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defaulty9jus3oc02d3
New Participant
September 16, 2021
Answered

Disable Auto-Updates for Acrobat Reader DC on Terminal Server

  • September 16, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 96843 views

Currently we have Acrobat Reader DC installed on a Windows 2012 R2 terminal server, and due to a recent update, are encountering an issue with the Adobe Update Service continually failing - this causes a prompt to appear for any logged in user. It appears that in recent updates to Adobe Reader that the "Updater" tab within preferences has been removed.

 

Attempting to disable the Update Service in Local Services does not work, and setting this to Manual or Disabled does not stick for more than 30 minutes. There is also a scheduled task for the Adobe Reader Update Service in Task Scheduler that attempts to run the Update Service everytime a user logs on - disabling this only lasts for 30 mins before it resets to enabled with its default settings.

 

Is there a way to disable Auto-Updates for Acrobat Reader on a terminal server?

Correct answer AnandSri

Hi All!

 

Thanks for your time and patience.

 

The fix is available with the latest update of Acrobat & Reader DC Continuous track: Adobe Acrobat and Reader - 21.007.2009x Optional update. 

 

Please install the latest patch, and let us know if you experience any issues. 

 

See this article for detailed information about this release, bug fixes and how to update the app: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/adobe-acrobat-and-reader-21-007-2009x-optional-up...

 

Regards,

Anand Sri.

4 replies

tdhofstetter
tdhofstetter
Participating Frequently
July 1, 2025

Delete the TaskScheduler task.
Delete the Updater service.
If necessary, take full control over Adobe's directories and remove Adobe's control. Adobe is far too heavy-handed and cocky. It assumes full control over your compputer just like it does all the government computers. It shouldn't be trusted any more than Trump or Musk should be.

AnandSri
Community Manager
AnandSriCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
Community Manager
September 29, 2021

Hi All!

 

Thanks for your time and patience.

 

The fix is available with the latest update of Acrobat & Reader DC Continuous track: Adobe Acrobat and Reader - 21.007.2009x Optional update. 

 

Please install the latest patch, and let us know if you experience any issues. 

 

See this article for detailed information about this release, bug fixes and how to update the app: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/adobe-acrobat-and-reader-21-007-2009x-optional-up...

 

Regards,

Anand Sri.

P
PowerShellby
New Participant
October 6, 2021

Hi Adobe employee,

 

Your answer does not work, I have the latest adobe version 21.007.20095 and still, my users get an update error message when they log in their RDS session.

 

You can see the error message.

I tried to disable the adobe acrobat update service, and it always come back to enable. I tried to disable update via the regestry, but I dont have the mentionned keys.

 

What do I do now?

 

M
Marko23782929eked
New Participant
March 28, 2022

Is there any working solution to stop updating Adobe Acrobat Reader DC???

 

I download the latest 32bit version and then I made all the steps to prevent auto update. But it still does. It updates to 64 bit version. I got a problem wiht that, because then my e-sing tablet does not work! 

 

 

    AtariTeenageRiot
    AtariTeenageRiot
    Participating Frequently
    September 16, 2021

    Hi, we´re encountering the same issue. Reader DC installed on a W2K16 RDS System. Since yesterday msiexec is starting rdrservicesupdater.exe for all of our users in a kind of random order. Every rdrservicesupdater.exe uses 10-12% CPU. Even killing the tasks, trying to disable the update service and trying to disable the planned update task actually does not work.

    I´ve tried to set the regkey and i will restart the rds server tonight. Hope that it will help.

      L
      LeoUpdaterX
      Participating Frequently
      September 16, 2021

      defaultlin1bj20lbst,

      Trying to disable Updater Service or Task is not the right way to disable updates.

       

      As I mentioned, the only right way is to use bUpdater registry.

       

      Registry path to disable updates for Services is slightly different from registry path to disable updates for Reader.

      For Services installed with Adobe Reader DC registry path on 64bit system is

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockDown\cServices

      Set bUpdater DWORD Registry value  to 0

       

      Please refer to this document-

      Basic Configuration — Deployment Planning and Configuration (adobe.com)

       

      If you plan to disable updates for Reader and Services, I'd suggest you set bUpdater in both registry locations.

      U
      UKRobster
      Participating Frequently
      September 16, 2021

      Hi, just wanted to report another instance of this happening.
      Server 2016 RDS farm. We get a bit of a mixture of things happening.
      When opening from the start menu:

      • Users get a windows installer prompt with a progress bar stating 'Preparing application for first use'
      • Then an Application Error notification "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142). Click OK to close the application." But Adobe opens fine.

      If opening a PDF file from explorer it can open fine for 2 or 3 times in a row. But then get a mixture of the above. Sometimes the installer appears upon close.

       

      Additionally the folder path C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader

      contains multiple folders 'acrocef_1' through to 'acrocef_32' which is using 5.2GB of data on a very small C: drive.


      I checked the link Basic Configuration — Deployment Planning and Configuration (adobe.com) 

      It showed how to disable updates in the Adobe Customization Wizard. 
      I had already used this wizard to check the box to 'Disable Product Updates' & create a transforms file to customize the installer.
      When I checked in the registry at (As mentioned in post above)

      HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\
      bUpdater DWORD was set to '0'

      &
      HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\
      bUpdater DWORD was set to '0'

      But the link says to:
      Disable updates to the web service plugins by setting HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\cServices\bUpdater to 0.
      bUpdater within the cServices key did not exist.
      I created this on our Development server (& in WOW6432Node) and restarted. Logged in as an admin no issues. Logged in as a user and still getting the same thing.

      This seems like a bug with version 21.007.20091.
      But if i revert back to 21.005.20060 - without a way to disable updates. How long until this issue come back by itself?

      Please let's have a correct method to disable updates and a patch for current version.

      We are getting so many support calls from users about this issue.

       

      L
      LeoUpdaterX
      Participating Frequently
      September 16, 2021

      The only proper way to disable updates for a product is to use bUpdater registry value.

       

      For Adobe Reader DC registry path on 64bit system is

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockDown

      Set bUpdater DWORD Registry value  to 0.

       

      32bit system registry path is

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockDown

      J
      jimmy284650277k7h
      New Participant
      February 17, 2023

      If the bUpdater registry value isn't there do we create it?

      AnandSri
      Community Manager
      AnandSriCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      February 20, 2023

      Yes, please create the bUpdater.

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