Skip to main content
April 24, 2017
Answered

How do I prevent Adobe Acrobat Update Service from running at startup?

  • April 24, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 85201 views

I don't see any entry in Task Manager -> Startup, and I don't see an Acrobat Reader preference item for updates.

I'm running Acrobat Reader V 2017.009 on Windows 10.

Thanks in advance for help.

Correct answer LeoUpdaterX

Adobe Reader does not run at startup.  I think you are trying to prevent Adobe Acrobat Update Service from starting.

As I mentioned, you can prevent this service from starting temporarily by disabling it using Service Manager.

However, most likely it will get enabled again outside of your control.

To prevent this Service from being installed, you have to install Reader and\or Acrobat (any version) using Windows Installer (MSI) command line with the public property DISABLE_ARM_SERVICE_INSTALL set to 1. You can alternatively use Adobe Customization Wizard application to achieve the same result, but you will have to know how to use Direct Editor view.

If you already have ARM service installed with any Reader or Acrobat, you have to uninstall these products completely and make sure that nothing installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0 before using command line installation or customized installation.

One more hint - if you uninstall Reader and\or Acrobat, and still see any files in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0,

check if there is a folder called C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\Cache

If there is a file in this folder, double click on it and follow the screens to uninstall ARM.

Good luck

2 replies

New Participant
January 22, 2022

I found the correct answer that the Guest was looking for. It is not scheduled to run at startup through normal means, but is in the Task Scheduler. Open Task Scheduler and [Right Click]Adobe Update->[Click]Disable.

 

The same has to be done for Gupdate from Google. Hope this helps someone in the future!

Participating Frequently
April 25, 2017

Is your intention to prevent updates or stop extra service from running?

You can disable it using Service Manager, but it will be updated and started again with the next Acrobat or Reader Windows Installer transaction (repair, update, etc...), whenever this transaction might happen.

You can also install Reader and Acrobat customized with the specific property to avoid this service installation. This should be done for all Acrobat and Reader applications installed on the same system.

April 26, 2017

Hello LeoAdobeX -

My intention is that services I consider to be non-essential not run at Startup, for reasons that are obvious to all technical people.

My intention is to manually check for updates periodically.

Do I correctly understand from your post that preventing Acrobat Reader from running at Startup will require that I (re-)install a different version of Acrobat Reader?

LeoUpdaterXCorrect answer
Participating Frequently
April 26, 2017

Adobe Reader does not run at startup.  I think you are trying to prevent Adobe Acrobat Update Service from starting.

As I mentioned, you can prevent this service from starting temporarily by disabling it using Service Manager.

However, most likely it will get enabled again outside of your control.

To prevent this Service from being installed, you have to install Reader and\or Acrobat (any version) using Windows Installer (MSI) command line with the public property DISABLE_ARM_SERVICE_INSTALL set to 1. You can alternatively use Adobe Customization Wizard application to achieve the same result, but you will have to know how to use Direct Editor view.

If you already have ARM service installed with any Reader or Acrobat, you have to uninstall these products completely and make sure that nothing installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0 before using command line installation or customized installation.

One more hint - if you uninstall Reader and\or Acrobat, and still see any files in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0,

check if there is a folder called C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\Cache

If there is a file in this folder, double click on it and follow the screens to uninstall ARM.

Good luck