Stopping the Adobe Updater Virus - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 12:59:50 pm
content: Adobe insists on updating my Adobe reader to Reader-DC, which was a disaster when it did that a couple of weeks ago. My OS is Windows 7 32/64.Google has several solutions and I have tried everything I found without going into the registry directly. Here's what I tried:1) Open Reader >Edit>Preferences>Do not download or install updates automatically2) Get to services.msc>change Adobe Acrobat Update Service to manual3) goto Task Manager and stop/remove Adobe services. Originally refused to allow w/o permission, now says "Stopped"It is an annoying popup that says Adobe Reader update is available to install.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 01:07:05 pm
content: I have installed an good firewall and denied access to Adobe.This way, any Adobe program does not even know, that an update is available.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 07:04:23 pm
content: I personally haven't used Adobe Reader in ages. I've long switched to other viewers. Maybe something you could consider as well.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 07:44:42 pm
content: I have been with Adobe forever -- at least as long as I can remember. Early on, it was noted for horrible customer service but pretty good software. I am not married to it, though. I have Adobe Pro 8, but use it rarely.What would you suggest as an alternative viewer? Things I like about it is the index that shows, as with datasheets, and the ability to highlight easily and save with highlights.John

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 10:00:34 pm
content: It's been almost 20 years since I've used anything from Adobe. For pdf files, usually all I want to do is look at them, for that on Windows I use Sumatra PDF. Two things I like - can be downloaded as portable version and does not execute javascript embedded in a pdf. It doesn't do forms though. The rare occasions I need that I use Foxit.I don't like the default pdf reader on the Debian Linux I use. I haven't looked for anything better because I think I want a better Linux. For now, I just use Firefox.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 10:24:17 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on March 04, 2023, 07:44:42 pmOn Windows, I've been using PDF XChange Viewer for a long time. Great stuff with all features you'd likely ever need. The free versions are full of features already and no annoying spyware/nagging/updaters.Otherwise, one open-source alternative that is now really good and that I'm starting to use more and more, even on Windows, is Okular. Eons above Sumatra PDF IMO.https://okular.kde.org/Binaries there for Windows:https://binary-factory.kde.org/job/Okular_Release_win64/You can download the 'okular-xxx-windows-cl-msvc2019-x86_64.7z' archive. No installation needed, just extract it, the application is 'okular.exe'.(otherwise available on pretty much all Linux distros.)It even handles digital signatures of documents.One thing I particulary like is that it automatically reloads PDFs modified outside of Okular. Very handy when you work on documents that are generated as PDFs, such as if you work with LaTeX or similar. PDF XChange Viewer wouldn't even allow writing a PDF if it's currently opened in it, which makes it annoying for this use case.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2023, 01:48:32 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on March 04, 2023, 10:00:34 pmHave you tried evince?

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2023, 02:18:01 pm
content: Pretty sure Evince is the default viewer. It's like a lot of the default Debian stuff, doesn't seem to have much in the way of settings. It remembers exactly where I was in every pdf I open which for some reason annoys the hell out of me. And no matter how I change the view, it goes back to its default every time it starts.