I tried out the new Adobe customization wizard. Basically it generates a transform that adds some new tables to the msi. Surprisingly it doesn't appear to change any properties of the original msi but just makes additions. The EnterpriseRegistries table contains the stuff you want to know to lock down Acrobat. Also this new customizer works on other adobe products as well.
In order to disable the Beyond Reader function. Include the bDowntown=0 value in the policies registry key.
Here is *where* to disable automatic updates. I'm still working on the *how* (other than a logon script). Adobe seems to love to make my life miserable.
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater5\AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat
Change from
<AutoCheck>1</AutoCheck>
to
<AutoCheck>0</AutoCheck>
Another fix for the can't open pdf from the web error, Found that the removal of the "Reader_sl.exe" shortcut also caused this error.
Keep in mind that Joedown's reg edits to add toolbar items is only for the current user and does not apply to all users on a system.
You can run your Adobe Reader customized package with out initiating it through setup.exe. Within your workspace or the path where you saved you application package, make sure you only have in there the msi, mst and Data1.cab files.
Seems something changed between 8 and 8.1 because setting the Updater feature to level 0 in the 8.1 installer (see FTP link below) throws an error in the install process. I don't think it's necessary to remove that feature; if you lock out the updater via the registry (as above) you should be accomplishing the same purpose.
Having just deployed the SVG 3.03 viewer with a lot of pain, using the Adobe Customization Wizard (for Adobe 8 PRO, STD and Reader) greatly simplified my tasks, so I would recommend it to anyone trying to repackage Adobe before trying anything else.
It is possible to include per-machine toolbar/ui customization in an MST by exporting the customized settings in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\AVGeneral then including the same path in the HKLM hive via an MST. (e.g. hklm\software\adobe\...)
After installing Adobe Reader 8.x you can find setup files (msi and Data1.cab) in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Setup Files\.
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