I'm pretty sure it is against our computer policy to install any unauthorized software, let alone pirated software, but for some reason my company won't give anyone adobe acrobat. They want us to use this other pdf program that SUCKS.

It pisses me off when I can't do my job because I don't have the right tools, and no one will give them to me.

I have a "copy" of adobe acrobat at home. Will they be able to tell or will I get in trouble if I install it? All our IT guys are "outsourced" from seattle so none of them are physically in my office, and I think there are only like 2 guys responsible for like 4 or 5 offices.

I don't think anything will happen but I just want to be sure.

I'd also like to install photoshop, dreamweaver, ArcGIS, AutoCAD, and probably some others. I could probably get some of these legitimately if I ask enough people, and fill out all the paperwork, I'd rather just not deal with all of that.

 

I have aim on my computer at work and no one cares. But then again, I do work for Time Warner.

 

The correct way of doing it: Send an E-mail to your Sys. Admin and ask them for permission.

The Azine and stud way of doing it: Install it and deny it if you get caught.

 

All depends on your companies IT Policy (and how cool you are with the IT Guys.)

Your company owns that computer and is liable for any unlicensed software on that computer. Just becasue YOU have a license, does not mean it is licenced for your company to use.

YES, they can tell what software you have on the computer
YES, they can tell that YOU installed it and when
YES, they can read your email..etc..etc...

If they are really strict about it, you can be reprimanded and IT will remove all software for you...or worst case you can be fired. Again, this all depends on how it is spelled out in your IT computing policy that you most likely agreed to at some point when you were signing all of that paperwork when you took the job.

In my 11 Yrs in IT, I've seen a few people lose their jobs over silly things such as this.

 

yea, it's one of those things, I have a feeling I should just assume the worst case scenario. Like the millions of people that download movies, but the few that get caught can get screwed over pretty bad.

 

There are 100's of programs to do an inventory of software installed on PC's and send the report to the servers. If you really need it, ask them for it...

 

there is no reason to install pirated software on an office machine.
If they are too cheap to get adobe acrobat, live with what you have (and then blame it if it takes longer to work); get a job with a company that'll buy acrobat; or convince your boss they'll save money in the long run by having acrobat

 

it's absurd that any computer in the work world doesn't have acrobat. Talk to you IT ppl. If that doesn't work, tell all your clients to put everything in PDF format and you can start leaving work early.

 

Is acrobat not free? Or is that just for personal use?

 

reader is free, not acrobat. I am always having to put reports together with multiple PDFs, and our PDF software is stupid. Not only does it take forever, but by the time you're done, the final file is like 4 times the size of the individual PDF's making it usually too large to email.

 

do it...depending how strict your IT peeps are

 

hmmmm, can't you use print to PDF? its a plugin program for windows thats installed as a printer driver. So you can compile your file in whatever program you chose then click print and send it to PDF. It will create the pdf file for you and save it in your choosen destination. I beleive its freeware.

 

Yeah we have a program called CutePDF Writer. I haven't used it, but it is the same concept.

 

As other posters have said, it really depends on your IT department. Some Orwellian IT departments run reports on any changes to any computer on the network - if they are those sort of folks you will catch hell. If they dont run that kind of stuff you will be free and clear... Until you call to complain about some sort of reliability or performance problems on your computer.

As an IT guy I want to hit people with baseball bats when they call to complain their computer is slow and I find out they have installed a dozen pieces of bloat ware on their computers on their own... Acrobat qualifies as bloat ware...

 

Can't you just ask? I was going to see if I could get firefox installed, but it really isn't that necessary.

 

I sure can't, there is a firewall

 

Firewalls don't prevent you from installing stuff onto your workstation, sir. Downloading, perhaps.

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your going to piss some IT god off & then your going to be black listed.

Your best bet is to make a suggestion to a manager & then see if you can use it.

You need permission! They may be a reason they are using the other program you are not aware of.

The reader isn't bad, but the entire adobe program is a resource pig.

 

im not an it person and i read my company handbook that strictly prohibits any third party software not approved. but i have bittorrent, limewire, and aim installed. but of course, if you have these programs installed, you should know how to protect yourself from those damn piracy mfers. if they ever need your computer, just uninstall it by going to your control panel.

 

^you actually download from p2p at the office?

another question.......
What about if I'm working remotely using an office laptop? I would be accessing the network through VPN. Would this be the same situation? I know the IT department installs some software and stuff on all the laptops as well.

 

Through a VPN? Same scenario. Just another node on their network.

 

Your laptop ok, their laptop - not ok....

 

I just know someone who got busted huge for downloading p2p in our office, he thought he was all stealth cuz torrents can be 'encrypted now' ... he lasted a week or two before they noticed the download activity continuing through the night... needless to say he has no rights left to his computer now and he looks like a moron...

admin rights FTW~! (you gotta befriend your IT department)

 

This is why I dont give admin rights to workstations. We use Zenworks to deploy all of our apps.

It takes a special kind of "dumb" to install pirated software on a work computer.

If I were you, I would ask your IT dept to come up with a better solution for you. We use eDoc PDF Pro to combine mutiple PDF's. And honestly, if that's all you want to do, there is no reason to spend the money on Acrobat Pro.

 

Don't do it, it's not worth it...

 

As mentioned, they can see everything you do. I once got an e-mail from an IT guy on the east coast asking me what a program called "sexychick.exe" was going on my C: drive. I was kind of spooked, but also had to laugh, because that was one of those early "joke" e-mails (1996-ish) that when you ran it, it made a lot of noise and flashed "I'M GAY" on your monitor. I actually knew the guy, and was cool with him, so I didn't get in trouble. After that, however, I get more careful about what is stored on the computer.

Also, if you don't have administrator rights to your computer, you may not be able to install anything on it.

 

 

Some companies, mostly in the medical field, lock down computers so tight you can't change the colors of the desktop or open file explorer.

Many attributes about your computer can be controlled and limited though things called group policies. Which only administrators have the ability to change. As to detecting installation of software that is a piece of cake for even the smallest IT department.


Personally, if you already went though the normal channels to try to install Acrobat I would escalate to management and keep going up until you get a satisfying answer.

Have a use case ready so you can speak intelligently about the productivity of Adobe Acrobat vs whatever they are trying to push. Be sure to have a round response that does not obviously favor Acrobat.

Management should listen and take action if your case is made well.

What is a use case... a list of features compared to other products. How these features could improve the companies productivity, security, workflow. Think in ways of not only productivity, but skills available when looking to hire. Finally an analysis of other similar industries successes.

Some of this information can be found here...

http://www.adobe.com/products/acroba...erstories.html
http://www.adobe.com/products/acroba...oductinfo/buy/

 

Thanks guys, I think i'll just have to take some work home w/ me, and do it there. I usually have the freedom to work from home if I want, and the people I work for work almost exclusively from home. My only problem is the only computer I have at home is my mac, so I'll need to find separate software for that computer.

Can you IT guys check on the websites people browse? I'm just starting to browse Azine from the office for the first time...............I should try not to get into any bad habits though

 

also if you want to pirate software on your own personal computer, well thats your perogative: you know the risk/reward of your actions
but doing it on a work machine; you're making your company liable for your immoral and illegal actions; really no valid reason to put your company in that position (& you in jeopardy of being fired)

taking it away from software, it would be like the following: lets say you smoke weed in your own home and see nothing wrong with it. that doesnt mean it is also okay to go over other ppls houses and smoke weed without their knowledge.

 

"Can you IT guys check on the websites people browse"

Yep! We know all!

 

We have you by the balls

 

Why not ask for a Mac? OS X has a built in PDF maker ... and it also can compress it to a smaller size (if it's possible).

But aren't there shareware PDF making programs available that would be OK to install on an office PC?

 

The one I mentioned, eDoc PDF Pro, is $30...If the OP's company can't afford that, probably should start looking for someone else to work for.

 

PDFcreator


http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

Freeware, I use this at the office.

 

Buahahaa!! that made me laugh!

 

OP, I am a computer forensic investigator. I have seen nearly EVERYTHING dumb a user can do on his/her computer (maybe not everything, come on sysadmins, tell some stories), and I would strongly urge you NOT to use pirated software on your work or home computer.

Don't send personal email from work, even if it is Yahoo mail or Hotmail. Even if you are allowed. I read workers Hotmail all day, everyday. We can pull software license info from the registry and contact the company to determine program legitimacy, find out what you bought on Ebay, and see how much you are selling office equipment for on craigslist.

Keep your nefarious shyt at home!!

On the other hand, the more stupid stuff you do at work, the more business I get!!

Happy computing.

 

^^

Nice, Yea it is amazing to find what people installed on their machines.

I have pulled data from drives that people thought they had wiped before getting rid of machines. I use DOD wipe to get rid of data with 20 passes, and then destroy the drive wich a sledge hammer. That is for the drives with personal or confidential info on them.

 

It's amazing how naive people are about computers. Because preventing someone like you from figuring all this stuff out would be a piece of cake. Even better, there are many tools out there that make it practically undetectable.

But hey, if you're going to do something that you shouldn't be, make sure you cover your tracks!

 

As an aside, if you really are interested in wiping a disk completely, check out this site: http://dban.sourceforge.net/faq/index.html. It provides a neat little tool for wiping disks completely.