Acrobat Pro DC executables

Report · Jan 21, 2016

Hi... I've recently installed Acrobat Pro DC (Team subscription) on a workstation in my office. I've since noted 12 different executables that appear to be related to the product that have attempted to access the network or internet. The environment I support requires that I understand why executables are running, especially when those executables are attempting network access. I contacted tech support, but was given the answer that they don't know what these individual applications do and they had no resource to find out (I'll refrain from expressing my frustration over this answer).

I have either discerned or learned from Google searching what several of the executables' functions are. However, I am left with several unknowns, and most of these didn't show up until a week or more after Acrobat was installed:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient\AdobeGCClient.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE\PDApp\AdobeGCClient\customhook\gccustomhook.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient\agshelper.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient\AGSService.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\AcroCEF\AcroCEF.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\LogTransport2.exe (I believe this is part of the Customer Improvement Program)

Can any of these be safely disabled? Safely blocked from network access? If they can be disabled, can I do this using the Customization Wizard or through registry settings (services integration)?

By the way, I thought I had LogTransport2.exe stopped through the setting of the bUsageMeasurement registry value, but LogTransport2.exe has run and tried to access the network since I applied this (just not as frequently as before I applied it).

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockDown] "bUsageMeasurement"=dword:00000000

I don't know if this disables participation in the Customer Improvement Program, or if the setting just keeps users from changing the participation preference.

Thank you!

Report · Dec 28, 2016

The AdobeGCClient.exe is a process that runs as part of the Adobe Software Integrity Service validation testing. The process checks for any tampering with Adobe Software program files or improper or invalid licenses. This software is to help customers avoid the dangers of non-genuine or counterfeit software.

For more information: Adobe Genuine software FAQ

AcroCEF.exe calls online services with Acrobat (storage options for opening & saving PDFs to the cloud)