Reader X Folder redirection / Roaming Profiles supported ? by

[admin_att]

Are Folder redirection / Roaming Profiles supported in Reader X ?

(that's in systems that use Active Directory in Windows)

Its only been a bug for about 10 years 😉

cheers pb...

[rdrXuser]

Just downloaded and given Reader X a try with Folder Redirection/Roaming Profiles, tried following functionalities and these worked for me. You could try your features as well. May be they have fixed all roaming profile related problems in Reader X

Printing
Sharepoint Integration
Share functionalities
Form filling

Cheers
Reader X User

[skjaltd]

I am not sure I understand the term "Folder Redirection/Roaming Profiles".  Can you explain the process in simpler terms for someone who is not super computer literate?

[Steven_Madwin]

Hi Skjaltd,

Lets start with Roaming Profiles first. When you connect your computer to a network, if the network is configured for Roaming Profiles then all of you settings are kept on a network server. When you log in to the client machine (i.e. your desktop or laptop computer) all of the settings get downloaded from the server onto the client. Any changes you make on the client will get uploaded back to the sever when you log off. The advantage is, if you are not always working from the same physical computer then when you log on to any computer on the network your personal settings (e.g. desktop background, desktop icons, screen saver) will show up. You don't have to reconfigure every computer you log into just to make it look the way you want it. For most of us who log onto the same computer everyday this doesn't make sense, but for anyone traveling from office to office it helps keep things the way you like them.The downside is, because all of the settings have to be downloaded when you log on, and uploaded when you log off, it can slow down the process.

Folder Redirection is a bit different. That's where you point a folder to a non-standard location. For example, the standard location of the My Documents folder is on the C: drive in the under Users\<user name> where "user name" is specific for each person that logs on to the computer. With Folder Redirection you redefine the location of the My Documents folder so it's located on a server. Every time you save a file to My Documents it goes to the serve, not you your local C drive. The advantage is no matter what computer you log into, all of your files (at least those in redirected folders) are available. The downside is again, it can slow things down, and not just at log on/off, but every time you access a file in a redirected folder.

A network admin can set up one or both of these (they are not mutually exclusive and can work in tandem).

Windows XP uses a different folder structure than Vista/Win 7 so usually the server is configured for one or the other client machines. The simple thing is to user Windows Server 2003 to support Win XP clients (because they share the same folder structure) and Server 2008 for Vista/Win 7 clients. Vista was designed with roaming profiles in mind and has a Roaming folder by default which makes it a little easier to create items intended to be available across multiple machines (for a single user).

I hope this helps,

Steve

[oribaoriba]

Please see my post on Adobe Reader X runtime error - your post helped me work out what was causing my issue - thanks - and to answer yours, the evidence at my disposal says "no" :  folder re-direction is still not supported

[erunaheru1]

Just FYI, apparantly having "Documents" as a symlink will also cause a crash, but subfolders within Documents will not. This was driving me crazy because it was working on one machine but not another that I thought had an identical configuration, except for that small detail. Not a big deal to work around for me since my documents are all organized in a few folders anyway (I'm an organization freak) but would be a deal killer for anyone with their documents, or entire profile, on a seperate partition who is not as OCD as I am.

[Steven_Madwin]

Hi erunaheru1,

I'm curious (I've been trying to reproduce the bug) if you are using a Group Policy Object on the server to push the folder redirection settings, or, did you create the symbolic link on the client to point to a network drive and then reset the target location manually from the folder properties dialog?

I've set up a couple of servers (2003 for XP clients and 2008 R2 for Vista/Win 7 clients) and used the Active Directory Users and Computer tools to set up the Roaming Profile and Group Policy Manager to set up Folder Redirection and everything worked.

Thanks,

Steve

[Guest]

• If any Adobe Employee is still reading this, here is the very specific information you need to fix this.

Server 2008 R2 Domain, User profile config:

User's share:

• Map to N:
• \\LHMAIL\ACCT-TEST3\Teacher1

Profile path:

• \\LHMAIL\ACCT-TEST3\Teacher1\0-Profile Folders\Profile

Group Policy Object for user's Organizational Unit

Folder redirection for Application Data:

• \\LHMAIL\ACCT-TEST3\Teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData

For share: \\LHMAIL\ACCT-TEST3

Share permissions:

• Authenticated Users - full control

NTFS permissions:

• Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, Administrators (local), SYSTEM - Full control
• CREATOR OWNER - Full control - subfolders and files only
• Authenticated Users - List folder / Read Data - this folder only

==================

Basically, Adobe Reader X tests every folder in the AppData path, from right to left down to the root, and it chokes trying to create a file on the root part of a UNC path, which is the server name:

• CreateFile \\lhmail\ OBJECT PATH INVALID

This is an invalid action that no program can do, regardless of whatever permissions the program has.

,

Open Adobe Reader X, using SysInternals / Process Monitor to watch for activity:

Tests: \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData

• 7:34:05.0729667 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CreateFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData SUCCESS Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
• 7:34:05.0775536 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 QueryBasicInformationFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData SUCCESS CreationTime: 3/20/2011 4:16:01 AM, LastAccessTime: 3/20/2011 7:07:11 AM, LastWriteTime: 3/20/2011 7:07:11 AM, ChangeTime: 3/20/2011 7:07:11 AM, FileAttributes: DNCI
• 7:34:05.0778734 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CloseFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData SUCCESS

Tests: \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData

• 7:34:05.1002372 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CreateFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData SUCCESS Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
• 7:34:05.1045836 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 QueryBasicInformationFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData SUCCESS CreationTime: 3/20/2011 4:16:01 AM, LastAccessTime: 3/20/2011 7:07:11 AM, LastWriteTime: 3/20/2011 7:07:11 AM, ChangeTime: 3/20/2011 7:07:11 AM, FileAttributes: DNCI
• 7:34:05.1048840 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CloseFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData SUCCESS

Tests: \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders

• 7:34:05.1186705 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CreateFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders SUCCESS Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
• 7:34:05.1201481 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 QueryBasicInformationFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders SUCCESS CreationTime: 3/20/2011 4:16:01 AM, LastAccessTime: 3/20/2011 4:17:40 AM, LastWriteTime: 3/20/2011 4:17:40 AM, ChangeTime: 3/20/2011 4:17:40 AM, FileAttributes: D
• 7:34:05.1204470 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CloseFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1\0-Profile Folders SUCCESS

Tests: \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1

• 7:34:05.1273541 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CreateFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1 SUCCESS Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
• 7:34:05.1285301 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 QueryBasicInformationFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1 SUCCESS CreationTime: 3/20/2011 4:15:47 AM, LastAccessTime: 3/20/2011 4:16:01 AM, LastWriteTime: 3/20/2011 4:16:01 AM, ChangeTime: 3/20/2011 4:16:01 AM, FileAttributes: D
• 7:34:05.1289268 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CloseFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\teacher1 SUCCESS

Tests: \\lhmail\acct-test3\

• 7:34:05.1348512 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CreateFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\ SUCCESS Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
• 7:34:05.1368520 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 QueryBasicInformationFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\ SUCCESS CreationTime: 3/20/2011 2:52:19 AM, LastAccessTime: 3/20/2011 5:42:42 AM, LastWriteTime: 3/20/2011 5:42:42 AM, ChangeTime: 3/20/2011 5:42:42 AM, FileAttributes: D
• 7:34:05.1371515 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CloseFile \\lhmail\acct-test3\ SUCCESS

Tests: \\lhmail\

• 7:34:05.1381626 AM AcroRd32.exe 3916 CreateFile \\lhmail\ OBJECT PATH INVALID Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a

,

As a result, Adobe Reader X opens with a warning box, cannot open in Protected Mode due to "a problem with your system configuration".

,

This particular error will not occur if:

AppData points to the local system drive (No AppData redirection), whether roaming or not

• C:\Users\Teacher1\AppData

AppData is redirected to point at a mapped drive for the network path:

• X:\Teacher1\0-Profile Folders\AppData

This second option is the usual workaround to Adobe's problem, but not recommended by Microsoft. Apparently it has negative effects for other Windows services and programs to use drive mappings rather than UNC paths.

[Glitch2]

I have the exact same issue as DMahalko. If AppData is redirected to a UNC, I get the error upon Reader X startup. However, one additional piece of information is that the error only occurs with version 10.0.1. Version 10.0.0 does not get the error, however after applying the 10.0.1 update, the error happens every time. I'm not sure if this is a bug or 'feature', but would like to find a work around. Has anyone else seen this issue? Is there a fix or shim to change this behavior back to the 10.0.0 version? Will a future version correct this issue?

[DCollins__Oxford]

==> DMahalko - excellent post which perfectly analyses the exact problem with Adobe Reader X.  Here's some more supporting information for Adobe Reader version 10.0.

1. The problem is that when %APPDATA% is redirected to a UNC path by GPO, Adobe Reader will not open unless Protected Mode is disabled.  The prompt below is displayed when either loading Adober Reader X directly from the Start menu shortcut OR double clicking on a local PDF file:

2. When %APPDATA% is redirected to a UNC path by GPO, Adobe Reader will not open PDF files from within IE7 on XP SP3 unless Protected Mode is disabled. It just shows a blank grey page as below:

... and then returns the following error after a short while "There is a problem with Adobe Acrobat/Reader. If it is running, please exit and try again. (103:103)":

Simple steps to produce the prolem

1. Create or amend a GPO on the OU containing the testing user account.  On the GPO add the following setting:

    -- User Configuration / Windows Settings / Folder Redirection - Right-Click Application Data / Properties.

        -- Setting: Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location

        -- Target folder location - Redirect to the following location

        -- Root Path - \\File-Server\share\folder1\%USERNAME%\AppData   (I created this folder before testing)

2. Logon to a test computer with Adobe Reader X installed as a user located in the test OU with the test GPO on it.

3. Test that %APPDATA% is redirected:  Type "echo %APPDATA%" from a command window as below:

4. Run Adobe Reader X.  You should get the first prompt as shown at the top of this post.

5. Click 'Open with protected mode disabled' and once Adober Reader X is open, go to Edit / Preferences / General and untick 'Enable Protected Mode at startup'

6. The problems listed will no longer be evident.

Regards,

Darren.

** UPDATE **

I've just downloaded Adobe Reader 10.1 (still badged as Adobe Reader X), and they seem to have fixed this problem. 

[roboticsguy1988]

** UPDATE **

I've just downloaded Adobe Reader 10.1 (still badged as Adobe Reader X), and they seem to have fixed this problem. 

I know it's been quite a while sinc ethis thread has been updated. However, I still cannot get Adobe Reader X (10.1.2) to work with roaming profiles.

Enironment information:

The Operating System is Windows 7 Enterprise.

Adobe Reader works for users with local profiles but does not work for users with roaming profiles.

Adobe Reader has the following Internet settings:

The following registry keys are set:

     "HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Shell Folders"

          AppData = \\servername\folder\username\Application Data

               The user has full rights to this folder and I have also tried mapping this as a drive (IE H:\Application Data)

          Local AppData = C:\Users\username\AppData\Local

               The user has full rights to this folder

     "HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/UserShellFolders"

           AppData = \\servername\folder\username\Application Data

               The user has full rights to this folder and I have also tried mapping this as a drive (IE H:\Application Data)

           Local AppData = %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local

               The user has full rights to this folder

The users also are typically not an administrator however I have tried making he user account an administrator but that did not work.

This is the error that results when I try to open a PDF in Internet Explorer:

"There is a problem With Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Please exit Adobe Acrobat/Reader and try again."

Other tested solutions:

I have tried the suggestion here http://www.virtualcomputer.com/forums/technical-support/support-faqs-and-howtos/2011/08/adobe-acroba...

I also went through and tried the following solutions: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404597.html

Followed different solutions in this thread: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/754445

Any help would greatly be appreciated as I am at a loss to what could be causing the issue.

[DCollins__Oxford]

Hi,  it sounds like the problem is more related to redirected Application Data than roaming profiles.  Can you confirm that if you switch the same user to having a non-redirected Application Data that the problem still occurs?

Also does switching off Protected Mode make this work Ok?

I suggest running SysInternals Process Monitor as DMahalko above (and myself) did to see if the same problem is the root cause.  Look for attempts to access '\' or '/'  (just a backslash or slash on its own) or '\\servername\' as the root of a UNC is obviously incorrect and will not work.

I would also just double check that only one version of Adobe Reader is installed and Acrobat is not installed.  That way you are guaranteeing the version that is being attempted to run.

... and I would log onto a newly-built version of your company's build and try that too with a user with a clean profile to see if it will happen on a freshly built computer with a clean user profile.

Regards,

Darren.

[roboticsguy1988]

Turns out the issue was due to Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader being on the same system.  In the end we ended up using Adobe Reader and PDFCreator.  On a side note if this hadn't fixed the issue I would have looked more into the redirection of our Application Data since our roaming profiles have been through a few OS upgrades and things are not exactly as they should be.

Thanks for all your help!

[erunaheru1]

in my case it was not really folder redirection or roaming profile. i simply had a link from my documents folder to the location where my documents were actually stored. it appears to be related to protected mode as a recent update fixed th problem for me if i select do not run in protected mode when i start the program. however, i have never had similar problems in google chrome or internet explorer which also run in protected mode. apologies for lowercase, my mobile browser does not seem to like this form.

[jwaldbauer]

I had the same problem and found the solution on another forum.  Reader crashed if the directory C:\users\%username%\appdata\LocalLow did not exist.  I created a logon script in group policy to create this directory if it did not exist for this user and Reader now works fine.