Computer

Deutsche Version

10/18/2006
 How to Use Adobe Reader 7 With JavaScript Disabled

If you disable JavaScript support in Adobe Reader 7, the application pops up an annoying alert box every time you want to quit. Read how you can avoid this.

The Adobe Reader program, formerly known as Adobe Acrobat Reader, allows the viewing and printing of PDF files. Some users may feel uncomfortable with the fact that the application executes JavaScript inside PDF documents by default. The following links provide an overview about the security and privacy risks connected with enabled JavaScript support:

  • JavaScript in PDF-documents can be used to track readers.
  • Malicious JavaScript embedded in PDF documents could launch arbitrary executables (Mac OS only).
  • Two practical examples of how Adobe Reader can be backdoored with JavaScript embedded in PDF documents.

The first step to disable JavaScript is to start the application, click on "Edit" and then "Preferences". Choose in the left column "JavaScript" and remove the check mark next to "Enable Acrobat JavaScript" in the right column.

Now every time you want to quit the application, an annoying alert box pops up with some versions of Adobe Reader 7. It claims that the document you have just viewed contains JavaScript -- even if the document does not contain any JavaScript or if you have not opened any documents at all. The cause of this bug is that the application executes/updates a JavaScript file called "glob.settings.js" upon exit. If you want to fix this bug, you can read instructions for Mac OS and Linux. If your operating system is Windows XP, you can follow these instructions:

  1. Run the Windows Explorer and paste "%appdata%/Adobe/Acrobat/7.0" into the address bar.
  2. Press return.
  3. Right click on the folder "JavaScripts" and rename it to "JavaScripts-backup".
  4. Right click on empty space within the same window and create a new file with the command "New ->". The file type does not matter. For example, you could create a new text file.
  5. Rename the newly created file to "JavaScripts". The new file must not have any file extension! For example, "JavaScripts.txt" will not work.

That's it. One day you might want to re-enable JavaScript support. Beforehand, you should...

  1. delete the file "JavaScripts" and
  2. rename the folder "JavaScripts-backup" back to "JavaScripts".

By the way, have you ever tried an alternative to Adobe Reader? For example, Foxit Reader is a free PDF document viewer and printer for Windows. Foxit Reader is small (only 1.5 MB download size, Adobe Reader's download size is more than 20 MB), launches fast and has a rich feature set. It is compatible with the PDF Standard 1.6.

See Also

External Links

  • More information about the Adobe Reader program (Wikipedia)

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