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Disabling 'Click to Play' in about:config not working for Acrobat Pro 10

  • 5 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Identity-H

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I'm having an issue disabling 'Click to Play", the feature that shows the gray screen prompting you to activate a plugin before you proceed further. Clicking 'Allow and Remember' doesn't seem to work, since I will still see the screen, even if I'm visiting the same website.

I've set the plugins.click_to_play option to false in about:config, but I still get the 'Click to Play' screen.

I am trying to view PDF files within the browser itself **WITHOUT** the Click to Play screen popping up every time, which gets old quite fast. Can anyone help, please?

The plugin in question is Adobe Acrobat Pro version 10. I have the Reader installed as well (v 11). I would rather use the Reader to view PDFs, since it is more current but I can't seem to get it to work inside Firefox, despite following all the steps outlined in the relevant KB articles and double-checking options within Acrobat Pro and Reader. Therefore, I am stuck with Acrobat Pro, which is older and hence the problem with the incessant 'Click to Play' screens.

I'm having an issue disabling 'Click to Play", the feature that shows the gray screen prompting you to activate a plugin before you proceed further. Clicking 'Allow and Remember' doesn't seem to work, since I will still see the screen, even if I'm visiting the same website. I've set the plugins.click_to_play option to false in about:config, but I still get the 'Click to Play' screen. I am trying to view PDF files within the browser itself **WITHOUT** the Click to Play screen popping up every time, which gets old quite fast. Can anyone help, please? The plugin in question is Adobe Acrobat Pro version 10. I have the Reader installed as well (v 11). I would rather use the Reader to view PDFs, since it is more current but I can't seem to get it to work inside Firefox, despite following all the steps outlined in the relevant KB articles and double-checking options within Acrobat Pro and Reader. Therefore, I am stuck with Acrobat Pro, which is older and hence the problem with the incessant 'Click to Play' screens.

Modified by Identity-H

Chosen solution

See whether you have both of these, and whether you can get rid of the Acrobat one:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MozillaPlugins\Adobe Acrobat

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MozillaPlugins\Adobe Reader

You can always export it first before deleting in case you want to re-import it later.

Note: If anyone reading this is a 32-bit Windows user, check under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MozillaPlugins instead.

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If the problem is Firefox's "block list" that requires approval of older plugins:

Could you try updating your Acrobat X plugin from inside Acrobat itself using

Help > Check for Updates

Hopefully that will solve the problem.

If not, a workaround might be to delete the entry in the Windows registry that Firefox uses to find that older version of the plugin so it only finds the more recent one, but I'm not sure how long that would work (Acrobat might re-add it).

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Did a check for updates in Acrobat Pro. It says I have the most current update (ver 10.1.10).

Where is the registry key for that workaround?

Modified by Identity-H

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Chosen Solution

See whether you have both of these, and whether you can get rid of the Acrobat one:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MozillaPlugins\Adobe Acrobat

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MozillaPlugins\Adobe Reader

You can always export it first before deleting in case you want to re-import it later.

Note: If anyone reading this is a 32-bit Windows user, check under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MozillaPlugins instead.

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I think Firefox will re-scan the Registry for updates at startup, but if you need to force the issue, you can delete a file.

From inside Firefox, open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • Help menu > Troubleshooting Information

In the first table on the page, click the "Show Folder" button

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
  • File menu > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename pluginreg.dat to something like pluginreg.bad

Start Firefox back up again and Firefox should rebuild the file.

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The registry change fixed the problem. I went to a website and opened a PDF file in the browser with no problem. Thank you!

Your other post will no doubt be helpful in changing the PDF viewer that Firefox recognizes. Right now my only options are Preview in FF, Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox) and Use Adobe Reader, which always results in Firefox downloading the PDF to a temp folder and opening it in a separate Adobe Reader window.

Thanks again!