**** Adobe! How do I stop Acrobat Reader 8.x from calling home?

[xp_newbie@yahoo.com]

On Jul 27, 10:03 am, "David Wright Sr." <dwrigh...@alltel.net> wrote:
> xp_new...@yahoo.com wrote in news:1185542339.258395.115860
> @r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com:
>
> > The so called "Free" Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1 attempts to check for
> > updates everytime I invoke it. My firewall blocks it, but it's so
> > annoying to get this message displayed again and again.
>
> > I checked all the Edit | Preferences but couldn't find any way to
> > disable checking for updates. Is Adobe so dumb? or are we, the people
> > who agree to use such crap are the dumb?
>
> > If anyone knows how to disable Adobe Acrobat Updates please post it
> > here.
>
> > Thanks,
> > Alex
>
> Click on Help and then Check for updates. When on the notification screen
> for the updates, there should be a screen with a clickable link on the left
> called 'Preferences'. Click on this and uncheck the adobe reader box. You
> will have to do your own update checking thereafter.
>
> David Wright Sr.

Thank you so much David & Dan. So I understand that I have to check
for update at least once in order to disable it? LOL - the sneakiness
of those corporations is just amazing. No shame anymore, neither pride
in respectfully treating your user base.

As for Foxit - thanks about the link - I didn't know about it. Are you
sure it is 100% compatible with all PDF documents out there?

Thank you again, guys.

Alex

[Vanguard]

<xp_newbie@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1185553093.883756.54240@22g2000hsm.googlegrou ps.com...
> Thank you so much David & Dan. So I understand that I have to check
> for update at least once in order to disable it? LOL - the sneakiness
> of those corporations is just amazing. No shame anymore, neither pride
> in respectfully treating your user base.
>
> As for Foxit - thanks about the link - I didn't know about it. Are you
> sure it is 100% compatible with all PDF documents out there?

Yes, you do have to *check* for an update but you do not have to *apply*
it.

FoxIt is not 100% compatible.

- They didn't used to support the scripting in Adobe Reader (however,
that's one of the "features" that I disable to improve security, along
with the automatic update, and either disable the multimedia trusts or
setting them to Prompt). Now that they newly added Javascript in
version 2.0, I'm waiting for someone to analyze their implementation to
see if it is 100% compatible with the interpreter in Adobe Reader.
- If you have a PDF that contains forms, don't expect to be able to
enter any data into it (like some gov't and tax forms available in PDF
format). Version 2.0 of FoxIt Reader states it supports "interactive
form filler". That may simply be what others refer to as the typewriter
mode in which you can add text to the document but that data does not
follow the fields in the form; I.e., what you type in is not not linked
to the variables associated with those fields (so whomever gets the
filled-out PDF doc won't see what you enter when they read the form, and
those getting the forms aren't going to sit there reading your
annotations). Just because you see it doesn't mean the recipient can
extract what you thought you entered into the fields.
- While you can annotate the PDF using FoxIt Reader, you can't save the
annotations unless you *buy* the plug-in (the Pro Pack is not free).
With just FoxIt Reader (which is really crippleware), you can annotate
and then print it out to show your annotations, but who the hell wants
to use PDF and then print it when the point of PORTABLE document format
is to keep it in its electronic form. Plus the printout with the
annotations contains an "evaluation" stamp mark (the paid Pro Pack
eliminates the evaluation mark).
- There are problems displaying big files. Not all PDFs will render
properly in FoxIt Reader. Problems include variations in fonts, images,
to blacking out some of the text. Documents with lots of graphics or
complex layout won't render correctly in FoxIt Reader.
- Clicking on links in the PDF pops up a confirmation dialog that cannot
be disabled in the setup.
- If you use Firefox as your browser, FoxIt won't display within a tab
to show the PDF doc. Instead the FoxIt window opens.
- The search function isn't reliable and may not work at all, or it
finds the first instance but no others. The search is only within the
active page, not across the entire document, so the search function is
nearly worthless.
- While it loads faster than Adobe Reader (be sure to disable the
startup screen in Adobe Reader), users have reported that memory
consumption is greater than for Adobe Reader. Disk footprint is smaller
but RAM footprint is larger (be sure to include bother physical and
virtual memory sizes in the total).

Adobe Reader is bloated but it has more features. FoxIt is trim but
isn't 100% compatible with all functions possible in PDF. Adobe Reader
is free. Be aware that most users recommending FoxIt are talking about
FoxIt *Reader*, the free version, not about the Pro version ($40). For
basic PDF viewing, which is what most users do, then FoxIt Reader is a
good alternative. Some of the claimed features in the crippleware
version (FoxIt Reader) require buying the Pro Pack.

[Pooh-Man]

"Vanguard" <vanguard.x@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:taudnYvNfMM5oDfbnZ2dnUVZ_uWlnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> Adobe Reader is bloated but it has more features. FoxIt is trim but isn't
> 100% compatible with all functions possible in PDF. Adobe Reader is free.
> Be aware that most users recommending FoxIt are talking about FoxIt
> *Reader*, the free version, not about the Pro version ($40). For basic
> PDF viewing, which is what most users do, then FoxIt Reader is a good
> alternative. Some of the claimed features in the crippleware version
> (FoxIt Reader) require buying the Pro Pack.
>
>

I used Foxit once to fill in a form for Samsung and sent it electronically
fine.