test at the moment, but what happens when you manually install 8.x over 7.x (deployed via GP or manually). Is there any indication for the issue in the Application log?
Dear Paul,
I’ve a problem. I do not have MSI 3.0 and am running on XP1 paltform. Further I am not able to grab MSI 3.0 from Microsoft also due to some authentication error. Can u help me by providing MSI 3.0.
Thanks
Hello,
Is there any way to disable the Adobe Reader F9 key (menu bar), because i want to disable it for citrix users…..
Hi Martin, I’ve had a look through the Adobe SDK and I can’t find a way to disable the shortcut key. You can disable the menu item by using the JavaScript method mentioned above - add the following line to a HideMenuItem.js
app.hideMenuItem(”ShowHideMenuBar”);
Unfortunately it only hides the menu item and does not disable the keyboard shortcut.
bugga me if I can get a javascript to launch with Adobe 8. :o/ No reaction whatsoever… Is there something obvious I’m missing?
You don’t need to do anything special other than add the script to the Javascripts folder. They do take a few seconds to kick in. Start Reader, wait a few seconds and then take another look at your menus.
Just wanted to pass along that there is a file that can be updated to stop the automatic updates without going into the Adobe Reader application itself. I didn’t want to remove the ability to update the application but there didn’t seem to be any customization ot perform this type of action from the Adobe Customizer.
If someone is able to find this out I’d appreciate it as it would clean up the last part of this install.
The file is a .DAT file located in the following location :
C:\Documents and Settings\–login–\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater5
file name : AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat
It’s just one long string of information that seems to replace an entry into the registry.
The item to update is :
1
1 = active
0 = disabled
Hope this helps someone else out there.
Jim
note : the item is under ‘AutoCheck>1
(¬_¬) tsk. I’m such a n00b.
I replaced the extended character set quote symbols from the july 12th javascript and all’s peaches now.
“”"”
@Ninja Duck, I do plan to get around to fixing that up those quote characters at some stage. Gotta stop WordPress from replacing those.
This is in response to Paul’s questions(35-36-37)
I’ve had simalar issues with acro6 to 7.
You need to make a admin install for 7(msiexec /a )
In the group policy object you are pumping acro8 with, apply a startup script to remove 7.x like:
if .exists then
objshell.run “msiexec /x /qn”
else
end if
I wonder if the MST deals with the problem i have:
I updated Acrobat Reader from 6.0 to 8.1 on my laptop. It works all right online; but offline, I can’t open pdf files and the program. When I double click them, nothing happens.
Then I deleted 8.1 and installed 7.0.9. It works okay online, but it always says “an internal error occured” when i try to use the program offline.
The post “How to Hide Toolbar Buttons and Menu Items in Adobe Reader 8:” was really helpful, however, how do I show Toolbar Buttons?
Alix
Lot of buttons for the lazy admins, speeds up the work
HideMenu.js
————————————————-
//Others you could add, however remove // before app.hideMenuItem
//Hides “File” on main toolbar
//app.hideMenuItem(”File”);
//Hides File > Open
app.hideMenuItem(”Open”);
//Hides File > Attach to email
app.hideMenuItem(”AcroSendMail:SendMail”);
//Hides Edit > Check Spelling
app.hideMenuItem(”Spelling:Spelling”);
//Hides Edit > Preferences
app.hideMenuItem(”GeneralPrefs”);
//Hides View > Menu Bar
app.hideMenuItem(”ShowHideMenuBar”);
//Hides View > Toolbars
app.hideMenuItem(”Toolbars”);
//Hides View > Navigation Panels
app.hideMenuItem(”Navigation”);
//Hides View > Automatically Scroll
app.hideMenuItem(”AutoScroll”);
//Hides View > Read Out Loud
app.hideMenuItem(”ReadAloud”);
//Hides “Document” on main toolbar
app.hideMenuItem(”Document”);
//Hides “Tools” on main toolbar
//app.hideMenuItem(”Tools”);
//Hides Tools > Object Data
app.hideMenuItem(”DataToolsItem”);
//Hides Tools > Customize Toolbars
app.hideMenuItem(”CustomizeToolbars”);
//Hides Help > Beyond Adobe Reader
app.hideMenuItem(”GettingStarted”);
//Hides Help > How to
app.hideMenuItem(”HelpHowTo”);
//Help > Online Support
app.hideMenuItem(”OnlineSupport”);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Knowledge Base
//app.hideMenuItem(â€KnowledgeBaseâ€);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Adobe Support Programs
//app.hideMenuItem(â€AdobeExpertSupportâ€);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Accessibility Resource Center
//app.hideMenuItem(â€AccessOnlineâ€);
//Hides Help > Online Support > Generate System Report
//app.hideMenuItem(â€SystemInformationâ€);
//Hides Help > Repair Adobe Reader Installation
app.hideMenuItem(”DetectAndRepair”);
//Hides Help > Purchase Adobe Acrobat
//app.hideMenuItem(â€BuyAcroâ€);
——————————————————-
please delete the following item in the above list:
//Hides Help > Beyond Adobe Reader
//app.hideMenuItem(â€endGuideGroupâ€);
Done.
Hi there i try to hide several menu option within adobe reader 8.1. Tried the javescript as written above.
But it doesn’t work for me
i add the ‘HideMenu.js’ to the ‘C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader’ folder
I have added the but no menu items are hided.. Someone got a sollution for it. Do i need to set some setting in the registry or something?
Thanks.
Offcourse i meant the
‘C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Javascripts’ folder where i put the javascript.
found the solution, the †what i copied from this site must be: “
Sorry netloony, it’s WordPress. I’ve added the JavaScript files as code listing in the blog post - the quotes used in the code listing are the correct ones.
Does anyone know how to hide the splash screen on start up?
Delete this registry value or set it to 0:
HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\Originals\bDisplayAboutDialog
Excellent! Is there a way to do this for all users?
(It’s a Citrix box)
You could write the registry value in a logon script, modify the transform file to include the registry key, or use PolicyMaker Registry Extension: http://blog.stealthpuppy.com/group-policy/why-are-you-still-writing-adm-templates
Modifying the transform file would be the easiest. Where in the ACW would i do that for all users?
I haven’t got the ACW in front of me at the moment, but there is a section there to create registry keys in HKLM or HKCU. You can set it under HKCU, however you may find that existing profiles may not pick up the new keys - you will have to test it out. Drop me an e-mail through the contact form if you need more help.
Thanks Aaron for the help. Part of my Citrix scripted build updates the defaultuser profile with the above key now. I’ve also put it in a reg file that is run by the login script so it will update users with existing profiles.
I’m using Citrix PS4.5 to publish Acrobat Reader as a seamless app, one thing i’ve noticed it when you exit it it leaves acrord32.exe behind. This causes the session to remain open and around 30mb of ram is lost until you key the zobie process or reboot the server. To get round this i’ve added acrord32.exe to the HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\TWI - LogoffCheckSysModules.
Not sure if that will help any of you readers, but it took me a while to figure out so thought i’d share.
Hello! Great Work, but i have generate a new MSI with the Customization Wizard 8. The installation works without anythink to do but if i first start i get a message i should setup the Input/Output Paramters (in german Setup-Assistenten für Ein-/Ausgabehilfe). Does someone know how to turn off this message?
Peter
I’m deploying Reader 8.1 via ZenWorks 7sp1. I created a transform with the customization wizard and I’ve ran into two issues:
1. the icon associated to pdf’s isn’t the right one.
2. pdf’s don’t work properly in a web browser. I get an error message, or it will open standalone in reader. Display PDF in Browser is enabled.
It works at suppressing the EULA and disabling updates, but many users need the browser integration, and it would also be nice to have the proper icon accociated.
Any thoughts?
@64 - Andy,
Try adding DISABLE_BROWSER_INTEGRATION=YES
See the section above - Terminal Servers and Browser Integration
Aaron removed the MST (RenameReader81BaseNoOnlineNoUpdaterNoSyncroniserDisableBrowserInteg.mst) as it was erroring out when you Load the Transform in Adobe Customization Wizard 8 (ACW)
I found ACW didn’t like the long file name, so when you renamed it to something shorter, then it worked fine.
Aaron will add back the MST for TS/Citrix sooon..
How do I show/Hide Toolbar Buttons in web broswer(IE). The script is working file while opening the PDF in Adobe reader, I am opening the PDF in IE and I have to show the toolbars by default to the user.
How i show toolbars in web browser with Adobe reader 8 plugin.
how do i show/hide ToolbarItems in Acrobat ActivceX-componente.
i’m using the Ac.Reader-8-plugin for c#-applications, but the JavaScript-Sample do not work for this.
Thank’s Michael
@Kotesh & Michael E. the Adobe Acrobat SDK might have the information you’re after: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/
A few Updater5 rows not mentioned in the blog
Aum5_AUMProduct.aup
Aum5_Reader_Cert
Aum5_rootCert.cer
Cleaned up post from the other page
Other Updater entries that may be safe for removal
Under “DeleteFilesâ€
AMT_Files ** AMT $Aum5_Reader_Cert=2
Under “CreateFolderâ€
AMT Aum5_rootCert.cer
Under “CustomActionâ€
AumUnregister 3153 Updater.api_NON_OPT UnregisterAppWithAUM
AumRegister 3153 Updater.api_NON_OPT RegisterAppWithAUM
Under “File” tab
AdobeUpdate.cer
AdobeUpdateCheck.exe corresponds to “Reader_Bin_AdobeUpdateCheck.exe” under “Component”
AdobeUpdater.cer
AdobeUpdater.da_DK
AdobeUpdater.de_DE
AdobeUpdater.es_ES
AdobeUpdater.fi_FI
AdobeUpdater.fr_FR
AdobeUpdater.it_IT
AdobeUpdater.ja_JP
AdobeUpdater.ko_KR
AdobeUpdater.nb_NO
AdobeUpdater.nl_NL
AdobeUpdater.pt_BR
AdobeUpdater.sv_SE
AdobeUpdater.zh_CN
AdobeUpdater.zh_TW
AdobeUpdaterInstallMgr.exe
Aum5_AdobeUpdater.dll
Aum5_AdobeUpdater.exe
Aum5_Product_Cert.cer
Aum5_rootCert.cer
David, I would also like to know how to do the following via Adobe’s CustWiz.exe
# Disables the File/Create Adobe PDF Online menu item
# Disables the File/Send to FedEx Kinko’s menu option (thanks Craig)
# Prevents the Collaboration Syncronizer feature from installing
More entries, possibly safe to remove
Under “Feature Components”
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdaterInstallMgr.exe
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.nl_NL
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.nb_NO
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.ko_KR
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.ja_JP
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.it_IT
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.zh_TW
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.zh_CN
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.sv_SE
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.pt_BR
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.fi_FI
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.da_DK
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.fr_FR
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.de_DE
AUM5 Aum5_rootCert.cer
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.es_ES
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdate.cer
AUM5 Aum5_AdobeUpdater.cer
AUM5 Aum5_dll
AUM5 Aum5_AUMProduct.aup
AUM5 Aum5_Reader_Cert
AUM5 Aum5_exe
Under “Feature”
AUM5 ReaderProgramFiles AUM5
Using some of suggestions in posts I made above cause errors. It’s probably best to ignore deleting some entries
like…
Aum5_Reader_Cert
Thank you all for the excellent info.
One problem though; does anyone know how to have the correct icon displayed for PDF files?
Thanks,
Thanks for all of the great info! I used the customization wizard to create a transform to install 8.1 on terminal servers with the Disable Disable of PDF in Browser option off. Now the users are complaining. Does anyone know how I can easily re-enable that option? I haven’t found the registry key.
A question regarding rendering:
I have noticed, that the page is not rendered correctly for users that have logged onto W2K terminal servers and have Edit > Preferences > Page Display > Smooth text set to anything else than None.
Can it be deployed by registry setting or are there any other means to tackle this issue?
TIA,
Taavi
We set up our images using one account then use the profile copier in windows xp to copy that account to the default profile. After we installed Adobe Reader 8.1 a new user who logs in is unable to use adobe reader if they click on a link in firefox. An error message stating something like “the associated helper application can not be found,” but firefox knows it is supposed to use Adobe Reader 8.1. We are not currently trying to use the plugin, we are just telling it to open Adobe Reader.
Does anyone know how to remove or hide “Printing Tips†in Adobe Reader 8 print dialog? We are trying to prevent access outside of the PDF Viewer to any other app, specifically IE.
Thanks
I’m using the customization wizard to deplay reader 8.1 with transform switch, however in the wizard the option to “remove previous version of reader” is greyed out.
Any idea’s why?
Is it possible to customize toolbars with Adobe Cust. Wizard 8? I would like to have Search, Emails and other toolbar icons installed by default when deploying Acrobat Reader 8.1. Does anybody know this? Thanks for help.
@Niall, I haven’t found an explanation for that behavior yet.
@Walker, see the section in this post titled ‘Hiding Menu Items’. The same process is used for the toolbar buttons.
Hi Aron,
about your transform error problem:
This kind of problem most often occur, if you create several transforms, which alter the same table (like ‘Property’) against the same base MSI.
To prevent this, cascade the transforms.
That means, create the first one, then apply it on to the MSI with ‘msitran.exe’. Then create the second one with against the new MSI and so on.
The caveat with this is, that you need to follow the creation order, when applying the transforms.
Another trick is to load the MSI into ORCA, apply the transform and generate a new one under a different name.
Regards, Nick
Do we have an answer for Taavi Sepp’s question, regarding registry key for Smoothing?
A.
AdbeRdr811_en_US.exe -nos_ne will extract the installer contents to “%TEMP%\Adobe Reader 8″ and not execute the installer.
I want to suppress the splash screen while opening .pdf files for all users. I was able to do that by modifying the command to open .pdf files in the registry (adding a /s parameter for AcroRd32.exe).
The registry key I modified is
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document\shell\Open\command
I modified the deafult key value from
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe” “%1″
to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe” /s “%1″
This works fine when I double click the .pdf file to open the file. Btu if I open the .pdf file in the Web browser, this does not work
Please help
pranav.gada@chrobinson.com
Hi Pranav, make sure you set this registry value to 1:
HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\Originals\bDisplayedSplash
Does anyone knows how to customized or disable some menu in right-click menu in adobe reader 8?
This is just what i was after but i would like to know if there is a solution for Chard707’s comment. We can hide these items but the user can right click and get most of the functionality.
@Chard707 & jon0881: what items are you looking to disable? have you tried running the ListItems.js script to find your menu items?
How does this process differ if machines have an existing 8.x install? Or does it?
Hi Michael, if Reader 6.x, 7.x or 8.x is already installed, it will be uninstalled during the 8.1.x installation routine.
Thanks Aaron. Didn’t think it mattered what was currently installed on the machines, but the PDF from Adobe wasn’t particularly clear. This would be an experiment for us pushing out a Reader update to machines with various existing versions of 8.x.
Be sure to post back after rollout, I’d be keen to hear how it goes.
Aaron, thank you so much for your scripts, they have made life a bunch easier!
One caveat that I can’t seem to overcome: the Beyond Adobe Reader splash screen comes up after the unattended installation. What is the registry setting for this item? Is it the bDontShowAtLaunch? That’s set to 1. Changing it to 0 seems to have no effect.
Anybody know how to use the wizard to configure supression of opening pdf’s in the browser? Using the wizard to disable the display in browser only grays out the option in reader, it doesn’t set it to open in reader. Need pdf to open in reader not IE.
Hi Rogo, there’s two properties in the MSI deal with browser integration: Browser_Integration and PDF_Integration. Set those manually in your transform.
Aaron,
Thanks for the advice. Almost got it to work. Try to open a file on a web page and reader starts to open then get an error saying can’t open the file in the broswer, exit and open reader again then it shuts down. Option to let installer select default opener selected so I guess I’m missing something else.
Rogo, the DISABLE_BROWSER_INTEGRATION=YES option worked for me. You could also try setting this registry value: HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\Originals\bBrowserIntegration, although this doesn’t appear to be required when DISABLE_BROWSER_INTEGRATION is used.
Aaron,
Started over again and got it working this time. Looks like I wasn’t making the proper setting change. This is all new to me so I’m sort of muddling my way through it. Opened the Feature table in Direct Editor and reset the level value for BrowserIntegration to 0 from default 1 and it works. Thanks for your help.
How do you disable the Accessibility Setup Assistant with the Customization Wizard or is there a registry key? I am creating a package for deployment and I do not want my users seeing this.
Hi Jason, I’ve only seen this dialog a couple of times. Do you know how to invoke it on demand?
Can someone tell me in “How to fix Adobe Reader for Dummy’s” language how to do the following, as I am completely lost and have no clue what they are really saying. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
When you try to view a PDF in Internet Explorer, you see the error message, “There is a problem With Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Please exit Adobe Acrobat/Reader and try again.” When you click OK to the error, the PDF opens outside of the browser.
Reason
When you use the Adobe Customization Wizard to create a transform for Adobe Acrobat 8 or Adobe Reader 8, and you choose the option to “Make Acrobat the default viewer if both Acrobat and Reader are installed”, or “Make Reader the default viewer if both Acrobat and Reader are installed”, an error occurs if the computer does not have Acrobat or Reader already installed.
Solution
Create a new transform and re-deploy Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
Start the Adobe Customization Wizard 8.
Open your previously created .mst file.
Under Installation Options, select “Installer will decide which product will be the default”.
Save the transform.
Re-deploy Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
Additional Information
When you create a transform in Adobe Customization Wizard 8, the installation options allow you to set the default viewer for PDF files. “Installer will decide which product will be the default” is the default setting and should be used when you are uncertain if the target machine has a version of Acrobat or Adobe Reader that won’t be removed as part of the installation process. When installed silently using this option, Acrobat will always be configured as the default viewer.
Hi sls1375, have you tried uninstalling Adobe Reader and reinstalling?
Great work: clear and simple. I followed all instructions about creating MST file, even those involved suppressing updater from being installed. But I have a little issue when I try to install Reader 8.1.2. I usually run mst file with “setup TRANSFORMS unattended.mst” where unattended.mst is the file i got from Adobe Customization Wizard 8 and it is in the same folder of setup.exe. It doesn’t work. Reader has been installed but Updater, Eula, Beyond Reader and other feature are still up. Why? Where do I get a mistake?
PS.
Sorry for my non-perfect English
@Nicola: your English is very good. Have you double checked your command line? In my Adobe Reader install script I had previously used TRANFORMS= instead of TRANSFORMS=. Email me your script if you need help with this.
i followed the steps from above but if you click suppress reboot, it still pops up at the end of the installation. i use the Adobe Customization Wizard 8 . can someone tell me what im doing wrong?
And besides that the unatended is also not working. i want if i press double click on the program it must start installation. And not like ok where do you want to install it(like i pressed the button where to install it in the wizard, so why ask again) . and after that he ask install now like oh my god thought it was unattended now i still have to look if it all goes right :S
can someone pls clearify on this topic?
[QUOTE=Nicola M]
Great work: clear and simple. I followed all instructions about creating MST file, even those involved suppressing updater from being installed. But I have a little issue when I try to install Reader 8.1.2. I usually run mst file with “setup TRANSFORMS unattended.mst” where unattended.mst is the file i got from Adobe Customization Wizard 8 and it is in the same folder of setup.exe. It doesn’t work. Reader has been installed but Updater, Eula, Beyond Reader and other feature are still up. Why? Where do I get a mistake?
PS.
Sorry for my non-perfect English
Posted on 24-Apr-08 at 9:30 am
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]
Aaron Parker wrote:
@Nicola: your English is very good. Have you double checked your command line? In my Adobe Reader install script I had previously used TRANFORMS= instead of TRANSFORMS=. Email me your script if you need help with this.
Posted on 24-Apr-08 at 12:45 pm
[/QUOTE]
Sorry for my long silence.
I read again, with a little bit more of attention, your instructions and finally the issue has been discovered: I launched from “Execute window” the following command Setup.exe TRANSFORMS=AcroRead.mst with no other parameters.
Now I correctly understand the use of script Install… and the sequence of execution. I have had modify the script because Italian localization of Windows hasn’t got the %programdata% environmental variable and some menu names are different.
Thank you again.
Nicola M
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