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Disable access to CS4 service extensions | System administrator

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Adobe Creative Suite 4 offers a number of services that connect to the Internet to provide enhanced functionality. These services can also download updates automatically. In certain circumstances, system administrators want to disable these connections and updated downloads. The document lists the changes required in the registry (Windows XP, Vista) or preference files (Mac OS X) to disable these network activities. This document applies to the following Creative Suite 4 services:

  • Kuler (Extensions > Kuler)
  • Adobe ConnectNow (File > Share my Screen)
  • Service Manager (Extensions > Connections)
  • Search for Help (Search field in the app bar)
  • Help > [Product Name] Help

Deactivate the Adobe Online Services and Service Update preferences at a system level

Set the following data values to deactivate the Adobe Online Services and Service Update preferences at a system level. When these connections are disabled at the system level, it overrides the users' ability to enable connections or updates through the user interface. When online access for Help search is disabled, this feature and the Help > [Product] Help command searches .html Help files on the local hard disk.

Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 32-bit systems

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\

    AdobeOnlineDefault; Controls online connections for Search for Help and Help > [Product Name] Help
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\CSXSPreferences\

    AdobeOnlineDefault; Controls online connections for the other services

    UpdatesAllowed; Controls download of updates to these service extensions

Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 64-bit systems

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\AdobeOnlineDefault; Controls online connections for Search for Help and Help > [Product Name] Help
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\CSXSPreferences\

    AdobeOnlineDefault; Controls online connections for the other services

    UpdatesAllowed; Controls download of updates to these service extensions

Do the following:

  1. Choose Start > Run and type regedit to open the registry editor.
  2. Navigate to the locations listed above.
  3. If the string value AdobeOnlineDefault does not exist, create one (right-click the container object, and choose New > String Value).
  4. Double-click this string value and set its Value Data to "0" to disable it. Click OK.

Mac OS X

On Mac OS, you can find these keys in a file in the following Property List (.plist) files:

  • /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.AdobeOnlineHelp.plist

    AdobeOnlineDefault; controls online connects for Search for Help and Help > [Product Name] Help
  • /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.CSXSPreferences.plist

    AdobeOnlineDefault; controls online connections for the other services

    UpdatesAllowed; controls download of updates to these service extensions

Do the following:

  1. Open the Apple Property List Editor (supplied with the Apple SKD) or other property list editor application.
  2. Open /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.CSXSPreferences.plist.
  3. Select Root to see the subentries.
  4. Change the value of the key AdobeOnlineDefault to "0" to disable it.
  5. Change the value of the key UpdatesAllowed to "0" to disable it.
  6. Open /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.AdobeOnlineHelp.plist.
  7. Select Root to see the subentries.
  8. Change the value of the key AdobeOnlineDefault to "0" to disable it.
  9. Save the plist file.
  10. Restart the Adobe application.

If any of these keys does not exist, then complete the following steps:

  1. Select the Root object in the applicable plist file and click the triangle to display its contents.
  2. Click the New Child button and name it "AdobeOnlineDefault" or "UpdatesAllowed" as appropriate.
  3. For Class, select String.
  4. Set the value to "0" to disable it.
  5. Save the plist file.
  6. Restart the Adobe application.

Sample plist files and registry keys

Attached below are sample plist files and registry keys that you can use as reference, or in place of manually performing the steps above. To add the plist files, navigate to the locations indicated in the steps above. Replace the files with those files supplied in the attached .zip file. To add the registry keys, double-click the registry files in the provided .zip file, authenticate with an administrative password, and click Yes to add the entries.

Note: For information about disabling the CS3 or CS4 Adobe Update Manager (Help > Product Updates), see Disable Adobe Update Manager for CS3 or CS4 applications, for system administrators (kb408711).

Additional Information

  • User Settings are controlled through the application Interface. For example, the Connections panel has the commands "Check for Updates," "Update Preferences" and "Offline Options" in its pop-up menu. These options don't appear if the system-level registry entries or plist keys have disabled the functions.
  • If the Administrator disables AdobeOnlineDefault in the CSXS preferences, the Connections panel displays the following: "This feature is disabled. Please contact your internal IT for more information."
  • If the User preference is set through the application interface, it affects the application immediately. If an Administrator changes it in the registry, it affects the application immediately. If an administrator changes it in a plist file, it doesn't have an affect until the application is relaunched.
  • Setting only the UpdatesAllowed key doesn't restrict the services from accessing the Internet.
  • These settings do not affect other online connections from features such as:
    • Resource Central
    • Help > Online Registration
    • Help > Product Updates
    • Help > Adobe Product Improvement

 

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