TechNote

Disable internet access and update downloads for Adobe CS4 service extensions for system administrators

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 may wish to disable these connections and updated downloads. The document lists the changes that have to be made to the registry (Windows XP/Vista) or preference files (Mac OS X) to disable these network activities. This 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.

The following data values need to be set to deactivate the Adobe Online Services and Service Update preferences at a system level. When these connections are disabled at the system level, it will override the users ability to enable connections or updates through the user interface. Disabling the online access for Search for Help will cause this feature and the Help > [Product Name] Help command to return results from .html help files installed on the local hard drive.

On Windows XP or Windows Vista

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

Do the following:

Choose Start > Run and type regedit to open the registry editor.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe.
Locate the string value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AdobeOnlineDefault.
Double-click this string value and set it's Value Data to "0" to disable; click OK.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\CSXSPreferences\ .
Locate the string value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\CSXSPreferences\UpdatesAllowed.
Double-click this string value and set it's Value Data to "0" to disable; click OK.

If these keys and/or their string values do not exist, then complete the following steps:

Right click on the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe and choose New > String Value.
Name the String Value "AdobeOnlineDefault".
Double-click this string value and set it's Value Data to "0" to disable; click OK.
Right click on the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe and choose New > Key and name it "CSXSPreferences".
Right click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\CSXSPreferences and choose New > String.
Name of the String Value "AdobeOnlineDefault".
Double-click this string value and set it's Value Data to "0" to disable; click OK.
Right click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\CSXSPreferences and choose New > String.
Name of the String Value "UpdatesAllowed".
Double-click this string value and set it's Value Data to "0" to disable; click OK.

On Mac OS X

On Mac these keys can be found 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:

Open the Apple Property List Editor (supplied with the Apple SKD) or other property list editor application.
Open /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.CSXSPreferences.plist.
Select Root to see the sub-entries.
Change the value of the key AdobeOnlineDefault to "0" to disable.
Change the value of the key U pdatesAllowed to "0" to disable.
Open /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.AdobeOnlineHelp.plist.
Select Root to see the subentries.
Change the value of the key AdobeOnlineDefault to "0" to disable.
Save the .plist file.
Restart the Adobe application.

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

Select the Root object in the applicable plist file and click the triangle to display it's contents.
Click the New Child button and name it "AdobeOnlineDefault" or "UpdatesAllowed" as apprpriate.
For Class select String.
Set the value to "0" to disable.
Save the .plist file.
Restart the Adobe application.

Sample plist files and registry keys

Attached below are sample plist files and registry keys which can be used 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 and replace the files with those 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.

PlistFiles.zip (for Mac OS)
RegEntries.zip (for Windows)

Note: For information about disabling the CS3 or CS4 Adobe Updater (Help > Product Updates), please see Tech Doc kb408711, "How to disable Adobe Updater for CS3 or CS4 applications, for system administrators."

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 it's flyout menu. These options will not appear if the sysem level registry entries/plist keys have disabled the functions.
If the Administrator disables AdobeOnlineDefault in the CSXS preferences, the Connections panel will display: "This feature is disabled. Please contact your internal IT for more information."
If the User preference is set through the application interface it will affect the application immediately; if it's changed by an Administrator in the registry it will affect the application immediately; if it's changed by an administrator in a .plist file, it will not have an affect until the application is relaunched.
Setting only the UpdatesAllowed key will not 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