Oh NO! I clicked on a pdf link!

3/10/08 | Delacon

[Delacon]

I'll be wondering around FR and somebody will have posted an article with a link, or there'll be a link in the comments section. Either the link will warn that it will be a pdf file and I've missed it or there will be no warning at all. I click on the link and stare in amazement as that abominable Adobe Reader ssssslowwwly kicks in. Welcome to pdf hell. Now my computer isn't that old. Its capabilities are pretty strong in fact but after the pdf file loads, even after I've closed it, nothing works right anymore. Everything is 10 times slower. I've even gone to program manager and tried to turn off the Adobe executable file and it won't let me. I have to reboot. There has to be a better way. There is. Its called Foxit. I googled "Adobe Sucks" and the 2nd link I found was a message board singing the praises of this program. I searched a little more(being the skeptic that I am to the core) and still more and more Foxit fans. So I uninstalled Adobe and downloaded Foxit. Its small. One tenth the size of Adobe. It is FAST and it is FREE. Now when I open a pdf file, it opens in 3 to 5 seconds. Leave the file open or closed and I can't detect any change in performance. If all you want is a program that quickly and easily displays pdf files, dump Adobe and get Foxit. My apologies in advance if this is old news to any of you. Here is a link to a more authoritive review of Foxit with a download link.
http://www.download.com/Foxit-PDF-Reader/3000-2079_4-10313206.html

[mysterio]

PDFs look neat and all, but I avoid them whenever possible. SLOW. Amazing to me that Adobe hasn’t addressed this problem.

[gondramB]

I still hate it when I click on a PDF by accident.

But it is much better since I started using Foxit PDF reader

This is the review from my favorite download site - snapfiles.com

>>Foxit PDF Reader
PDF reader

Our Rating: 4.5 stars (Very Good!)

Foxit PDF Reader is an alternative to Adobe Reader, that allows you to view and print PDF files. Unlike Adobe Reader, it opens PDF files very fast, without any delay. It supports all the standard features, as well as browser integration, and also an option select/copy of text from the documents. Furthermore, you can create a snapshot from a selected portion of the page, fill interactive forms and more.

Pros: Much faster than Adobe Reader

Cons: No thumbnail browsing; does not include all Adobe features; some Pro features included for evaluation
<<

http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Foxit_PDF_Reader/foxitpdf.html

[evets]

My adobe is made of dung.

[Thunder Pig]

I HATE PDF links...especially if I have 8 or 9 or more tabs open. More often than not it'll crash my machine, and I have to reboot. It really makes me mad if I'm recording radio over the web or editing video. I think people should mark those links clearly, so we can just right click and download to look at later.

[Larry Lucido]

Interesting. Question: Does that software allow you to save “fillable” PDF forms? If so, that will meet my PDF software needs (saving corporate PDF forms that I fill out and file for business clients).

[Thunder Pig]

Oh, and thanks for the link to Fox-it. I’ll give it a try!

[papasmurf]

Everything after 5.x sucks.

If you have Linux, you don’t need Adobe, or any extra software, PDF rendering and creating is included in the distro.

[pillut48]

Wow, I always thought it was just my computer that takes forever to load pdf files!!! I also have similar slow-down problems after closing the files and exiting...good to know it’s not just me.

[gondramB]

>>Interesting. Question: Does that software allow you to save “fillable” PDF forms? If so, that will meet my PDF software needs (saving corporate PDF forms that I fill out and file for business clients).<<

No. That requires Foxit’s PDF editor - while the free trial period is generous at 6 months, eventually it costs $59-$99 per user depending on quantity.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/pe_intro.php

[JenB]

Acrobat Reader took over my laptop. No joking, it made some registry change and decided it was going to open all “.exe” and “.dll” files - that means basically every program on my pc. And I couldn’t manage to undo it or get into the registry to change it since the regedit program used those files too!

I managed to get IE open and use it as Windows Explorer to get to where the files for Reader were and delete them. I hate and despise Acrobat Reader and will use Foxit wherever possible. Reader is a huge resource hog.

[mnehring]

I'm not crazy about Foxit. Yea, it is a small file and probably OK if you just occasionally read .pdf files, but it does print Foxit ads whenever you print a .pdf file from it. It also doesn't render all graphics in the original form, it seems to compress too much. Some of the complaints I've read on this said the display copy looks like an old fax.

[Delacon]

"Question: Does that software allow you to save “fillable” PDF forms? If so, that will meet my PDF software needs (saving corporate PDF forms that I fill out and file for business clients)."

 

Yes. From Foxit's website (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php):

• Basic PDF form operations i.e. filling out PDF forms and printing them out
• Advanced PDF form operations, such as saving filled-out forms and import/export forms, free for personal usage only

[DainBramage]

Do you have a reader for msblast files. Everytime I open one my computer slows down too.

[The_Reader_David]

Here’s a mystery: Adobe developed the pdf format, but their rendering program is the worst.

I don’t know if you have an alternative with Window, but the Apple Preview that comes bundled with OS X, and the standare Linux pdf renderer, ghostview, both load and render pdf fast. If you’re not on a Windows machine, you can certainly change you default pdf helper program to something besides Acrobat Reader. If you are, maybe there’s an alternative, too, or maybe you can disable the feature that loads pdf links in the browser, so that clicking on a pdf link give you a download window instead.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

ROTFLMAO

[Larry Lucido]

Thanks!

[Larry Lucido]

Okay, thanks. Adobe had a product for $39.00 that does that but they stopped supporting it.

[ShadowAce]

Hmm. I've not run into this. Oh wait--I don't use Adobe. I use evince.

Sorry.

[ShadowAce]