Adobe Reader

Adobe Reader or "Adobe Acrobat Reader" is an application that allows you to view and print PDF files. It includes a browser plugin for viewing PDF files directly in a web browser such as Firefox or Mozilla Suite. You can download Adobe Reader from the Adobe Reader product page or from PluginDoc. Basic installation instructions are available on the PluginDoc Acrobat Reader FAQs page .

Security alert

Older versions of Adobe Reader 5.x 6.x and 7.x have known security issues. Adobe has update instructions related to the August 2005 advisory posted here.

Adobe Reader plugin

If you are having problems with the plugin such as browser hangs or crashes after viewing a PDF file, or if the Adobe Reader plugin loads very slowly, make sure you are using the latest version of Adobe Reader for your operating system and install any available updates.

Speeding up PDF display

Adobe Reader 6 and the browser plugin automatically load a large number of components when they are opened. These are memory hogs and can cause the plugin to load very slowly. Many Adobe Reader 6 issues have been resolved by upgrading to the latest Adobe Reader version, currently 7.0.5 on Windows and 7.0.1 on Linux. If upgrading doesn't help or if you don't meet the system requirements for the latest version, try the Adobe Reader Speedup program to disable many of the unnecessary components, or use a manual procedure:

• Manual procedure #1: The Adobe Reader Speedup doesn't work when Reader is not installed to the default location. You can use this instead (Note that this can break searching PDFs in your browser):
  • Navigate to the folder where you installed Adobe Reader. It will look something like: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader.
  • Find the "plug_ins" folder and rename it "plug_ins_disabled" then create a new folder named "plug_ins".
  • Copy the following files from "plug_ins_disabled" to "plug_ins": EWH32.api, printme.api, and search.api

• Manual procedure #2: An alternative method that does not break Adobe Reader functionality is to make the plugins optional. Reader will then only load them as required, making start up quicker.
  • Exit reader.
  • Locate the plugin directory: e.g. C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins
  • Create a new folder called "Optional" i.e. C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins\Optional
  • Move all the plugins, including other subdirectories, to the "Optional" folder.

Disabling the browser plugin

You can disable the Adobe Reader browser plugin and force .PDF links to open the Adobe Reader program as an external helper application by using one of the methods below:

Method 1

• Open the Adobe Reader program and go to the "Edit -> Preferences" dialog.
• Select the "Internet" category and uncheck "Display PDF in browser".

After closing Adobe Reader, open your Mozilla application’s installation directory, open the Plugins folder and ensure that the file "nppdf32.dll" is not present. If it is, remove it (or rename "nppdf32.dll" to "Xnppdf32.dll"). Failing to remove or rename this file may cause the browser to hang when attempting to open a PDF file.

Note: Mozilla applications may use plugin scanning to locate the Acrobat Reader plugin. You can prevent this by finding and renaming all instances of "nppdf32.dll" on your computer. Advanced users may prefer to open the relevant configuration file for the application and change the preference line
pref("plugin.scan.Acrobat", "5.0");
to
// pref("plugin.scan.Acrobat", "5.0");

Method 2 (Firefox only)

Open the Firefox "Tools -> Options" menu and select "Downloads".

• Firefox 1.0.x: Click the "Plugins" button and uncheck "PDF" from the list of extension. Next time you click a .pdf file link in Firefox,you will get an "Opening...." dialog box asking what you would like to do with the .pdf file. Choose the option to open with the default application and check the box to do that automatically from now on.
• Firefox 1.5: Click the "View & Edit Actions" button, select "PDF" from the list of extensions, click the "Change Action" button and change the action to "Open them with the Default Application" (Adobe Reader).

Saving PDF files to disk

You can save PDF files to disk and then open them without using a PDF viewer plugin by right-clicking links to PDF files and choosing "Save Link As".

To make your browser automatically save all PDF files on which you left-click, go to "Tools -> Options -> Downloads -> File Types". Scroll to PDF, press "Change Action" and then select "Save to disk". PDFs will now be downloaded to a folder for opening in Reader separately. Note that this procedure will not work if PDF is not currently listed as a recognized file type. Instead, you should disable the plugin as described above.

Using an alternative PDF viewer

Third-party PDF viewers are available, such as the Foxit PDF viewer (freeware, Windows-only). Before installing a third-party viewer, you should uninstall all existing Adobe (Acrobat) Reader installations. Since third-party viewers are neither made nor supported by Adobe, some PDF files may not work and some functionality may be missing.

PDF download (Firefox extension)

The PDF download extension gives Firefox users multiple options for handling PDF files such as viewing as HTML, opening within the browser or opening within the default or preferred PDF viewer.

External links

• Adobe Reader FAQ on PluginDoc
• The Inquirer
• Adobe Reader Download - All versions