Cannot uninstall or delete Acrobat CMAP files | Windows

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Issue

After you run the Uninstaller for Adobe Acrobat, or a version of Adobe Creative Suite that contains Acrobat, files remain in the folder C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat [version]\Resource\CMAP\.

If you try to delete these files manually fails with error, "Access is Denied."

Reason

Because these files need to be accessed by functions of Acrobat which run as a Service in Windows, they are marked as being owned by the System, and the local Administrator's group does not have permission to delete them.

Solution

Note: For these instructions to work, you must be logged in to Windows with an account which is a member of the local or domain Administrators group of user accounts. Step 1: Change the owner of the CMap folder and it's contents.
  1. Go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Resource\
  2. Right-click on the CMap folder and choose Properties from the context menu
  3. In the CMap Properties window, select the Security tab
  4. In the Security tab, click the Advanced button
  5. In the Advanced Security Settings for CMap window, select the Owner tab
  6. In the Owner tab click the Edit button*

    *If using Windows Vista with User Account Control enabled, you'll need to click Continue to permit Windows to continue with the action
  7. In the new Owner tab dialog box, select your name (computername\username) in the "Change owner to:" field
  8. Check the"Replace owner on sub-containers and objects" option
  9. Click the Apply button
  10. At the Windows Security prompt: "If you have just taken ownership of this object, you will need to close and reopen this object's properties before you can view or change permissions." click the OK button.
  11. Click the OK button to close the Advanced Security Settings... Edit Owner dialog box
  12. Click the OK button to close the Advanced Security Settings dialog box
  13. Click the OK button to close the CMap Properties dialog box

Step 2: Adjust the permissions on the CMap folder and it's contents.

  1. In the CMap Properties window, click the Edit... button.
  2. In the CMap Properties window, select the Security tab
  3. In the Security tab, click the Advanced button
  4. Check the "Include inheritable permissions for this object's parent" option
  5. Click the Edit button*

    *If using Windows Vista with User Account Control enabled, you'll need to click Continue to permit Windows to continue with the action
  6. Check the "Include inheritable permissions for this object's parent" option
  7. Check the "Replace all existing inheritable permissions on all descendants with inheritable permissions from this object" option
  8. Select the local or domain administrators group, and click the Edit button
  9. Check the "Apply these permissions to objects and/or containers within this container only" option
  10. Check the Allow option next to the Full Control permission
  11. Click the OK button
  12. Click the OK button again
  13. Click the Yes button in the Windows Security alert which reads, "This will replace explicitly defined permissions on all descendants of this object with inheritable permissions from CMap. Do you wish to continue?"
  14. Click the OK button again
  15. Click the OK button one last time to exit the CMap Properties dialog box

Step 3: Delete the CMap folder.

  1. Making sure that the CMap folder is selected click the delete key on you computer keyboard, or drag it to the Recycling Bin
  2. In the Delete File dialog box, click theYes or Continuebutton*

    *If using Windows Vista with User Account Control enabled, you'll need to click Continue again to permit Windows to continue with the action

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