Advanced PDF File Associations on Domain

Question

I have a complex setup that I'm having issues getting to work properly. Microsoft is so aggressive at defaulting PDFs to Edge. Edge gives our organization so many problems when working with PDFs and is one of our largest helpdesk woes. We need to stop Edge from ever becoming the default.

I understand how to set up a default file association using GPO and an XML file, however I need to set the following programatically:

-Default PDF Association: Adobe Reader DC -If user has Nitro PDF installed, default to Nitro PDF -If user has Acrobat Pro 2015/2017 installed, default to Acrobat Pro

I've looked into using a batch file to do this using DISM and setting the default application association, but the settings don't seem to keep and Windows defaults back to Edge as Windows 10 now uses an API and a hash to make sure 3rd party apps aren't changing defaults without the user's permission.

I know I can use GPOs to set the default application association, however with some users needing Nitro PDF and some needing Acrobat Pro, I'm not sure the best way of defaulting associations for our user base. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I would make one Active Directory group for Adobe Acrobat Pro users, as its a paid license you will be able to follow you has it and make the GPO target that group membership.

For your Nitro PDF GPO you can add a security option in it, in the delegation's tab for your Acrobat Group on Deny. You click to add your group, and in the advanced tab you select Deny for all. So you will be sure the Nitro setting don't apply to those users who has Acrobat Pro

I would add that if someday you use a method to publish application (like MSCCM or RemoteApp, the Acrobat Pro group can come handy.

Answer 2

Thanks for the info yagmoth555. I ended up trying something similar that appears to be working. I created a policy for Acrobat, Reader, and Nitro, and created WMI filters for each of them as well. The WMI filter only applies the policy if it is able to detect the existance of the .exe for each respective application. If it is unable to find Acrobat Pro or Nitro, Reader is set as the default. I specified the location of the defaultappassociation.xml file in each of the GPs to set the default handler.