What does the Windows Adobe Acrobat PDF plugin PPKLite.api actually do?

[Aardvarks]

What does the Windows Adobe Acrobat PDF plugin PPKLite.api actually do?

For the past few weeks, every time I open a PDF file, I get:
-> There was an error while loading the plug-in 'PPKLite.api'
-> The plug-in failed to initialize.

Here is a screeenshot of that error:
http://i.cubeupload.com/1m6YkH.gif

The thing is, that file exists in the Adobe directory!

Here is a screenshot of the file:
http://i.cubeupload.com/Iuq1g0.gif

I reinstalled Adobe Acrobat and it still complains the same.
Yet, Adobe *never* actually needs the file!

Does anyone know what this plug in actually does?

[David E. Ross]

I do not know what it does. However, I have two files named
PPKLite.api. I never see that error.

Avoiding the cloud version of Adobe Reader, I have version 11.0.17.9,
which I updated just a month ago. PPKLite.api for Adobe Reader has the
MD5 hash b32f30f2690092a33cde6d2e332f5316 and the SHA1 hash
df1bdbca4c358d2a8757004fd194af28c1b3c869.

I also have Adobe Acrobat 7.1.0 (the writer). This old version still
provides the capabilities I need, so I do not want to pay for a later
version. PPKLite.api for Adobe Acrobat has the MD5 hash
19eaa6d47a99ac14c89b2a5e6a1920da and the SHA1 hash
31915d5c45752168424099d1e083ffdce9dc44a1.

(Yes, I know neither MD5 nore SHA1 are secure; but they suffice to
determine whether two files are identical.)

I had two other files named PPKLite.api. They were left-overs from long
ago installations. I had to reinstall Windows 7 since those files were
created. I just now deleted those left-overs without any apparent
adverse impact on using either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.

--
David E. Ross

Republicans scream that Hillary Clinton was responsible
for the tragedy in Benghazi. They conveniently forget
that it was the Republican-controlled Congress that
drastically cut the State Department's budget for
embassy and consulate protection.

[Rodney Pont]

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 15:16:16 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

>Does anyone know what this plug in actually does?

Did you try a google search (I know they are not always helpful)? I get
the following link as the first hit which seems to explain what it is;

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/livecycle/9.0/designerHelp/index.htm?content=001663.html

--
Faster, cheaper, quieter than HS2
and built in 5 years;
UKUltraspeed <http://www.500kmh.com/>

[ken]

In article <nokp7u$1nk6$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, aard...@a.b.c.com says...

> I reinstalled Adobe Acrobat and it still complains the same.
> Yet, Adobe *never* actually needs the file!
>
> Does anyone know what this plug in actually does?

Its the public key security implementation. As long as you don't need to
open a PDF file secured with a public key (possibly also digital
signature I hitnk) then everything will work. If you do, then it won't
work....

[Aardvarks]

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 17:11:41 +0100 (BST), Rodney Pont wrote:

> Did you try a google search (I know they are not always helpful)? I get
> the following link as the first hit which seems to explain what it is;
>
> http://help.adobe.com/en_US/livecycle/9.0/designerHelp/index.htm?content=001663.html

Yes, I had done a google search and found this, which wasn't all that
helpful because it's obviously wrong:
http://www.nmwpc.com/fix-exe-error/ppklite.api-view/
It says it's a "necessary component of the Windows operating system", for
example (so it can't be trusted).

Same problem with this page which purports to give information:
http://www.fixsystem32.com/error-exefile/ppklite.api-view/
That says to run their *special* registry fixer.
Yeah, right. (I may as well hand my PC to the Indians running that scam.)

However, I had also found these:
http://www.freefixer.com/library/file/PPKLite.api-175966/
http://regrunreanimator.com/research/office-tools/acrobat-reader-xi/ppklite-api.htm

They say that "PPKLite.api is part of Adobe Acrobat" and that it stands for
"Adobe Acrobat Public-Key Security Plug-in".

One part that is wrong is *where* it's located, as I *never* install
anything in the crap-filled program-files directory:
"PPKLite.api is usually located in the 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader
9.0\Reader\plug_ins\' folder"
But more to the point, I have Adobe Acrobat (writer), so what they're
talking about is the "Reader" which isn't even installed on my system.

Looking at the URL you kindly provided, it confirms this is an unnecessary
plugin (for me) since I never use encryption. Your URL says "Adobe.PPKLite
is the only signature handler that is designed to analyze and process the
information that you enter in the Signature Settings and Sign Data and
Submit Settings dialog boxes."

So why does this plugin get called by Adobe Acrobat (writer) when I never
use encryption? It seems to be a very poor implementation since a *lot* of
people on all the platforms seem to get the same error, but most are
related to the Reader (which I don't even have installed):
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/acrobat-error-loading-plug-in-ppklite-api-411041/

I'm going to try to *move* or *delete* the need for these idiotically
written plugins in Adobe Acrobat (the writer) using this method:
http://sudarmuthu.com/blog/make-acrobat-reader-load-faster/

[Aardvarks]

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 09:12:00 -0700, David E. Ross wrote:

> I do not know what it does. However, I have two files named
> PPKLite.api. I never see that error.
>
> Avoiding the cloud version of Adobe Reader, I have version 11.0.17.9,
> which I updated just a month ago. PPKLite.api for Adobe Reader has the
> MD5 hash b32f30f2690092a33cde6d2e332f5316 and the SHA1 hash
> df1bdbca4c358d2a8757004fd194af28c1b3c869.
>
> I also have Adobe Acrobat 7.1.0 (the writer). This old version still
> provides the capabilities I need, so I do not want to pay for a later
> version. PPKLite.api for Adobe Acrobat has the MD5 hash
> 19eaa6d47a99ac14c89b2a5e6a1920da and the SHA1 hash
> 31915d5c45752168424099d1e083ffdce9dc44a1.
>
> (Yes, I know neither MD5 nore SHA1 are secure; but they suffice to
> determine whether two files are identical.)
>
> I had two other files named PPKLite.api. They were left-overs from long
> ago installations. I had to reinstall Windows 7 since those files were
> created. I just now deleted those left-overs without any apparent
> adverse impact on using either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.

Thank you for that detail!
I also had two files which had PPKLIte.api in the name, as shown here:
http://i.cubeupload.com/Iuq1g0.gif

Note that I never install *anything* (ever!) into program files, because I
install everything in the same hierarchy as the start menu which is the
same hierarchy as the software installer archive which is the same on all
PCs I owned since the beginning of time (with improvements made along the
way, as new types of software came up from year to year).

But I only started getting the problem a few weeks ago, and I, like you,
use an older version of the Adobe Acrobat writer instead of the reader.

The difference is that I don't even *have* the reader installed.
Maybe I'll try a shoot-in-the-dark-with-my-eyes-closed approach, and load
the reader, but why would I want the reader when the writer is better?

[Aardvarks]

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 17:19:24 +0100, ken wrote:

> Its the public key security implementation. As long as you don't need to
> open a PDF file secured with a public key (possibly also digital
> signature I hitnk) then everything will work. If you do, then it won't
> work....

Following advice on this web page:
http://sudarmuthu.com/blog/make-acrobat-reader-load-faster/

One can apparently move plugins to speed up the horrendously slow Adobe
Acrobat.

The article says to move the plugins from:
c:\adobe-installation-path\plug_ins
to the optional directory:
c:\adobe-installation-path\Optional

Which, for me, are actually in:
c:\apps\editor\ps2pdf\acrobat\Acrobat\plug_ins\

When I look there, I find there are 37 plugins, including the two
PPKLite.api plugins!
http://i.cubeupload.com/vEv1OG.gif

Yet, when I look inside of Adobe acrobat, I only see 35 plugins, which does
not include the two PPKLite plugins:
http://i.cubeupload.com/sntTf3.gif

In a way, that makes sense, but it doesn't solve the problem.

BTW, I don't seem to have an "Optional" directory (do you have one?)

Anyway, as an off-topic quest, I'll speed up the horrendously slow acrobat
by moving the following from plug_ins to Optional:
Accessibility.api ¡V Acrobat Accessibility
Annots.api ¡V Comments
AcroForm.api ¡V Forms
MakeAccessible.api ¡V MakeAccessible
Spelling.api ¡V Spelling
soap.api ¡V soap
Sendmail.api ¡V Send Mail
reflow.api ¡V Reflow
LegalPDF.api ¡V Legal PDF
DigSig.api ¡V Digital Signature
Multimedia.api ¡V Multimedia
PPKLite.api ¡V PPKLite
Updater.api ¡V Updater
eBook.api ¡V Adobe DRM
PDDom.api ¡V PDCom
SaveAsRTF.api ¡V Save as RTF
Checkers.api ¡V Checkers

(Note there is only one other plugin listed inside of acrobat, in the
3rd-party plugins menus, which is another plugin I don't want and I didn't
install, called "printme internet printing".)

[Aardvarks]

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 17:21:31 -0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

> When I look there, I find there are 37 plugins, including the two
> PPKLite.api plugins!
> http://i.cubeupload.com/vEv1OG.gif

Woo hoo!

Problem solved!

Not only did *moving* the two PPKLite plugin files solve the original
problem, but, moving almost all the other plugin files and directories made
Adobe Acrobat start up *much* faster!

I don't know what the negative repercussions may be, but the problem is
solved.

Here's the plugin directory before moving the plugins from plug_ins to
Optional: http://i.cubeupload.com/ewxnpN.gif

Here's the plugin directory *after* moving the plugins (which included a
few directories): http://i.cubeupload.com/nYDNHI.gif

The PPKLite error went away *and* Adobe Acrobat sped up immensely!

So, *all* the web references specifically about solving the PPKLite.api
missing plugin issue were dead *wrong*!

The solution was not to try to *add* it, but the solution was to *move* it
into the Optional folder.

One question, I guess, that pops up, is how do the *optional* plugins get
loaded now?

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <nol2c4$n1g$1...@news.mixmin.net>, Aardvarks
<aard...@a.b.c.com> writes:
[]

>Not only did *moving* the two PPKLite plugin files solve the original
>problem, but, moving almost all the other plugin files and directories made
>Adobe Acrobat start up *much* faster!

[]

>One question, I guess, that pops up, is how do the *optional* plugins get
>loaded now?

I would guess the most likely answer is, if you load something that
needs them (say, a signed document), they get loaded then - i. e.
there's a delay at that point. (Much like the much-vaunted advantage of
IE over Firefox [Netscape!] being that it "opened" almost instantly -
because it was all loaded when Windows started, regardless of whether
you actually wanted it or not, i. e. its loading added to Windows' start
time.)

But this is just a guess: I hope someone who knows will be along soon.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The war was over, but all those people were still dead - explainer why the
atmosphere of VE-day did not seem right to her; "Today" 2015-4-27

[Aardvarks]

On Sat, 13 Aug 2016 13:30:11 +0100, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

> I would guess the most likely answer is, if you load something that
> needs them (say, a signed document), they get loaded then - i. e.
> there's a delay at that point. (Much like the much-vaunted advantage of
> IE over Firefox [Netscape!] being that it "opened" almost instantly -
> because it was all loaded when Windows started, regardless of whether
> you actually wanted it or not, i. e. its loading added to Windows' start
> time.)
>
> But this is just a guess: I hope someone who knows will be along soon.

That makes sense that the optional directory is loaded only when actually
needed.

I should probably put *all* the plugins in that optional directory, but my
problem was so well solved that I haven't bothered.

I suspect that I must have an old or corrupt PPKLite plugin (which must be
affecting *lots* of people because the problem is rampant), so, the fact I
didn't update it but just moved it will bite me some day in the future if
it's ever needed.

So far though, this problem was not only solved, thanks to your help, but
also acrobat was speeded up tremendously.