Acrobat Reader XI Now Offered Upgrade to Acrobat 2017 Reader

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This month, Adobe has started upgrading Reader XI to 2017, which was released this month. This comes with new options for upgrading, and EULA changes.[See the full post at: Acrobat Reader XI Now Offered Upgrade to Acrobat 2017 Reader]

Link to Acrobat 2017 is now being rolled out: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/acrobat-2017-is-now-being-rolled-out/

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I hope it is better than DC, if it is DC with a new name I am staying with XI (aka 11).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM\
“iDisablePromptForUpgrade”=dword:00000001

Be sure to use the 32-bit key if you are on Windows 64-bit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM\

Will keep you on your current version (you still get prompted for regular updates).

Last I checked the DC version was mandatory updates, auto-installing while adobe reader was open forcing a reboot to open adobe reader again afterwards (no reboot would have been needed if the updater had just waited for the user to quit adobe reader).

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Your registry edits differ from those linked in the topic post, which says only Mode and bUpdater values work, with the range of old-fashioned options for how updates function.
I’ve not tested them yet, but the mode registry value does exist as the link mentions.

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I just installed the Mac version on one of my machines. Sure looks like DC by another name. Not like XI at all.

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grayslady

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Reader DC is another example of change for the sake of change, or more precisely change for the sake of the vendor.  Count me as another Luddite deliberately using XI, unless and until I am persuaded by the constant warnings that another PDF software is safer.

I says this as someone who, in order to obtain certain functionality, paid Adobe for Acrobat.

 

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Charlie

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The upgrade on paid Acrobat isn’t exactly security-friendly, from what I have seen in desktop products. They used to want you to either join the CC (cloud) option, or pay for a new desktop version – I presume that hasn’t changed recently.

So people are still using old version of Acrobat Pro, which still function just fine but aren’t as secure as they should be, to save having to pay for another software version.

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AlexEiffel

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I use Acrobat Pro XI.

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? says:

Ok then, reader 11 is going away on October 15th. I’m looking at Foxit Reader and SlimPDF. Any recommendations are welcome.

Thank you

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As a FREE pdf viewer, I’ve been using PDF-XChange viewer for the last few years as foxit pdf got too bloated for my liking. I use it across different OS platforms and works well for our needs.

PDF-XChangeViewer FREE

Never had anything macromedia/adobe PDF related on our systems for well over a decade, it just got too bloated.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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SueW, grayslady

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OK, that does it!!!  Have been a happy Adobe Reader XI user till now…

I just downloaded and installed the free Foxit Reader.  Looks good.  If it passes my tryout, then I will switch it to be my default pdf reader.

If you don’t want the bloat of the extra pdf creator and plugins, be sure that only the core features are selected, as well as maybe the shell integration.  And there is a trial offered later that you can decline.  All done, and clean install, nothing unwanted left behind.  It even offers to setup in secure mode and yes/no make default.  Cool!

And yes, checking for updates is optional too.  The updater does show up in my firewall, so there is always the option to block that there as well.

https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/pdf-reader/

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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Bill C.

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Sumatra PDF works well for me.

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+1

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@JohnW:

I have looked at Foxit Reader for a while, but held off due to reports of it serving ads, etc. in newer versions. Yours is the first I have read of it having install options that make it sound like a viable contender. Thanks for your insights.

Have you ever used the Foxit PDF creator? If you have, does it have the ability to create encrypted PDF files?

I ask because I am currently using an older version of the PDFCreator on Sourceforge (v1.73) that predates that application’s decline into using an adware ridden install routine that followed into later versions. It installed like a printer driver, and I especially like it for its very flexible encrypted PDF options. Unfortunately, due to adware built into the newer install engines, later versions will be targeted by AV programs at download. I found this out when I tried to download it for a later build. Fortunately, I had a version that predates that on an offline backup drive, but I have it as an exclude in my AV and anti-malware programs just in case.

The adware was alleged to just serve ads during the actual install routine and not leave any remnants, but who knows. I have scanned my file many times with AV and Malwarebytes, but it did not trigger any alerts so I know it is a clean version.

BTW, I liked the lightweight SumatraPDF as a reader only option.

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I used PDFCreator a lot on Win XP, but have not used it in quite a while.

I use the Microsoft print to PDF built into Win 10 now, if I want to print a web page to a PDF.  Otherwise, I use the native PDF generation abilities built into LibreOffice, as well as a few other graphics programs I have, to convert to PDF.

It seems that you can install Foxit without any plugins, bloat, or ads, if you pay attention to the prompts from the installer.

I have not installed any browser PDF plugins in years, since the mainstream browsers seem to support basic PDF viewing and saving now.

Adobe … they were once the king of the hill for creative graphics and document publishing, so it’s hard to believe that they have become so desperate to control their product and users that they are forcing this change.  I have so far refused to subscribe to their cloud platform.  So I will stick to an ancient version of Photoshop, as well as the current versions of Lightroom and Photoshop Elements, as long as I can buy a perpetual license for a local copy.

I also use Linux, and have found a few very good alternative PDF readers over there, but on Windows it seems a bit more limited.  So I am happy with Foxit so far … 

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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Bill C.

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anonymous wrote:

? says: Ok then, reader 11 is going away on October 15th. I’m looking at Foxit Reader and SlimPDF. Any recommendations are welcome. Thank you

NitroPDF Free (if you need to be able to save PDF forms that have been filled out OR need a PDF printer)  and SummatraPDF if you want an extremely light reader

 

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Lori, SueW

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What is up with all the forced updates these days?! We have a whole team here still on XI Pro because DC was found to be a regression, especially in the area of update control. Obviously we’ll need to upgrade off XI since it will be EOL later this year. I was REALLY hoping Acrobat 2017 would return to its senses.

Sigh.

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Charlie

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I just last week got the forced update to the DC version.  It reads pdf’s and works okay but looks like a dumbed down piece of c**p!  The lengthy, scary EULA made me hit the Do Not Accept button twice, but I finally gave in.

If Adobe gives me any more grief, I’m getting rid of it and going with something else.  I can remember when the Adobe Acrobat Reader installer was small enough to fit on a 3½” floppy disk!  So many things are changing, and not necessarily for the better.  Ditto on that sigh.

Edit for content

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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How’s this for irony…

Of course, using the AskWoody link

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Microfix

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? says:

Thanks everyone for the PDF reader ideas,

I downloaded SumatraPDF portable to my usb tool stick and gave it a whirl, and it works like a champ. No muss, no fuss unlike Adobe. It will be nice to reclaim 450MB of wasted disk space using Revo Uninstaller when October 15th rolls around.

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SueW

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A couple of years ago I spent an evening cleaning my desktop for the root-kit-like adobe software… a surprisingly complicated task…

But since then I haven’t missed any of their software, photoshop, reader, flash.

Another vote for the slim SummatraPDF. Haven’t come across a document, it couldn’t read.

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Someone let me know which PDF reader supports some sort of sandbox like Adobe Reader XI (off by default, turn it on!) and doesn’t auto update at the wrong moment and necessitate a reboot. Browser plugin being undesirable (why does adobe reader have no option to leave the plugin not installed?)

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Go back to 11:

Latest full installer:
http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/11.x/11.0.10/en_US/AdbeRdr11010_en_US.exe

Now that you’ve installed the latest version, update to the latest version!:
http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/11.x/11.0.20/misc/AdbeRdrUpd11020.msp
(because Adobe is to lazy to make a full installer for the latest version anymore)

disable auto upgrade to other versions:

For 64-bit
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM]
“iDisablePromptForUpgrade”=dword:00000001

For 32-bit (x86)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM]
“iDisablePromptForUpgrade”=dword:00000001

Adobe has strange page titles:
“Updater-Win (Windows Updates)” — the title of their page explaining various registry keys to control updates
When they link to it they call it “Windows Updates”, missed that link like 10 times.

Much like this example:
Tour guide in for Canada hands you a folder titled “Atlantic Ocean” and explains “this is the street maps for all of Canada”. “Here is the bus schedule”, hands you an envelope “beginners guide to sandblasting”.

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Lori, Charlie, SueW, wdburt1

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I have been staying with Reader 11. If this new Reader is more of the same DC, then I am not going to “upgrade” either.

I always set the option not to automatically download and not to automatically install updates in Reader 11. Does this option prevent the forced update to the new Reader, or will the update download and install itself regardless of this setting, I wonder?

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

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You can always remove/rename the Updater plugin if you are so concerned about forced updates to the Reader.

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I’ve discovered that using a full installer to install Reader 2017 resulted in Reader XI being removed without notification (not my expectation), but as over half the .pdfs I’ve tried to view in Reader 2017 don’t work, I will be uninstalling it and reinstalling the tried and true version.

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Lori

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For extra safety, you can remove/rename
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\plug_ins\Updater.api
or the equivalent
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\plug_ins\Updater.api
if you are still running 32-bit OS (hopefully not).

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SueW, Bill C.

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This prevents being offered anything but updates to Adobe Reader XI.

Your updates to Adobe Reader XI are controlled by your settings in the program (no update, prompt to download and install, auto-download and prompt to install, or auto-download & install).

DC/2015 and seemingly 2017 are auto-download & install, and since there is only one choice there is no setting for it in the GUI.

It would be a lot better if the updater was smarter like the flash updater. Wait for users of flash to exit then update. Rather than update now, disable program, and sort it out on reboot like adobe reader auto-update. Admittedly Flash Player only has 7-9 files to update.

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