Most applications keep their settings in the Windows registry which makes it easy to make changes with group policy across an entire organization. Here is where some common applications keep their update settings.

Adobe Acrobat 9: Registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\9.0\FeatureLockDown\bUpdater=0

Java Auto Update: Registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy\EnableJavaUpdate=0

Adobe Flash Player: Filesystem

You need to create a file called mms.cfg in the c:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash directory. The contents of this file should be one line:

AutoUpdateDisable=1

Making the registry changes is easy with group policy. The filesystem changes needs to be done manually or can be automated with a tool like robocopy. The best solution I found is to use the admin share of the C drive on each workstation to copy the file which would look like \\workstation-01\c$\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash. Using a logon script to copy the file won’t work unless users are a local administrator since the logon scripts will run under their user privileges.

I used the default workstation policies on a Windows SBS 2008 server to apply the registry settings. In Group Policy Management expand Forest, Domains, domain name, MyBusiness, Computers, SBSComputers. Since all workstations are Windows 7 I edited the Windows SBS Client Policy.

Then expand Computer Configuration, Preferences, Windows Settings, Registry. I used the registry wizard to create the new entries. Simply make the two changes on a workstation and then you specify that workstation in the registry wizard and locate the changes you would like to replicate with group policy.