I am a system administrator and would like to make sure all users of a computer STARTING with the same Adobe PDF Printing Preferences.
I logged on that computer as admin and set the printing preferences. And then I logged out and logged on as another user (already clean up that user's profile). However, I found that the printing preferences are different from that I set in admin account.
Do I miss something? Can anyone tell me how to achieve what I want?
Welcome to the wonderful world of user configuration settings. In here, nothing is as you would like it to be - and definitely nothing is real. But here, all decions matter.
I'll start from the ouside in - then get on to print. Understanding context can be extremely helpful - rather than an off-the-cuff answer.
Note: It is assumed you know what the Windows Registry is, and how to access it. Also, this information primarily covers Windows XP - Knowledge of Vista/Windows 7 is beyond my expertise at this point.
Applications and the Operating system store most of there settings in two locations - HKey_Local_Machine (HKLM) and HKey_Current_User (HKCU). In general, system level information is stored in HKLM and user specific is stored in HKCU. For Adobe Acrobat almost all the information is stored in HKCU. See my other articles regarding how, were, why, etc.
Print (including the Adobe PDF printer instance) is different. It is stored in BOTH locations. The printer specific info in HKLM and the user customizations in HKCU. With some information stored in BOTH Hives. Why the dual personalities? Because print is the only device that has BOTH user independant and user dependant settings.
For example, whether or not the device support PostScript, how much memory, color, etc. is apriori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apriori). The that user wants duplex to be defaulted is user specific.
What this means is that you need to ferret out which setting changes you made are captured in which registry hive. This can be done with such tools a Regmon/Sysmon as well as just watching the registry update via regedit while you poke and prod your changes.
A word of caution here!!! - The Acrobat Distiller Job Option setting is stored in both registry locations. Both must match EXACTLY - character for character, space for space, etc. otherwise you will get an error message! You must manually keep them in synch if you use .REG files or other such tools to changed the settings.
So, now you have your settings - what do you do with them? Since the settings are only applicable on the intersection of the join between HKLM and HKCU they have to applied with the appropriate user logged on and under their ID. In other words, you cannot force the setting change without the user being logged on. This is a security feature of windows. It is what it is and we just must work with it.
How do you manage this? One of two ways - .REG file that is executed each time they log on - if you really want to make sure or .REG file they execute to get their systems back in synch. How much effort do you put into this is apart of your business model.
Now, there is one workaround - take the registry settings and use the Adobe Acrobat (Reader) Customization Wizard and bake the settings into your installer system. What this will do is set up the settings for a 'new default user' which will then be moved over to that particular users HKCU the first time they use the tool.
Keep in mind, this only works if the tool has yet to be installed on the machine. If it's already installed you have to remove it and reinstall it using the new customizer build to take advantage of this. One major advantage of this is that if a Repair is detected the application will be repaired back to your settings. With the first method (.REG files) it will be repaired back to factory defaults - and require that the .REG be reapplied.
I hope this helps you in your quest. Do not hesitate to holler if you have any specific questions or issues.
Sincerely,
Doug Hanna
Douglas Hanna is a member of the Production Print Technology team at Aon.
www.aonhewitt.com