This TechNote is intended as a brief introduction to the new Acrobat and Reader Updater. For full details, see the user and configuration guide in the Enterprise Library.
On April 13 2010, Adobe introduced an update mechanism for the Acrobat family of products on Windows and Mac OS X. The Acrobat Updater and Reader Updater existed in versions 9.2.x and 8.1.7 and later, but was enabled on this date. The new Updater replaces the Adobe Update Manager (AUM), and the switch is designed to be as transparent as possible. Settings are migrated when they can be. The user interface preferences and menu items are similar (from 9.2 and 8.1.7 forward), as are many of the available options.
The new Updater offers the following improvements:
- Easy end-user configuration via the user interface with three modes: manual, semi-automatic, and automatic (Windows only).
- Administrator control of most behavior at the registry/plist level.
- Improved security. Since Updater settings are stored in HKLM, access requires administrator privileges and are therefore less susceptible to malicious attacks. No settings are stored in local files.
- Automatic checking for updates every three days by default.
- Less intrusive workflows that are less likely to interfere with a user’s work.
- Updates aren’t tied to other Adobe products, so they can be smaller.
- Robust logging.
For some Mac OS X users who've disabled Display PDF In Browser (the default setting), the Updater sometimes conflicts with the application’s Repair feature. If a repair action is launched as a result of that disabled preference, it opens a dialog behind the Updater dialog box. You are preveted from closing the Updater dialog or quitting the Updater process via the Activity Monitor.
Restart the machine to close the dialog boxes.
Restart Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
Verify the version number by choosing Help > About Adobe <product name>. It could be that your system successfully updated to 9.3.2 or 8.2.2.
If you don't have the latest version, choose Preferences > Internet.
Check Display PDF in Browser.
Update the application by choosing Help > Check for Updates. Alternatively, you can wait until the Updater detects and downloads the updates.
Yes. Set the mode to manual in by choosing Preferences > Updater. Administrators can permanently disable the Updater via the registry. On Windows, it can be disabled and locked so that end users can't reenable it.
Almost everything, including the check mode, the check interval, logging, locking (on Windows), and so on.
When possible, Updater settings leverage existing AUM settings.
On Windows, yes. When set to automatic, the application automatically checks for and installs updates. There are some cases where the automatic option is disabled. For details, see the user guide. Mac OS X does not have an automatic mode.
In manual mode, the application never checks for updates unless the user chooses Help > Check For Updates.
No. The updates are signed with the same certificate used for the installed product. The MSI engine elevates appropriately without requiring you to have administrative rights if the update certificate matches the certificate of the installed product. In short, in most cases the user does not need to be an administrator.
No. Acrobat and Reader now have their own updater. Updates are smaller and faster from now on.
The Updater user guide is available as a stand-alone document or as part of the Enterprise Administrator's Guide HERE.
Yes. In XP, it's necessary that the current user is logged in as an administrator.
Most of the time, no. On Windows 64-bit systems, Updater behavior varies depending on whether User Account Control (UAC) is enabled:
If UAC is enabled,
- Quarterly updates and out-of-cycle patches install without elevation and administrator privileges.
- Full installs from an MSI file require elevation.
- The Updater cannot run in fully automatic mode due to UAC confirmation dialog boxes, even when the user is running with the built-in administrator account. The Updater settings are global to all machine users.
Exceptions with UAC on: If it's necessary for the Updater to update itself before applying other updates and for users between 8.1.7 and 8.2, all updates require elevation. After 8.2, the above rules apply.
If UAC is disabled, updating requires elevation administrator.
No. Updates are not available for Tier 5 languages on Mac OS(Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Middle Easter, and North African). It's necessary for Mac OS users with these languages versions to disable the Updater and download patches and updates manually from:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?platform=macintosh&product=10
With version 9.3.3, the Updater is turned off by default for these languages. Versions earlier than 9.3.3. experience error 1300 if they try to use the Updater. Therefore, it's necessary for Mac OS users with a tier 5 language product to disable the Updater.
This problem should not be encountered on later product versions.
Before the introduction of the new updater, there were cases where the user saw error messages such as “80070422 - ERROR_SERVICE_DISABLED.” BITS was not available because an administrator disabled the BITS service or because BITS did not have enabled devices associated with it.
To fix this problem, reenable the BITS service. For details, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883614.
Keywords:
Updater faq, Acrobat Updater, Reader Updater; cpsid_83813
